O Great Dweller in the vast silences which are not as the silence known on Earth, who attends this sacred place where men gather in devotion. We who are here see You revealed as a beacon light for those whose hearts dwell in the darkness of ignorance. We rejoice in the strengthening emanation which flows out towards those with the wisdom to attract and absorb it.
Here, in the Hidden Place, we Your servants are gathered, and we bow before You, O Great One. We bow in humility, not in servility; we bow in recognition of our earthly limitations. We are overcome with awe and can but stand in worshipful silence before the vision of Your glory. It shines before our eyes, and our mouths cannot open.
Here, on this Sacred Ground, we hardly dare to utter the words of prayer, for the sentences formed by men are so unworthy of their purpose, when used and spoken before You. Man is limited in knowledge, in understanding and in ability, it is the recognition of this which makes him humble.
O Great One, who understands even the speech of the dumb man, help us to expand our knowledge and understanding. We, for our part, will not remain inactive but will ever sincerely struggle to reach out towards You, striving even to extend beyond our limitations. Were it otherwise we would be dishonest in seeking Your help.
Help us to remove the disfiguring stains upon our everlasting spirit, and when earthly life is renewed in us let us not be too disadvantaged. Teach us to pray without prayerfulness, so that the taint of self-seeking is eliminated. When we petition, let this not be in the spirit of selfishness.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Some Fragments from a Much Damaged Section Most of Which Has Been Destroyed
Fragment 1
O enfolded, sleeping soul, unaware of the life fountain within from which you may drink, unfeeling of the throbbing life all about us, now is your hour. Prepare yourself for the great awakening. The bright light of wisdom awaits to encircle you, as you stand before the awful door within the Sacred Temple of Mystery. That the light of Truth may be a sure guide amidst the dark gloom of earthly life, a certain aid enabling you to find the way of your eternal spirit, you are not unknowing of your inner wisdom. It is the key to everlasting life in the glorious place beyond the Western veil.
0 live my soul, awaken, hear me. Let not my love and my sacrifice be in vain, let not all my hopes turn to dust within the tomb. Can love become soil and hope become sand? Never, for the grave is not the destination of the sublime attributes which ennoble the nature of man.
Man is as a flame burning in water, as it is written on the pillars without. His soul is as the rosebud awaiting the kiss of the sun to awaken it to bloom. His nature is as the day which is ever accompanied by the night.
Fragment 2
1 will praise The Nameless God who is The True God and The Knower of Every Name. Hail Great Overseer of Earth!
The high Heavens will hear the sound of my voice and its loudness shall ring across the widespread land. It shall resound throughout the Red Land. My song shall ride on the wings of the wind and my gladness shall whisper into the ear of the air. Hail Great Overseer of Earth!
I shall seek diligently for enlightenment and knowledge, that I may proclaim the ways of The True God among people, for they are mysterious ways not easily understood. Man wallows in a quicksand of ignorance, and only by extreme effort can he extricate himself. Great Overseer, grant me the ability to understand. Hail Great Overseer of Earth!
I say to the people, “Declare The Great One to your children, to the high born and to the lowly ones who dwell together under the same sun, to the generations as yet unborn. Sing songs that will echo down the corridors of time”. Hail Great Overseer of Earth!
“Sing His praises with the birds of the air, tell of Him to the fishes in the waters, to the creatures which hide in the ground and to the things which walk and crawl above it”. Hail Great Overseer of Earth! “Declare Him unto all, for He is The God of All, He is The Great Compassionate One whose wrath declines with the setting sun and in the morning departs with the dawnlight mists”. Hail Great Overseer of Earth! Sometimes, in the lonely nightwatches, I wonder, have You turned Your face from me? What have I done that You are unresponsive? Have I ever lived otherwise than in accordance with Your word? O Great Overseer of Earth, what is Your will for me?
Fragment 3
O Great One, everlastingly considerate of our needs, Overseer and Taskmaster of mankind, look down upon us with compassion and lay not too great a burden upon us, your dutiful servants. Labour we must, for thus we prepare for a higher state of being, but bear with us, for sometimes we grow weary and falter at the task.
Here we have fallen victims of our own wiles, we have hopelessly snarled up the threads of our existence, so we know not how to loosen the knots we ourselves have tied and so free ourselves. We are entangled in a net of our own weaving. Let us, Your servants, look to You, The Great One, for aid. Our destinies are held in the hollow of your hands, while the future is visible to you as is writing upon an open scroll.
The Glorious Ones worship You with service and serve through following the words of guidance. Thus, the earthbound spirits worship You, the shades of the departed worship You and the whole of creation worships You. We, Your servants, offer our continual and everlasting devotion to Your service. We are not as others, O Great One, for we know well that worship and devotion mean service and expended effort, not mere words and ritual. Your spirit governs the breezes that comfort mankind. You send the fertilising rains, Your Spirit quickens the seed within the womb of Earth. The songs of the birds are inspired by the knowledge of You and the wild beasts rejoice in the sustenance provided.
You are The Universal Being, The Raincloud Overshadowing the Earth, The One Dwelling in the Cave of the Heart within all breathing creatures. You are The Weaver of the Warp and Woof of Life.
Fragment 4
I praise The One Who Eats Evil, The Disposer of Earthly Residue. He who sustains the devoted followers of The Deathless One in whom all merge on leaving the body. For the day comes when we discard all that is of Earth, when we recognise and realise that all remaining is the pure and sacred spirit, boundless and free as the winds.
I praise The One Who Eats Evil, The Disposer of Earthly Residue. He who sustains the devoted followers of The Deathless One; who is with us everywhere and in all things; in whom is all, though not Himself the all; who sees and hears all, who knows and understands all, but whom none tied to Earth can know; who projects His word of power, so that it is within all and holds all things together in stability.
I praise The One Who Eats Evil, The Disposer of Earthly Residue. He who sustains the devoted followers of The Deathless One; who created all things and thus became His Own Greater Self; who clothed Himself in the universe as with a garment.
Fragment 5
0 Great Spirit, I would see the vast face of the Earth as You behold it. I would know how the seed is quickened, so that it grows into the plant, and how the fowl comes forth from the egg. What is added to the egg to give it the power to reproduce life?
1 would touch Your Great Body born of the breath from The Eternal Source and watch Your thoughts creating and moulding all things to shape step by step.
I would see the links of Heaven and Earth and rest one hand in each. I would see the thread that binds yesterday, today and tomorrow, so all are one and parts of the whole.
I would see the appointed place of every living man and understand why. I would see the purpose of every beast and every plant, every tree and every thing that flies and crawls.