I would know gladness with the children, as they play and go singing on the way to their places of instruction. I would watch birth and death and solve their mysteries. I would know the depths of hatred and the heights of love.
I would journey the adventurous path of love hand in hand with another. I would know its secret, its delights and their shadows, and the secrets of its silences.
I would know the beginning and the end, and understand what links them. I would see the chain of the years and the necklace of the days. I would know the purpose of it all. Then, knowing all these, I would know You at last, O Great Spirit!
Fragment 6
O True God, by whom the worthy are guided in all they undertake; who rises as a beacon in the darkness for the lowly. Grant us, Your servants who put their trust in You, strength to overcome all the doubts and uncertainties which rise in our hearts, as frightening shadows arise in the night. Let us sip the waters from the inexhaustible well of wisdom, that we may not move along false paths to encompass our own destruction. For we cannot see the way in the enveloping darkness, and confusing voices shout this way or that way. We are bewildered, for we know not which one is right. Can there be so many ways?
We are not men of great learning or high position. We do not sit among princes, being among the lowliest in the
land. Yet it is we who carry the burdens of the people, we feed the hungry and provide for the widow and
orphan. Ours are the aching backs and weary feet, ours the naked body and empty bowl.
Those who are concerned with higher things sit at tables of plenty, those seemingly unworthy rejoice amid
prosperity and plenty. Those who take are given more, while those who give are mocked.
We see these things and doubt enters our thoughts, we ask one another, “Why is this the order of things? Is it the
will of our God? Then we seek for an answer in all sincerity and with productive effort, and The Great God
Above All does not remain mute.
Fragment 7
O God, hear my prayer, for I have gone into the great recess within me and await a response from out of the enveloping silence and tranquillity. The restlessness and discontent of life I have left at the portal. I have closed the door to the outer things of life.
Give ear, O my soul, to the whispers from the silence. Close out the clamour of Earth and harken to the soft voice which echoes from the far reaches of eternity. Hear without ears the wordless voice of Truth. Close the eyes of the flesh, that the greater eye may see in the inner darkness.
Enter into the inner temple and await the revelation of heavenly secrets. Shut out the clamouring senses that demand expression in sensual pleasures. Then, when all outer doors are closed and all inner doors open, speak to me and I will hear your voice. Tell me the secrets of the ages, and my spirit will dwell in contentment for ever. This alone I ask and no more, it is sufficient for one lifetime.
Fragment 8
O Great One on High, have pity on us, for we are hopelessly ensnared by our complete lack of things needed to sustain the body. Without sustenance our spirits are restless, our hearts cannot find peace. We do not desire foolish things, or pleasurable or vain things, but just the things without which we cannot live. Though we lack all things we do not turn our faces from You, for we know well that in Your bounty all men are provided for and the Earth is full of richness. It is not You who take away the things needed to sustain our lives, but those made in our own likeness, our own brother men.
They deny meat to the hungry and drink to the thirsty, though they themselves are gorged to fullness and bloated with good things. Be merciful to them, instruct and enlighten them with Your chastising afflictions. Thus they may come to know that man needs man and each man is brother to all others.
Others have reaped where we have sown and others sleep where we have built, because of the statutes of men. Therefore, mete out nought but justice, that we may be fed and clothed and have a place to rest our heads.
Fragment 9
O God, who teaches us in so many strange ways in this great place of instruction called Earth; who set us tasks to an end which we cannot foresee, and who tests us to measure our abilities and to try our courage and fidelity. Instruct us, so we may better understand the bitter lessons which purge from our natures all which is unwholesome to the spirit. Strengthen us, so we may bear all things without complaint and conduct ourselves manfully under the strict discipline of this unique place of instruction. Open the-eyes of understanding within us, that we may benefit by every experience and not waste time bewailing our lot.
Tell us, so we may know. Instruct us in our duties in the battleline, so that when we are called upon to take our appointed place we shall not shirk the clash. Toughen us on the training ground of adversity, so that we may be stronger for the fray. When the day of battle comes upon us and cowards flee before the strength of our adversary, when the valiant ones kiss the dust at the portals of glory, let our place be where the battle rages most fiercely and the blows fall the thickest.
If we faint, may we still remain faithful. If we are exhausted, may we remain dauntless. If our hour come and we fall before the onslaught, may it be with weapons in hand and face to the foe. We fight the fight where the victor can be the vanquished and the vanquished the victor, for here the fight is the end and not the victory. He who serves the end well justly claims the fruits of victory.
We cannot ask to win, but we can ask to* be made strong if we struggle for strength. We cannot ask to remain unhurt, but we do ask for courage. We cannot ask to be supported in weakness, but we can ask for the fortitude
to endure. We stand firm-footed, grim-faced to the foe. The ranks of wickedness encompass us about, but we will surge forward with closed ranks, carrying all before us until we come to rest in the presence of victory. O God, Supreme Among Spirits, watch over us in the struggle, for we are Your children.
Fragment 10
This is my prayer, O Great Spirit, accept my prayer. O Dweller in the Pure Region of Truth, hear me. O Great Fountain of Wisdom, hear me.
O Comforter and Companion of the Soul Silences, hear me. I, Your son, come into your presence with faith and humility.
Grant that my spirit be admitted into the Glorious Audience Chamber between the two regions. I, Your son, come into Your presence with faith and humility. O Supreme Source of the form-holding rays, grant me a hearing. O Great One seated on The Celestial Throne behind The Great Solar Disk, hear me. All homage to you Great God, Master of the bodies of men. I, Your son, come into Your presence with faith and humility. My every thought and deed are dedicated to Your service. These things are written clearly in my heart and are not mere puffs of wind from my mouth.
Fragment 11
Lord of my heart, hear me now as I stand in communicating silence before the listening shrine. You are The Great One who existed before the upheaval of the mountains; who tore apart the land and waters in the infant years of man.
For in Your sight a thousand great years are as an hour in the heat of the day, or as a watch in the coolness of the night. You are The Timekeeper in Eternity and Warden of the Ages.
You reap men as corn is reaped at the harvest and sweep them away as floodwaters cleanse the land. For man is like unto the grass of the field, in the morning it grows full of vigour, gaily bedecked with the gems of morning dew; in the eventide it is cut down, to wither in the night.
The day is not important if men live by the hour, fulfilling in each its appointed task. Fragment 12
When the Dread Messenger calls for you, let him not find you ill-equipped and unprepared. In the final hour, which must surely come, there will be no opportunity for fine speech and nought can delay his imperious command. Then all the possessions you have cherished and stored will be as nought, and all you will be able to take with you will be that which you have fashioned within.