Wisdom Vault — onlinknow.co.za

endings, a man's eyes are blinded so that he beholds not his own immortality; his ears are closed so that he hears not the ever-present harmonies of Joy; and his heart is hardened so that it pulsates not to the rhythmic sounds of Peace.

The universe, with all that it contains, is now. Put out thy hand, O man, and receive the fruits of Wisdom! Cease from thy greedy striving, thy selfish sorrowing, thy foolish re- gretting, and be content to live. Act now, and, lo! all things are done; live now, and, behold! thou art in the midst of Plenty; be now, and know that thou art perfect.

THE "ORIGINAL SIMPLICITY" Being is simple. The -^ universe is simple. Complexity arises in ignorance and self-delusion. The "Original Simplicity" of Lao-tze is a term expressive of the universe as it is, and not as it appears. Looking through the woven network of his own illusions, man sees interminable com- plication and unfathomable mystery, and so loses himself in the labyrinths of his own making.

Let a man put away egotism, and he will see the universe in all the beauty of its pristine simplicity. Let him annihilate the delusion of the personal "I," and he will destroy all the illusions which spring from that "I." He will thus "re-become a little child," and will "revert to Original Simplicity."

When a man succeeds in entirely forgetting and annihilating his personal self, he be- comes a mirror in which the universal Reality is faultlessly reflected. He is awakened, 100 THE HEAVENLY LIFE and henceforward he lives, not in dreams, but realities.

Pythagoras saw the universe in the ten numbers, but even this simplicity may be further reduced and the universe ultimately found to be contained in the number ONE, for all the numerals and all their infinite complications are but additions of the One.

Let life cease to be lived as a fragmentary thing, and let it be lived as a perfect Whole; the simplicity of the Perfect will then be revealed. How shall the fragment com- prehend the Whole ? Yet how simple that the Whole should comprehend the frag- ment.

How shall sin perceive Holiness ? Yet how plain that Holiness should understand sin. He who would become the Greater, let him abandon the lesser. In no form is the circle contained, but in the circle all forms are contained. In no color is the radiant light imprisoned, but in the radiant light all colors are embodied.

Let a man destroy all the forms of self, and he shall apprehend the Circle of Perfection; let him THE "ORIGINAL SIMPLICITY" 101 submerge, in the silent depths of his being, the varying colors of his thoughts and desires, and he shall be illuminated with the White Light of Divine Knowledge.

In the perfect chord of music the single note, though forgotten, is indispensably contained; and the drop of water becomes of supreme usefulness by losing itself in the ocean. Sink thyself compassionately in the heart of humanity, and thou shalt reproduce the harmonies of Heaven; lose thyself in unlimited love toward all, and thou shalt work enduring works and shalt become one with the Eternal Ocean of Bliss.