Just as the tiny twig, the strong branch, and the rugged trunk of the tree are bent by the prevailing winds, so the great Truth which lies so near to us will direct man to the sanctuary of his God.
It is the pressure of nature’s consciousness upon humanity which slowly folds men into her embrace. The manifestation of good in man is bound to be shown forth eventually, for the good ultimately must prevail. In order to reform criminal tendencies we must find the hidden good in mankind.
God will eventually overbalance evil, and the psychologists of the future will seek to bring into activity the good hidden deep in the nature of the subject. It is by bringing the good side of the man into ascendency that the criminal comes to lead an honest life. This cannot be done if the offender is constantly reminded of his previous crime. He should be forgiven and no reference made to his past which the good in him is seeking to efface.
If man has committed a criminal offense, suffered the penalty, and is trying to lead a normal life, his fellow men should not raise his past against him. They should encourage the good in him so that he may heal himself. People who are trying to live clean and good lives, and have become discouraged, often confide in occult students. Sometimes they are hounded by their fellows for acts of which they were quite innocent.
Remember that the second edict of nature is honesty. The student should approach every man with the idea in his heart that “this is an honest man.” If his fellow man has been dishonest in the past, this approach will give him courage and strength and greater power to eradicate the former tendency.
I remember being with a great Yogi when we met a lady in the street who had tried to ruin him, and had been an agent to destroy his work. To my surprise he spoke to her as if she were one of his greatest friends. When we parted from her I called his attention to the destruction which she had done to his work, and he looked at me in a surprised manner and said, “I had forgotten all about it.” He met the world as he expected the world to meet him.
The great leader of the Bahai was hated by a Mohammedan who used to curse him in the street. This hatred had existed for many years, yet when this beloved teacher heard that the man was in great distress and poverty, he went to his house and seeing that he was suffering from cold, covered him with his own cloak. The Mohammedan could not understand this action, but later on his animosity and hatred vanished.
The hatred which a man entertains in his heart causes him more damage and suffering than the person to whom he projects it.
Nature’s consciousness supports right action in all things. There are great beings with whom the student is sometimes able to converse, and the work of one of these teachers is to bring back to the student’s mind his acquired information of the laws of natural phenomena gained in previous lives. Next to this teacher stands the Lord of Compassion, who returns to this student his memory of past experiences, when he possessed the power to remove bad conditions from his pupils.
The Master Jesus cast out seven devils from Mary the Magdalene and the Lord of Compassion stimulates these powers within the student, so that he is able to lift conditions of suffering and sorrow from people, in order that their minds can be re-established in nature’s purpose.
There is also a great lord of the “money mind,” a great master who is able to manipulate the gold specie of this world. Certain sections of humanity have a greater consciousness of the “money mind” than the average person would give them credit for. Because they were persecuted in all countries, the Jews have always had to carry their worldly possessions on their persons, and have gradually developed a “money mind” which can easily tap the consciousness of the world of “finance,” as well as the world of “precious stones.”
If the occult student can tap the atmosphere of a great financier, he will find out much about the powers attending the concentration and the development of “money sense.” A friend of noble birth once confided to me his financial difficulties and I afterwards discussed his affairs with a very well known American financier. Inside of five minutes this man had formulated a plan which would place my friend upon his feet, and I was able to bring a meeting between them.
As the worthy Yoga student progresses in his practice, the initiate will ask one of these great lords (specialists in their own lines) to assist him in recovering from within, the knowledge of his past achievements gained through many lives on this earth.
In every good deed, or intention of doing good to others, we have the backing of nature’s consciousness, but those people who wage war against nature lose their powers of memory. It is a curious fact that in primitive countries where all natural life is respected and loved, the natives have phenomenal memories, which is a cause of great surprise to visitors from the Western world.
In order to obtain nature’s “push” for good fortune and success, man must have an honest intention to do good without any pressure of individuality and personality behind it—in other words he must be impersonal in his honesty and good intent. But in any such action he should ask the Lord God of Truth within him for wisdom; mere personality plus goodness and honesty often turns out a “white haired boy” in the family!
Personality should enter as little as possible into any good action. A man may say to his child, “I am giving you this because you have been a good boy,” but this father is pushing his personality into the boy’s atmosphere, which nine times out of ten brings fear to birth in the child’s mind. Love only comes from the giving of freedom to others, for it cannot be chained to the personality of a man or woman. Love should make no demands, for fear approaches when freedom is restricted. It is unselfish love given with no demands which links people together, as married people would find out if they gave each other their freedom, and were honest with each other.
