CHAPTER XII

MASTERS OF WISDOM

"The object of all religion is alike. All men seek their beloved, and all the world is love's dwelling. Why talk of a mosque or church ? ”—Hafiz.

"There is one body and one spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father in all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all." EPHESIANS.

"If the Creator dwells in tabernacles, whose residence is The Universe?"-HINDU (KABIR).

IN old days students of the occult, and all who sought to pursue the Path of Spiritual Attainment, were assured that at the psychological moment the Masters would make their presence known to their Chelas or pupils.

Many of us, years ago, gave up all hope of seeing the face of the Masters in this incarnation. Possibly, probably, in their wisdom, they were fully alive to our existence, and even carefully noted our progress. Perhaps we held spiritual commune with them on" the other side," whilst our physical bodies slept on this side, but to meet face to face in the flesh! No! that was, alas! more than we could possibly expect, no matter how earnest and assiduous we were.

But gradually, of late, it has begun to dawn

upon many of us that we were wrong. We have met after all in this life. We have actually conversed with a Master, or Masters, though we may not have realised this at the time.

As a matter of fact, the bodily presence of certain Masters who walk this earth keeps us as a human family from utter despair and annihilation.

It is owing to the fact that each one of those Divine teachers have numerous followers and disciples that the light of God and the teachings of Christ are kept alive in a world that definitely rejects both.

Those Masters who function at the present time on earth are undoubtedly of different grades. They stand at different altitudes, and on different rays, and there are quite a number who can be named, and who are physically accessible to mankind.

I will only deal with two by name. That number will suffice to point the moral of this chapter.

No one who has had personal touch with Rabindranath Tagore, and who understands the spiritual meaning of the word "Master," can doubt that he is one. Even to the uninstructed he is recognised at once to be no ordinary man. His following is enormous and profoundly devoted. His influence literally extends all over the earth. In 1913 he was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature, which is of the value of £7,500.

There are great writers of fiction whose works travel all over the world to be read by millions. Such writers have no influence whatever upon the lives of their readers. They are but absorbing pastimes.

The works of Tagore penetrate to the deepest sources of those who are ready for the Divine baptism of such inspired teaching. They are vitally alive with a quality which has no descriptive word in language. They go deep down and stir the silent, hidden pool of the soul, and open out the way to infinity.

"At the immortal touch of thy hands my little heart loses it limits in joy, and gives birth to utterance ineffable."

It is this birth to "utterance ineffable" that Tagore brings to light in his students. He is the way, the truth and the life. A Master and leader of men who has become so pure a channel that the light supernal can flow through in unimpeded glory and power for a whole world to bathe in.

His gospel is love, and all creation is included in his songs, yet there is nothing alien, nothing strange in them. The common kinship of men, the universal Father Motherhood of God seems sweetly natural to us in his words, for the meaning of them is purely spiritual. They are charged with boundless vital growth, which carries a message of individual meaning and value to each human soul.

The followers of Rabindranath Tagore can now be counted by the million, and such students know that for them there can be no going back to what they formerly were. Their outlook on life has totally changed. They have drunk from the waters of life eternal, and a dozen of them scattered about in a hall filled with a thousand souls could create an atmosphere powerful enough to sway the entire audience. The vibrations of the mind are very much stronger than those of words.

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Gitanjali" was given to me by a nursing sister, my little sister," in 1918, when I was lying ill and depressed. For ten consecutive nights I never slept, but I walked with the Immortals. I waited for sleep to fall upon the household, and then, in the silvery silence of lovely summer nights Rabindranath Tagore led me in a very ecstasy of joy straight to the feet of God.

I abandoned myself to what I realised was no ordinary experience, and as I read the Master's words I became conscious of his presence. I knew that he was one of those Saviours who are permitted to use on earth some of the stupendous powers possessed in the spirit world. I recognised one who works on exalted levels, yet who keeps a tabernacle on earth. A Master of Wisdom incarnate amongst us.

We now know that such men, living but perfected, exalted, immeasurably above ourselves, are no figment of the imagination. We can testify to them through personal experience. They teach us through the subtle spirit of their literature, which is so ordered as to be acceptable only to those who are ready, and sufficiently advanced to recognise its depths; and though, in comparison with the mass of humanity, their numbers are infinitesimal, the mental atmosphere they create is a stupendous force permeating the stoutest defences.

I was much struck by an example of this which occurred lately in this vicinity. It was an incident of really no importance, but straws show the direction of the wind.

A well attended anti-Socialist meeting was being

held, and addressed by two popular public men. As every one is aware, such meetings are largely attended by those in sympathy with the speakers. The public prefer to hear its own opinion endorsed. This meeting had gone strongly with the platform, till, towards the close, a few words threw a cold douche upon the audience. I was not present, but I have not yet ceased to hear echoes of what took place. The words, emphasised by the local press, were reported as follows:

"Personally I don't care how soon Germany and the German people are swept off the face of the earth."

The words have no significance for me, because I knew they were uttered by a young soul. One does not blame a child of two years old because it is not ten years old, but their effect was quite out of all proportion to their cause which arose out of a silly spirit of revenge against a vanquished enemy.

Now, to understand the psychology of this incident, it must be remembered that, with very few exceptions, every man and woman in the hall was strongly anti-German; yet one of those strong anti-German supporters of the speaker described the effect of those words " as if it had rained ice." Another said: "It was deeply offensive."

Why? Surely such sentiments were akin to the audience?

The words were offensive, not because anyone had a soft spot in their hearts for the Germans, but because a number had a soft spot in their hearts for Christianity, and the statement was so coldly, deliberately hostile to the Christ.