PSYCHOSOPHY
PART II
GIVEN THROUGH
Mrs. Cora L.V.
Richmond
BY HER GUIDES
_________
Published
By Mrs. Cora
L.V. Richmond 1888 &
1915
_________
REVEALMENTS ON OUR SPIRITUAL GROWTH IN OUR WORLD
FUTURE--TOWARDS
A THE NEW CYCLE / DISPENSATION
___________
TENTH LESSON
ANGELS OF THE SHADOW
Since Lucifer the "Light Bearer" is also the synonym of the
"fallen
Son of the Morning," who shows (by contrast) the meaning of the Shadow,
so there are those who walk the earth to illustrate in its uttermost
degree
that contrast.
If Selfishness must be inordinate Self-seeking, there
must be
those to demonstrate to its extreme limit the results of such self
seeking.
Lessons by contrasts or opposites are often employed by
those philanthropic
teachers and societies who being a little in advance of those whom they
would teach are seeking to "reform the world," or to reform those who
need
it in any given direction.
Thus a "Reformed Inebriate" is chosen by them to illustrate
and elucidate
the beauties of Temperance; the "Reformed criminal," to illustrate the
value of a life free from criminal transgressions. It is often noted
that
the children of drunkards are total abstainers; and it is argued by
those
endeavoring to solve the psychological mysteries of "Social Science,"
that
the example of the drunken parent produces revulsion, disgust,
in
the offspring.
To know the exact value of the "lessons by contrast," there
must be
the extremes. As in nature, heat and cold, light and darkness, are only
perceived as related to and contrasted with each other, and both are
relative;
so in the states of human shadow, lack of moral victory there could be
no shadow but for the light; time, sense, material conditions eclipse
the
light; but there can be no moral shadow unless there is moral Light:
The
Spiritual Perception, a priori, of that which is good.
When Self seeking reaches the degree of inordinate Greed,
Covetousness,
avarice, there seems to be one way in which to show these in all their
hideousness: The Uttermost degree:
The Miser, loving gold for its own sake, not even for the
Power it can
bring;
The Avaricious one Coveting all the wealth that can be
accumulated,
for whatever poor excuse can be offered; these must remain examples or
illustrations of the Shadow state--.
You will bear in mind that "The root of all evil" has been
supposed
to be gold, or its equivalent--.
When Lycurgas fashioned laws for the benefit of his people,
his fellow
countrymen, expurgating gold (or money) from those laws, and hence from
the country, then making his country-men promise not to alter the laws
until his return, expatriated himself thereby securing to his loved
people
the great boon of freedom from the power of wealth, he failed to
recognize
that not gold but the love of gold is the root of evil, or Love of the
Power of Wealth; and that could not be expunged from the hearts and
minds
of those who were not ready--had not out-grown it.
Lycurgus returned not to his own country, but Love of
Wealth-- Gold--Money--Power
of riches, did return.
Neither sublime Philosopher, Stoic nor Spartan hero could
check the
Self love of the Greeks. Croesus is the typical illustration of the
extreme
individual possession of wealth; but the wealth of Croesus would seem
like
poverty compared with that of some of the modern
Giants of Finance.
These Titans may be counted on one's fingers:- i. e., the
absolute Kings
of Finance, who never know failure.
When the state of a nation or the entirety of the world
of advancing
people, is such that pursuit and possession of wealth is the all
absorbing
theme in the midst of them, on Boards of Trade, Stock Exchanges,
Commercial
centers,--whatever may be the name of the place--HE- appears --The
Titan
of Finance--who never knows defeat. Those who follow in his train, who
attach themselves to his Financial chariot, who obey his mandate, may
also
share a small portion of his success; others, seeking to imitate him,
fall
by the way and are often crushed beneath his car, a veritable car of
juggernaut.
Yet there he is: beneath his touch, the stored treasures of
the earth
are fashioned into wealth, power, beauty, and, oftentimes,
Transportation
by sea and land; Ships, railways, electric appliances, unfold as if by
magic--; the work of the Inventor is made by him to yield its results
in
the mechanical appliances of the world. Cities blossom out with beauty
and grow more horrible with vice and degradation; Churches and
Universities
are founded--and (so called) "Education" goes on apace. Every boy and
youth
is told, "See what the Titan has done, go and do thou likewise."
And they try.
There is nothing in wealth, PER SE,
to indicate
shadow or light. "Finance" is but a name--"Money" a commodity, but
Greed, and its kindred traits, use these agencies to carry
forward
their uncontrolled desires--The exchange of commodities is easier
through
the medium of exchange, which, in and of itself, represents
only
the value of the things exchanged,----or acquired. When gold (or other
medium of exchange) becomes the object of pursuit, then may follow the
acts that lead to self-aggrandizement and oppression of others through
wealth. The traits of character, qualities, or dispositions, are the
same,
whether land, stocks, or other possessions, are sought. Whatever
represents
wealth, also represents Power in the commercial world; and
frequently
in society, church and State.
Side by side, connected with the same gigantic enterprise,
some times
may be seen an Angel of Light--and an Angel of Shadow, both intent on
bearing
forward the great work in which they are interested, but with such
contrast
of methods, of personal motive and aspiration, or intention, as would
startle
the beholder, could one become illumined to see.
Against the background or foil of greed, avarice, love of
personal gain,
the qualities of the Angel of Light would shine resplendently.
We have one in mind: when the officers of his Company were
narrow, miserly,
not inclined to be public spirited, he would say: "Gentlemen, yours is
one way of procedure, and possibly of success, but it would seem from
another
point of view that this would be the better way." Then he would proceed
to point out the larger, broader, better method until they were almost
constrained to think they had proposed it.
He would--when a poor family or group of people were
proceeding to find
and found a far Western home that they were seeking, advise such rates
of transportation as would make the "Company" say:
"ruinous"---"impossible";
then in a short time the "Company" would follow his plan and, of
course,
claim the credit. The Shadow was there always lowering, growling like
muffled
thunder but ready to share in all the advantages, accruing because of
the
presence of the Angel. The weak, the weary, the helpless, were helped.
And there came prosperity to the "Company" because of the wisdom of
this
one who was its heart as well as its brain.
To earn one's "daily bread," means to earn all that is
needed to keep
one from being a burden upon others, and to feed, clothe and shelter
those
for whom he is responsible; it means more: "Man shall not live by bread
alone," means that the mind must be clothed and fed; must have
opportunity
to obtain the requisite training for expression of that which is
within,
must have access to books that express the best thought of others, and
the leisure to read them. There must also be opportunity to obtain the
"Bread of Life," the food of the Spirit that daily requires sustenance
(spiritual) from inner and higher sources, and from sympathetic
association
with human lives that are in advance and in accord with one's own life.
Whatever hinders or prevents these fulfilments is in the nature of
"shadow"----"barrier,"
the result of ignorance and selfishness--and must be removed by the
enlightenment
that is the result of ages of growth and unfoldment from within the
Soul.
And the Angels show the way through the Shadow into the
Light.
But for the sublime conviction from within the Soul that
ultimately
all the conditions of war, of unspeakable crimes against humanity, of
horrible
acts perpetrated not only by uncontrolled persons, but by nations, WILL
be overcome by the individual and, thus by nations--one would surely be
constrained to believe that evil" is something more than a relative
condition---or
"the absence of good." We know, however, that the possibilities of the
Angel are the possibilities, nay, the ultimate attainment, of all.
THE ANGELS OF SORROW.
Sorrow is the Shadow of which the Light is joy. For human
beings it
is, apparently, the only gateway to true joy: because the supreme
victory
(Self-Conquest) lies that way. Other worlds and other states there are
where such is not the way.
"The Man of Sorrow acquainted with grief," is the Ultimate
Illustration.
Angels there must be to show as well as guide the way through this
Shadow,
this one mysterious and undefinable Shadow, into the light. People
mourn
and murmur over trivial things; the petty annoyances of daily life, the
small "losses" or imaginary ills of human states, things that are but
incident
to, human experience. When the Great Trial comes--the Supreme
Sorrow--how small, how insignificant seem all the previous
things
of which such complaint was made!
The Angel has been that way. The great, the wise, the good
have trodden
the thorn path, ah, but they passed on and through into
the
light!
One's grief is and must be one's own---"to tread the wine
press above."
To know, however, that others have been in that Valley-- have pierced
their
feet with its thorns, and have watered its blossoms with their tears,
have
breathed their sighs unto the branches of its Tree of Life--this, this
is wonderful!
First grief is like the child-sorrow because of a broken
toy, a disappointed
wish of pleasure, a city of block houses overthrown by a careless foot.
Grown up children have no greater seeming sorrows than those of human
childhood--yet
the child and the one of larger growth survive.
When the Angel of Sorrow walks in human ways, takes on the
conditions
and obligations of earthly life, illustrates that even the uttermost
of human ills can be borne, how great is the lesson !
The one who is complaining because of small ills or
disappointments,
is confronted with the measure of endurance, fortitude, patience that
the
one experiencing the Supreme Sorrow must possess, and with the
knowledge
that others have walked in deeper shadows and have gone through
darkness
into the Light.
No night time was ever set aside by the Infinite because of
the human fear
of the darkness. On and on the hours march until the day breaks and the
shadows disappear. And O the glory of the Night of Stars! of the
madonna
of the heavens, the pale, patient moon!
All sorrows lead unto the Light. Angel of Sorrow, bow
thy head,
shed thy silent tears; we learn from thee the lesson at last, at last.
And we know that without thee there could come unto the children of
Earth
no triumphant joy.
Useless repining, complaining because of trivial pain or
discomfort,
must pass; and step by step the awakening knowledge that all
selfish
grief is born of that self aggrandizement that would have every
obstacle
removed, every thorn brushed away from one's pathway! And if the
smaller
griefs are false and born of selfish desire, may not the seemingly
larger
ones also have their root in self-seeking, in desire to avoid the
difficulties
that beset one, or the conditions that are inevitable, instead of
Overcoming
them? O lives of Earth, O spirits of Mortals, come, come through the
darkness--the struggle--the mourning--into the light. Is thy way
beset with thorns? Bravely press on and put them aside with thine own
strong
hands. Are thy human hands feeble? Then let thy Spirit of Courage come
to thy aid. Have earthly things faded from thy grasp? Then gird on thy
strength and press forward to higher things anew. Have friends proven
false?
Then know that real friendship is never false. Hath
Love
betrayed? Then know that it had no real meaning of Love; for as
enduring
as eternity is the Affection that is true. "When half gods go,
the
gods arrive'---aye; and when the false is proven such by its failure to
survive, know that the real, the true, the eternal, awaiteth
thee.
Selfish sorrow is akin to Selfish pleasure;
both have
their origin in lack of sympathy with or lack of appreciation of
others.
While it is true that in the highest sense one cannot
sympathize with
the trouble or sorrow of another unless one has experienced a similar
grief,
it is also true that through such sympathy with sorrow of others one
rises
to the Conquest--over selfish brooding over one's own troubles.
One rises from kneeling on the sod beneath which the form of a
loved
one is buried, to realize the living presence of the beloved
just
so soon as one turns to the other mourner and softly whispers, "I know
how it seems, but look above and within, not beneath"--"Sorrow is for a
night, but joy cometh in the morning." Psalms 30--5.
The sacred remembrance and love for a Beloved One who has
passed from
Mortal Sight becomes a sanctification, a hallowed and divine Mentor to
be and do the highest and the best.
"I never had a sorrow that I could spare," said one of
Earth's greatest
and noblest men. And well we know that the "Crown of Thorns" is the way
to real victory. End
..
Liliae Praelucent Telis ~ Lilies Outshine Weapons of Wars