Monday, August 14, 2006

How Many Gods Are There?

GOD??

IF we make a careful and unbiased study of the Sacred Books of the world we discover that the
concept of God among the ancient Chinese was similar in many respects to that of the Hindus, Buddhists and Zoroastrians.

The God of the ancient Egyp­tians is not opposed to the Christian's idea of the Great First Cause. One is astounded at the numerous points of agree­ment.

Surely, the time has arrived to cast aside the points of disagreement-to open our eyes and realize that we all are worshiping the same God, since there is but one God to worship.

The following is a composite, condensed definition of God-a summary of the wisdom of the ages; and the student must agree that it is not only wonderfully complete but inspiring-and naturally so, since the wise men of old who wrote the Sacred Books were themselves inspired.

From the standpoint of the absolute, or in the absolute sense, God is beyond what is known and manifested, being unsearchable, changeless, perfect, neither seen nor heard, and eternally unconditioned and undivided. God is beginningless and endless, without form and devoid of passions; He, or rather It, is too great to be fully defined by any combination of words, and for that reason is self-described.

All the Sacred Books declare that God is One; the First and the Last; from which nothing can be excluded, and to which nothing can be added.

God is omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient, our Father and our Mother. God as Mother is the Primal Substance and the Seed of all things-yes, existence itself.

God is Breath of Breath, Spirit, Primeval Fire, Creator or Generator; and being the one great Universal, Supreme Eternally 1. "Realize that thou art `that'-Brahm, which is the Unconditioned, Undivided ces­sation of all differentiation, which never changes its nature and is as unmoved as a waveless ocean, eternally uncondi­tioned and undivided."
-RAJA YOGA PHILOSOPHY,
Shrimat Shankaracharya's
Crest Jewel o f 1.llisdoyn, p. 136.

Changeless Soul, all things are threaded on God like pearls on a string. The universe is spread in God's vast Form; and the Infinite One is an Ocean into which all things flow-the Supreme Treasure House.

God is Lord of Heaven; and, being omniscient (all­knowledge) Mind, of necessity, is of God's very Essence. This Mind is One Mind, since God is One; the All-Conserv­ing Mind, the Creative Mind, Mind of Mind.

God is not only Life, but Life of Life, Light, Truth, Love and Good.

We cannot conceive of a universe without a Law to gov­ern it; and this Law is the Good Law, the Royal Law, the Perfect Law of Liberty, the Law of Love, the Law of the Spirit of Life-an Originating and All-comprehending, Eternal Principle.

There is no variableness in God since He is eternal, im­mortal and infinite; nevertheless He is that from which every transformation arises.

The foregoing is a digest, or terse account, of the ex­cerpts from the Sacred Books which appear as follows: This concise description will give the reader a preview of the quotations which follow.
Excerpts from the Sacred Books on the Fifty-Seven Attributes of God.

"And also the Strength of Israel will not lie or repent; for he is not a man, that he should repent."
-I SAMUEL 15:29.

"Forever, 0 Lord, thy word is settled in heaven.
"Thy faithfulness is unto all generations: thou hast
established the earth, and it abideth.
"They continue this day according to thine ordinances:
for all are thy servants."-PSALMS 119:89-91.

"The Tao, considered as unchanging, has no name."
-THE TEXTS OF TAOISM,
The Tao Teh King, Part I, p. 74.
"Immovable [is] God alone, and rightly [He] alone; for He Himself is in Himself, and by Himself, and round Himself, completely full and perfect.
"God, then, hath [ever] been unchanging, and ever, in like fashion, with Himself bath the Eternity consisted,­having within itself Cosmos ingenerate, which we correctly call [God] Sensible.
"Of that [transcendent] Deity this Image bath been made,-Cosmos, the imitator of Eternity."
-THRICE-GREATEST HERMES,
The Perfect Sermon, Vol. II, p. 368.
3. "We do not recognize (Brahma as any thing percept­ible); therefore we do not know how to teach him (his nature to a disciple). It is even different from what is known (from the manifested universe; if you then say, it must be the unmanifested universe, no) it is also beyond what is not known (to the senses, it is beyond the unmanifested universe)."
-THE KENA OR TALAVAKARA UPANISHAD OF THE SAMA VEDA, pp. 668-9.
"I am the Lord, I change not."
-MALACHI 3:6.
"Was that which was produced before Heaven and Earth a thing? That which made things and gave to each its char­acter was not itself a thing."
-THE TEXTS OF TAOISM,
The Writings o f Kwang-Tze, Part II, p. 72.


"And, Thou, Lord, in the beginning halt laid the foun­dation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of thine hands:
"They shall perish; but thou remainest; and they all shall wax old as doth a garment;
"And as a vesture shalt thou fold them up, and they shall be changed: but thou art the same, and thy years shall
not fail." -HEBREWS 1:10-12.
"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord.
"For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts." -ISAIAH 55:8, 9.
"Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; and his greatness is unsearchable." -PSALMS 145:3.
"0 Lord that dwellest eternally, whose are the highest heavens, whose chambers are in the air, whose throne is beyond imagination, whose glory inconceivable;
Hear the voice of thy servant, give ear to thy creature's petition, and attend to my words!"
-THE APOCRYPHA AND PSEUDEPIGRAPHA
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT,
IV EZRA 8:20, 21, 24.
Vol. II, pp. 594-5.
5. "-No man hath seen God at any time."
-I JOHN 4:12.
11 'The Tao cannot be heard; what can be heard is not It. The Tao cannot be seen; what can be seen is not It. The Tao cannot be expressed in words; what can be expressed in words is not It. Do we know the Formless which gives form to form? In the same way the Tao does not admit of
being named.' "
-THE SACRED BOOKS OF THE EAST, VOL. XL.
The Texts of Taoism.
The Writings o f Kwang-Tze, Part II, p. 69.


"Behold, I go forward, but he is not there; and back­ward, but I cannot perceive him:
"On the left hand, where he doth work, but I cannot behold him: he hideth himself on the right hand, that I can­not see him." -JOB 23:8, 9.
"The King of kings, and Lord of lords;
"`Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honour and power everlasting. Amen." -I TIMOTHY 6:15, 16.


"Not in the sight abides his form, none beholds him by the eye. Those who know him dwelling in the heart (in the
Neither Nor H
Unsearchable 4. "Canst thou by searching find out God? canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection?
"It is as high as heaven
"The measure thereof is larger broader than the sea."
than the earth, and
-JoB 11:7-9.
ether of the heart) by the heart (pure intellect) and mind, become immortal."
-,SWETASWATARA UPANISHAD, p. 396.
"But verily thou art not able to behold Me with these throe eyes; the divine eye I give unto thee."
-THE Bhagavad-Gita, p. 113.
6. " `The Perfect Tao is very recondite, and by nothing else but Itself can it be described. Since ye wish to hear about it, ye cannot do so by the hearing of the ear:-that which eludes both the ears and eyes is the True Tao; what can be heard and seen perishes, and only this survives. There is (much) that you have not yet learned, and especially you have not acquired this! Till you have learned what the ears do not hear, how can the Tao be spoken about at all?"'
-THE SACRED BOOKS OF THE EAST, Vol. XL.
The Texts o f Taoism. Yu Shu King,
or the Classic o f the Pivot o f Jade, Part II, p. 266.
"As for God, his way is perfect: the word of the Lord is tried: he is a buckler to all those that trust in him." -PSALMS 18:30.
Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God."
-PSALMS 90:2.
"Our God is a living God.
"His power fills the universe. He was before the world saw light. He will be when the world exists no more. He formed thee; with His Spirit thou breathest.
8. "Lao the Master said, The Great Tao has no bodily form, but It produced and nourishes heaven and earth. The Great Tao has no passions' , but It causes the sun and moon to revolve as they do.
"The Great Tao has no name, but It effects the growth and maintenance of all things.
"I do not know its name, but I make an effort, and call It the Tao."
-THE SACRED BOOKS OF THE EAST, Vol. XL.
The Texts o f Taoism.
Khing Kang King, or the Classic o f Purity, Part II, p. 249.

"God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: bath he said, and shall he not do it? or bath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?"
-NUMBERS 23:19.

"And the Father himself, which bath sent me, bath borne witness of me. Ye have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape."
9. "One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all."
-EPHESIANS 4:6.

"Know that the Lord he is God; there is none else be­side him."
-DEUTERONOMY 4:35.

"There is but one Brahma which is Truth's self. It is from ignorance of that One that god-heads have been con­ceived to be diverse."
-MAHABHARATA,
Udyoga Parva, Vol. III, p. 145.
"''Passions', that is, feelings, affections, as in the first of the thirty-nine Articles,"
F. 2s(1.
His bow is of fire. His arrows are of flame."
-THE TALMUD.
Without Forn Devoid of Passions
Per feet, if-described
ginningless 7. " `There is no end or beginning to the Tao.' "
nd Endless The Texts o f Taoism,
-THE SACRED BOOKS OF THE EAST, Vol. XXXIX.
The Writings of Kwang-Tze, Part I, p. 382.
-JOHN 5:37.
One

"The Atman, which is the substratum of the ego in man, is one: and therefore different from the physical bodies which on the other hand are many. How can this body then be the Atman?"
-RAJA YOGA PHILOSOPHY, Shrimat Shankaracharya's Aprokshanubhuti, p. 8.
"As the sun, manifesting all parts of space, above, be­tween, and below, shines resplendent, so over-rules the all­glorious adorable God, one alone, all that exists in likeness with its cause."
-~WETASWATARA UPANISHAD, pp. 397-8.
"The Oneness being Source and Root of all, is in all things as Root and Source. `'Without [this] Source is naught; whereas the Source [Itself] is from naught but Itself."
-THRICE-GREATEST HERMES,
Corpus Hermeticum IV (V),
The Cup or Monad, Vol. II, p. 90.
"When he perceiveth the diversified existence of beings as rooted in One, and spreading forth from it, then he reacheth the eternal."
-THE BHAGAVAD-GiTa, p. 139.
10. "Thus saith the Lord the King of Israel, and his redeemer the Lord of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God."
-ISAIAH 44:6.
"I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty."
"In the essence of Suchness (God), there is neither any­thing which has to be excluded, nor anything which has to be added."
-THE AWAKENING OF FAITH, p. 57.
12. "The Lord God omnipotent reigneth." -REVELATION 19:16.
"I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect."
-GENESIS 17:1.
"Holy art Thou, more powerful than all power. Holy art Thou, transcending all pre-eminence."
-THRICE-GREATEST HERMES,
Poemandres, the Shepherd o f Men, Vol. II, p. 19.
"The energy of God is Power that naught can e'er sur­pass, a Power with which no one can make comparison of any human thing at all, or any thing divine."
-THRICE-GREATEST HERMES,
Mind Unto Hermes, Vol. II, p. 178.
"Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence?
"If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.
"If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea;
"Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me."
-PSALMS 139:7-10.
Omni
The First and the Last
13. "That they should seek the Lord, if happily they might omn feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us."
-ACTS 17:27.
-REVELATION 1:8.
Nothing 11. "I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for
Excluded,
Nothing Added ever: nothing can be put to it, nor any thing taken from it." -ECCLESIASTES 3:4.
"May the one God, who, like the spider, through his own nature, encases himself with many threads, which are produced by the first (cause, Pradhana, nature), grant us identity with Brahma,­
"The one God, who is concealed in all beings, who per­vades all, who is the inner soul of all beings, the ruler of all actions, who dwells in all beings, the witness, who is mere thinking, and without qualities."
-SwETASWATARA UPANISHAD, p. 401.
"Whoever knows the God who is without commence­ment, without end, who within this impervious (world) is the creator of the universe, who is of an infinite form, the one penetrates of the universe, becomes liberated from all bonds."
-SwETAS`WATARA UPANISHAD, p. 399.
Omniscient 14. "In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge."
-COLOSSIANS 2:3.
"Fear them not therefore: for there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; and hid, that shall not be known."
-MATTHEW 10:26.

"0 Lord, thou hast searched me, and known me.
"Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off.
"Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it."
-PSALMS 139:1, 2, 6.
"The Master said, `The Tao does not exhaust itself in what is greatest, nor is it ever absent from what is least; and therefore it is to be found complete and diffused in all things. How wide is its universal comprehension! How deep is its unfathomableness! The embodiment of its attri­
butes in benevolence and righteousness is but a small result of its spirit-like (working); but it is only the perfect man who can determine this. The perfect man has (the charge of) the world;-is not the charge great?"'
-THE SACRED BOOKS OF THE EAST, `7Ol. XXXIX,
The Texts of Taoism.
The Writings o f Kwang-Tze, Part I, p. 342.
"So there is nothing that cannot be perceived by it, [that is, the world of relativity is submerged in the oneness of Suchness] (God). Thence we assign to Suchness this quality, the universal illumination of the universe."
-ACVaGHOSHA'S AWAKENING OF FAITH, p. 97.
"Helping and guarding, guarding behind and guarding in front, Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, proves an and°­ceivable spy and watcher for the man to whom he comes to help with all the strength of his soul, he of the ten thousand spies, the powerful, all-knowing, undeceivable god."

"But I think thus in my heart:
" `Should the evil thoughts of the earthly man be a hun­dred times worse, they would not rise so high as the good thoughts of the heavenly Mithra;
. " `Should the heavenly wisdom in the earthly man be a hundred times greater, it would not rise so high as the heavenly wisdom in the heavenly Mithra."'
-THE SACRED BOOKS OF THE EAST, Vol. XXIII,
The l end-A vesta.
The Yasts and SiYOZahs, Part II, pp. 131 and 146-7.
15. "Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name."
-MATTHEW 6:9.
"Doubtless thou art our father, though Abraham be ignorant of us, and Israel acknowledge us not: thou, 0 Lord,
Mother
Trinity
art our father, our redeemer; thy name is from everlasting." -ISAIAH 63:16.

"This is the Monad which is incomprehensible or un­knowable; this it is which has no Seal (or Mark), in which are all Seals; which is blessed for ever and ever. This is the eternal Father; this the ineffable, unthinkable, incompre­hensible, untranscendible Father; this it is in which the All become joyous."
-FRAGMENTS OF A FAITH FORGOTTEN) Codex Brucianus, pp. 549, 550.
16. "I the Father of this universe, the Mother, the Sup­porter, the Grandsire, the Holy One to be known, the Word of Power."
-THE BHAGAVAD-GITA, p. 98.
"Thus it is that the Tao produces (all things), nourishes them, brings them to their full growth, nurses them, com­pletes them, matures them, maintains them, and overspreads them."
-THE SACRED BOOKS OF THE EAST, Vol. XXXIX, The Texts o f Taoism.
The Tao Teh King, Part I, p. 94.
17. "For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one."
-I JOHN 5:7.
"The Tao produced One; One produced Two; Two pro­
duced Three; Three produced All things."
-THE SACRED BOOKS OF THE EAST, Vol. XXXIX.
The Texts of Taoism.
The Tao Te1a King, Part I, p. 85.
" `Hail, My brethren and My children. Let there be with you the peace of My Father, which is tiline, which I
received from My Father, so that I might make it to remain with you for all time.' And He breathed on their faces and said, `Receive ye the Holy Spirit.' "
-COPTIC APOCRYPHA,
The Book o f the Resurrection o f Jesus Christ,
By Bartholomew the Apostle, p. 205.
"They are even father, mother and child; mind is even the father, speech the mother, and life the child." -BRIHAD ARANYAKA UPANISHAD, p. 222.
"The Mahayana has a triple significance. "The first is the greatness of quintessence. "The second is the greatness of attributes. "The third is the greatness of activity."
-AgVAGHOSHA'S AWAKENING OF FAITH, pp. 53-4.
"The Mind of the Father uttered [the Word] that all should be divided [or cut] into three. His Will nodded assent, and at once all things were so divided.

"He who governs all things with the Mind of the eternal.
"In every cosmos there shineth [or is manifested] a Triad, of which a Monad is source.
"All things are served in the Gulphs of the Triad. "From this Triad the Father mixed every spirit.
"Arming both mind and soul with triple Might." -ECHOES FROM THE GNOSIS,
The ChaldrPan Oracles, Vol. VIII, pp. 51-54.

Seed of All Things
18. "From Him is the seed of all things, and it is He that upholds the Earth with all her mobile and immobile creatures."
-MAHABHARATA,
Canti Parva, Vol. VIII, p. 883.
"And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bear­ing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat."
-GENESIS 1:29.
"For he will finish the work, and cut it short in right­eousness: because a short work will the Lord make upon the earth.
"And as Esaias said before, Except the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, we had been as Sodoma, and been made like unto Gomorrha."
-ROMANS 9:28, 29.
("Now he that ministereth seed to the sower both minis­ter bread for your food, and multiply your seed sown, and increase the fruits of your righteousness; )
"Being enriched in everything to all bountifulness, which causeth through us thanksgiving to God."
-II CORINTHIANS 9:10, 11.
19. "The Atman is permanent, eternal and therefore exis­tence itself."
-RAJA YOGA PHILOSOPHY,
Shrimat Shankaracharya's Aprokshanubhuti, p. 6.
"God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands;
"Neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things."
20. "A11 is the effect of all, one universal Essence."
-BRIHAD ARANYAKA UPANISHAD, p. 208.
21. "This soul is Brahma, and stands as the soul and sub­stance of the universe."
-RAJA YOGA PHILOSOPHY,
Shrimat Shankaracharya's AProkshanubhuti, p. 13.
"I wisdom dwell with prudence, and find out knowledge of witty inventions.
"My fruit is better than gold, yea, than fine gold; and
my revenue than choice silver.
"I lead in the way of righteousness, in the midst of the
paths of judgment:
"That I may cause those that love me to inherit sub­
stance; and I will fill their treasures."
-PROVERBS 8:12, 19-21.
22-23. "0 Primal Origin of my origination; Thou Primal Primal Substance of my substance; First Breath of breath, the substance breath that is in me." Breath of
-ECHOES FROM THE GNOSIS, Breath
A Mithriac Ritual, Vol. VI, Pp. 18, 19.
"The hand of the Lord was upon me, and carried me out in the spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones.
"Thus saith the Lord God unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live:
"And I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live; and ye shall know that I am the Lord.
"Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, pro­phesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord
Universal Essence
Substance Existence Itself
-ACTS 17:24, 25.
God; Come from the four winds, 0 breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.
"So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them and they lived, and stood upon their feet, an exceeding great army."
-EZEKIEL 37:1, 5, 6, 9, 10.
"But bast lifted up thyself against the Lord of heaven; ... and thou bast praised the gods of silver, and gold, of brass, iron, wood and stone, which see not, nor hear, nor know: and the God in whose hand thy breath is, and whose are all thy ways, bast thou not glorified."
-DANIEL 5:23.
24. "God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must wor­ship him in spirit and in truth."
"Of this same Spirit, of which I have already spoken many times, all things have need; for that it raises up all things, each in its own degree, and makes them live, and gives them nourishment."
-THRICE-GREATEST HERMES,
Cyril o f Alexandria,
Fragment XVIIZ, p. 259.
25. "The Lord, whose fire is in Zion, and his furnace in Jerusalem."
-ISAIAH 31:9.
"But who may abide the day of his coming~ and who shall stand when he appeareth% for he is like refiner's fire, and like fullers' sope."
-MALACHI 3:2.
"The Third Utterance (Logos)
"Hear me, give ear to me - ... Creator of the Light; 0 Holder of the Keys; Inbreather of the Fire; Fire-hearted
One, whose Breath gives Light; ... 0 Lord of Light, whose Body is of Fire."
26. "All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made."
"I have made the earth, and created man upon it: I even my hands, have stretched out the heavens, and all their host have I commanded."
"For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him."
"For, lo, he that formeth the mountains, and createth the wind, and declareth unto man what is his thought, that mak­eth the morning darkness, and treadeth upon the high place of the earth, The Lord, The God of hosts, is his name."
-AMOS 4:13.
"Indeed, I have no hope that the Creator of the whole o Greatness, the Father and the Lord of all the things (tha are), could ever have one name. He who cannot b named, or rather He who can be called by every name.
"For He, indeed, is One and All.
"He, then, alone, yet all-complete in the fertility c either sex, ever with child of His own Will, doth ever brie to birth whatever He bath willed to procreate.
"His Will is the All-goodness, which also is the Goon ness of all things, born from the nature of His ova Divinity."
-THRICE-GREATEST HERMES,
The Perfect SeYynon, Vol. II, p. 344.
-ECHOES FROM THE GNOSIS,
A Mithriac Ritual, Vol. VI, p. 25.
-JOHN 1:3.
-ISAIAH 45:12.
Spirit
-JOHN 4:24.
-COLOSSIANS 1:16.
Fire

Generator
"His being is conceiving of all things and making (them). He ever makes all things, in heaven, in air, in earth, in deep, in all of cosmos, in every part that is and that is not of everything. For there is naught in all the world that is not He."
-THRICE-GREATEST HERMES,
Corpus Hermeticum V. (VI.) Though Unmani f est God is Most Manifest.
Vol. II, p. 104.
27. "l am the Generator of all; all evolves from Me." -THE BHAGAVAD-GITA, P. 104.
bless all the work of thine hand: and thou shalt lend unto many nations, and thou shalt not borrow." -DEUTERONOMY 28:12.
"He hath made the earth by his power, he hath estab­lished the world by his wisdom, and hath stretched out the heavens by his discretion.
"When he uttereth his voice, there is a multitude of waters in the heavens, and he causeth the vapours to ascend from the ends of the earth; he maketh lightnings with rain, and bringeth forth the wind out of his treasures."
-JEREMIAH 10:12, 13.
Threaded on
28.
"There is naught whatsoever higher than I.... All this
31.
"Just as the rivers of all lands
God Like
Pearls on
a String
is threaded on Me, as rows of pearls on a string."

Into the ocean find their way,
May gods and men from every world

-THE BHAGAVAD-GITA, p. 82.
Universe Spread
29.
"First of the Gods, most ancient Man Thou art,

Approach and find their way to thee."
-BUDDHISM IN TRANSLATIONS,
in God's Form

Supreme receptacle of all that lives;
Knower and known, the dwelling-place on high;
In Thy vast Form the universe is spread.

Jataka, p. 31.
"To us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all
things, and we in him."
z4ta O-1 which
Things
Supreme Treasure-House
"In power boundless, measureless in strength, Thou holdest all: then Thou Thyself art All." -THE BHAGAVAD-GITA, pp. 122-3.
"Who knoweth not in all these that the hand of the Lord bath wrought this?
"In whose hand is the soul of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind."
-JOB 12:9, 10.
30. "Lofty, beyond all thought, unperishing,
Thou treasure-house supreme, all-immanent." -THE BHAGAVAD-GITA, p. 116.
"The Lord shall open unto thee his good treasure, the heaven to give the rain unto thy land in his season, and to
-CORINTHIANS 8:6.

32. "All this universe has the (Supreme) Deity for its life. Univer. That Deity is Truth. He is the Universal Soul....
"That particle which is the Soul of all this is Truth; it is the Universal Soul."
-CHHANDOGYA UPANISHAD, pp. 593, 595.

"God is as a soul and the world as a body." -MASNAVI I MA'NAVI, p. 29.

33. "The Supreme Soul hath another name, viz, Pure Knowledge."
-MaHABHARATA,
Udyoga Parva, Vol. III, p. 162.
Supren


Lord of 34. "He is Lord of heaven, Sovereign of earth, the one Ex­
Heaven istence."
-APOCRYPHA AND PSEUDEPIGRAPHA
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT,
The Sibylline Oracles, 1:35, Vol. II, p. 377.
"Know therefore this day, and consider in thine heart, that the Lord he is God in heaven above, and upon the earth beneath: there is none else."
-DEUTERONOMY 4:39.
"The heaven and the heaven of heavens is the Lord's thy God, the earth also, with all that therein is." -DEUTERONOMY 10:14.
Mind Is o f 35. "Hermes. The Mind, 0 Tat, is of God's very es­God's very sence-(if such a thing as essence of God there be)-and Essence what that is, it and it only knows precisely.
"The Mind, then, is not separated off from God's essen­
tiality, but is united unto it, as light to sun." -THRICE-GREATEST HERMES, Corpus Hermeticum XII. (XIII.)
About the Common Mind, Vol. II, p. 199.
"0 the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!
"For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor?"
-R011ANS 11:33, 34.
Creative 36. "This is Setheus, who dwells in the Shrine as a dingMind and God. He is the Logos-Creator; it is He who command­eth the All to work. He is the Creative Mind according tothe command of God, the Father; whom the creature adoresas God, and as Lord, and as Saviour, and is subject to Him;at whom all things stand in wonder because of His grace and

beauty; for whose head the inner universe forms a crown, and the outer is set under His feet, while the middle universe
surroundeth Him."
-FRAGMENTS OF A FAITH FORGOTTEN,
Codex Brucianus, p. 553.
"Mind is Brahma; for from mind even are verily born these beings,-by mind, when born, they live;-mind they approach, (mind) they enter."
-TAITTARIYA UPANISHAD, p. 465.
"O Lord, how great are thy works! and thy thoughts are very deep."
37. "He is in one mind and who can turn him?"
-JOB 23:13.
"The counsel of the Lord standeth forever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations."
"But as all infinite merits in fact constitute the one mind which, perfect in itself, has no need of seeking after any external things other than itself. . . . On that account such­ness is designated the Tathagata's womb."
-ACVAGIIO5HA'S,
Awakening o f Faith, p. 98.
38. "[When the absolute soul assumes a relative aspect by pit-eonSe7 its Self-affirmation] it is called the all-conserving mind.... "The same mind has a twofold significance as the organ­
iser and the producer of all things.
"Enlightenment is the highest quality of the mind; . . penetrating everywhere, as the unity of all."
-A~VAGHCSHA'S,
A^P~akesaing of Faith, pp. 61-2.
-PSALMS 92:5.
One Mind
-PSALMS 33:11.
Mind
Mind of Mind
Life ° f Life 40. "He who is the ear of the ear, the mind of the mind,
the speech of speech, is verily the life of life, the eye of the eye."
39. "For Mind is not without the That-which-makes-it­Mind; and That-which-is-the-End-of-Mind doth not sub­sist apart from Mind.
"For it is Mind of Mind who is the Architect of this [the manifested] fiery world."
-ECHOES FROM THE GNOSIS,
The Chaldcaan Oracles, Vol. VIII, pp. 29, 38.
"Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.
"And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God."
-ROMANS 8:26, 27.
-KENAOR TALAVAKARA UPANISHAD, p. 668.
"He said, `Because all obtains increase in him therefore is he Adhyarha.1 'Which is the one god?' `Life; this is called Brahma, this what is beyond.'
"Whoever knows what is oldest and best, becomes the oldest and best among his own. Life is verily what is oldest and best."
-BRIHAD ARANYAKA UPANISHAD, pp. 285-6, 342.
"He bringeth forth the living out of the dead, and He bringeth forth the dead out of the living: and He quickeneth the earth when dead. Thus is it that ye too shall be brought forth.
"He is the Living One. No God is there but He. Call then upon Him and offer Him a pure worship. Praise be to God the Lord of the `'Worlds!"
-THE KORAN,
Sure XXX.-The Creeks, Sara XL.-The Believer, pp. 211, 245.
"And the Lord God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:
"Therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the gar­den of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.
"So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life."
-GENESIS 3:23, 24.
"I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curs­ing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live:
"That thou mayest love the Lord thy God, and that thou mayest obey his voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto him: for he is thy life, and the length of thy days."
-DEUTERONOMY 30:19, 20.
"For with thee is the fountain of life: in thy light shall we see light."
-PSALMS 36:9.
"For whoso findeth me findeth life, and he shall obtain favour of the Lord."
-PROVERBS 8:35.
"He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life."
-1 JOHN 5:12.


Light
Truth
41. "God is light, and in him is no darkness at all."
-I JOHN 1:5.
"Nor is the knowledge of Brahma possible if the nature of Brahma and non-Brahma were to belong to one subject, because there would be in reality a contradiction, as darkness is contradictory at the manifestation of the sun."
-BRIHAD ARANYAKA UPANISHAD, p. 174.
"God is the Light of the Heavens and of the Earth. His light is like a niche in which is a lamp-the lamp encased in glass-the glass, as it were, a glistening star. From a blessed tree is it lighted, the olive neither of the East nor of the West, whose oil would well nigh shine out, even though fire touched it not! It is light upon light. God guideth whom He will to His light, and God setteth forth parables to men, for God knoweth all things."
-THE KORAN,
Sura XXIV.-Light, pp. 446-7.
"That, the Light of all lights, is said to be beyond dark­ness; Wisdom, the Object of Wisdom, by Wisdom to be reached, seated in the hearts of all."
-THE BHAGAVAD-GIT~, pp. 136-7.
42. "And I will bring them, and they shall dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God, in truth and righteousness."
-ZECHARIAH 8:8.
"And thou shalt swear, The Lord liveth, in truth, in judgment, and in righteousness; and the nations shall bless themselves in him, and in him shall they glory."
-JERENIIAH 4:2.
"And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth."
-I JOHN 5:6.
"If ye love me keep my commandments.
"And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you an­
other Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; "Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot
receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but
ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you."
-JOHN 14:15-17.
"Thy righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, and thy law is the truth."
-PSALMS 119:142.
"He is the rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he."
-DEUTERONOMY 32:4.
"And the words of thy Lord are perfect in truth, and in justice: none can change his words: He is the Hearing, Knowing."
-THE KORAN,
Sura VI, Cattle, p. 328.
"As the spider proceeds along with his web, as little sparks proceed from fire, so proceed from that soul all organs, all worlds, all the gods, all beings. The nearest con­ception of him is this, that he is the truth of truth. The organs are the truth, he is the truth of them."
-BRIHAD ARANYAKA UPANISHAD, p. 250.


" `Come then,' [they say,] `and enter in through the door of this hall of double Maatit, for thou knowest us.' YY
" `We will not let thee enter in through us,' say the bolts of this door, `unless thou tellest [us] our names'; `Tongue
tdlaat. "The wife of Thoth, and daughter of Ra; she assisted at the work of creation. She is the goddess of absolute regularity and order, and of moral rectitude, and of right and truth. Her emblem is the feather."
-THE BOOK OF THE DEAD, Val. I, p. 4.


[of the Balance] of the place of right and truth' is your name."
-THE BOOK OF THE DEAD, Vol. II, p. 375.


Love 43. "He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love."
-I JOHN 4:8.
"Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love : there­fore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee."
-JEREMIAH 31:3.
"God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,
"Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ."
-EPHESIANS 2:4, 5.
"Love is the astrolabe of God's mysteries.
A lover may hanker after this love or that love, But at last he is drawn to the King of love. However much we describe and explain love, When we fall in love we are ashamed of our words. Explanation by the tongue makes most things clear, But love unexplained is clearer. When pen hasted to write,
On reaching the subject of love it split in twain. When the discourse touched on the matter of love, Pen was broken and paper torn. In explaining it Reason sticks fast, as an ass in mire; Naught but Love itself can explain love and lovers."
-THE MASNAVI I MA'NAVI, p. 5.
Good 44. "0 taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him."
-PSALMS 34:8.
"For the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations." -PSALMS 100:5.

"Thou art good, and doest good; teach me thy statutes.
"It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes.
"The law of thy mouth is better unto me than thousands of gold and silver."
-PSALMS 119:68, 71, 72.

"For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth."
-ROMANS 10:4.

"This is the goodness of God: He bestoweth it on whom
He will: God is of immense goodness!"
-THE KORAN,
Sura LXII. The Assembly, p. 374.

"Not knowing that God is wholly Good. 0 wretched slaves, be sober!"
-ECHOES FROM THE GNOSIS,
The Chaldrzan Oracles, Vol. VIII, p. 30.
46. "But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed."
-JAMES 1:25.

"And I will walk at liberty: for I seek thy precepts.
45. "The good law of the mighty [One] is the good law; rood Lao good law's the law."
-THRICE-GREATEST HERMES,
Excerpts by Strobceus,
of Piety and [True] Philosophy, Vol. III, p. 8.
Perfect LL of Liberty
"And I will delight myself in thy commandments, which I have loved."
-PSALNIS 119:45, 47.

"Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty."
Royal Law 47. "If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself, ye do well." -JAMES 2:8.
"For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin."
-ROMANS 7:14.
Law of the 48 "For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath spirit of Life made me free from the law of sin and death." -ROMANS 8:2.
"Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testa­ment; not of the letter, but of the Spirit: for the letter kill­eth, but the spirit giveth life."
La. ofLove 49. "Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law."
"But when the Pharisees had heard that he had put the Sadducees to silence, they were gathered together.
"Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying,
"Master, which is the great commandment in the law? "Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God
with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy
mind.
"This is the first and great commandment.
"And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy
neighbour as thyself.
"On these two commandments hang all the law and the
prophets."
-MATTHEW 22:34-40.
50. "There is an originating and all-comprehending (prin­ciple) in my words, and an authoritative law for the things (which I enforce)."
-THE TEXTS OF TAOISM,
The Tao Teh King, Part 1, pp. 112-13.
S l. "My fifth name is All good things created by Mazda, the offspring of the holy principle."
-THE ZEND-AVESTA,
The Yasts and Sirozahs, Part II, p. 25.
52. "The determination that the only eternal and perma­nent principle of the Cosmos is Atman (the Subject of all perception), and that everything else is opposed in its very nature to this Atman (i. e. is unpermanent) as being the object of perception-Such fixed (theoretical) determination, the cause of indifference, is called the Right knowledge of objects."
-RAJA YOGA PHILOSOPHY,
Shrirnat Shankaracharya's Aprokshanubhuti, p. 2.
53. "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, No va and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning."
-JAMES 1: 17.
"Yea, thou shalt not find any variableness in the way of God."
-II CORINTHIAIQ$ 3:17.
Origi; .411-ca jug P~
-II CORINTHIANS 3:6.
-RotiIANS 13:10.
Holy:
Eterm Perms Pri nci
-THE KORAN,
Sura XXXV.
The Creator, or the Angels, p. 293.


112
Eternal 54. "For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead."
-ROMANS 1:20.
"Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
"Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,
"And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things."
-ROMANS 1:21-23.
"The Lord is King for ever and ever."
-PSALMS 10:16.
"But thou, 0 Lord, shalt endure for ever; and thy re­membrance unto all generations." -PSALMS 102:12.
"For thus with the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones."
-ISAIAH 57:15.
"Behold Osiris, Hu-nefer, victorious, who saith:­
... 11 'Thou art crowned Prince of heaven thou art the One dowered [with all sovereignty] who comest forth from the sky. Ra is victorious! 0 thou divine youth, thou heir of everlastingness, thou self-begotten one, 0 thou who didst give thyself birth! 0 One, mighty [one], of myriad forms and aspects, king of the world.' .. .
"'Homage to thee, 0 thou holy god, thou mighty and beneficent being, thou Prince of eternity."'
-THE BOOK OF THE DEAD,
Vol. 1, pp. 12-14, Vol. III, p. 632.
55. "Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen."
-I TIMOTHY 1: 17.
56. "Great is our Lord, and of great power: his understand- ,finite ing is infinite."
-PSALMS 147:5.
"Infinite is that, infinite is this. From the infinite one proceeds the infinite one. On taking the infinity of the in­finite one, there is left infinity."
-BRIHAD ARANYAKA UPANISHAD, p. 331.
57. "That itself on which all things depend, and from From w1«< which every transformation arises!" Every
-THE TEXTS OF TAOISM, Transforr
The Writings o f Kwang-Tze, Part II, p. 243. _q"SeS
58. "0 ye mortal men of flesh who are nought, why do ye brlsretla„~ so quickly exalt yourselves, having no eye unto life's end? Do ye not tremble at nor fear God, who overlooks you? the Most High who knows, who looks on all, who witnesses all, who nourishes all? the Creator who has planted his sweet Spirit in all, and made him a guide to all mortals? There is one God, sole Sovereign, excellent in power, unbegotten, almighty, invisible, yet seeing all himself. Yet he himself is beheld by no mortal flesh. For what flesh can see visibly the heavenly and true God, the Immortal, whose abode is in heaven? Nay not even face to face with the sun's rays are men able to stand, being mortals, mere veins and flesh wed­ded to bones. Worship him, who is alone Prince of the
Immortal World, who alone exists from age to age, self-sprung, unbegotten, holding all in sway through all time, giving to all men their testing time in the common light."
-THE APOCRYPHA AND PSEUDEPIGRAPHA
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT,
The Sibylline Oracles, 1:1-18, Vol. II, p. 377.
"Therefore, the feet of man on the earth tread but on a small space, but going on to where he has not trod bee ore, he traverses a great distance easily; so his knowledge is but small, but going on to what he does not already know, he comes to know what is meant by Heaven. He knows it as The Great Unity; The Great Mystery; The Great Illum­inator; The Great Framer; The Great Boundlessness; The Great Truth; The Great Determiner. This makes his knowl­edge complete. As the Great Unity, he comprehends it; as The Great Mystery, he unfolds it; as the Great Illuminator, he contemplates it; as the Great Framer, it is to him the Cause of all; as the Great Boundlessness, all is to him its embodiment; as the Great Truth, he examines it; as the Great Determiner, he holds it fast.
"Thus Heaven is to him all; ... (At first) he does not know it, but afterwards he comes to know it. In his inquiries, he must not set to himself any limits, and yet he cannot be without a limit. Now ascending, now descending, then slipping from the grasp, (the Tao) is yet a reality, unchanged now as in antiquity, and always without a defect."
-THE TEXTS OF TAOISM,
The Writings of Kwang-Tze, Part II, pp. 112-13.
"It (God) was not created in the past, nor is it to be anni­hilated in the future; it is eternal, permanent, absolute; and from all eternity it sufficiently embraces in its essence all pos­sible merits.
"That is to say, suchness (God) has such characteristics as follows: the effulgence of great wisdom; the universal illumination of the universe; the true and adequate knowl­edge; the mind pure and clean in its self-nature; the eternal,
GOD 115
the blessed, the self-regulating and the pure; the tranquil, the immutable, and the free."
-THE AWAKENING OF FAITH,
In the Mahdydna, pp. 95-6.
"And a second time, ... Great Brahma spake to the priest as follows:
" `I, 0 priest, am Brahma, Great Brahma, the Supreme Being, the Unsurpassed, the Perceiver of All Things, the Controller, the Lord of All, the Maker, the Fashioner, the Chief, the Victor, the Ruler, the Father of All Beings Who Have Been and Are to Be.' "
-BUDDHIS'vI IN TRANSLATIONS,

Kevaddha-Sutta o f the Dagha-Nihaya, p. 311.
"Then Zarathustra said: `Reveal unto me that name of
thine, 0 Ahura Mazda! "'
"Ahura Mazda replied unto him: `My name is. .
»­
Then follows a list of twenty names, among which
Perfect Holiness.
Understanding.
Knowledge.
Weal.
Ahura (the Lord).
The most Beneficent.
He in whom there is no harn;.
The unconquerable One.
The All-seeing One.
The healing One.
The Creator.
Mazda (the All-knowing One).
are:
" `Worship me 0 Zarathustra, by day and by night.'' -THE ZEtiD-AVESTA, The Yasts and Sirozalas, Part II, pp. 24-26.
"The late Dr. H. Brugsch collected' a number of the epithets which are applied to the gods, from texts of all periods; and from these we may see that the ideas and
1"Religion and hl7thologie, pp. 96-99."


beliefs of the Egyptians concerning God were almost iden­tical with those of the Hebrews and Muhammadans at later periods. When classified these epithets read thus:­
" `God is One and alone, and none other existeth with Him; God is the One, the One Who hath made all things.
`God is a spirit, a hidden spirit, the spirit of spirits, the great spirit of the Egyptians, the divine spirit.
`God is from the beginning and He hath been from the beginning; He hath existed from of old and was when noth­ing else had being. He existed when nothing else existed, and what existeth He created after He had come into being. He is the father of beginnings.
`God is the eternal One, He is eternal and infinite; and endureth for ever and aye; He hath endured for countless ages, and He shall endure to all eternity.
`God is truth, and He liveth by truth, and He feedeth thereon. He is the King of truth, He resteth upon truth, He fashioneth truth, and He executeth truth throughout all the world.
`God is life, and through Him only man liveth. He grivet life to man, and He breatheth the breath of life into his nostrils.
`God is father and mother, the father of fathers, and the mother of mothers.
`God Himself is existence, He liveth in all things, and liveth upon all things.
`God hath made the universe, and He created all that therein is:
`He is the great Master, the primeval Potter. -Egyptian Ideas of the Future Life, pp. 19-22.
IF our definition of God is correct, then the ancients
were justified in affirming that nothing imperfect
comes from God.
The Supreme Being rules by Law with great thought: the world itself stands on Truth, and God upholds and enfolds all things.
God sowed love's bond, and bestowed the mystery of bringing forth love; furthermore He knows and loves those who keep His commandments. The best friend of man is God, for He is gracious and merciful. God is always on the side of the good man, whom He protects, guides, perfumes and gives rest.
It is God Who opens our understanding; He is our rock, our shield and our refuge; and He never sows fear in the consciousness of mortals.
Our heavenly Father is a full source of glory and healing. He created health and pleasure, He rewards those who serve Him, and He hears and answers prayer.
How true is David's meditation on the providence of God. Truly, He is clothed with honor and majesty, and His works are manifold. The earth is overflowing with all that is good and beautiful, if we will but open our blind eyes.
Let us sing unto the Lord as long as we live-yea, let all mankind rejoice and be glad.

When All else fails, and you STILL haven’t found God,………..then ask Christ to come into your heart and take control from this moment forward! Now for the Big Surprise: HE WAS THERE ALL THE TIME!! God used Masters to revel His Presence in the heats of His Marked Elect!
Blessings!
Eternal Flame

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