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Speaker 1: The divine center. The secret of life, of abundant life,

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with its strength, its felicity, and its unbroken peace, is

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to find the divine center within oneself, and to live

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in and from that, Instead of in that outer circumference

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of disturbances, the clamors, cravings, and argumentations which make up

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the animal an intellectual man, These selfish elements constitute the

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mere husks of life, and must be thrown away by

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him who would penetrate to the central heart of things,

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to life itself. Not to know that within you that

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is changeless and defiant of time and death, is not

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to know anything, but is to play vainly with the

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unsubstantial reflections in the mirror of time. Not to find

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within you those passionless principles which are not moved by

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the strifes and shows and vanities of the world, is

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to by nothing but illusions, which vanish as they are grasped.

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He who resolves that he will not rest satisfied with appearances, shadows, illusions,

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shall by the piercing light of that resolve, disperse every

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fleeting fantasy, and shall enter into the substance and reality

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of life. He shall learn how to live, and he

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shall live. He shall be the slave of no passion,

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the servant of no opinion, the votary of no fond error.

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Finding the divine center within his heart, he will be

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pure and calm, and strong and wise. And he will

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ceaselessly radiate the heavenly life in which he lives, which

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is himself, having betaken himself to the divine refuge within

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and remaining there, a man is free from sin. All

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his yesterdays are the tide washed and untrodden sands. No

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sin shall rise up against him, to torment and accuse him,

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and destroy his sacred peace. The fires of remorse cannot

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scorch him, nor can the storms of regret devastate his

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dwelling place. His tomorrows are his seeds, which shall germinate,

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bursting into beauty and potency of life. And no doubt

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shall shake his trust, no uncertainty rob him of repose.

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The present is his only. In the immortal present does

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he live. And it is as the eternal vault of

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blue above, which looks down silently and calmly, yet radiant

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with purity and light, upon the upturned and tear stained

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faces of the centuries. Men love their destinies. For gratification

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seems sweet to them, but its end is pain and vacuity.

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They love the argumentations of the intellect, for egotism seems

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most desirable to them, but the fruits thereof are humiliation

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and sorrow. When the soul has reached the end of

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gratification and reap the bitter fruits of egotism, it is

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ready to receive the divine wisdom and to enter into

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the divine life. Only the crucified can be transfigured. Only

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by the death of self can the Lord of the

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heart rise again into the immortal life and stand radiant

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upon the allive it of wisdom. Thou hast thy trials.

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Every outward trial is the result of an inward imperfection.

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Thou shalt grow wise by knowing this, and shalt thereby

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transmute trial into active joy, finding the kingdom where trial

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cannot come. When wilt thou learn thy lessons, O, child

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of Earth, all thy sorrows cry out against thee. Every

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pain is thy just accuser, and thy griefs are but

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the shadows of thy unworthy and perishable self. The kingdom

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of Heaven is thine. How long wilt thou reject preferring

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the lurid atmosphere of hell, the hell of thy self,

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seeking soul. Where self is not, there is the garden

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of the heavenly life. And there spring the healing streams,

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quenching all thirst. There bloom the immortal flowers, carpeting all

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the way with joy, their throng, swiftest and sweetest hours.

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The redeemed sons of God, the glorified in body and spirit,

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are bought with a price, And that price is the

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crucifixion of the personality, the death of self. And having

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put away that within which is the source of all discord,

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they have found the universal music, the abiding joy. Life

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is more than motion. It is music more than rest.

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It is peace more than work. It is duty more

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than labour. It is love more than enjoyment. It is

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blessedness more than acquiring money and position and reputation. It

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is knowledge, purpose, strong, and high resolve. Let the impure

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turn to purity, and they shall be pure. Let the

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weak resort to strength, and they shall be strong. Let

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the ignorant fly to knowledge, and they shall be wise.

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All things are man's, and he chooses that which he

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will have today, He chooses in ignorance. Tomorrow he shall

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choose in wisdom. He shall work out his own salvation,

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whether he believe it or not. For he cannot escape

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himself nor transfer to another the eternal responsibility of his

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own soul. By no theological subterfuge shall he trick the

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law of his being, which shall shatter all his selfish

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makeshifts and excuses for right thinking and right doing. Nor

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shall God do for him that which it is destined

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his soul shall be accomplish for itself. What would you

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say of a man who, wanting to possess a mansion

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in which to dwell, peacefully purchase the site, and then

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knelt down and ask God to build the house for him?

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Would you not say that such a man was foolish?

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And of another man, who, having purchased the land, set

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the architects and builders and carpenters at work to erect

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the edifice, would you not say that he was wise?

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And as it is in the building of a material house,

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even so it is in the building of a spiritual mansion,

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brick by brick, pure thought upon pure thought, good deed

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upon good deed. Must the habitation of a blameless life

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rise from its sure foundation until it at last stands

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out in all the majesty of its faultless proportions. Not

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by caprice, nor gift nor favor does a man obtain

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the spiritual realities. But by dey, diligence, watchfulness, energy, and effort.

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Strong is the soul, and wise and beautiful. The seeds

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of godlike power are in us still God's We are bards, saints, heroes,

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if we will. The spiritual heart of man is the

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heart of the universe, and finding that heart man finds

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strength to accomplish all things. He finds there also the

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wisdom to see things as they are. He finds there

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the peace that is divine at the center of man's

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being is the music which orders the stars, the eternal harmony.

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He who would find blessedness, let him find himself. Let

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him abandon every discordant desire, every inharmonious thought, every unlovely habit. Indeed,

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and he will find that grace and beauty and harmony

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which formed the indestructible essence of his own being. Men

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fly from Creed to Creed and find unrest. They travel

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in many lands and discover disappointment. They build themselves beautiful

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mansions and plant pleasant gardens, and reap n we and discomfort.

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Not until a man falls back upon the truth within

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himself does he find rest and satisfaction. Not until he

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builds the inward mansion of faultless conduct does he find

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the endless and incorruptible joy. And having obtained that, he

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will infuse into it all his outward doings and possessions.

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If a man would have peace, let him exercise the

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spirit of peace. If he would find love, let him

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dwell in the spirit of love. If he would escape suffering,

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let him cease to inflict it. If he would do

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noble things for humanity, let him cease to do ignoble

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things for himself. If he will but quarry the mind

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of his own soul, he shall find there all the

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materials for building whatsoever he will, And he shall find

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there also the central rock on which to build in safety.

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Howsoever a man works to write the world, it will

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never be righted until he has put himself right. This

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may be written upon the heart as a mathematical axiom.

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It is not enough to preach purity. Men must cease

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from lust to exhort love. They must abandon hatred to

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extol self sacrifice. They must yield up self to adorn

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with mere words the perfect life. They must be perfect.

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When a man can no longer carry the weight of

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his many sins, let him fly to the Christ, whose

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throne is the center of his own heart, and he

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shall become light hearted, entering the glad company of the immortals.

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When he can no longer bear the burden of his

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accumulated learning, let a man leave his books, his science,

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his philosophy, and come back to himself, and he shall

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find within that which he outwardly sought and found, not

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his own divinity. He ceases to argue about God, who

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has found God within. Relying upon that calm strength which

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is not the strength of self, he lives God manifesting

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in his daily life the highest goodness, which is eternal life.