Ordinarily when we are awake there are certain nerve endings which are astrally infused and meeting with the world. The consciousness as experienced in the flesh is met with in those conjunctions of 'nervousness'. There is of course a constant activity (constantly intermittent, that is to say) in which the body may know itself in the relationship between the man's astral and then physical body's meeting with the physical world without.
When the man's astral body has lifted out from his physical body, the physical body 'sleeps', disregarding all of the vital functions which may continue on within itself. The conscious reality of life impinging is not recognized within the moment, and the systems within the whole organism continue on following the patterns in the very ethers themselves, from which they are constructed and constantly reforming - the body of man is everywhere, and no less in the spaces directly around him.
This will one day be understood when such patterns are found - just as also, the physic of seashell-plans are conspiring continually, so too the master-plan for vegetables and leaf, the systems of breath for all time-bearing creatures; the wombs and the spikes and their systems in whole and in part; fibrousness and moisture containment; bony frames which are independent of their fibery adjuncts; these and more are in float upon the ethers, and continually drawn upon that we may rejuvenate and grow anew, according of course to that form and sequence of living forms to which we may personally subscribe.
Yes it is quite correct to suggest that cancers which have attached are brought into the organism in like process from the ethers belonging yet to a foreign ecology, having found a host life to which they do not belong. To evacuate any growth once it has taken, is a very different matter to denying its presence before it has begun. Often there is an unusual affinity within the man or woman who is befriended by obtuse growths, and their sleep rhythms and how they may draw from the ethers at that time. For it is in this semi-quiescent condition that the sea of activity may be drawn upon and reworked within our constitution. Ordinarily a man would continue on in being a man, in that the systems which he already has in progress are well rehearsed in drawing from those impulse-systems immediately known. Each has its signature and is unaware of the multifarious forces and forms which there are to choose from. So when it does happen that a cancer has made its way in, it is not part of that system, or belonging due to its forces having gone wrong; it is rather a complete newcomer with extraneous provisions. Also it is naive to the workings that it has come in upon. There is no sinister intent, there are no malicious workings at hand as there may be with virulent disease. Cancers come about because of the way a man himself has drawn from the ethers and perchanced a system which is additional to the compote which is his own.
There are little patterns captured within the mineral world which are descriptive of the organic patterns played out in forces and forms. There are organic systems which are shared because they have come from man originally, and then given over into the systems of animal expressions which now have physical expression to accompany their impulses of soul-life and desire-life.
Man's starry substance, his higher astrality, creates the web for which his physical body may set form upon. The World at large is given to an etheric life which is life, that the manifestation may happen and that the starry influences may incarnate. Man himself is a starry influence, and accompanying him are those outer cosmic substances which go to comprise the etherical qualities he bears today. The obvious physical houses for these qualities are borne by the etheric life, and our World's etheric vitalities (as with our own) are actually brought in from further afield; although the passage is from the Globe's inner sun and so it should be said that the forces in that sense do not come from 'outer' regions, but further 'in' and then beyond.
The etheric life is memory impressed with the systemic forms as were just described. Often it is confused with being one of the same, however etheric substance itself is indifferent to form - impartial to actual particulars and history and such continuance. The etheric substance in purity is consistent with living light, it is the life-bearer to all form, and yet has the capacity also to carry the impressions of form as we know it.
The crystalline forces are apart from these form-structures as they immediately are influenced by the starry influences which pervade our planet in presence and in likeness. The organic forms and forces are especially sophisticated to life. From the little breathers to the great grey whales, the bones of leaf to the branches in the brain, our etheric plastic gives us the bank of design and evolutionary design progressively on.
So it is that when we withdraw from our physical bodies by way of our starry body we travel within ourselves also. And here it may get a little complex, but we would like to depart from the usual standard lines of explanation. The diagrams you may be used to are those of the astral body traveling out just like an astronaut in a bubble-suit attached with a cord etc. etc. This is and isn't correct, insofar as the soul consciousness of man goes inward, his path through to the cosmos beyond is deeply in, and astrally what we do happens back to front - if for example, I travel out, I am actually traveling in. 'Space' if you like, is not found outside of the planet, but through following the grid-plans within one's own astral system firstly.
Perhaps it is neither here nor there to introduce you to this example of contrariness, however this sort of seeming (and we only say seeming) nonsense is non-sense within the physical realm, whereas it makes perfect sense within the cosmic makeovers. Once again we can suggest that according to this simple understanding of the back-to-front law you may begin to see the process also of homeopathy and its implications. The natures of things - what they are and what they are not - may be exaggerated in either direction, particularly in relation to another organism also.
The further we approach the further we have departed. Many an initiate has had the crazies over this one. It is not a law which is easy to negotiate. Equally it can be said that as we have departed from our subject we have indeed come closer to a certain understanding of it!
Movements made physically invoke memories in the immediate. The surrounding ethers are challenged with any movement that comes from a man. This is difficult to describe, but we may begin by suggesting that one may try for themselves to intuitively feel the many differences which are brought about by the simple shift and repetition of certain physical moves played out. When I sit and cross legs one over the other, it becomes far more than mere 'body language', it is also a bodily verb when expression as such is exceeded by action.
When a man crosses his legs he accentuates his own consciousness, determining a more defined attempt at coming to an understanding of something. In one respect he has closed himself at a conjuncture to do this, in another respect it may be that he wishes to comprehend the entire situation with more concentration, and the forces which are met within him in the legs have caused him to bind them for another reason. Were he walking his concentration would not be the same; it would be of a very different nature. Rather than using his legs to 'get up and go', he has restrained them, and also met currents of forces within that crossing which enable him to actually follow his thought through to that crossing and confine the concerted narrowing into that position. In other words, the position he holds does affect him.
The form of man and how it is placed, shall invoke very definite results both within and without him. Just as we could see that to have one's legs crossed is more than self-expression (albeit unintended for the main part), it is moreover an action which proves itself useful and is therefore executed when the situation requires. You can explore for yourself what certain mannerisms, forms and movements (in conjunction with others also) appear to affect and to conjure in the surrounding elements and then within. It is not set to a limited text, for one may remember that every movement has its implication. Quite so, when it was that Christ was reduced and concentrated into His minor physical form, every action was a marvel, every movement had a reason and a purpose as it swung parallels in and between the adjoining worlds. Every step and every grace was a beginning for the new world, with a metamorphosis made present by His actions and their substantiality. Then Christ moved into His larger physical presence, our World; and as it sweeps the Cosmic wind it also makes for creation, for His actions bring visions into being, visions which have not yet a history, too new to be reliable by repetition. Yet they are there nonetheless, they are there.
Further to this we may come to those positions and movements which a man may preference for his slumber. For these too do hold effect upon the nature of his nap time and have bearing upon his physical renewal.
Even though our hands or our feet are not being purpose-used at the time of our sleeping, they and the other considerations upon us, hold keys to the influences which continue to conspire around them. A man may rest with his hands held up to his head, over the chest or beneath the groin; his legs may be relaxed or up drawn, crossed, closed or splayed, toes up or down; head up or chin in, sleeping side on, facing up or bellied down - all of these considerations will make a difference to the forces which work all around him.
Firstly we may say that the condition of sleep is very sacred and very beautiful. There is an angelic repose which befalls not only children but men as well during their times of slumber. The influences are good and holy, and should he unfortunately be afflicted with night-starts or disturbances, these are arising from the protection which he is given from the angelic services. There are many reasons why this may be so, however the end result happens that the man is alerted to wake that he may take charge and change course. In perfect sleep when a man comes to be fully rested he has gone the length of the night with no untoward happenings. This is a blessing, for it is that he may go into his nightly wanderings with the assurance that his body shall not be invaded by another being, that he alone has the key to return, and also that the goodness he may retrieve from the travels out shall be brought back and put to use.
There are dream-recollections of certain realities he has encountered and experienced; and all the while he has vacated for the most part, his body, which is kept intact and is not given to the currents which would otherwise decidedly pull it apart. Our resistance to death and deleterious deterioration comes from our sheath of etheric light, and amongst this is brought all of the pictures of conforming forces and patterns which we may draw.
If a man lies outstretched, hands above head, legs apart, face up, he would be 'open' to all influence in an act that removes the ego activity immediately from the body. The reason also that it may feel uncomfortable is because the ego itself is understandably 'put out' in another sense of the word. Men rarely sleep in this fashion, however infants do quite comfortably, as do many animals. This is a non-preferential attitude of posture which is modified readily, with for example the closing of the legs.
When a baby is swaddled this is the immediate difference - the arms are still up around the head, but no longer are the legs relaxed and splayed, they are bound together with the wrap that holds them firmly. Now they are not crossed, they are held straight.
To cross one's legs lying down is of a different experience to that of being upright. Crossing at the ankles may assist a man to enter sleep just as he may be assisted into a concentrated consciousness whilst awake. This is no specific recommendation, but only a comment that it may become a habit because the man may use this to narrow his preliminary sleep-meditation; the effect though does have ramifications upon the forces in the head.
Returning to the position whereby the legs are held straight but are kept together, we have then a unison from the hips down, offering a mirroring unison for the waist up. In the child this is perfect, for such a balance in the very small baby is far better than the indiscriminate splaying of limbs, for once again, even in the small child there are consequences as to its sleep positioning; however it does rely upon its parent to assist in this.
During the time the child was tight held within the womb the baby is given to the shawl of the mother's etheric influence. The mother, in turn, is given to a greater etheric influence than that which is usually accompanying her, and that is in the presence of the child's own divinity - the greater aspect of soul enwraps her, just as she ensheathes him; and the forces of creation do differ from the forms of repetition. The physical aspect of the child in the manner which it is placed, is not determining the creation as it will in later repetition.
The formative process is governed by the starry complex which is conspiring and creating the initial space and form to be. Until born, the individual soul may only fabricate his form from the outside in, so to speak, and this is usually in collaboration with many host influences also. Thus he does create the etheric envelope in which his mother is contained during this time of creation. After birth there becomes a certain incarnation within the limb system in part (for this does take many months before there is a definite gravity), however the relationship between the body of the soul and the soul's activity is struck and thus one impacts the other in strict accordance.
Standing upright when legs are together, a man is most definitely called to 'attention'. He is brought into a harmony which says "I am where I am". This helps the child to incarnate - that he is comfortable in being where he is and that he can begin to awaken to the knowledge that he is where he is. In an adult it inspires the feeling of virtuousness within the world. "I am that I am here justly".
When the dead are laid out with legs straight together and arms crossed over the breast, that crossing denotes that the individual is alone, being contained and quite separate in their being. Death is a time which is of first importance to the deceased. Even though the experience is one we do share, and would like to desperately send our 'final' messages across, perhaps to make counsel with the belated, it should be understood that the time of passing and the few days after, are with far more significance to the deceased than anyone else, i.e. his death is his experience firstly.
We can view death as an initiation into the spiritual worlds whereby the passage to be instigated is done so alone. That is not to say that it is not without loving assistance, for this is true also, but the experience of departing this world, out from our bodies for the final time, and away from those who remain, is very much one of where we have our lower torso straight and balanced and our upper closed. The crossing over the heart brings the conjunctions of the activity at the wrists, nullifying the forces of the hands (the worldly gates and outer flows) surrendering the man to inactivity.
It is sinister indeed to interfere with a living man's wrists in a way which binds him, for not only does this weaken his physical strategy but also holds immediate effect on those forces which channel down throughout his entire system and into the hands. Once again it is no mere symbology, as the practice of physical motion may lead to the very consequence of its promotion. If you smile you will feel happy - the same happiness which may have prompted a smile also. If you concentrate down and scowl long enough you shall also feel and know the shadow of its effect. (Therewith the saying: "Be careful for the wind might change" and you shall be stuck with the face you have drawn.)
We call the winds of etheric motion to us with mimicry continually. Not always are we adept at this when we want to be, for we may assume a superhuman vigor and force a smile for only so long, however in the short and with meaningful episode, we do lead with our tails back to front and can invoke the same properties by our very motion of them.
When we lie on our sides with our left cheek flush against the pillow we have created a duality between the forces of the earth and the spaces directly above us. The magnetisms of the earthly currents are differing to those which orbit the Globe - there are many influences indeed which may come under such a heading of magnetic drag and radiation. One can remember too that there are levels upon levels of differing vitalities. Directly beneath us the Earth's immediate magnetisms may be considered as unhealthy or unwholesome in their aspects of base elemental composure.
There are numerous organisms which exist on the borders between life and death which are absorbed by our Earth but as yet are underdeveloped and undesirable for immediate contact with man. These are the moon bacteria and beginning organisms, which may well come to manifest if well put to use. Whilst also, in those places unpenetrated by the sunlight, there are all kinds of influences which pool and sit and are very consistent with all of the ugly aspects of man's lower nature and its offspring. For Man has his containers of ugliness which make plutonium by contrast appear with a short shelf-life!
The sins of man are stored in dark earth cavities, in astral gloom, in grave and in every sad place upon the Globe it awaits its redemption. Every vile thought of hatred and harm, every misuse and abuse of the good and the holy, cruelties and slaveries - these slink within the earth. Yet that is only within the immediate and it may be pointed out also that there are gravities which draw us down, for which we may be thankful. That same 'earthliness' connects us with the substantial life as known through the feet; we are given our very links with all others in this manner. Each realm is endowed with its most beauteous aspect. There is no species which is not favored with purpose or grand design; even in the catacombs and unseen places of this World.
There may be something said of the displacing of weight in the position of sleep. The drag downwards is burdensome to the overall vitality of the organs within. We can alleviate this pressure by our moving from left to right side, belly to back and to side again, and this promotes good tone to the varying surfaces of each inside.
Returning to the preference for sleep: we find that when the left cheek is upon the pillow and the legs are drawn up, hands are near head, there becomes an attitude of prayer, of reverence. This is the form which says, "I am small within this World, I come to the greater Life". When the legs have been brought upwards, retracted, it is as if to say that they are without commission - the muscles are contrary to use, the knees folded (as opposed to their daily taut), we have one ear to the ground and one open to the ethers, with the contrast of both working within our systems.
When we lie upon our bellies there may be a more comfortable distribution of weight, however there is also a receptivity to earthliness which will bring about nightmares and unwholesome thought. The frame of Man does not like to be face down, and even when the head is placed sideways to accommodate the position, it shall struggle with this position for it does not favor the influences as should.
It can be pointed out here that the good instincts a man should have about his positioning may well be denied during an unusually heavy slumber which comes from intoxication or from extreme exhaustion. This also manifests in those who suffer sporadic sleep episodes, when it comes to pass that when they can sleep they are so debilitated from lack thereof, that there is a heavier than usual stupefied type slumber.
Far worse than that are narcotic slumbers when the astral body has been almost severed from the trunk and the man has so little a connection for that time that his physical body may assume any position in which it falls. The result of this will be that the body of the man no longer may be depended upon to guide what position it needs in order that it may devise and employ the forces which it requires. There is a balance to be struck here, for although we do not maintain our sleep with fully composed self-consciousness, we do not, in good health, fall into slumber with a deathly unconsciousness - the kind which repulses the soul and sends it outward by that very repulsion.
Lying directly onto the earth is unhealthy when given to sleep. Once there was a myth of a man who did do this and awoke to sprout leaves. There was something quite true in the composure of this, for as we have studied, we as men are sympathetic to our immediate environs. We do easily mingle with the various natures of those things which are around us and no less during sleep ... the nature of the food we have consumed in our stomachs, the inherent nature and aura of the wool in our blanket speaking of characteristics of sheep and of pasture; the very nature of the author speaking inaudibly from the book at the bedside; we come to intrigue and discovery with the impressions brought to us in the immediate constantly.
Moreso are the lively forces which are perpetuated in vividness in soil and moist contact with the soil itself. As our moisture, our soul forces, meets with its moisture (inevitable whether apparent or not, i.e. not needing to be in any great measure), we are combined with the vitality and impressions and force forms therein. During waking, practices such as sitting or gardening will not affect us in this manner, which it will most certainly if we are to sleep outdoors and on the ground. To sleep is to receive, and the story of the man sprouting leaves is consistent with the results.
The vagrant or hobo (or camper for that matter) often finds that his thinking processes have weakened by this activity. He sleeps heavily because of this, but has begun to become quite plant-like in opposition to his manly ego activity within. One might suggest that the forces of the night sky might compensate for such earthliness, however the Moon is more earthly than is credited - it is as Earth upon reflection - and during the nighttime we are subjected to such earthly gravities with a greater intensity as are the day lit hours.
Whilst walls and doors cannot exclude all influences that are around (thankfully we might add), they do remarkably, draw definitions around us which conceal us from the more lower emanations.
When we sleep belly down we are turning our back on Heaven so to say, in attitude. For some it is an action of denying conscience and this can manifest in the most conscientious of men, that they feel the need to do this that they may rest. For the nightly reviews and examinations bring before the mind's eye much of the day and of our own actions, and it is that special time when we can understand anew that which has just passed before us.
If we were to fling ourselves upon the ground face down this would be an expression of selflessness, but also of denial of Heaven, which is not understood by those orders who request such acts of 'humility'. It is rather theatrical than practical. To sleep in this position for any given length of time compromises the healthy flows of force-forms which would otherwise be drawn into a man. The occurrence of nightmares should awaken him to the fact, if he is not prone with a narcotic sleep.
Sleep and the heroic fables:
The origins of design are carried within each and every signature therein, that the beginnings of an organic form, any organic form, reminds Man of that time of first creation and the forces which we brought together and thus played out.
The impulses of heroic striving, of the eager advance, of the God-given confidences, the courageous fortitudes and the great progression of Man, these forces are firstly made most obvious and apparent within the living etheric forms as are all about us. We may take for granted the way in which life pursues its courses and persists, and yet with remarkable perseverance the reformation which is necessary for the continuity and continuance of manifestation, is first brought to us through this essential quality throughout the etheric life, which is the prime characteristic of Christ. For it is that He not only brings the wonderfully new plans for future Man, He also brings the constancy to see them fully realized.
Our greatest strength assists a certain endurance; for creatures, including the beings of Man, require a faith in their own existence, without which they would not be able to take in and realize any outer reality. Do you remember the saying that many a battle is lost ere it's begun? We have seen the diseases which Fear brings, sweep battlefields and watch men fall to defeat prematurely - collapsed, having been given to phantasmagoric foe, quite before the real enemy has arrived to find their huddled and quivering frames taken with the madness of self-doubt.
So firstly we can see that the impulse of a courageous continuance is inherent within each floating form and we do draw in this quality also. It does help us to awake in the morning. It encourages the soul to find its way back into the world day after day, even when perhaps, the day before was less than encouraging.
When a soul returns to a condition in which there is pain and subsequent suffering throughout the waking hours ahead, there is a call upon the fortitudes for such forces which will begin to work in answer to that immediate activity. Often physical pain makes possible the entrance for future forms and forces. Its presence commands that the individual be brought the supplication required; and this shall be, whether in this lifetime or the following, that no pain is for naught.
It is not to say that the agonies - the dull, but contemptuously unremitting, or the intense and violent sufferances - are the ideal teacher to Man of his spirit's heroicism. However, at this time, in these conditions, that is exactly how it does happen to work; and comfort, if it is to be sought, may be found in the knowledge that pain endured shall carry also its rewards to that soul who has abided it. Even when the mind does falter (for understandably, because pain also heralds the end of a particular system, making way for the beginnings of a new one) even when the man does succumb to upset because of it, he is drawing rapidly from the spiritual worlds a knowledge of a greater contest that holds a marvelous outcome.
When a soul enters the heavens after having known a measure of pain within their days or within this world, there becomes change occurring at certain conjunctures because of the effect that the pain wrought within their egos at that time, and also because of the impulses now strongly forged within their higher astrality and its associates. It is as a sharpened, more acutely defined awareness of that which does now encompass them. It brings their consciousness into a more clarified comprehension which in turn will help them to perceive the beauties and wonders which abound.
Contrariwise, a man who has sought out and gained a luxurious life for which there has been little striving and small consequence, one where he has not had the sufferance of pain, this individual shall be by comparison quite dull to the heavenly offerings and their incredible realities. It becomes as a sleep to him, because he has not the forces to interpret them, because he shall need some heroicism to go forth consciously and meet with all of the awesome beauty that the expanses have there before him.
During sleep we find a measure of this experience also. The prisoner in his cell, the very poor and their commensurate hardship, the burdened men whose hearts are heavy each night with their terrible woes and worries, and those too whose only guarantee of respite from their physical malady may be in snatches of rest, all of these will find supplication in the sanctity of sleep. Physical restoration is a marvel, how moreso then the continuing hope which carries on within the soul! Many other virtues work in and upon us when we rest.
Acts of selflessness, when we have given charity by our actions to another - a charity with no self-interest attached - this immediately brings a man into realms of Heaven that he would otherwise have no knowledge of. Here is another example of our back-to-front journeying, as acts of love as for another do surely concur our own salvation.
When Man was given to negotiate the physical worlds with all of the struggles which coincided with this awkward internment (and we say awkward because it is at present), he was also afforded that time in which he could return to his more familiar conditions, returning to his Father every night of his life (or part thereof a day) for as long as he was required to be in the World.
The experience of drowsiness preceding sleep comes from the one great length of expiration which has almost reached completion. If the etheric body of a man could be viewed it would be seen to inhale and exhale, having brought into itself life enough for each day upon waking, only to shrink back and deplete as it is expended within the hours ahead. It is as one respiration a day, which is in keeping with our Sun also. (Fatigue as well as renewal for our etheric body comes from this etheric connection, which in itself remains intact during the process, which as it implies can be only a healthy action to do so).
The physical body (when not strained unduly) does not feel the tiredness which we do experience - as it is renewing constantly it is what it is. An animal does not know tiredness. It will experience a start and a stop and what may mean strain - a strain to reach its limits - but it will not consciously know tiredness as men do.
The undead vampires of recent horror tales present us with a very interesting representation of a man who must find life without an etheric body. That is just about what you would get, were the circumstance quite so. Characteristically this phantasmal man appears bloodless - the complexion bears no life, no translucency - and he has not the means to continue on without drawing his vitality from others, and this is done so astrally; which will sustain a man on some levels, but not in a way that he can give himself to expression and experience, within this world.
It is because of our etheric bodies that we can find a loving connection with this world, and fully immerse ourselves within it retaining our ego-consciousness into the bargain. Our blood bears qualities of this aliveness, when we are enabled to experience both the delight and the purpose which comes of all living Creation.
The saintly and the virtuous have developed those qualities within their own selves that in turn they may mirror God in life. When a man begins to exude that same power of delight and purpose out from his own etheric vitality, it happens that his own renewal becomes rapid, not necessarily requiring the gathering throughout sleep, for his angelic nature is consistent with his self-consciousness and he is made stronger, more conscious and wakeful for longer periods because of this.
When a man awakes to feel weary, and there is no great underlying cause but rather a generality all over, this may bring us an insight as to the soul's disquiet with the format of life he is given to. Men know themselves when there is something quite 'wrong' in this regard, that they have a heaviness of limbs and feel the gravities dragging them into the earthly magnetisms upon rising. This is a definite indication that their etheric body has not resumed with full vitality. If you like you may call it an etheric asthma.
The prescription for this is a curative we have often suggested, namely that a man must give time to involve himself with activities throughout his day that he most truly and wholeheartedly desires with a fervor, anticipates with abundant joy, and goes on to experience with an immense, intense love that frolics in the overspill. Quite usually the man or woman who suffers from this etheric asthma has imposed upon themselves restrictions to which they must conform - they hold back from happiness and from activities of such, because of their overwhelming sense of holiness in some cases.
Many virtues overrun their usefulness into fields where excess becomes difficult to the man himself. The virtue of holiness requires a perfection in Man, that he knows how to adhere to self-defined perimeters and will himself into those confines. As part of manhood the discipline of will is most necessary, although it becomes excessively placed at times when a man presumes that he needs to exert his concerns over such aspects which simply do not require his consciousness or his direction.
For example, a healthy individual does not require to use his forces of will in any effort at all to pass motions from the bowel. (We apologize for the subject itself, but bear with it if you please.) This system, as with others, would best be kept as one where it may run its course, for bringing thought into the muscles restricts them rather than assists them, and we produce a counter force merely in our efforts to take control.
Now firstly, it is no place for a man's consciousness to be - it is simply not needed. Whilst secondly, it does indicate that the will is frustrating itself by venturing into realms in which it may not find productive resolution. Of course the effort of will does come in the before and after sequences of toileting - what is discussed here is the actual biological process in the healthy individual, just as we do not consciously regulate our pulmonary systems or our sense systems etc. And it can be added, that the factors which may present whereupon a man is prone to poor physical tone within the bowel, there becomes a different circumstance to which we are not referring to today.
However, in relation to the virtue of holiness and its overuse within the will, we can find examples of this throughout much unwarranted behavior. The man believes that he is needed to engage his will in the world, rather than Father God's. It is a small discrepancy indeed, but on the whole rather large in implication.
No one man may be held to condemnation for this quirk of the personality, for in part we all suffer it, as the ego brings with it a conscience of responsibility which seeks to make right, as well as to know. And firstly, it is an honor-worthy virtue to propagate within the self. What we can know, to assist ourselves in our trials with this development, is that by relaxing our wills and giving over to those things which alight happiness in soul and self, we shall also strengthen our capabilities of working and of discipline, and of holiness, providing of course that we also give ourselves and our times to those endeavors as well.
A man who works his week without joy will exhaust his etheric body and become unresponsive to further etheric infillment. A man who overworks his passions and employs no will, living in experience only, will not know joy, because he shall have no tension to relax out from, and he too will be depleted, downhearted and forever unsatisfied.
The man who embraces life carefully but firmly and ever with love, may find the torsion betwixt virtue and greater virtue a happy contest for which there is no argument.
The sea does not argue with the skyline. This a man has within his own nature, both sea and skyline. The definition of the sea is no less because of the expanse of the great sky above, and they give to each other, both meet in each other, and in certain lights one may wonder that they are not one and the same.
