Light on the Path and Through the Gates of GoldCollins, Mabel
Religion
Light on the Path and Through the Gates of Gold
Collins, Mabel
New Thought; Theosophy
But there is much more than this. Not only
is man more than an animal because there is
the god in him, but he is more than a god because
there is the animal in him.
Once force the animal into his rightful
place, that of the inferior, and you find yourself
in possession of a great force hitherto unsuspected
and unknown. The god as servant
adds a thousand-fold to the pleasures of the
animal; the animal as servant adds a thousand-fold
to the powers of the god. And it is upon
the union, the right relation of these two forces
in himself, that man stands as a strong king,
and is enabled to raise his hand and lift the
bar of the Golden Gate. When these forces
are unfitly related, then the king is but a
crowned voluptuary, without power, and whose
dignity does but mock him; for the animals,
undivine, at least know peace and are not torn
by vice and despair.
That is the whole secret. That is what
makes man strong, powerful, able to grasp
heaven and earth in his hands. Do not fancy
it is easily done. Do not be deluded into the
idea that the religious or the virtuous man does
it! Not so. They do no more than fix a standard,
a routine, a law, by which they hold the
animal in check. The god is compelled to
serve him in a certain way, and does so, pleasing
him with the beliefs and cherished fantasies
of the religious, with the lofty sense of personal
pride which makes the joy of the virtuous.
These special and canonized vices are
things too low and base to be possible to the
pure animal, whose only inspirer is Nature herself,
always fresh as the dawn. The god in
man, degraded, is a thing unspeakable in its infamous
power of production.
The animal in man, elevated, is a thing unimaginable
in its great powers of service and
of strength.
You forget, you who let your animal self
live on, merely checked and held within certain
bounds, that it is a great force, an integral
portion of the animal life of the world you
live in. With it you can sway men, and influence
the very world itself, more or less perceptibly
according to your strength. The god,
given his right place, will so inspire and guide
this extraordinary creature, so educate and
develope it, so force it into action and recognition
of its kind, that it will make you tremble
when you recognise the power that has awakened
within you. The animal in yourself will
then be a king among the animals of the world.
This is the secret of the old-world magicians
who made Nature serve them and work
miracles every day for their convenience. This
is the secret of the coming race which Lord
Lytton foreshadowed for us.
But this power can only be attained by giving
the god the sovereignty. Make your animal
ruler over yourself, and he will never rule
others.
EPILOGUE
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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