How should I feel now if my nation were at war, you wonder? But since the eyes of my memory opened and I saw my past lives, I realize that I have had so many nations, have fought in so many armies, have lain in the lap of so many mothers of mine in so many lands, that my spirit is uprooted. I have joined the great White Brotherhood, to which all men are brothers and all women sisters. It would be difficult for you to see with my eyes. I watch and wait, like the parents of the two old maids in Belgium, and so far the house of my faith stands untouched by the fires of war. In the great White Brotherhood there are members from many races, there are members from the races now at war. Do you fancy that they looked askance at one another when the world went mad? They did not look askance at one another. Each stood guard where he could do the most good. Each sought to soften the blow for the brethren of his brother, each sought to soften the hearts of his own blood-brethren. But as this war was written in the stars, the Teachers of the world could not prevent it when the hour struck. Do you know what it means to be a member of the great White Brotherhood? It means to work for the welfare of the human race, for the good of the planet as a whole. And there is another thing I want to tell you. You have heard of a Black Brotherhood. It is a misnomer. Brotherhood is never black. There is no Black _Brotherhood_. There are many Black Masters, for Mastership, like a garment, may be either white or black. In this war the black forces who have inspired hatred in men have worked for one end, and that very fact will weaken their power to do evil for a long time, when the results of their present labors are over. Do you get my meaning? A combination of evil forces, in the very act of combining, weakens the individual power of its members; for evil is strongest when individual. Two who are full of love may work together with the power of four; but two who work together for evil have only the power of--shall I say one and a half? And one and a half against four! If you love power, use power for good and increase it. It is because of the _multitude_ of elementary evil forces, all hurling their malice at the world, not because of their combination, that this madness was made possible. Hate is a disintegrating force. Those who hate after this war will disintegrate themselves. Those who love after this war will grow strong. France especially will grow strong, because there is more love than hate in France. France loves so much that even her enemies do not hate her. It is not merely because she is not so brutally strong as her great enemy. Love your enemies. That is the surest way to overcome them. _March 29._ LETTER X ONE DAY AS A THOUSAND YEARS AS I am writing about war, I wish to talk to those who have lost their loved ones in this war.