Esoteric V10: July 1896 - Iapsop.com

180 BntF.FR. [October
what doe~ this mean? being constantly engaged, like the religious
devotee, in the observance of ritual, in the continual formulation
of long prayer~? No: prayer is the centralized desire
of the heart. It is by means of the power residing in desire
that' we attract to us and around us, and fill the atmosphere
with the life which holrls the qualities needed for om· gt·owth.
Therefore we must have that desit·e focalized in the right direction,
and without intermis11ion it' must he active, even intense;
and thus we must continue always in prayer.
Our bodie!l at·e so affet•ted hy the hotly of the human family,
the thought conditions of the wodd ar11 110 continually acting
upon us and influencing us, that the only way in which we can
be relieved from the constant poison which such an atmosphere
holds, is that those gathering here make it the business of their
lives to bring into existence that new ordet·, "the new heaven
and the new earth, wherein dwelleth t·ighteousnesR." The onlv
possible means fot· uriugiug the cdnditions l'eiJUisite for the accmnpJishment
of tins purpose is to have your minds, without
intermission, centt·alized upon the higher elements.
I say without intermission, because t.he moment that oct~tll's,
the rPsnlt upon the higher gi'Owth will be the same a .. ~ that
upon the plant were it to t~ease itR continued fotmlization. Yon
that are working in the ga.rd.-11 know, that, if you leave the
water tnmetl off the plant~ 1111til they thy up. they will die.
But 1mppos11 the water is tumed off just long enoug-h to
allow the leaves to hPg-in to dr·~·. anti is then turned on ag-ain.
The plaut will t·estllrre its gNwt.h ; ltnt will it rt•gaiu its fonrrer
lnxnriatwe and l~eauty '! \\' iII not the luss of sout~ of it" It< a vi'!;
be the t·esult of tire rwg-li~.-Jw e '! The t•ontirrnetl at!livity of
thns~ pnwers of attt•;wtinn, wlti,•h is the Ia w of its hei ng-. I~ a .;
hecn i ntel'l'upted. And so from uatut·e we ag-a i 11 r·t••·~i \'e tire
lesson that we must pmy always with all pt·ayet·.
In conMidet·in~ the tln·ee realms in wlrit•h we liv .., we will
beg-in with the ph~ sit•al. 'V e have a plryHit•al hotly whil'h has
all the neetls and pt·opcn!!ities of tlw anirrral m:w, arul whit·h,
in the tirue of Atlam, was calletl tire gar·deu of (iotl, in whi··h
man was pl:wl'd. You. the li,•ing son!. at·e the nr:tn lwre in
tlris gat·1len, to tlress a111l keep it. I 11 cmlt!t' to do su, yun must.
Digitized by Coogle