gs of those inspired. Let us now
look for a moment at these same great truths in the light of the
thoughts and the teachings as put forth by some of the world's great
thinkers and inspired teachers.
The sum and substance of the thought presented in these pages is, you
will remember, that the great central fact in human life is the coming
into a conscious, vital realization of our oneness with the Infinite
Life, and the opening of ourselves fully to this divine inflow. I and
the Father are one, said the Master. In this we see how he recognized
his oneness with the Father's life. Again he said, The words that I
speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in
me, He doeth the works. In this we see how clearly he recognized the
fact that he of himself could do nothing, only as he worked in
conjunction with the Father. Again, My Father works and I work. In
other words, my Father sends the power, I open myself to it, and work
in conjunction with it.
Again he said, Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness,
and all these things shall be added unto you. And he left us not in
the dark as to exactly what he meant by this, for again he said. Say
not Lo here nor lo there, know ye not that the kingdom of heaven is
within you? According to his teaching, the kingdom of God and the
kingdom of heaven were one and the same. If, then, his teaching is
that the kingdom of heaven is within us, do we not clearly see that,
putting it in other words, his injunction is nothing more nor less
than, Come ye into a conscious realization of your oneness with the
Father's life. As you realize this oneness you find the kingdom, and
when you find this, all things else shall follow.
The story of the prodigal son is another beautiful illustration of this
same great teaching of the Master. After the prodigal had spent
everything, after he had wandered in all the realms of the physical
senses in the pursuit of happiness and pleasure, and found that this
did not satisfy but only brought him to the level of the animal
creation, he then came to his senses and said, I will arise and go to
my Father. In other words, after all these wanderings, his own soul at
length spoke to him and said, You are not a mere animal. You are your
Father's child. Arise and go to your Father, who holds all things in
His hands. Again, the Master said, Call no man your Father upon the
earth: for one is your Father, which is in
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