black earth, but in the innermost substance of this dark
soil there are thousands of fragrant flowers latent. We must endeavor to
cultivate and awaken these potentialities, discover the secret treasure in
this very mine and depository of God, bring forth these resplendent powers
long hidden in human hearts. Then will the glories of both worlds be
blended and increased and the quintessence of human existence be made
manifest.

We must not be content with simply following a certain course because we
find our fathers pursued that course. It is the duty of everyone to
investigate reality, and investigation of reality by another will not do
for us. If all in the world were rich and one man poor, of what use are
these riches to that man? If all the world be virtuous and a man steeped
in vice, what good results are forthcoming from him? If all the world be
resplendent and a man blind, where are his benefits? If all the world be
in plenty and a man hungry, what sustenance does he derive? Therefore,
every man must be an investigator for himself. Ideas and beliefs left by
his fathers and ancestors as a heritage will not suffice, for adherence to
these are but imitations, and imitations have ever been a cause of
disappointment and misguidance. Be investigators of reality that you may
attain the verity of truth and life.

You have asked why it was necessary for the soul that was from God to make
this journey back to God? Would you like to understand the reality of this
question just as I teach it, or do you wish to hear it as the world
teaches it? For if I should answer you according to the latter way, this
would be but imitation and would not make the subject clear.

The reality underlying this question is that the evil spirit, Satan or
whatever is interpreted as evil, refers to the lower nature in man. This
baser nature is symbolized in various ways. In man there are two
expressions: One is the expression of nature; the other, the expression of
the spiritual realm. The world of nature is defective. Look at it clearly,
casting aside all superstition and imagination. If you should leave a man
uneducated and barbarous in the wilds of Africa, would there be any doubt
about his remaining ignorant? God has never created an evil spirit; all
such ideas and nomenclature are symbols expressing the mere human or
earthly nature of man. It is an essential condition of the soil of earth
that thorns, weeds and fruitless trees may grow from it