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THE HEART OF BEING 
 
Uriel Buchanan 
 
 The Mind's Attainment $1.00 
 
 (SilK cloth) 
 
 Course in Yoga Philosophy 1.50 
 
 (Twelve lessons, booklet form, paper binding) 
 
 The Library Shelf 
 
 850=854 McClurg Bldg. CHICAGO, U. S. A. 
 
The Heart of Being 
 
 OR 
 
 Truth and Destiny 
 
 By 
 
 URIEL BUCHANAN 
 
 Author of " The Mind's Attainment," " The Path to Power,' 
 etc., etc. 
 
 THE LIBRARY SHELF 
 
 850-854 McClurg Building, Chicago, U. S. A. 
 1909 
 

 Copyright, 1909 
 
 BY THE LIBRARY SHELF 
 
 All rights reserved 
 
 From the Press of 
 
 The Brown-Cooper Company 
 
 Chicago and Streator, 111. 
 
 C,Ci.A2S3057 
 
Chapter I. 
 
 Chapter II. 
 
 Chapter III. 
 
 Chapter IV. 
 
 Chapter V. 
 
 Chapter VI. 
 
 Chapter VII. 
 
 Chapter VIII. 
 
 Chapter IX. 
 
 Chapter X. 
 
 Chapter XI. 
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 Page 
 The Primary Processes 
 
 of World Building... 9 
 
 Man's Progress 15 
 
 The Manifestation of 
 
 Love 18 
 
 Seeking The Invisible 
 
 Presence 24 
 
 The Wordless Voice 31 
 
 The Creative Impulse... 36 
 The Realm of Self-Con- 
 sciousness 42 
 
 The Echo From The 
 
 Eternal Hills 46 
 
 The Hermit And - The 
 
 Youth 54 
 
 The Wanderings of The 
 
 Soul 73 
 
 The Destined Goal 79 
 
THE PRIMARY PROCESS OF 
 WORLD-BUILDING 
 
 HERE are no living wit- 
 nesses to the marvelous 
 scenes which belong to the 
 primary processes of world 
 building, for in the earlier 
 stages of the planet's formation no 
 individualized self-conscious life could 
 exist. But man may read the story of 
 the earth's unfoldment from the hier- 
 oglyphs of nature — from the mountain 
 cliffs and the broad plains, from the deep 
 valleys, the sand-swept deserts, the ma- 
 jestic rivers and the billowy seas. From 
 the milestones along the mysterious way, 
 aided by the illumined vision of science, 
 man may look back through centuries 
 
THE HEART OF BEING 
 
 upon centuries that had passed away be- 
 fore the period of human existence upon 
 this planet began — back to the time when 
 the moving force of universal life first 
 projected itself into crystallized form in 
 the bosom of the earth as a mineral. He 
 may follow the continuous and progres- 
 sive gradations of life through its mani- 
 festation in the protoplasmic slime in an- 
 cient seas — ever onward through the 
 ages of evolution, from the tiniest finny 
 beings to the monstrous creatures that 
 finally emerged from the bed of the 
 Silurian ocean and crawled over vast 
 bogs and roamed through primeval for- 
 ests. By the destructive agencies the 
 huge clumsy forms were broken into 
 pieces again and again, and cast into the 
 crucible of nature to be remoulded each 
 time into symmetrical and fairer shapes. 
 Thus all forms have been slowly 
 evolved from the gross to the delicate, 
 from the simple to the complex, from 
 
 10 
 
OR, TRUTH AND DESTINY 
 
 mammoth to man. The force imprisoned 
 in the chrysolite obeys the impulse of pro- 
 gressive change. In its demand for on- 
 ward march the mineral form is broken, 
 and life repictures itself into shape after 
 shape more and more wonderful in struc- 
 ture. The strength and power that first 
 bound the atoms in the solid rock, now 
 paints the flower with tints of wondrous 
 beauty, grows in the foliage, lives in the 
 trembling leaves, opens broadly in the 
 sunlight and is kissed by the wooing 
 breeze. Slowly the grasp of matter re- 
 laxes its hold, and life is evolved from the 
 plant and the tree to the plane of animal 
 existence, where conscious power is first 
 made manifest through instinct and love. 
 The cruder forces of animal strength be- 
 gin to respond to the influence of mind, 
 until the dumb creatures of the higher 
 order of the animal kingdom approach the 
 threshold of that domain that belongs to 
 the dignity and glory of man. 
 11 
 
THE HEART OF BEING 
 
 The primitive races of mankind dwelt 
 in caves, in rude huts and beneath twisted 
 boughs. Tribes were separated by unex- 
 plored regions. Man wandered at will 
 through unclaimed forests. Continents 
 were divided by mysterious and unsailed 
 seas. But the movement of the palpable 
 life stream has flooded the world, and 
 carried forward on its slow-moving tide 
 the people of every continent. 
 
 Those who have explored the ancient 
 ruins which survive in many lands, find 
 the symbols of the same mystery graven 
 upon the walls. Identical symbols were 
 used by tribes on opposite parts of the 
 globe, even in that far-off time when the 
 world was young and the race was simple 
 and untaught — long before cables of steel 
 had united the continents and long before 
 ships had navigated the seas. One of the 
 earliest emblems used to- express the in- 
 visible forces of nature and the perpetual 
 life of the human race was that of the ser- 
 12 
 
OR, TRUTH AND DESTINY 
 
 pent. While the symbol of the serpent 
 has an important place in the magical 
 lore of Egypt, and in the sacerdotal 
 mysteries of all Oriental lands, it was also 
 used as a sacred emblem by the primitive 
 races of America, and is a prominent 
 figure among the surviving works of the 
 mound builders. Hence we see that the 
 races of mankind, even in the long ago, 
 were united by the invisible currents of 
 thought which flowed from one source 
 and impelled humanity upward toward 
 the manifestation of an exalted destiny. 
 And from century to century we see a 
 gradual unfoldment of the human race, 
 which has never been left entirely guide- 
 less in the dark or unled by the eternal 
 light, but has evolved from stage to stage 
 along the ascending spiral of destiny, 
 manifesting in greater fullness the power 
 and supremacy of mind. 
 
 Thus life, with all the mysteries that en- 
 shroud it, with all the pain and joy that 
 13 
 
THE HEART OF BEING 
 
 accompany it, has flowed on in an ever- 
 widening stream, coursing through the 
 veins of the rude and uncultured, whose 
 thoughts are only of the visible things 
 surrounding daily life — on, ever on — 
 awakening at times to a vague con- 
 sciousness, then receding to the realm of 
 the unmanifest, to come again with re- 
 newed forces, pulsating now to the heart- 
 throbs of genius; and thus will it continue 
 to flow, until it has scintillated through 
 every influence that the stream of pro- 
 gression claims. Life is an eternal un- 
 foldment, and love of life is an unerring 
 instinct whose aspirations are the woo- 
 ings of the Infinite. 
 
 14 
 
II. 
 
 MAN'S PROGRESS 
 
 Man has toiled tirelessly in his search 
 for knowledge ; and by his power and gen- 
 ius he has transformed the face of nature 
 into symmetry and beauty. He has felled 
 the forests and reared in their place cities 
 and empires; he has spanned the rivers, 
 crossed the continents with railways, and 
 conquered the adverse waves of the sea, 
 over which he rides swiftly and fearlessly 
 by the magic power of resistless steam. 
 He has cunningly enslaved the elements 
 of the world and subjected even the wind 
 and the lightning to his command. The 
 telegraphs and cables have annihilated 
 space and time, and brought the people of 
 every land into closer and more vital re- 
 lation with each other. He has taken dull 
 clay and shaped it into a beauteous vase ; 
 15 
 
THE HEART OF BEING 
 
 a block of marble, and chiseled it into a 
 perfect image of the ideal form; a string 
 and piece of wood, and made a sweet- 
 voiced violin. At his command waste 
 places have blossomed into gardens of 
 luxuriance. Fire and air, electricity and 
 light, have been subdued to his useful 
 service. The printing press has made us 
 acquainted with the noble thoughts and 
 deeds of the great men of every age — 
 with the heroes, who have spent their 
 lives for others; the poets and orators, 
 who have charmed the world with elo- 
 quence and song ; the painters and sculp- 
 tors, who have created immortal forms 
 with brush and chisel; the composers, 
 who have interpreted the melody of 
 sound; and the philosophers, who have 
 searched the depths of being and learned 
 the secrets of the stars. These marvel- 
 ous achievements, and many more, have 
 been recorded, and such things will en- 
 lighten and encourage the generations 
 yet to be. 
 
 16 
 
OR, TRUTH AND DESTINY 
 
 Reason, at first rude and untaught, has 
 become radiant with knowledge and 
 crowned with jeweled thoughts as beauti- 
 ful and vast as the sky of stars. Affection, 
 once narrow and selfish, has grown to a 
 love and sympathy that is broad and true. 
 Man's marvelous skill in the fine arts, his 
 wondrous handicrafts, his magic power 
 and mastery in every department of 
 nature, together with his trained reason 
 and the maturity of his heart and con- 
 science, rightly place him on a height far 
 upon the road of attainment. But his 
 triumph is incomplete. There are still 
 heights unsealed and depths unfathomed. 
 
 17 
 
III. 
 
 THE MANIFESTATION OF LOVE 
 
 The first quarter of the twentieth cen- 
 tury is to be a period of wonderful growth 
 and advancement along every conceivable 
 line of thought and action. Science will 
 revolutionize the world of commerce by 
 the wonderful discoveries that are now 
 being made. The ethical and social as- 
 pects of life will be materially changed; 
 while the creeds of orthodoxy will be 
 supplanted by the simple religion of love. 
 The spirit of love will dethrone the demon 
 of hate, and upon the altar of the sanc- 
 tuary within the heart of humanity will 
 be kindled the sacred flame of truth. 
 During the transition period from the old 
 to the new, a battle will be waged in the 
 realm of thought more serious than the 
 crossing of swords — more fearful and con- 
 
 18 
 
OR, TRUTH AND DESTINY 
 
 fusing than the din of bursting shell. But 
 the wheel of progress can no more be 
 checked by any man or set of men than 
 can the world be made to pause in its 
 unending journey through the measure- 
 less depths of space. If man would 
 keep at the head in the great procession 
 of life, it is essential that he understand 
 the basic principles by which humanity 
 is to be governed and universal harmony 
 maintained. No one can stand aside 
 while the wave of progressive life en- 
 circles the globe. Each one must either 
 rise with the tidal wave of deeper life and 
 pass to nobler spheres of usefulness, or be 
 carried by the receding tide to the waters 
 of oblivion. 
 
 Bound by the duties that progression 
 claims, it is man's work to remove the 
 yoke of bondage from the neck of his 
 fellow-man; to free from the dark and 
 dreary dungeon of ignorance the im- 
 prisoned, the despised, and greet them 
 
 19 
 
THE HEART OF BEING 
 
 with a ray of light, with a word of cheer; 
 to break the forged chains of superstition, 
 place man's feet on the highway of truth, 
 and bid him walk with head erect and 
 free. 
 
 One of the most potent principles oper- 
 ating to purify and elevate the world of 
 humanity is the influence of love. It is 
 love that lightens the burdens of life, love 
 that animates to ceaseless toil, love that 
 moves the patriot in his country's cause. 
 It is love that makes existence sweet, love 
 that builds the nation's homes and fills 
 the world with all the comforts and luxu- 
 ries of life. It is the influence of love that 
 refines and elevates the heart and makes 
 sacred the circle of a happy home. Love 
 is as natural as the heart-beat, universal 
 as the law of gravitation, sweet as the 
 perfume of the rose, and beautiful as the 
 dawn. Love is the flame that lights the 
 eyes with an unfading lustre and paints 
 the cheeks with a magnetic glow. The 
 
 20 
 
OR, TRUTH AND DESTINY 
 
 spirit of love that throbs in every heart 
 enables man to see some ray of light in 
 regions of deepest darkness, some spark 
 of intelligence in the mind of the most ig- 
 norant, some gleam of hope in the bosom 
 of the most depraved. The man who is 
 dominated by the spirit of love is like 
 the magnet to fragments of steel; his 
 thoughts are deep and pure; his words 
 are like the music of a stream. 
 
 We look up into the heavens at night 
 and behold the countless worlds moving 
 with magical equilibrium through bound- 
 less space, held in their appointed places 
 by the law of attraction, which is another 
 name for love. We look about us and see 
 in all nature a manifestation of the silent 
 and ceaseless power of love, expressing 
 itself in every blade of grass, giving 
 symmetry and beauty to every tree and 
 plant and flower. 
 
 In all animate creation below the race 
 of human beings there is the guiding 
 21 
 
THE HEART OF BEING 
 
 presence of an instinct whose monitions 
 are unerringly followed by the untaught 
 creatures of earth. We see a mani- 
 festation of this presence in the active 
 life of the bee as it gathers honey from the 
 flowers in distant fields, and returns in a 
 straight course to its native hive. We 
 see this presence manifested in the migra- 
 tory instinct of the birds as they come and 
 go with the changing seasons of the year. 
 The carrier pigeon, when freed from cap- 
 tivity, rises and circles in the air above 
 and takes an undeviating flight to its 
 native home. Then man, the highest 
 manifestation of existence ; man to whom 
 was given the command over all things; 
 man, who has conquered the earth, the 
 sea and air, who has enchained the light- 
 nings, who converses with the stars, and 
 traces comets as they illumine the track- 
 less spaces of the universe and pass on to 
 sparkle in the silent depths, surely his 
 existence is not purposeless in this uni- 
 22 
 
OR, TRUTH AND DESTINY 
 
 verse of law; surely he is not left to wan- 
 der aimlessly and alone over the earth, 
 with no exalted purpose and hope to 
 guide him ! The fixed star of truth is the 
 eternal guide of man's existence, and its 
 rays beckon from afar. Its light flashes 
 from the illumined spaces toward which 
 humanity moves, and it sheds refulgent 
 rays upon all created things. It is the 
 star of truth and life, the beckoning star 
 of wisdom and love, set in the firmament 
 of the Invisible Ideal where, like a jewel, 
 it shall adorn the brow of a regenerated 
 humanity. 
 
 23 
 
IV. 
 
 SEEKING THE INVISIBLE PRESENCE 
 
 All that is best in the good that is now 
 being done, as well as the deepest knowl- 
 edge that has yet been vouchsafed to us, 
 is the result of forces that have been 
 struggling for expression in the life of 
 humanity since the birth of man. Slowly 
 and painfully have we been wresting from 
 Nature the secrets she has long hidden 
 from us, and our progression has been 
 fraught with mistakes and with suffering. 
 The darkness that hangs over the past 
 still casts its shadow over the world to- 
 day. But the mysteries that have been 
 fathomed by science, and the knowledge 
 acquired by those on the heights, shed 
 an increasing light far down into the val- 
 ley; and all who will open their eyes to 
 the living realities round about them may 
 
 24 
 
OR, TRUTH AND DESTINY 
 
 read the signs of the time and feel the 
 thrill of a quickening power. Deep down 
 in regions unlit by the light of the dawn, 
 a few still grope in the darkness and cling 
 to the phantoms of vanished days. But 
 the radiance grows greater with the 
 march of the years, and heeds not the 
 murmur of dissenting voices down there 
 in the shadows. Invisible forces of Na- 
 ture are blending with forces in the mind 
 of man, and the light on life's horizon 
 grows brighter and purer, and shines with 
 a mightier radiance into the heart and life 
 of progressive humanity. Within reach 
 of those in the deep valley below, as well 
 as of one who has approached nearer the 
 summit of the highest ideal — within reach 
 of all, is the knowledge of truth and the 
 attainment of freedom which wisdom 
 gives. Ours is the choice — whether the 
 monitions of wisdom and truth shall guide 
 our wandering footsteps to the threshold 
 of freedom and power, or that we shall re- 
 25 
 
THE HEART OF BEING 
 
 main deaf and blind to the whir of the 
 white wings of the dove of peace that 
 flies over the pathway of our destiny. 
 
 The inward life, in its most permanent 
 form, is built up in the consciousness of 
 the man who has suffered himself to be- 
 come beautiful and pure. This inner 
 sanctuary may be entered by the lowliest 
 of men, while it often may happen that 
 one of vast knowledge who seeks the in- 
 visible presence shall fail to discover the 
 way that leads to the threshold of happi- 
 ness. The intellect alone cannot lift the 
 veil that enwraps the inmost conscious- 
 ness of man, cannot survey the sacred re- 
 cesses where life abides in the majesty of 
 peaceful repose; but one who grows 
 nobler in an ever loftier consciousness and 
 purer love, one who is gentle and good, 
 shall receive the light that will illumine 
 the mind, reveal the way to the myster- 
 ious sources of vision, and open the 
 heart to the influx of profoundest joy. 
 26 
 
OR, TRUTH AND DESTINY 
 
 Who has not heard in the deeps of his 
 being the whisper of loftiest instincts, and 
 felt the influence of a resistless power 
 surge up from the mysterious gulf within? 
 They who have dwelt in the silence, they 
 who have dived down to explore the un- 
 dercurrents of destiny, have brought a 
 few secret jewels from the treasure of 
 truth to the surface. But they who have 
 gone down deepest have touched only the 
 shoals of the hidden life, and they alone 
 know how unfathomable is the sea of in- 
 finity on which humanity reposes. 
 
 There are those who have drawn them- 
 selves away from the life movement of 
 the race, and plunged into the abyss of 
 abstraction with an eagerness to gain for 
 themselves the riches that lie hidden 
 there, and to wrap themselves in the robe 
 of proud intellectualism, without respect 
 to the burden of sorrow that enthralls 
 mankind. But the possession of true 
 knowledge draws man nearer to man, and 
 
 27 
 
THE HEART OF BEING 
 
 identifies those who think with those who 
 toil. It becomes the office of the truly 
 wise to consecrate their gifts to the useful 
 service of all, and to infuse the light of 
 their wisdom into the minds of the un- 
 awakened. In imagination alone does the 
 gulf exist between the saint and the sin- 
 ner; for there is an invisible goodness in 
 the heart of the most depraved, and a 
 faint glimmering of wisdom even in the 
 mind of a fool. The man of true power 
 is he who invokes the living streams of 
 life, which descend from the hills of uni- 
 versal nature, and compels them to flow 
 through the barren plains and waste 
 places of earth, as well as through peace- 
 ful and fertile valleys where golden har- 
 vests wave. Let us not dam up the cur- 
 rents of energy that inflow to us, for in 
 the great reservoir of nature is the es- 
 sence of all power ; and while reaching up 
 with one hand to receive the gifts that 
 are bountifully bestowed, let us ever ex- 
 
 28 
 
OR, TRUTH AND DESTINY 
 
 tend the other to those in the darkness, 
 that they, too, may become conscious of 
 the deeper realities, and receive a fore- 
 gleam of the higher destiny that awaits 
 them. If we close up the avenues of our 
 mind through which flow the magnetic 
 streams from the mysterious deeps, the 
 waters of life will become stagnant within 
 us. If our life be truly in touch with the 
 omnipotent supply, there need be no fear 
 of exhausting our forces by giving to 
 others ; the streams that branch out from 
 the clear fountain of wisdom will ever en- 
 large as they flow ; the currents will grow 
 deeper and broader as they blend with 
 other streams from the same sources of 
 life, finally forming the wide and deep 
 rivers which carry the burden of many a 
 frail bark, whose white sails would never 
 have been unfurled to the breeze and the 
 heavens but for the brooklets that flow 
 from perennial sources back there in the 
 mountains. 
 
 29 
 
THE HEART OF BEING 
 
 The mystical river of life flows on, re- 
 newed eternally by crystal streams from 
 the fountain of truth. It flows through 
 the dark canyons where the sun never 
 gleams on its waters, as it flows by the 
 great cities where all is activity and glory; 
 it flows through vast deserts where no 
 echo responds to its murmur, as it flows 
 through broad valleys and green pastures 
 where all is gladness and peace ; it streams 
 on forever, in search of the sea of univer- 
 sal humanity. 
 
 30 
 
V. 
 THE WORDLESS VOICE 
 
 There is a voice within which makes it- 
 self heard above the heated centers of 
 commercial life, above the din and noise 
 of the clashing streets. It is the wordless 
 voice which whispers from the inner- 
 most depths of the heart's sanctuary; 
 it is that all-pervading interior light 
 which has lighted man's way through 
 the passing centuries. To one who 
 listens, it will make of life a song; 
 to one who accepts this light as 
 guide, his career will be a symphony. 
 It is a faculty of perception in the 
 mind which gives one a knowledge not 
 taught by the academies, reveals truths 
 unknown to scholastic systems, gives cul- 
 ture without the college, and endows the 
 mind with wisdom and power. This si- 
 
 31 
 
THE HEART OF BEING 
 
 lent voice, this inexpressible light, is the 
 highest heritage of humanity. Those who 
 persistently ignore it and refuse to culti- 
 vate it, grow tired of the years, grow tired 
 of the world, grow old and die. Those 
 who cherish the light and follow its mo- 
 nitions are continually renewed from the 
 invisible sources and are given strength 
 to go on with their work and their life, 
 and to pass from victory to victory. Re- 
 garded faithfully, it reveals the secret of 
 life and indicates destiny's crown. It con- 
 tinually whispers in subdued tones, "this 
 is the way, come up higher." It is the one 
 infallible oracle and trustworthy guide to 
 ways of righteousness and peace. Let no 
 false teaching, however enticing, no au- 
 thority, however gilded, blind you to the 
 interior light and take from you its lead- 
 ings. What the world needs is to have 
 this light increased ; to inculcate the ideal, 
 to manifest the harmonies of a nobler and 
 truer existence. 
 
 32 
 
OR, TRUTH AND DESTINY 
 
 Call it what you will — intuition, intel- 
 lect, the soul; conscience, wisdom, or the 
 dictates of reason — words fail to describe 
 its qualities; no language can define its 
 attributes. It is nevertheless a presence 
 that is felt by all at times, and is never 
 absent from the heart where hope dwells. 
 Where pure life glows, where reason's 
 torch burns brightest, where truth has its 
 home, and love its shrine, there the invis- 
 ible presence abides; and no harm will 
 come to those who walk in the shadow of 
 its radiance; no fatality can lurk in their 
 hearts, no misfortune attend their des- 
 tiny; for the rays of this light will pene- 
 trate and purify the mind and heart, and 
 its hidden fire will consume all dross. 
 
 It is not that this presence is ever with- 
 drawn, that men wander from the center 
 of rest and peace, from the threshold of 
 happiness and power, to grope in the 
 outer darkness where the storms and 
 tempests rage. For this light to man is 
 
 33 
 
THE HEART OF BEING 
 
 like the presence of the visible sun to the 
 material world. The heat through the 
 summer days is more intense, though the 
 earth in reality is farther away from its 
 source and its sustenance than it is 
 through the coldest days of the winter. 
 It is not the vast distance, or nearness, 
 but the nature of the aspect, which deter- 
 mines the degree of the light and the 
 warmth the earth receives from the sun. 
 The more direct the rays, the more in- 
 tense will the heat be. Likewise it is 
 man's aspect and relation to the interior 
 light which determines the nature of his 
 life and his destiny. The light is there; 
 it shines on eternally ; it is man who vacil- 
 lates — not the light — sometimes in close 
 affinity with the positive pole of goodness 
 and truth, again vibrating to the opposite 
 pole of negation and darkness. 
 
 Let us invoke the light and bask in the 
 direct rays of its presence. And like the 
 needle to the pole, if the storms of afflic- 
 
 34 
 
OR, TRUTH AND DESTINY 
 
 tion and the tumult of the senses cause the 
 desires and the will to swerve from this 
 center of truth and goodness, of love and 
 light, let us swing back again, after the 
 clouds have vanished, and guide the frail 
 bark of our life safely to the haven of its 
 rest and its gladness. 
 
 35 
 
VI. 
 
 THE CREATIVE IMPULSE 
 
 In the long ago, when the earth was 
 young, the creative impulse, charged with 
 one purpose and will, and longing to man- 
 ifest the slumbering energies in the har- 
 mony and beauty of diversified forms, 
 crystallized into a tiny germ. Working in 
 silence, it slowly attracted the invisible 
 forces from the dark surroundings of its 
 lodging place in the barren ground. The 
 hot sun poured down its fierce rays and 
 warmed the earth's surface day after day, 
 until the innate life of the invisible germ 
 unclosed the shell of its limitation and 
 projected itself above the inert materials 
 of its anchorage, winning for itself a place 
 in the light and the wooing breeze. In 
 the peace of the dawn the tiny structure 
 was kissed by a dewdrop, which awoke 
 
 36 
 
OR, TRUTH AND DESTINY 
 
 within it the first gleam of consciousness. 
 Its desire became greater than ever be- 
 fore to reach up and attain. A ray of 
 sunlight came down a golden pathway 
 from the vaulted skies, played gently 
 around it, and found lodgment in its 
 yearning heart. It had received no token 
 of its purpose ; but the plant was grateful 
 for the dewdrop and the sunbeam which 
 brought the happiness and joy it craved. 
 The vernal zephyrs made its tender leaf- 
 lets tremble as they gently caressed it, but 
 breathed no secret of its destiny. As it 
 grew high in stature in the air and sun- 
 light it began to put forth rootlets to hold 
 it steadfast in its place, that it might be 
 able to withstand the storms and vicissi- 
 tude of time. But it soon perceived that 
 its environment was unsuited to harmo- 
 nious and rapid unfoldment. The inexor- 
 able law of nature had placed it in the 
 cleft of a rock, with no room for expan- 
 sion and growth. Then it repined that 
 
 37 
 
THE HEART OF BEING 
 
 the cruelty of fate had placed it there, 
 feeling that it would fail to fulfill the 
 purpose and design of the power which 
 gave it birth. 
 
 What am I? Why am I here? Is my 
 existence to be objectless? were the ques- 
 tions it asked of the breeze and the sun- 
 beams that played around it. But no 
 answer came in response to its question- 
 ing. Its life grew desolate and its frail 
 leaves drooped, for the dewdrops failed in 
 their efforts to quench the thirst of its 
 greater needs, and the sunbeams began 
 to dry up the sap within it. But one day 
 the skies and the sunlight were obscured 
 by dark clouds which shed tears of crystal 
 raindrops that fell to the earth and 
 brought refreshment and life to the frag- 
 ile and fading plant. A tremor of joy 
 passed through its being once more. A 
 new sensation of energy and resistless 
 power was aroused within it; the roots 
 went deeper, the body grew larger and 
 
 38 
 
OR, TRUTH AND DESTINY 
 
 taller, the branches spread out, and the 
 miracle of life was complete. A tiny 
 acorn, concealed in the cleft of a rock, 
 had been tranformed by the impulse of 
 creative law into a giant oak, destined to 
 withstand the destructive elements from 
 century to century. And if the life in the 
 growing tree can rend asunder the rock 
 which impedes its progress, is it to be 
 wondered at that man, with his powers 
 and capabilities, should be able to accom- 
 plish even greater things than this, in his 
 efforts to attain a gloriously rounded and 
 perfect manhood? 
 
 Where can be found a more perfect 
 symbol of man's beginning and develop- 
 ment than that of the tree ; and how many 
 lessons of patience and strength might be 
 learned from these inanimate symbols 
 that grow up round about us? Young men 
 who stand at the threshold of life, await- 
 ing the time when a way will be opened to 
 them for achievement in some chosen 
 
 39 
 
THE HEART OF BEING 
 
 pursuit, ofttimes become vexed and dis- 
 heartened because of delay. Obstacles 
 confront one at every step, and all the 
 forces of nature at times seem to conspire 
 to thwart the accomplishment of one's 
 purpose and aims. But the very obstacles 
 man meets on the journey are simply the 
 hills he must climb before he can peace- 
 fully rest on the summit which towers 
 above the cloud and the storm. The op- 
 posing forces man meets and masters, the 
 suffering and sorrow he endures, as well 
 as the love and the joy that are his, come 
 to him as lessons to be learned, experi- 
 ences to be gained, which compel the 
 roots of his consciousness to delve more 
 deeply into the soil of truth, that the 
 branches of aspiration may reach higher 
 into the regions of light. He should not 
 feel discouraged if destiny seems slow in 
 the fulfillment of the heart's deep yearn- 
 ings, but should learn from the monarch 
 of the forest the secret it holds for him. 
 40 
 
OR, TRUTH AND DESTINY 
 
 Slowly and invisibly it draws by the law 
 of accretion the nourishment needed to 
 sustain and increase its power. Again 
 and again it is stripped of its foliage by 
 the wintry blasts, and its limbs are twisted 
 and scarred by the winds, the hail and the 
 lightning. Yet the tree grows larger with 
 the march of years, until at last it stands 
 alone in its strength and its majesty, bid-- 
 ding defiance to the destructive forces 
 which often beat fiercely against it. 
 
 41 
 
VII. 
 
 THE REALM OF SELF- 
 CONSCIOUSNESS 
 
 Deep down in the innermost depths of 
 all beings there has been implanted the 
 invisible germ of that mysterious prin- 
 ciple called life. The perpetuity of our 
 individual selfhood is maintained by an 
 eternal process of living and dying, assim- 
 ilating and consuming, building and de- 
 stroying. The outer dies daily and the 
 inner becomes manifest. All the past is 
 a flow of life which unites the generations 
 of humanity without a break — a vast un- 
 broken stream which has flowed from the 
 primeval and eternal source of the uni- 
 verse. The creative tide that has evolved 
 humanity has never been lost to its 
 source, and its eternal flow is propelled by 
 the heart-throbs of Universal Nature. 
 Life's restless wave is in the whirlwind 
 
 42 
 
OR, TRUTH AND DESTINY 
 
 and the surging sea, in the earthquake 
 and the lightning's flash, in cloud and 
 storm, in the growing plant and bursting 
 bud. Evolving to the plane of conscious- 
 ness, its presence is voiced in the shrill 
 note of the insect's cry, the song of the 
 nightingale, and the cooing dove. It 
 reaches the realm of self-consciousness 
 within the mind of man; and each invol- 
 untary heave of the human chest for 
 breath is an aspiration of the heart, gasp- 
 ing for the inspiration of a superior life; 
 and by this method the elements of the 
 material form are being continuously 
 energized, and shaped into more and 
 more perfect form and function. There 
 has been implanted a restless longing 
 within the breast of man which cannot 
 be wholly satisfied so long as the heart 
 beats and the life-blood flows. Each one 
 is endowed with an inherent impulse 
 which leads ever upward from height to 
 height toward the final goal of a noble 
 
 43 
 
THE HEART OF BEING 
 
 destiny. To remove the obstructions 
 which false methods of living have cre- 
 ated, to purify the heart, to cleanse the 
 human temple of all things that clog the 
 blood and pollute the mind, will enable 
 every human being to manifest the beauty 
 and glory of that life of the universe 
 which extends from the everlasting to 
 the everlasting. 
 
 The planets and stars of infinite space, 
 the earth and all it contains, the melodies 
 of the winds and waters, the grandeur of 
 the woods and plains, and the beauty of 
 all living things, speak with a pleading 
 eloquence which bids man arise in the 
 dignity of the power that nature has given 
 him and to manifest the growing harmo- 
 nies that spring up from the deeps of his 
 consciousness. Yet through all ages and 
 in all climes there have been men who 
 have closed their eyes and persistently 
 ignored the eternal light, preferring to 
 grope blindly in the darkness of ignorance 
 44 
 
OR, TRUTH AND DESTINY 
 
 and sin. The light shines brighter to-day 
 on life's horizon than ever before; yet 
 there are thousands whose visions are 
 limited to the walls of the prison their 
 greed and their selfishness have built; and 
 only through chinks that misfortune has 
 made do they permit the glow of the light 
 to penetrate the chill calm of indifference. 
 The finer sensibilities often become dulled 
 in the mind of the man who is prosperous ; 
 and only the hidden fire of some great 
 misfortune can consume the dross and 
 reveal in his heart the jewels of charity 
 and love. All men should be prosperous. 
 But in the enjoyment of opulence one 
 should ever remember that the true 
 source of happiness lies deeper than ma- 
 terial riches. A pure heart is the eternal 
 passport to true happiness, without which 
 man knocks at the threshold in vain. 
 
 45 
 
VIII. 
 
 THE ECHO FROM THE ETERNAL 
 HILLS 
 
 A young mortal entered the world and 
 commenced the journey of life. Before 
 him lay the untrodden road of his unful- 
 filled destiny, awaiting the fall of his foot- 
 steps. Near him flowed a silvery stream 
 that glimmered in the sunlight and glided 
 gently toward the distant sea. About him 
 towered the lofty hills, crowned with the 
 deep blue and the unfathomable depths 
 of heaven. The winding road was strewn 
 with rough stones, and over their sharp 
 edges he wearily trod, while day followed 
 day with lengthened hours. He strug- 
 gled with adversity through years of fruit- 
 less toil. He endured the degradation of 
 poverty, and suffered the pangs of hun- 
 ger. Without love and without hope, the 
 
 46 
 
OR, TRUTH AND DESTINY 
 
 world only echoed cries of pain; the sun 
 only shone in mockery at his despair; 
 each rustle of the wind among the leaves 
 was but a sigh — an echo of his grief. At 
 last, footsore and despondent, as the gold- 
 beams of the sinking sun lighted the hill- 
 tops with a fading glow, and the evening 
 twilight crept gently through the valley, 
 he sat down amid the solitude of nature, 
 alone with his gloomy thoughts and his 
 desolate life. 
 
 "Oh, I am so sad!" he sighed; and a 
 responsive murmur from the peacefully 
 flowing river sighed back to him softly 
 "so sad, so sad." 
 
 "The gloomy portal of the grave," he 
 said, "will open to receive me ; and when 
 I have entered there, this tired heart will 
 find beneath the cold sod that sweet si- 
 lence which enshrouds the mystery of 
 death. For me there has been no joy, no 
 rest, no love; and now there is left no 
 hope but for oblivion; no goal to be at- 
 47 
 
THE HEART OF BEING 
 
 tained — only the strange wonderment of 
 the dreamless sleep. Alone I came into 
 the world; alone I have journeyed 
 through life, and now I must pass out 
 alone." 
 
 An echo from the hills beyond the river 
 faintly answered to his cry, "alone, 
 alone." The summer wind breathed 
 gently in the evening's ear, and the leaf 
 tongues of the forest sighed for pity as 
 they softly whispered through the gloom, 
 "alone, alone." One by one in the infinite 
 space of heaven the stars appeared and 
 crowned that hour of loneliness with the 
 solemnity of their perpetual gaze. With 
 a stone for a pillow, he lay down and 
 listened to the mystic voices of the night 
 — to the faint whisperings, soft and low — 
 till wooed by nature's lullaby to the 
 ghostly abyss of the dreamless and eter- 
 nal sleep. 
 
 Again, through the mystery of birth, a 
 human being entered the vast light and 
 
 48 
 
OR, TRUTH AND DESTINY 
 
 space of the world. Speechless delight 
 bestirred in his heart as he felt for the 
 first time the magnetic touch of delicate 
 fingers and listened to the loving voices 
 of kindred souls. The unclouded skies 
 and glimmering streams, the swaying for- 
 ests and majestic plains; the earth, car- 
 peted with green sod and plumed with 
 graceful foliage; the chorus of the happy 
 winged things, the rippling and laughing 
 of limpid waters that went singing their 
 way to the sea; vernal zephyrs stirring 
 the leafage to indefinite whisperings of 
 enchanted things — these produced a con- 
 cord of sweet sounds and beatific visions 
 that evoked the immeasurable thrill of 
 ecstasy which vibrated through the sanc- 
 tuary of his being. "How beautiful is 
 life!" he said; "how good and true, and 
 fair! The everlasting strains of melody, 
 the choir of innumerable voices, the music 
 of nature— one living song! To live is 
 happiness unspeakable — a joy forever." 
 
 49 
 
THE HEART OF BEING 
 
 And through the woodlands rang the 
 echo "a joy forever." 
 
 Each one hears from the eternal hills 
 of nature an echo of his own cry — calls 
 forth from the silent depths of humanity 
 the joys and blessings that respond to his 
 faith and love, or the sorrows and curses 
 that equal his hate and despair. 
 
 One looks for the good in everything; 
 his heart throbs with an unselfish affec- 
 tion for humanity ; and in response to his 
 love the warm billows of the great mag- 
 netic atmosphere of human sympathy 
 flow into and permeate his being with 
 currents of deathless energy. He sees 
 the virtue that sleeps in the bosom of all 
 men; catches a glimpse of the obscured 
 rays of purity that flash at times through 
 the hideous mask of defilement; finds in 
 the heart of the lowest and most vicious 
 the struggling fragments of love and 
 goodness, and the innate yearning for a 
 true, unselfish life. 
 
 50 
 
OR, TRUTH AND DESTINY 
 
 Another, loving gold or gain better 
 than his fellow-men, better than his own 
 life, drives divine love from its throne in 
 the human breast, and lives without hope 
 and without purpose beyond the gratifi- 
 cation of selfish and ignoble aims. Naught 
 but the purifying fire of deepest sorrow 
 can burn away the barriers and melt his 
 iron heart to love and pity. But however 
 far man may wander from the appointed 
 path of a noble destiny, and ignore the 
 principles of truth in the unworthy pur- 
 suit of selfish and perverted longings, the 
 time comes when the unerring hand of 
 eternal justice points to a critical hour on 
 the dial of destiny. Truth waves the 
 scepter of time over the proud head of 
 the wanderer, and before the stern, all- 
 pitiless angel of inflexible justice the 
 haughty form must bend and the flashing 
 eye grow dim; for the penalty of sin is 
 death. 
 
 Man regrets in vain the results of mis- 
 51 
 
THE HEART OF BEING 
 
 spent years. He who ignores in his youth 
 the principles of truth, who disregards 
 the monitions of his higher life, and obeys 
 not the command of progression's law, in 
 his old age will look out upon the desert 
 of life with the despair of an empty heart, 
 and will become a purposeless wanderer, 
 in memory, through the waste places and 
 the wrecks that strew the pathway of 
 the remorseful past. 
 
 The mysterious promptings of oppo- 
 sing destinies, with their lights and shad- 
 ows, are ever present in life's pathway, 
 confusing the vision of all whose minds 
 are not charged with purity and nobility 
 of purpose, and causing the footsteps to 
 falter — leading at times toward the high- 
 way of immaculate whiteness, and again 
 plunging one down into the depths of the 
 gloom, where the pure heart is seared 
 and blackened by the heat and smoke of 
 sin. Side by side with each man day and 
 night the two invisible pathways converge 
 
 52 
 
OR, TRUTH AND DESTINY 
 
 at his feet — one gilded with a luring 
 brightness, influencing him to follow the 
 time-beaten way of idleness and shrewd 
 dishonesty, rich with its early promises 
 of wealth and power, and the enjoyment 
 of the fruits of others' toil ; but inevitably 
 conducting the wanderer into the night- 
 enveloped horizon, over dark marshes, to- 
 ward the silent grave of vanished hopes 
 and wasted years; while the other — the 
 toiling pathway of honesty and thrift — 
 though narrow and rough for the first 
 steps to be taken, leads the advancing 
 pilgrim to the rich uplands of that realm 
 whose magnificent dome basks in the 
 glow of an unfading light. 
 
 Resolute with the courage of a deep de- 
 sire, with the pathway illuminated by 
 hope's throbbing star, man should turn 
 his back forever to the black shadows, and 
 follow the beckoning ray that leads to the 
 eternal verities of the supreme goal. 
 
 53 
 
IX. 
 
 THE HERMIT AND THE YOUTH 
 
 One evening as the sun went down in 
 a flood of exquisite glory, painting in 
 glowing colors the warm waters of a 
 Southern sea, and tinting with pink and 
 purple the summer clouds that floated 
 placidly in the deep-blue skies, while the 
 winds were hushed to give ear to the soft 
 murmurings of the waves, a dreamer, 
 with open eyes, looked round about him 
 and breathed in the peaceful joy of the 
 enchanted scene, until there passed into 
 his mind thoughts which only the silence 
 can utter, and within his heart stirred feel- 
 ings which have no language but music. 
 There in the silence, with the evening 
 shadows creeping about him, the faculties 
 which contemplate and imagine were 
 fully awakened in the hermit's mind, and 
 
 54 
 
OR, TRUTH AND DESTINY 
 
 in the tranquility of the hour he listened 
 to the low whisperings of reverie. 
 
 It was difficult to judge of his age from 
 his face and his form, for the glow of a 
 strange light rested upon his features, 
 and in the attitude of his body was pic- 
 tured the repose of strength. He had a 
 countenance that was pleasant and grave ; 
 a calm face, a broad and noble forehead, 
 with heavy eyebrows which shaded deep- 
 blue eyes that were restful now, but 
 bright with the full glow of a magnetic 
 and penetrative power. 
 
 In search of the solitude his nature 
 craved, the hermit had come to this place 
 where he could live for a time undisturbed 
 by the duties and cares of the human 
 world. On one side the smooth beach of 
 the island was washed by the white-cap- 
 ped waves from the heaving bosom of the 
 Mexican gulf, on the other by the peace- 
 ful ripples of a smiling bay. On the 
 island were towering sandhills, which 
 
 55 
 
THE HEART OF BEING 
 
 stood as white, silent sentinels of the 
 night ; and amid the speaking quietude of 
 this moveless scene a presence brooded 
 which brings madness save to kingly 
 souls. 
 
 Soft footsteps fell on the drifted sand, 
 and out from the deepening shadows the 
 form of a man appeared. The reverie of 
 the hermit was broken, and he started 
 at the sound of a human voice which 
 broke the silence with the question, "Who 
 are you?" 
 
 "And you?" was the response of the 
 hermit, as he rose to greet the stranger. 
 
 "A man with a party of friends. We 
 came here to-day to gather shells." 
 
 Then they stood face to face with each 
 other. One, an old man, still young in 
 appearance, but in his mind was the 
 knowledge and wisdom which requires 
 many long years of experience in the heat 
 of life's conflicts to gain: the other, a 
 young man, apparently of about twenty 
 
 56 
 
OR, TRUTH AND DESTINY 
 
 years of age, and of a countenance strik- 
 ingly superior to the average youth of the 
 world. 
 
 "I welcome you, young man, though 
 the things you seek have no attraction for 
 me. The shells are painted with beaute- 
 ous tints that fascinate the eye ; yet I care 
 not for them. I prefer to revel in the gor- 
 geous shifting colors of earth and sea and 
 sky, for in these I sense the spirit of a 
 living power, while shells are only the 
 broken fragments of perished lives, em- 
 blems of death and change. But you are 
 young, and, like the child, are not content 
 to merely see the things you love. You 
 must touch and handle them. You 
 have no eyes for things that have no 
 weight and form — things you cannot 
 rudely grasp and call your own. But in my 
 heart are invisible chords which bind me 
 by enkindling sympathies to all the life 
 and beauty of the universe. Whether re- 
 mote from man's habitation, or in the 
 57 
 
THE HEART OF BEING 
 
 crowded streets of the world's large cities, 
 alone or with many, the same divine mel- 
 odies roll through my being, and all 
 things are eternally mine without the ef- 
 fort of lifting my hand to possess and 
 retain them." 
 
 "You may be a wise philosopher," the 
 youth replied, "and I hope you are happy 
 in the beliefs you hold; but you are cer- 
 tainly not practical, and your theories 
 would be of small value amid the sway 
 and press of the throng." 
 
 "Every light nature would answer as 
 you have," responded the hermit. "You 
 have no object in life but the possession of 
 that which pleases the body and gratifies 
 the sensuous. In you nothing seems to 
 live but that which has within it the 
 germs of death. Happiness is the goal 
 you seek, even as it is of all men. But 
 your narrow world is peopled with tnaya 
 and delusion of the mind, for the forms 
 which seem most real to you are evanes- 
 58 
 
OR, TRUTH AND DESTINY 
 
 cent as a dream. By full experience of 
 the illusions of the senses, I stand at the 
 threshold of the permanent and abiding; 
 and the knowledge I speak comes not 
 from me, but from the bright realms of 
 wisdom and truth. You trust to the arm 
 and flesh, and seek dominion by physical 
 force; and in this the animals are far su- 
 perior to you. One blow of the lion's 
 paw would rend and kill ; and the life you 
 know, like the life of the animal, dwells 
 in the senses and ends with death. The 
 life you live furls its faithless wings at the 
 very threshold of that realm where true 
 life begins." 
 
 "Your judgment is rather severe," the 
 youth remarked ; "and is not wholly false 
 nor wholly true. You are correct when 
 you say I live in the senses; and so far 
 as I know my life shall close with the 
 tomb. I love nature as deeply as you. I 
 enjoy the beauties of her manifestations 
 and feel the pulsations of her hidden life, 
 59 
 
THE HEART OF BEING 
 
 though it be through the senses, which 
 you condemn. I look upon nature with 
 the eyes she has given me, and I listen 
 with ears attuned to her harmonies. 
 The bloom of her flowers delights the 
 eye, and their perfume is sweet to inhale. 
 I listen to the voice of her winds and the 
 melodies of her waters. I hear the rustle 
 of her autumn leaves and watch the silent 
 fall of the snowflakes which cover with a 
 white shroud the sleeping earth. I love 
 the young spring which brings the 
 feathered throng to echo in music 
 through verdant bowers ; I love the bright 
 summer with its countless flowers; au- 
 tumn's solemn form, and the bewitching 
 scenes of winter — all these speak to me 
 in a language I understand. Should I ig- 
 nore these, and the love of sweetheart and 
 friend, of music and art, of eloquence and 
 song, for the fantastic visions of that 
 shadowy realm you call the real? 
 
 60 
 
OR, TRUTH AND DESTINY 
 
 "I once sought to lift the sombre veil 
 that shrouds the unknown, to look be- 
 yond the shadows of death into the trans- 
 figured faces of the loved and lost. In the 
 agony of loneliness, with outstretched, 
 pleading hands, I have called out in the 
 darkness, 'O, mother, if you still live, hear 
 my heart-cry and come to me/ I prayed 
 to the invisible Being, whom she had 
 taught my childish heart to worship, 'O, 
 God, give me one glimpse of Thy pres- 
 ence, or one sign as evidence of Thy exis- 
 tence/ Again and again have I cried out 
 in the darkness, and the only response I 
 received was the cold, indifferent silence, 
 broken only by the quick throbbing of my 
 desolate heart. All my hopes and faith, 
 all my prayers and longings have failed to 
 bring one whisper from the unseen, or 
 one vision but the fleeting images of my 
 mind's creation. I do not fear the sleep 
 of death. When the time comes to tread 
 the unknown pathways of that starless 
 
 61 
 
THE HEART OF BEING 
 
 night, I shall be ready and willing to go, 
 yielding my will to the same inexorable 
 power that brought me here. But 
 whence, O, Mystery, and whither? No 
 man knows — only that we emerge from 
 the unknown, and, like the bright gleam 
 of the comet, glitter for a brief time on 
 the earth's zenith and pass again into the 
 unknown. Should I crucify the flesh and 
 deny the sweet realities of the world that 
 is, in the contemplation of an imaginary 
 world that perhaps never shall be?" 
 
 The depth of thought expressed by the 
 youth was a pleasant surprise to the her- 
 mit, and his heart was touched by the 
 earnestness of his words. Seated in front 
 of the youth, on the white sand, beneath 
 the innumerable stars of the silent night, 
 the hermit spoke again: 
 
 "These waves, which beat on the shore 
 
 at our feet, would produce no sound were 
 
 there no ears to hear; and yonder stars, 
 
 which flash their tremulous lustre 
 
 62 
 
OR, TRUTH AND DESTINY 
 
 through the shoreless ocean of space, 
 would be unknown to our consciousness 
 had we no eyes to see. The telescope 
 brings into view a galaxy of blazing suns 
 unseen by the naked eye; and the micro- 
 scope reveals a populous world crowded 
 within the petals of every flower ; remind- 
 ing us of the wonderful infinitude of the 
 great, and the equally wonderful infini- 
 tude of the small. Then is it not absurd 
 to assume that what our feeble senses 
 fail to grasp cannot be known ; that what 
 our limited vision fails to see, therefore 
 cannot exist? 
 
 "But I had no thought of the veiled ex- 
 istence of a possible future life when I 
 spoke of the real. All men are surround- 
 ed by the self-same forces and receive 
 light and sustenance from the universal 
 origin. Yet one fixes his gaze on the radi- 
 ance of truth, while the other sees only 
 the shadow its light throws at his feet. 
 
 63 
 
THE HEART OF BEING 
 
 "The happiness you seek flows through 
 your fingers like water, and leaves you to 
 suffer the torture of thirst in the midst of 
 streams that flow from perennial foun- 
 tains. Your eyes see only the dim spectre 
 of illusion and change beating its vampire 
 wings in the void. Not a hope that you 
 cherish reaches beyond the mists of your 
 greed and your selfishness. Even your 
 vain pleadings to evoke the loved ones 
 from the shadow of silence were born of 
 a selfish heart, yielding unwillingly to the 
 final decree of destiny. And your prayers 
 to the Unknown arose from an innate fear 
 and mistrust of the wisdom and goodness 
 of the Power that governs life and death. 
 
 "You admire the little wayside flowers 
 which deck with their white petals the 
 green sod. But when you ruthlessly 
 pluck them from their delicate stems, the 
 frail blossoms instantly wither and die 
 in your hand. Love, which should ever 
 remain enshrined in the heart as the most 
 
 64 
 
OR, TRUTH AND DESTINY 
 
 beautiful ideal of man's dream — the angel 
 of his higher self — is degraded by the lust 
 of man's passionate instincts; and the 
 ideal image which he hurls from its 
 queenly throne, with whitening lips 
 and drooping form passes out into 
 the night, scattering in its dark path- 
 way the dead flowers of man's greed. 
 You shudder to be alone, because 
 you dare not be still under the bright 
 radiance of the divine light. Dread- 
 ing the stillness of the solitude, you 
 seek refuge in the lust of avarice and the 
 gratification of human passions. Your 
 life is like the bewildered stream blindly 
 groping its way down the steep hillside, 
 turned in its course and divided by every 
 resistance it meets; rushing, retreating 
 and halting, moved by the weak force of 
 an inferior instinct. But you may choose, 
 if you will, a destiny that will be like the 
 calm peaceful river which flows steadily 
 
 65 
 
THE HEART OF BEING 
 
 and unerringly through the wide valleys 
 on its appointed way to the sea." 
 
 The hermit paused. The youth re- 
 mained silent. The delicate starlight 
 dancing on the waves, the sea's deep mur- 
 mur and the tranquility of the night, 
 brought feelings of peace and rest. Slow- 
 ly the youth grasped the ideas that 
 flooded his mind. He felt the impulse of 
 a new and mysterious force awakening 
 within — something that his heart warmed 
 to, a pulsing of the blood with an energy 
 like the surgings of the sea. The most 
 important, the most thrilling event of his 
 life had not been at the climax of some 
 social triumph, or upon the unexpected 
 receipt of a bountiful gift in time of need, 
 or through the soft answer of "y es > love," 
 uttered by the one dearest to his heart 
 when he had asked her to be his for- 
 ever. He had experienced all those; and 
 happy though the moments were, none 
 had so trembled with destiny, none had 
 
 66 
 
OR, TRUTH AND DESTINY 
 
 been fraught with such deep purport as 
 that hour alone with the hermit, when 
 the new light flashed through his soul 
 and gave to his mind a glimpse of that 
 strange something he had vaguely felt 
 and searched for through all the years. 
 
 The voice of man's better nature is not 
 heard in the thunder of life's battles, nor 
 in the whirlwinds of passion; but in mo- 
 ments of repose, in a peaceful vacancy of 
 self, when the mind is acted upon by the 
 deep undercurrents of thought which flow 
 from the infinite sea. Then the heart 
 throbs with the superior instinct of an ex- 
 alted destiny. Silently the creative 
 thoughts flood life's wilderness, and touch 
 the responsive heart with magic power 
 that blossoms forth into the full glow of 
 manhood's morning. 
 
 "What path would you have me choose 
 to live the life of which you speak, and 
 what are the conditions required of me?" 
 
 67 
 
THE HEART OF BEING 
 
 "There is but one path of attainment," 
 the hermit replied, "and that leads in de- 
 vious ways, along winding streams and 
 over burning deserts; through valleys of 
 sorrow and to heights of joy. Each one 
 must tread the path alone, signalling to 
 others who are bound like himself to the 
 duties that progression claims; yet ever 
 conscious of the one great fact that each 
 step of advance or retreat must be taken 
 by his own decree; that not a word is 
 spoken, not an act performed save by the 
 consent of that invisible selfhood which 
 sits eternally enthroned in the myster- 
 ious sanctuary of man's being. The path 
 that leads you to the supreme goal is the 
 path of high resolves and grand achieve- 
 ments. And he who treads the narrow 
 way must have his being stirred to its 
 inmost depth ; must feel a nearness to the 
 great heart of nature; must have an un- 
 selfish love for the fortunate and unfor- 
 tunate, the strong and weak, the rich and 
 
 68 
 
OR, TRUTH AND DESTINY 
 
 poor ; for the gifted and the incapable are 
 endowed with the same potentialities of 
 life; the oil in the lamp of each mind is 
 equally sacred, though in one perchance 
 the flame burns brighter. You must have 
 a sympathy as broad as humanity, a love 
 universal as life, a quenchless thirst fo'r 
 knowledge, and an unwavering faith in 
 the invisible ideal. And there must be 
 persistency of purpose, directed by a will 
 that conquers life's adversaries and falters 
 not, even when faced by the grim phan- 
 tom of death. You must be earnest and 
 sincere in all things; upright and honest 
 in your dealings with man; true at all 
 times to the monitions of inner prompt- 
 ings. Correct all errors when possible; 
 and what are beyond recall, consign to 
 the debris of human frailties, for the dead 
 past to cancel; then build on resolves 
 more noble, more enduring. Ever aspire 
 to the realization of higher ideals, of 
 broader conceptions and a deeper con- 
 
 69 
 
THE HEART OF BEING 
 
 seiousness. Anticipate the future less 
 and live in the present more. Look not 
 for the happiness you hope to attain at 
 some future, indefinite time, but list to 
 the sweet whisperings of joy which the 
 present brings. Let the past and the fu- 
 ture — the unborn tomorrow and vanished 
 yesterday — be cradled in the infinite arms 
 of the eternal Now. Live, each day, the 
 wise and the happy life of to-day; not 
 only the past, lest your soul become en- 
 sepulchered while yet living; not to- 
 morrow only, lest you lose the golden 
 opportunities the present offers; but a 
 life that is ever alert to momentary needs 
 and keenly conscious of the eternal 
 verities." 
 
 They saw a star shoot from its bright 
 sphere and vanish in darkness. Strange 
 phosphorescent lights gleamed from the 
 sea and danced in the spray of the break- 
 ing waves like tongues of flame. How 
 beautiful the night; and what a night it 
 was ! They seemed to sit on the shore of 
 
 70 
 
OR, TRUTH AND DESTINY 
 
 a mystical world, heretofore unvisited 
 by mortal man. 
 
 But the illusions of the night were soon 
 dispelled by the commonplace words of 
 parting; for the time had glided by un- 
 heeded, and the hour had come which 
 woos alike the youthful and the aged, 
 the thoughtful and the gay, from the 
 smiles and frowns of joy and care to the 
 sweet realm of refreshing sleep. 
 
 The youth, still lingering on the thres- 
 hold of life, went back to where he could 
 walk the path of existence hand in hand 
 with those he loved, and to receive the 
 encouragement that comes from sympa- 
 thetic contact with human life. A want 
 dwelt in his heart which could not be met 
 by any morning sunrise, nor by any mel- 
 ody of the winds and waves. There is an 
 eloquence in the soul of mankind which 
 transcends the sublimity of the sea, a re- 
 sponse of heart to heart more touching 
 and more satisfying, nearer to man's hap- 
 
 71 
 
THE HEART OF BEING 
 
 piness and man's yearnings, than will ever 
 be found in the grandeur and beauty of 
 nature, glorious as it is. 
 
 But the ideas implanted by the hermit 
 in the mind of the youth, nurtured by hu- 
 man loves and material hopes, blossomed 
 in his heart like beautiful flowers. The 
 abstract ideals of the philosopher carried 
 the youth far up to a greater height than 
 he could have climbed alone, where the 
 air is purer and the light is brighter; yet 
 not so high as to lose sight of those in the 
 valley below. In his being the ideal and 
 the practical have blended. He is a man's 
 master and friend, and the ruler of his 
 own destiny. The theories of the dreamer 
 have stepped forth in Life, the abstract 
 ideals have been brought down to the 
 realm of the actual, nearer to the heart of 
 our common humanity. To-day the nobil- 
 ity of the youth is an inspiration to a host 
 of other lives. His hand leads, his pres- 
 ence cheers and his smile blesses. 
 
 72 
 
x. 
 
 THE WANDERINGS OF THE SOUL 
 
 My soul roamed through the mystic 
 
 realms beyond 
 Night's shadow, longing to explore the 
 
 depths 
 Of that awful mystery that has been 
 Shrouded from mortal eyes since time be- 
 gan. 
 I passed into the soul-sphere of the world, 
 Which rolled onward through the un- 
 bounded space 
 Of ether, while on its throbbing bosom 
 Humanity stirred restlessly, spending 
 The fragments of its time in strife and 
 toil. 
 
 In ecstasy I viewed with spirit eyes 
 The enchanted land of immortal dreams. 
 I saw the glow of life's unclouded day, 
 And felt the thrill of that inspiring love 
 
 73 
 
THE HEART OF BEING 
 
 Which is the soul of art and song. Music, 
 And the sweet harmony of all beauty 
 Gathered and blended there. I yearned to 
 
 solve 
 The mystery of being and the soul's 
 Deep destiny throughout eternity. 
 
 f 
 "Tell me," I said to the Great Soul of 
 
 Earth, 
 "Whence came this self that loves and 
 
 hates? — this I, 
 Imprisoned in the walls of flesh and blood, 
 Crushed by the weight of toil and care — 
 
 upon 
 Its neck the binding yoke of pain, upon 
 Its back the cross, upon its brow the 
 
 crown 
 Of thorns. What boon hast thou to give 
 
 — what pledge 
 Of bliss in higher spheres, to soothe with 
 
 hope 
 The pain and weariness of life while 
 
 here?" 
 
 74 
 
OR, TRUTH AND DESTINY 
 
 "O, impatient soul!" said the voice of 
 
 Earth, 
 "Offspring of my creative love, why fret 
 Thee? Yearning for more light upon the 
 
 great 
 Mystery, whence thou hast come, and 
 
 whither 
 Thou shalt go! Through all the rolling 
 
 ages 
 This question has been asked, and no 
 
 reply 
 Given. In whose name dost thou speak, 
 
 that I 
 Should break the silence to which God 
 
 hath sealed 
 My lips, to answer thy soul's question- 
 ings?" 
 
 "O, Invisible King!" I said, "Monarch 
 Of the seven lights! Thou who hast 
 
 hidden 
 In thy bosom rarest treasures; who dost 
 
 75 
 
THE HEART OF BEING 
 
 Conceal the mystery of worlds within 
 Thy depths— thee I invoke ! And in the 
 
 name 
 Of all the great and good of every age, 
 Whose silenced lips still speak through us 
 
 —still plead 
 With thee, in mute persuasion ; by the 
 
 wrecks 
 Of human hopes — -the blinding tears, the 
 
 grief 
 Of broken hearts, and in the cherished 
 
 name 
 Of loved ones 'neath the unpitying sod— 
 I beg of thee for one true word, one ray 
 Of light upon the primal mystery." 
 
 The Earth replied : "Ay, soul, thou speak- 
 
 est well, 
 But plead in vain. God is! and I am 
 
 naught — 
 But one revolving orb, one tiny speck 
 Amid the countless multitude of worlds 
 76 
 
OR, TRUTH AND DESTINY 
 
 And suns that dot the void with spark- 
 ling lights. 
 Thy destiny is one with mine — thy home, 
 Among the stars. The waters of the deep 
 Blue sea of Infinitude enfold me, 
 And press with soft caress my rounded 
 
 form. 
 Thence my immemorial origin, 
 Thither the shrouded goal of my final 
 Destiny. Thence all rivers of life flow, 
 And therein shall all return, when God 
 calls. 
 
 "The Spirit of the deep was never born, 
 And it alone shall never cease to be. 
 Everlasting stability, Spirit 
 And substance of all shadow and all 
 
 change — 
 Eternal Soul of souls! With Him is 
 
 locked 
 The mystery of life and death. 'Twas He 
 Who made thee what thou art — to rule 
 
 the sea 
 
 77 
 
THE HEART OF BEING 
 
 And land, to trace the stars, to love and 
 
 think. 
 Twas He who lit the torch within thy 
 
 heart ; 
 Who kindled in thy brain immortal 
 
 thoughts — 
 Made thee to dream of immortality. " 
 
 78 
 
XL 
 
 THE DESTINED GOAL 
 
 Dismissing from the questioning mind 
 the mystical problem of life's origin and 
 destiny, and recognizing our vital relation 
 to present realities, let us cultivate a keen- 
 er perception of our glorious possibilities 
 and hasten our progress on the upward 
 path that leads to the attainment of the 
 highest happiness which is the rightful 
 heritage of our earthly existence. No- 
 where in all the universe can there be a 
 place more appropriate for our expression 
 and advancement than is to be found on 
 the planet of our present abode. For it is 
 here we were placed by the creative pow- 
 er which brings into existence all crea- 
 tures in accordance with the divine plan — 
 the supreme law of design — which fills the 
 vast void with shining stars, sends them 
 
 79 
 
THE HEART OF BEING 
 
 whirling through trackless space in or- 
 derly and rhythmic movements, and with 
 mathematical precision and artistic touch 
 gives perfect form and beauty of coloring 
 to the numberless things that spring 
 brightly to being on the galaxy of worlds. 
 
 Dearer to us than all else should be the 
 viewless image of that hour when the 
 spirit of love touched two united hearts 
 and lighted the sacred flame that gave us 
 being. Through the past ages, from a 
 period which is lost in the remoteness of 
 time, the invisible and tireless forces of a 
 divine alchemy were at work transmuting 
 the clashing elements of nature and pre- 
 paring the way for our birth and exist- 
 ence. It was no chance coming; but by 
 the decree of a supreme power which 
 keeps faith with us through all the tur- 
 moil of the fleeting years. 
 
 There is a presence which broods in 
 eternal silence upon the white snow of 
 frozen summits, over the fertile valleys 
 
 80 
 
OR, TRUTH AND DESTINY 
 
 and upon the face of the deep. It 
 breathes the power of its spirit in the 
 wind and the lightning and the rush- 
 ing waters; in the fair groves and gar- 
 dens and mossed fountains. And in the 
 vast deserts, where a solitude dwells that 
 brings madness, men feel this power and 
 take courage. Like the tide of a fathom- 
 less sea whose shores are planets and 
 suns, it flows forever over the hills and 
 wastes of earth, and floods the stricken 
 hearts of the human race with the balm 
 and benediction of its love. We cannot 
 fathom the mystery of this light and this 
 guidance. Yet nearer than the brain- 
 throb and the heart-pulse, in the inmost 
 sanctuary where consciousness itself is 
 enthroned, broods that mystical power 
 which pervades and enfolds us ; and those 
 who willingly abide in its tranquil pre- 
 sence place themselves under the shelter- 
 ing care of the Almighty. Silently as the 
 approach of dawn the Great Spirit draws 
 
 81 
 
THE HEART OF BEING 
 
 near to the soul that is watchful, and 
 breathes softly the message of glad- 
 ness and peace. In wordless com- 
 munion question the oracles of life, and 
 measure, if you can, the potentialities 
 of your being. In the hush of that 
 peaceful hour, brought face to face 
 with the silent guardian which keeps 
 faithful account of your wanderings, the 
 touch of a divine fire will quicken the dull 
 brain, and the sluggish heart will become 
 responsive to an energy which lifts man 
 out of the confines of the physical and 
 draws him close to the heart of Being. 
 
 Those who know not of the over- 
 shadowing presence, or, knowing, pause 
 not to take heed of its promptings, find 
 themselves surrounded by influences 
 which lead into the roar and rush of strife 
 where they become deaf to the voice and 
 blind to the vision, and wander farther 
 and farther from the home of the soul. 
 Their environment is like the darkness of 
 
 82 
 
OR, TRUTH AND DESTINY 
 
 the night without the moon and stars. 
 With their hearts hardened and their ears 
 shut against the cries of the oppressed 
 and unfortunate, they feel not the enkind- 
 ling sympathies and hear not the voice of 
 gratitude, but rush impetuously through 
 life's wilderness, regardless of the wants 
 and woes of the innocent and helpless 
 who toil and weep by the wayside. 
 
 It may be that as you look back over 
 the winding pathway of former years you 
 will see where the cloud and the storm 
 have ofttimes descended, with scarcely a 
 ray of hope or of love to herald the light 
 which afterwards illumined the horizon 
 and thrilled your being with a deep seren- 
 ity and unwavering faith. And how soon 
 we forget the lessons our experiences 
 should teach us, when we find the light 
 again waning and feel that our efforts are 
 failing. We know not why we should be 
 held by environments so contrary to the 
 soul's deep yearnings, and to feel that 
 83 
 
THE HEART OF BEING 
 
 countless invisible foes are closing around 
 us ; to be compelled to stand helpless and 
 watch the retreating of ideals and dreams 
 we had cherished since the days of our 
 youth. We say to ourselves, can it be 
 that this is the end of the noble ambitions 
 we have so patiently nurtured and toiled 
 for through all the years? Can it be that 
 in vain we have sacrificed the sunlight 
 and joy of life's springtide in the hopeless 
 quest of unattainable things? 
 
 Looking back to the days of our child- 
 hood, we recall the visions we had of this 
 wonderful world so beautiful and strange, 
 which thrilled our being with indescrib- 
 able rapture; visions of the sublimity of 
 the nights, the glittering stars and the 
 deep silence before the dawn. A name- 
 less presence, pervading nature, gave fan- 
 tastic shapes to the moonbeams and 
 shadows, and ofttimes moved the air 
 softly and stirred the leaves to mysteri- 
 ous whisperings, speaking to the heart a 
 
 84 
 
OR, TRUTH AND DESTINY 
 
 secret language which none can interpret 
 save youth and innocence and those who 
 live close to the heart of Being. 
 
 Driven by duties and cares and held 
 back from the goal of our ambition by 
 numerous obstacles which spring up in 
 our pathway, the shadow of fear and mis- 
 trust steals in and takes from us much of 
 the strength and repose we had gained 
 from the inspirations of youth. 
 
 Yet we should have faith in the har- 
 mony, the love and the goodness of the 
 immutable laws which govern life and 
 destiny and change. Though there are 
 times when we ignore the monitions of 
 the higher self and grope in the darkness 
 where we hear but a faint echo of the 
 voice of truth and catch only a gleam of 
 the light, if we look more deeply and listen 
 intently there will come to our vision a 
 glimpse of the beckoning ideal and a fore- 
 gleam of nobler achievements. In the 
 most trivial occurrences of daily existence 
 
 85 
 
THE HEART OF BEING 
 
 there will come to those who have faith, 
 a whispering of the voice which calls out 
 in the wilderness and leads through life's 
 turmoils to the soul's final awakening and 
 deliverance. 
 
 When deep sorrow steals away the 
 smiles and sunshine of youth, and life's 
 frail bark is tossed on the great surging 
 tide of affliction, resigned to the sweep 
 of its mighty billows, he who listens with 
 ears attuned to the higher harmonies will 
 hear the unworded message which is felt 
 in the soul. Above the tempest and storm, 
 like the whisper of truth's bright messen- 
 ger bidding us keep strength and hope, 
 will be heard the wordless voice which 
 woos the sad heart to hush its troubles 
 and beat on in peace. 
 
 Though the unwelcome duties of the 
 hour may cause unrest, and the barren 
 outlook of the future may discourage, 
 have faith in your power to finally tri- 
 umph over all things which would wrest 
 
 86 
 
OR, TRUTH AND DESTINY 
 
 from your grasp the heavenly heritage. 
 The road of experience may be hard, and 
 the lessons to be learned severe, yet every 
 step brings you nearer to the celestial 
 highway, gradually opening into vistas of 
 security and peace; from darkness to 
 light, from toil to repose. 
 
 Listen to the voice of destiny which is 
 being uttered in subdued tones by the di- 
 vine monitor within. Develop an inde- 
 pendent judgment; study yourself, your 
 hopes and aims, your relation to environ- 
 ment and the possibilities that are yours. 
 Look deep into your being and receive 
 from the inward source the revelations of 
 life. With steadfast eye on the highest 
 goal, maintain your allegiance to truth, 
 and resolve that no power shall direct 
 you, save the commands issued from the 
 throne of that invisible kingdom which is 
 yours by every law. 
 
 Lift yourself above the shadow of pes- 
 simism and despair, and bask in the sun- 
 
 87 
 
THE HEART OF BEING 
 
 light of freedom and progress. The gift 
 of a liberal and progressive individuality, 
 independent, determined and sincere, is 
 the noblest heritage of man. Its culture 
 and growth lead to the emancipation of 
 the mind and will from the rule of others. 
 There are infinite capacities within the 
 self which simply await our loving recog- 
 nition to bud and blossom into tangible 
 realities. The deep inward yearning is 
 the progressive spirit of life which impels 
 humanity onward ; it is the mute pleading 
 of the aspiring self in search of the des- 
 tined goal of its mission. 
 
 Being endowed with glorious possibil- 
 ities which patiently await their discov- 
 ery, as an instrument awaits the magic 
 touch of dextrous fingers to call forth 
 divinest strains, arise, therefore, to a 
 sense of your dignity as a denizen of the 
 universe and heir of the ages! Awaken 
 to a keener perception of that which 
 slumbers within ! Go forth in the majesty 
 
OR, TRUTH AND DESTINY 
 
 of your strength and the dignity of your 
 knowledge and win for yourself a place 
 commensurate to the gifts which are 
 yours to command! 
 
 Being a component part of that energy 
 which controls and directs the world and 
 all the suns and planets of the myriads 
 that revolve in the infinitude of space, 
 ever impelled by the undying spirit of 
 progression, let us press onward to the 
 final goal of an infinite perfection. 
 
 89 
 
THE MIND'S ATTAINMENT 
 
 By URIEL BUCHANAN 
 
 URIEL. BUCHANAN is known throughout the country as a writer 
 and author of exceptional power, remarkable for the serenity of his 
 philosophy, his even poise and the blending of the truly practical in his 
 writings, with the Spiritual, the Ideal. 
 
 The object of this book is to make clear the path of mental, physical 
 and material attainment through the power of the mind. In the writer's 
 own words: "Inherent in every mind are potentialities for reaching the 
 highest goal of human attainment. Man shapes his environment and 
 determines his place in the world in exact accord with the use he makes 
 of interior forces. 
 
 "The aim of this work is distinctly practical. It reveals some of the 
 great laws which govern the workings of human thought. It points out 
 the way how best to show forth the ideal, to materialize our dreams and 
 yearnings in every-day life." 
 
 THE CHAPTERS OF THE BOOK 
 
 The Supreme Force 
 
 Man's Divinity 
 
 Mysteries 
 
 The Science of 
 Breath 
 
 Self-Mastery 
 
 The Law of Sugges- 
 tion 
 
 Mental Control 
 The Sovereign Will 
 The Power of Silence 
 Individual Supremacy 
 The Spirit of Youth 
 Mental Influences 
 Elements of Success 
 Demand and Supply 
 
 The Higher Life 
 Our Destiny 
 Human Progress 
 Divine Guidance 
 A Lesson from Na- 
 ture 
 Aspiration 
 The Highest Goal 
 
 Here are the sub- 
 
 Each chapter contains a number of sub-topics, 
 headings of Chapter III: 
 
 CHAPTER III. MYSTERIES. The three brains — The mind a globe 
 of light — Evolution of the brain cells — How to increase the capacity of 
 the brain — Active and passive attention — How to intensify the mind ac- 
 tion — The three realms of mind — The inner ether — How to concentrate — 
 The Law of thought transference — How to receive and interpret a 
 thought -wave. 
 
 The book is 6 inches by 9 inches, bound in purple silk cloth with gold 
 lettering. It contains 92 pages, and is printed in C 1 AA nfKtnflif) 
 clear type on good paper. Price 31 •"" pUMpdlU 
 
 -ADDRESS- 
 
 The Library Shelf 
 
 850-854 McClurg Building 
 CHICAGO, U. S. A. 
 
A Course in Yoga Philosophy 
 
 By URIEL BUCHANAN 
 
 (Disciple of Swami Vivekananda, Ghandi, etc.) 
 
 Published in 12 booklets (paper bound). Entire course $1.50 
 
 Each book contains one complete lesson, with a set of test questions 
 for the student's use — fixing in his mind the salient points of the oriental 
 truths and practices presented, and testing his mastery thereof. 
 
 Here are the contents of the first six lessons. The last six are still 
 more advanced: 
 
 THE FIRST LESSON explains what the Vedanta Philosophy is, what 
 the Yogis of India teach, and the object of the practice of Toga; shows 
 where physical and spiritual vibrations are born and analyzes the five 
 mental states that must be attained in the mastery of Toga. As a part 
 of this lesson the student is requested to enter into the solemn Form of 
 Consecration, which is a preliminary to the teachings offered. 
 
 THE SECOND LESSON contains an explanation of Toga Philosophy 
 and its eight stages. The student is in this lesson instructed in the use 
 and meaning of certain occult terms which must be mastered for the 
 better understanding of the truths presented now and later in the course 
 — for instance, what is meant by the astral body, also the astral light, 
 karma, magic, etc., etc. The student is in this lesson given an insight 
 into the attainment sought through Toga practices, and is assisted to 
 prepare himself for further advancement. 
 
 In THE THIRD LESSON the student is given Toga drills and prac- 
 tices for the transmutation of the lower elements into the higher, and a 
 special prayer is prepared for him. Terrestial magnetism is studied and 
 a daily drill given for the development thereof, after which the student 
 is for the first time given the Toga rules to follow. 
 
 In THE FOURTH LESSON the subject of odylic force is entered upon, 
 and the training of the will to free it from bondage — all as prelude to 
 the hypostatic union, the union of the Ego, the divine in Man, with the 
 great Over-soul. This lesson contains special drills for concentration 
 of will. 
 
 LESSON FIVE considers the seven elements — four purely material; 
 ether, the semi-material; and aura and spirit, the invisible. In this 
 connection are considered the four atmospheres. Then the student 
 studies the seven planes of consciousness corresponding to the seven ele- 
 ments, and afterwards the four stages of intuition. The lesson closes 
 with five special exercises in Toga breathing. 
 
 LESSON SIX considers the operation of the creative force in its dual 
 manifestation — the positive and negative — electric and magnetic — cen- 
 trifugal and centripetal; the two currents of Tatwas, and enumerates 
 and explains the five Tatwas. After which we study the seven creative 
 principles. The physiological changes in the brain cells as the result of 
 moral, mental and spiritual development are outlined and emphasized. 
 
 The Library Shelf 
 
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 CHICAGO. U. S. A. 
 
THOUGHT FORCE 
 
 IN BUSINESS AND EVERY DAY LIFE 
 
 By William Walker Atkinson 
 
 An intensely practical book of instruction in the every-day application 
 of the forces latent in Man. It has proven so valuable to the business- 
 man that firms have ordered from us dozens of copies for distribution 
 among their salesmen, recognizing the fact that an application of its 
 principles increased the earning capacity and commercial value of their 
 employees. A striking testimonial! 
 
 Equally valuable has it proven, — as hundreds of letters received by us 
 will testify, — in daily life, in the attainment of specific ambitions, in the 
 control of domestic environment, the acquirement of mental habits or 
 qualities, and in the development of that power we call "personal mag- 
 netism," either as a potent dynamic force or as the exercise of an agree- 
 able attraction creating friends and smoothing difficulties. 
 
 Thousands of copies of this work have been sold. Why? 
 
 Because it is not theoretical, — it is intensely and simply practical. 
 
 Because it is not mystical or involved. It is clear, lucid "plain talk," 
 interesting:, vivid, inspiring:, but always and ever UNDERSTANDABLE 
 and applicable by the reader, be he novice or adept. 
 
 Because it answers such questions as these: 
 
 How can I attain material success? How can I affect my circum- 
 stances by mental effort? Just how shall I go about it to free myself 
 from my depression, failure, timidity, weakness and care? How am I to 
 recognize the causes of my failure and thus avoid them? Can I make 
 my disposition into one which is active, positive, high strung and mas- 
 terful? How can I draw vitality of mind and body from an invisible 
 source? How can I directly attract friends and friendship? How can I 
 influence other people by mental suggestion? How can I cure myself 
 of illness, bad habits, nervousness? etc. 
 
 The titles of the chapters or ''lessons" of which the book is composed, 
 are as follows: 
 
 Lesson I, Salutatory: Lesson II, The Nature of The Force: 
 Lesson III, How Thoug-ht Force Can Aid You: Lesson IV, 
 Direct Psychic Influence: Lesson V, A Little Worldly Wis- 
 dom: Lesson VI, The Power of the Eye: Lesson VH, The 
 Magnetic Gaze: Lesson VIII, The Volic Force: Lesson IX, 
 Direct Volation: Lesson X, Telepathic Volation: Lesson XI, 
 The Adductive Quality of Thought: Lesson XII, Character 
 Building by Mental Control: Lesson XIII, The Art of Con- 
 centrating: Lesson XIV, The Practice of Concentrating: 
 Lesson XV, Valedictory. 
 
 Each chapter has from 10 to 25 sub-topics or headings. 
 
 The size of the book is 6 by 9 inches. It is printed in clear, large 
 type, on good paper, and contains 91 pages. It is bound in purple silk 
 cloth with gold lettering. Price, $1.00 postpaid. Address, 
 
 THE LIBRARY SHELF 
 
 850-854 McCIurg Building - - - CHICAGO, U. S. A. 
 
The Heart of the New Thought 
 
 By ELLA WHEELER WILCOX 
 
 This book has proved one of the greatest literary successes in the 
 New Thought world. Thirty thousand copies were ordered as a first 
 edition, in anticipation of an unusual demand, but before the books 
 were off the press it was necessary to increase the order to fifty thou- 
 sand, to meet the advance orders. The tremendous sales of The Heart 
 of The New Thought are a witness both to the strong hold Ella 
 Wheeler Wilcox deservedly has upon the heart of the American people, 
 and to the high character, the practical value, and "everyday helpful- 
 ness" of the book itself. Mrs. Wilcox tells how to accomplish what she 
 advocates. The book teaches The Power of Right Thought. "What 
 Mrs. Wilcox says is practical, what she thinks is clear, what she feels 
 is plain." Some of the subjects treated in the book are as follows: 
 
 (1) 
 (2) 
 
 (3) 
 
 (4) 
 
 (5) 
 (6) 
 (7) 
 
 (8) 
 
 (9) 
 
 (10) 
 
 (11) 
 (12) 
 
 (13) 
 (14) 
 
 Let the Past Go. (How to 
 make a fresh start in life.) 
 
 The Sowing of the Seed. (A 
 practical word to the be- 
 ginner in New Thought.) 
 
 Old Clothes. (Showing how 
 even small things may 
 maintain a wrong thought- 
 atmosphere.) 
 
 High Noon. (For women 
 who have passed thirty — a 
 heart to heart talk.) 
 
 Obstacles. (How to over- 
 come.) 
 
 Thought Force. (How to use 
 the power of thought.) 
 
 Opulence. (What creates and 
 what overcomes Poverty 
 condition^) 
 
 Eternity. ("To be able to en- 
 joy heaven, one must learn 
 first to enjoy earth.") 
 
 Morning Influences. (How to 
 strike the right keynote for 
 the day. We have been re- 
 peatedly urged to print this 
 chapter in pamphlet form.) 
 
 The Philosophy of Happiness. 
 (How to acquire "the habit 
 of happiness.") 
 
 A Worn Out Creed. (The old 
 thought vs. the new.) 
 
 Common Sense. (Flaws in 
 health, habits, temper, dis- 
 position, and how to over- 
 come them.) 
 
 Literature. (The value of 
 right reading and think- 
 
 in; 
 
 .) 
 
 Optimism. (The keynote of 
 New Thought.) 
 
 (15) Preparation. (How to educate 
 
 oneself for a "charming old 
 age.") 
 
 (16) Dividends. (Thought invest- 
 
 ments and what they pay.) 
 
 (17) Royalty. (Our divine inher- 
 
 itance.) 
 
 (18) Heredity. (A talk on self- 
 
 creation.) 
 
 (19) Invincibility. (The irresistible 
 
 Desire-force and its use.) 
 
 (20) That Mental Chisel. (A talk 
 
 on "face-building.") 
 
 (21) The Object of Life. 
 
 (22) Wisdom. (How to rightly "de- 
 
 mand one's own.") 
 
 (23) Self-Conquest. (The domina- 
 
 tion of physical and mate- 
 rial conditions entirely pos- 
 sible, but not an immediate 
 process.) 
 
 (24) The Important Trifles. (The 
 
 small things often forgot- 
 ten by the beginner in New 
 Thought.) 
 
 (25) Concentration. (How to ac- 
 
 quire the power.) 
 
 (26) Destiny. (How to be master 
 
 of your own.) 
 
 (27) Sympathy. (Use and misuse.) 
 
 (28) The Breath. (A lesson on deep 
 
 breathing and its value.) 
 
 (29) Generosity. (The law of giv- 
 
 ing and its returns of pros- 
 perity.) 
 
 (30) Woman's Opportunity. (A 
 
 talk on Pre-natalism. ) 
 
 (31) Balance. (Common-sense in 
 
 New Thought.) 
 
 Purple Silk Cloth, Gold Lettering, $1.00 Postpaid. 
 
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SELF-HEALING 
 
 BY THOUGHT FORCE 
 
 A Series of Lessons in Self -Healing: 
 Practical — Plain — Powerful ! 
 
 By WILLIAM WALKER ATKINSON 
 
 Author of "Thought Vibration" 
 "Thought Force in Business and 
 Everyday Life," "Memory Cul- 
 ture," etc. 
 
 There are two or three primary physical ills and from 
 these spring all the other variations from health, which 
 we call disease. In SELF-HEALING WITH THOUGHT 
 FORCE Mr. Atkinson takes up these primary conditions 
 one by one with thoroughness and method, the object of the 
 lesson being to enable the patient to deal with and over- 
 come these special physical manifestations from out of 
 which all others grow. The value of the lessons is there- 
 fore not confined to the special diseases taken up by name, 
 but is basic; for the principles and methods, in being 
 applied to these foundation conditions, at once become 
 curative agents to overcome other physical disorders from 
 which the patient is suffering. 
 
 Of these lessons MR. ATKINSON SAYS: "No healer or 
 teacher has any monopoly of healing. You can do it as 
 well as anyone else, if you have confidence and persever- 
 ance. Of course, practice makes perfect in healing, as in 
 anything else. * * In these lessons I have given a good 
 practical working plan of self -treatment, and the same 
 methods may be adopted by you in treating others. * * 
 Just try this method on yourself or on someone else and 
 see the result. There are good psychological and physio- 
 logical reasons back of it and it is merely calling into opera- 
 tion certain great laws in a plain, everyday way. I know 
 just what I am talking about and you can demonstrate the 
 thing for yourself if you wish." 
 
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SALADS AND SANDWICHES 
 
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 A Dainty Little Booklet Containing: 
 
 Directions for 32 healthful, original and appetizing 
 SALADS, 24 of which are delicious combina- 
 tions of vegetables and fruits. 
 
 Directions for 6 famous SALAD DRESSINGS. 
 
 Directions for 20 styles of dainty SANDWICHES, 
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PRACTICAL GRAPHOLOGY 
 
 By LOUISE RICE 
 
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 well — as the pre-eminent authority on Graphology; the "big people" of 
 the world send to her for her delineations, which are not only accurate 
 portrayals of present characteristics, but illuminating revelations of the 
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 logical science. 
 
 The Book Is the First Practical One to Be Published, on 
 Reading Character Through Handwriting. 
 
 The first book to instruct in detail and make it possible for the ama- 
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 crossing, slant and signature, each have a tale to tell of trait, ten- 
 dency or pronounced characteristic. 
 
 The book contains 202 facsimile specimens of penmanship, illustrating 
 various peculiarities, tendencies, short-comings or special talents; show- 
 ing the student, by illustration, just how to detect in the turn of a letter 
 or other betraying stroke of the pen an evidence of the character of 
 the writer. 
 
 Many of these specimens represent the handwriting of people you know 
 by reputation, and are doubly interesting for that reason. 
 
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HOW TO ENTERTAIN 
 
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 A little Booklet of Correct Ideas, Recipes and Suggestions, 
 telling- How to Serve a Dinner, How to Serve a Luncheon, 
 What to Serve at Afternoon Tea, What to Serve at Receptions, 
 What to Serve at Card Parties. 
 
 Containing also 12 Ideas for Holiday Entertaining-, including 
 Easter, an April "Rainy-Day," May-day, Fourth of July, 
 Thanksgiving, Halloween, Christmas, etc., etc. 
 
 Containing- also directions for 
 
 7 Delicious "Relishes" for Dainty Refreshments. 
 
 5 Tested Recipes for Special Fruit Drinks. 
 
 8 Recipes for Salads Without Meat. 
 
 4 Original Recipes for Nut and Fruit Sandwiches. 
 
 6 Recipes for Appetizing- Nut and Fruit Desserts. 
 3 Recipes for Frozen Desserts. 
 
 6 Recipes for Nut and Fruit Cakes. 
 
 5 Recipes for Delicious "Table Sweetmeats." 
 
 9 Recipes for Home-Made Confections (cooked). 
 
 5 Recipes for Home-Made Confections (without cook- 
 ing-). 
 
 This little booklet gives directions about the arrangement of 
 the table, the order in which courses should be served, etc. 
 
 If you entertain, if you like dainty, original dishes, if you 
 wish to be in a position to undertake to provide the refresh- 
 ments for others who do entertain, you will find this little 
 pamphlet full of pertinent and original suggestions. 
 
 THE LIBRARY SHELF 
 
 850-854 McClurg Bldg. - CHICAGO, ILL. 
 

 Deacidified using the Bookkeeper process. 
 Neutralizing agent: Magnesium Oxide 
 Treatment Date: Nov. 2004 
 

 One copy del. to Cat. Div. 
 
 2? 19t1