The Washington herald., 1914-12-20
By DIR. w. w. BAKER.
Ccoptinued from last sunday.)

A1OnIluuGu idSI SunQAHsD
He In whom the Christ Is born, the new
Initiate, is ever spoken OF. all the world
over, as the little child" You remem-
ber the phrases you meet with In the
Gospel; Unless ye become as little chill
dren, ye shall In. no wise enter into the
kingdom Of heaven" The kingdom Of
heaven, or the kingdom OF God, Is the
old uame for the Path, and only the
little child'' is able to enter there. The
new Initiate, the ChrIst-child. then, is
born into this new life Of the Spirit, and
the expansion Of consciousness he attains
consists In his having opened TO him. for
the first time, that great spiritual world
In which all truths are known by In
tuition. not by reasoning: In. which the
eyes of the Spirit are opened, and direct
knowledge of spiritual truths Is gained:
knowledge becomes intuitive, instead OF
rational.
When the great ceremonial is over
then Il is that. either by his own Teacher
or By some high disciple to whom the
work is delegated. the new Initiate finds
open within him that new consciousness
which is gradually to grow. 70 that he
may master the knowledge which at first
Is only presented to him in a dazzling
panorama. Because OF that new world
into which he is born, the first OF the
great limitations is spoken OF as the sec
ond BIRTH" the birth OF the Spirit" He
has become the twice-born-born on earth
indeed, many times, but always born into
the life Of matter; born now into the life
of the Spirit which becomes his for ever
more. That is the key of knowledge
which is said hguratIyeIy to be given to
the new Initiate: II Is a now faculty. a
new power, a new sense. which has been
gradually developing within him through
the time OF his training and now, bursts
open into usefulness a3d comes under his
control.
Then it is that that inner remuneration
is made which you find typiied in the
three great VOWS that in the Roman
Catholic Church, and in parts OF the An
glican, arc the VOWS which give admis-
sion to that which they call the super
natural life" The VOWS of poverty, of
chastity Of obedience. They symbolise
great spiritual truth; the inner renuncia-
ton by the nsw Initiate OF the whole OF
the possessions, physical, mental, which
hitherto he may have regarded as his
owr. Not by spoken words, but by inner
remuneration. he gives UP all sense OF
property, and ownership in anything
which he is supposed to possess. lie
may have wealth; it Is no longer hist
belongs to the Great Lodge into which
he is entering though he may remain
the steward. He may have mental
ability: it is no longer his-he must use
II only for the service of that to which
he has now given himself. So from his
heart departs all sense Of ownership and
OF property. BY a strange paradox. IL Is
in that moment Of utter remuneration that
the Kings OF the earth. the Wise Men.
bring their treasures and pour them out
at the feet OF the helpless Babe: for
where a man wants nothing. everything
falla inf his hands and hanla that ra
emptied in the service OF the world are
ever continually filled. So he not only
ren0nnces all possessions, and becomes
thefeby a steward able to administer in
the work that lies before him. but he
also renounceS all pleasures OF sense. the
inner meaning of the vow of chastity.
He surrenders also his own will. the per
sOnaI will. the separate will gives him
self wholly to the one VIII that is di-
vine. and knows nothing save that Will
hereafter. as the determination of all he
thinks, and hopes. and does. Such is
the inner meaning OF the great triple
vow: remuneration of ownership, of all
the pleasures Of sense, of the separate
will.
The wanderer. the Hinhu calls him. for
ne has nothing left to own. The Budd
hist calls him: He who has entered
the stream" He has stepped into the
great SlTedH OF winch inc luTNneT NlIe
Is MBsterhood. He can never again step
out of il. never again leave il. he who
has once entered upon it must 60 to the
other shore.
Three weaknesses hS must get rid Of
new before the second Portal may he
approached get rid Of them entirely. COM
pletely. utterly. for he can never again
tread this Path. They are called thTr"
fetters. because they held him back un-
til they are broken. First the sense OF
Separateness He must see ali around
him as part of himself. feel with their
Joys and their soTrows, look at things
from their standpoint. understand their
feelings and BE- able to sympathise with
them-iudgc none. Criticise none. They
are all himself part Of his own life. No
feeling against any as lower than him
self. no judgment OF any as dcspicablc
or contemplate. He sees all as frsg-
ments Of the One Life. and indCntifss