Man: His True Nature & Ministry, L.-C. de Saint-Martin
trans. Edward B. Penny
sombre colour. It is, alas, that Wisdom, which ought, of itself, to have brought us so much joy, is obliged to clothe itself, for us, here below, with garments of mourning and sadness; our wisdom must be to suffer now, instead of rejoicing, because crime has divided everything, and made two wisdoms. The second, or latter of these wisdoms, is not life, but it collects life in us, and prepares us to receive life, or the first Wisdom, the source of all joy; and it is this sublime first Wisdom which creates and maintains all things. Therefore it is always young. This young plant should also be taught, as it advances in growth, that if Supreme Wisdom cannot permit us, here below, to look at the heavenly Jerusalem itself, such as it formerly existed in the soul of Man, it permits us, at least, sometimes to look over its plans, which suffices to fill us with the sweetest consolation. It would be well to teach him, and persuade him to convince himself, by his own experience, that prayer ought to be a continual spiritual partnership; for we ought to pray only with God, and our prayer does not deserve even the name, but in so far as God prays in us, for only thus do they pray in God's kingdom. It would be well to teach him that physicians are supposed to know the nature and properties of their medicines, and to have ascertained all the virtues of their remedies, thereby to be enabled to cure any disease; that this simple observation may enlighten him as to the original destination of Man, which ought, doubtless, to have been such as to enable him to cure all disorders, and to know the properties of every substance in Nature, for all were subject to Man. He should learn from this what a shameful degradation Man has undergone. It would be well to tell him that the man of truth should be separate from the men of the stream; that he would lose too much in mixing with them, and moreover, that what he risked was not his own, but his Master's. It would be well to warn him that there is more danger for a man off his guard, amongst men who are lost, than there would be amongst evil spirits; because men now combine two powers, which they abuse as they will, by disguising one under cover of the other, whilst the devil has only one; besides, the devil has no form of his own, and is obliged to create one every moment, to serve as a receptacle for his power; but man carries everywhere with him a form which is both the receptacle and the instrument of his double power. On this subject it would be well to tell him that there are many wandering spirits, who seek to clothe themselves with us, whilst we ourselves are almost naked, in spite of our bodies, and have nothing else to do here below, but seek to clothe ourselves with our first body, in which the Divinity may dwell. It would be well to tell him that chastity comprises, at once, purity of body, justness of spirit, warmth of heart, and activity of soul and love; for it embraces, generally, every virtue, and is the absence of every vice. It would be well to tell him that the virtues we cultivate, and the intelligences we acquire, are so many lamps we light around us, which burn when we sleep.
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