A SPIRITUAL FEAST Even as the moth is drawn to self-immolation in the brightness of the candle's flame, so is the spirit of the mystic drawn to self-immolation as it soars to the Sun of its own being. The earth ceases to exist and the heavens grow ever brighter. Words are tattered beyond repair and the spirit becomes one with the living Flame of Love. Such is the ecstasy and the passion as the mystic reaches ever deeper into the mysterious Source of all. Once triumphant in the journey, the realized souls moved by compassion, return to assist others in the upward path. Individually commissioned as the need arises, they come into the prison of this world as ambassadors of Truth. All of us are mystics, but man is an unrealized mystic due to preoccupation with the gifts of this world and his blind ignorance of the Divine Giver. We have become saturated with the world, but the true goal of life is to become saturated with the Divine and return to that home we left so long ago. Royal has been a student at a number of schools of esoteric and mystical teachings in Canada, America, Europe, and the Far East. He states, "Reading these writings of mine are like dipping your toe at the water's edge along the shore of the Ocean of Love for one brief moment; may you be brave enough to dive to the depths." Royal L. Craig

The subject of destiny has attracted various explanations from diverse schools of thought. While some believe in and espouse the philosophy of predestination, others hold that man is the architect of his own destiny-and still others fail to believe in the concept at all. Even among those who believe in the concept of destiny, there is lack of consensus about its definition and its workings given the critical nature of the subject of destiny. There is a need for man to clearly understand and employ the knowledge in his journey from mortality to immortality.

In Have You Discovered Your Assignment with Destiny? author Anthony Ugochukwu Aliche thoroughly examines the concept of destiny and seeks to guides others to an understanding of how this important aspect of our existence functions.

The journey begins with Aliche's lamentation of man's inability to acknowledge and define his destiny with particular reference to his assignment with himself, his obligation with his environment, and his assignment with the Creator and the entire cosmos. He believes that life lived without discovering one's assignment with destiny is life lived without putting God first-and consequently a life tragically wasted. He opens our eyes to the fact that so many lives could make a quantum leap if only they could turn to God and nature for the discovery and manifestation of our destiny.

The world would be a better place if we all discovered that we have a role to play individually and collectively that we can only achieve if we strive to discover our assignment with destiny.

In the ever-recurring passage of the ages, as life, civilizations, cultures and humanity's awareness have evolved, a message has been eternally whispered in man's ear; a continuum of Divine Revelation has unfolded essential to the next pending chapter in the Book of Life, bearing a profound vision of mankind's spiritual heritage. The message contained in this Ageless Wisdom has been one of hope and promise; of a future fulfillment and the possibility of attaining an ecstatic, Unified State termed Heaven, Nirvana, Mecca or Paradise, awaiting mankind at the end of his spiritual journey. The Divine Knowledge (Gnosis) explored in the trilogy, One Solitary Life embodies the coordinates of the Path of man's evolution toward divinity, leading to the attainment of man's Spiritual Legacy; union with the Divine. This Book One of the trilogy, The Vision the Journey and The Quest, begins the unfolding of an arcane teaching whose origin is lost in antiquity, and yet is profoundly relevant today. It sets the stage for an exploration of the nature of man's soul and its pilgrimage, by addressing the spiritual principles that have been handed down throughout the ages in the form of the world's varied religions and philosophies. It speaks to the "Mysteries" that are at the heart of Creation. It puts into context and bold relief the role Christianity and the rest of the world's religions have played in this unfolding cosmic scenario and explores their contradictions and inequities. One Solitary Life, starting with the pristine arcane teaching that has perennially given birth to diverse religions and philosophies; each competing for man's mind and heart, and each professing an absolute interpretation andstewardship of life's inherent meaning; explores the Universal Verities that are the heart and soul of all true religious discourse. It journeys in Book Two through comprehensive levels of metaphysical reality and arrives, in Book Three, at the ultimate consummation of the mystical Path of Light, as personified by Christ.

In Whispers of the Goddess, Carole Anzolletti has compiled an amazing account of how the Divine whispers among the plainest parts of our lives. Interested in everything that is born and reborn, unattached, unique, and provoking, she will darken as well as illuminate you with the views and thoughts contained in her poetry and prose. Inspired to reinvent herself and forge a way that worked for her, Whispers of the Goddess became the scaffold she needed to build to continue on her creative writing path. "There are soft, subtle voices that ask us to listen for our own messages and sift through our own feelings and beliefs to see what it is we are faithful to and grateful for. We can cultivate, through writing, this communication with the whole universe in a sacred and centered way. The words will come to save you, to help you " Whispers of the Goddess reveals thoughts sculpted by the love of so much in and of this universe. Carole shares an interesting view of the world around her, spiritually, emotionally, and genuinely. Her work has been described as inspiring, deep and raw with truth. "The muse is always there, waiting to be heard, a voice so silent with power. The words that come through will be universally understood. Inspiration walks hand in hand with the animated leaf that scurries alongside us. The peculiar feeling of sadness on the spray of the sea. The way the full moon lights up the face of the ocean, reminding us how very small we really are. We want to do what we love without the fear of being judged. Everything springs forward from there."

En todos existen poderes ocultos y habilidades, aptitudes que algunos despiertan solo despues de haber pasado por un proceso ancestral que los esoteristas conocen bien y que le llaman Iniciacion. Algunos huyen, otros se quedan y los menos son los que alcanzan altos grados y obtienen el verdadero conocimiento, pero mas aun, tienen acceso a mundos desconocidos para la mayoria. Este libro devela que es y como entrar a la Iniciacion, algo que muchos no estan dispuestos a afrontar.

MEN WHO HAVE WALKED WITH GOD BEING THE STORY OF MYSTICISM THROUGH THE AGES TOLD IN THE BIOGRAPHIES OF REPRESENTATIVE SEERS AND SAINTS WITH EXCERPTS FROM THEIR WRITINGS AND SAYINGS B Y Sheldon Cheney New York Alfred A. Knopf 1948 THIS IS A BORZOI BOOK, PUBLISHED BY ALFRED A. KNOPF, INC. Copyright 1943 by Sheldon Cheney. All rights rc emd. No fart of this book may be reproduced in any form unthout permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages or reproduce not more than three illustrations in a review to bo printed in a magazine or newspaper. Manufactured in the United States of America Published simultaneously in Canada by The Bpmm Press PUBLISHED SEPTEMBER 20, 1045 REPRINTED FOUR TIMES SIXTH PRINTING, MAY 1948 Contents Preface viii I The Golden Age and the Mystic Poet LAO-TSE 1 II The BUDDHA, the Great Light, and the Bliss of NIRVANA 38 III The Age of Reason in Greece PYTHAGORAS and PLATO 86 IV The Tardy Flowering of Greek Mysticism PLOTINUS 118 V Christian Mysticism, from the Founders to SAINT BERNARD 143 VI The Medieval Flowering ECKHART and the Friends of GOD 176 VII FRA ANGELICO, the Saintly Painter and Tool of GOD 212 VIII JACOB BOEHME, the Shoemaker-Illuminate of the Reformation 238 IX BROTHER LAWRENCE, the Lay Monk Who Attained Unclouded Vision 285 X A Mystic in the Age of Enlightened Scepticism WILLIAM BLAKE 309 Afterword 378 A Descriptive Reading List, with Acknowledgments 385 Index 395 List of Illustrations FOLLOWING PAGE Lao-Tse on a Water Buffalo. Chinese, Sung 10 Sage in Contemplation. In the style of Ma Yuan 20 Sage in Contemplation under a Pine Tree. By Ma Yuan 84 An Arahat Entering into Nirvana. By Lin Ting-Kuei 80 Socrates102 Christ Appearing to the Apostles. By William Blake 146 Saint Paul By El Greco 154 Augustine Recording His Vision of the City of God 160 Saint Bernard. By El Greco 170 Saint Francis Receiving the Stigmata, School of Giotto 178 Meeting of Saint Francis and Saint Dominic, By Fra Angelico 182 The Garden of Paradise. School of Cologne, about 1400 204 The Annunciation. By Fra Angelico 216 Portrait of Fra Angelico. By Carlo Dolci The Naming of Saint John. By Fra Angelico 222 The Visitation, By Fra Angelico The Annunciation. By Fra Angelico 226 The Annunciation. By Fra Angelico Coronation of the Virgin. By Fra Angelico 232 The Nativity, By Fra Angelico j The Flight into Egypt. By Fra Angelico 286 vi LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS FOLLOWING PAGE Glad Day. By William Blake 250 When the Morning Stars Sang Together. By William Blake 318 Then a Spirit Passed before My Face. By William Blake 326 338 356 362 Saint Paul Preaching at Athens. By William Blake Satan Rousing the Rebel Angels. By William Blake The Great Red Dragon and the Woman Clothed with the Sun. By William Blake Satan Smiting Job with Boils. By William Blake Then Went Satan Forth from the Presence of the Lord. By William Blake The Ancient of Days Laying out the Circle of the Earth. By William Blake Blake Dethroning Urizen. By William Blake The Angel of the Revelation. By William Blake 374 THE author and the publisher wish to record their thanks to the De partment of Education and Museum Extension of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and to the Photograph Library, School of the Fine Arts, Yale University, for providing certain of the illustrations of Fra Angeli co s paintings and to Miss Elizabeth Mongan of the Print Department of the NationalGallery, Washington, for exceptional aid in assembling the photographs of William Blakes drawings and prints. Our indebted ness to museum directors and to photographers is more directly re corded in the captions under individual illustrations. vii gjr PBEPACE JlN THE final analysis there is only one subject of permanent interest, the soul. It is a truth easily forgotten in the press of prac tical undertakings...

"This book is very valuable. Today, there are too many books on the Work that are either deliberately impersonal and as a result are just a re-explaining of basic ideas which are already there in Ouspensky. Or else, the purely subjective 'what I felt, what I experienced'. Dorothy strikes a good balance, because the subjective experience in this context is the ground through which precious memories of the Work in its early and soon-to-be forgotten period can be shared." Peter Brook (Author, Film and Theatre Director, and a student of Gurdjieff himself)

H. P. Blavatsky introduces and clarifies her theosophical movement to the curious reader in this detailed text, which is written in the style of questions and answers. The Theosophic Society attracted popular interest for its esoteric and unusual nature; theosophy unites numerous mystical, spiritual and occult principles with the stated mission of finding the hidden truths of existence. This was accomplished through investigating ancient societies and writings, together with Medieval and Renaissance era authors, occultists and other mystics. With The Key to Theosophy, Blavatsky intended to demystify and clarify many of the finer points of the movement she founded. She not only discusses what topics the Theosophical Society has an interest in, but the organizational structure and leadership under which it operates The agreed beliefs among its members concerning man's place on the Earth, and how nature affects and controls humans perceptibly and imperceptibly, are likewise detailed.

Once we take up the writings of Ch'an (Zen in Japanese) we will be conscious of having entered another world different from any other. The Foundling is the story of the legendary masters and semi-recluses named Feng Kan, Han Shan, and Shih Te who lived their lives outside the rules of mainstream Buddhist conventions and achieved a higher level of enlightened perception. Their historical authenticity is uncertain. What we actually know about these famous figures in paradoxical Ch'an tradition comes from their more than three hundred poems, the complete set of which has for the first time been translated into Western language.

Although they did repeatedly talk what seemed to be nonsense, this practice of entry into the world of absurdity was not nonsensical at all. Moreover, their "madness" was highly praised through centuries not only in China but in Japan, Korea, and in the other Asian countries. Why is this so? For anyone interested in throwing a clearer light on the mysteries of Ch'an studies, as well as to find out what actually was behind the exterior clumsiness and buffoonery of Ch'an masters, The Foundling ought to be made compulsory reading.