Opening remarks
The passages that follow describes the plane of the gods that seeks to manifest upon earth and intervenes from time to time to help humanity march towards a more luminous future. What is that Wisdom which impels them to act and with what intention? This understanding of the action of the gods enlarges our own vision and helps us to see things in a new light.
The Immortals on their deathless heights
Only the Immortals on their deathless heights
Dwelling beyond the walls of Time and Space,
Masters of living, free from the bonds of Thought,
Who are overseers of Fate and Chance and Will (p 54 begins)
And experts of the theorem of world-need,
Can see the Idea, the Might that change Time’s course,
Come maned with light from undiscovered worlds,
Hear, while the world toils on with its deep blind heart,
The galloping hooves of the unforeseen event,
Bearing the superhuman Rider, near
And, impassive to earth’s din and startled cry,
Return to the silence of the hills of God;
As lightning leaps, as thunder sweeps, they pass
And leave their mark on the trampled breast of Life.
This passage is about the beings of a higher Consciousness (whom we generally call as gods) who sometimes take a human birth to assist the evolutionary march of mankind. In India they are called as Vibhutis who especially surround the period of time when the Divine Himself descends as the Avatara. Some come before the Divine Advent to prepare Earth for the coming, others come along with the Avatara to assist in various ways the Divine Work; still others plunge into the play after the Avatara withdraws so as to sustain the evolutionary impetus and the new momentum imparted by the Divine’s descent into the human play.
Dwelling on the high peaks of Creation they come armed with the knowledge and Power that can change the tide of Time and realign the world-march towards the Light and the Right. Guided by the inner voice that the world cannot hear, bearing the light of intuition in their hearts, unheeding the surface play, they do the work they come missioned to do and return back to the high and luminous worlds from which they came. Their work bears fruits even after they have gone, even if it remains unrecognized by men. Leaving their mark on the heart of life they give us a brief glimpse of the superhuman possibility hidden within man.
The world-creators
Above the world the world-creators stand,
In the phenomenon see its mystic source.
These are the original powers that have gone into creation. Their action is often veiled in the Light and poorly understood by our humanity since they are able to see the deeper law of truth hidden behind the surfaces of things.
The deceiving outward play
These heed not the deceiving outward play,
They turn not to the moment’s busy tramp,
But listen with the still patience of the Unborn
For the slow footsteps of far Destiny
Approaching through huge distances of Time,
Unmarked by the eye that sees effect and cause,
Unheard mid the clamour of the human plane.
While humanity moves from scene to scene, these superhuman beings, wait for the promptings of the Future that is trying to manifest. And when the call comes they are moved as instruments of Destiny engineering and precipitating the “change”. Man is too busy and caught up by the ever-changing appearances whereas these beings of a higher order know that a Divine Truth is working Itself out through the conflict and clash of forces on the surfaces of life and it uses everything for Its secret purposes.
The unseen Truth
Attentive to an unseen Truth they seize
A sound as of invisible augur wings,
Voices of an unplumbed significance,
Mutterings that brood in the core of Matter’s sleep.
While we are held back by the ‘visible’ and the ‘seen’ and mistake it for the truth of things, these beings who come driven by the breath of God feel the hidden Truth that broods in the depths of Matter struggling to emerge.
The heart’s profound audition
In the heart’s profound audition they can catch
The murmurs lost by Life’s uncaring ear,
A prophet-speech in Thought’s omniscient trance.
This deeper truth hidden behind the play of surface nature can be glimpsed in the depths of the heart or on the heights where thought falls silent and speech becomes merely an instrument of the higher Consciousness.
The Bliss for which earth’s heart has cried
Above the illusion of the hopes that pass,
Behind the appearance and the overt act,
Behind this clock-work Chance and vague surmise,
Amid the wrestle of force, the trampling feet,
Across the cries of anguish and of joy,
Across the triumph, fighting and despair,
They watch the Bliss for which earth’s heart has cried
We put our hopes on appearances that keep changing. Therefore we are easily bewildered when they dash to the ground. We are carried away by the surface clash and conflict of forces and thereby swiftly despair. But the super humanity of tomorrow will see behind and beyond the crash and the smash that is itself used to prepare the Earth for the Bliss for which she was made. After the bad dreams of the Night there is the smiling dawn that awaits the human race. This we can see only when we are stripped of the illusion that traps us and holds us back from the deeper Truth.
Guide the unheedful world
On the long road which cannot see its end
Winding undetected through the sceptic days
And to meet it guide the unheedful moving world. (p 55 begins)
Human life is brief when we compare it to the toil of the Ages. Therefore we are easily prone to skepticism. It is during this difficult passage that these beings come down to give hope and help and guide humanity, giving it faith and strength to walk the long way.
Closing Remarks
The above lines assume a great significance in today’s times especially when men easily take to cynicism going by the appearances. But those endowed with a deeper vision are not thus deceived and see Hope knowing that the Almighty Wisdom uses everything for its incalculable purposes. Instead of being bewildered by passing appearances that easily deceive we should rather tune ourselves to the inner Truth that is trying to manifest. Instead of living on the surfaces of the present moment and caught up in its flow we should also remain focused on the future that is struggling to emerge from the depths. Then we too shall share the wisdom of the gods and our actions leave a trail of light towards the future.
