Wisdom of the Ages, by George A. Fuller, [1916], at sacred-texts.com
Again the Master spake concerning religion as follows: Yea, I did say, oh, Neontu, that man had drifted away from God, and it was the purpose of religion to show him the trail that leadeth to the source of all wisdom and truth.
Man living in the sense-world is always in the midst of delusions. He lifts one veil from the face of Nature only to find another confronting him.
One mystery is made plain only to reveal a more inexplicable one.
Man will ever seek in vain in the realm of sensation for the cause of things.
Here he will find an infinite variety of formsbut the maker of these forms is ever out of sight.
That which eludes his grasp on the plane of sensation may be easily discovered on the astral and spiritual planes.
According to Tlaskan philosophy, the first four of the parts entering into the composition of man belong to the world of sensation, while the last three belong to the higher spiritual planes of thought and life.
By means of the first four parts he takes hold of the material side of the universe. These unite him with all mineral, vegetable and animal forms of life in all universes.
The transitory and delusive are ever weaving their web with finer and finer meshes around him.
Even the will is rocked and swayed by the emotions that oft-times have their birth in the realm of physical sensation.
It is a difficult task to classify the emotions, yet they may be readily divided into two great
divisions. Those dominated by the passions may be known as physical emotions; those under the control of the higher attributes of the mind as love and wisdom emotions.
When the will is under the control of the physical emotions, or is hampered by these emotions, then man drifts away from all knowledge or conception of the Infinite.
When under the control of love and wisdom emotions he is led to perceive his relationship with the Divine.
It is the office of religion to cultivate these higher emotions, and thus lead man to the consciousness of his divine relationship.
But this consciousness can only come to the spiritually awakened.
Physical man can only know the manifestations of the absolutebut the soul may know the absolute, because in the soul the Breath of Omn, calm and steady in rhythmic vibrations,
is ever ebbing and flowing like the tides of the sea.
Religion divested of all creedal associations will yet lead man to the realization of the higher self within, its relationship with the Infinite, and its possibility not only to conceive an ideal humanity, but also to bring about in the external world this long desired event.
Love is the only creative force of the universe with which religion deals. Love alone hath within itself the power to redeem, lift up and enlighten the world. Its fire once kindled upon the altar within burns on and on forever. From this fire religion borrows the Light that shall yet illuminate the whole world.