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"Consider how difficult for man is the attainment of pleasures and happiness in this mortal world. How easy it is for the animal... Therefore consider how base a nature it reveals in man that... he should lower himself into the animal sphere... How debased the soul which can find enjoyment in this darkness, occupied with itself, captive of self and passion, wallowing in the mire of the material world... What ignorance this is!" (Pup 179- 80) (55:1) "O Rebellious Ones! My forbearance hath emboldened you and My long- suffering hath made you negligent, in such wise that ye have spurred on the fiery charge of passion into perilous way that lead unto destruction. Have ye thought Me heedless or that I was unaware?" "How long wilt thou soar in the realms of desire? Wings have I bestowed upon thee, that thou mayest fly to the realms of mystic holiness and not regions of satanic fancy." (Hwp 50) (55:2) "Evil is imperfection. Sin is the state of man in the world of the baser nature, for in nature exist defects such as injustice, tyranny, hatred, hostility, strife: these are characteristics of the lower plane of nature. These are the sins of the world... Through education we must free ourselves from these imperfections." (Pt 177- 8) (55:3) "The reality underlying this question is that the evil spirit, Satan or whatever is interpreted as evil, refers to the lower nature of man. This baser nature is symbolized in various ways. In man there are two expressions, one is the expression of nature, the other the expression of the spiritual realm. The world of nature is defective. God has never created an evil spirit; all such ideas and nomenclature are symbols expressing the mere human or earthly nature of man. It is an essential condition of the soil of earth that thorns, weeds and fruitless trees may grow from it. Relatively speaking, this is evil; it is simply the lower state and baser product of nature." (Pup 289) (55:4) "The majority of people are captives in the matrix of nature, submerged in the sea of materiality... Today the world of humanity is walking in darkness because it is out of touch with the world of God... The power of the Holy Spirit has no influence." "O Son of Spirit! There is no peace for thee save by renouncing thyself and turning unto Me." (Pup 289; Hwa 5) (55:5) "All over the world one hears beautiful sayings extolled and noble precepts admired... But... we see very few of them carried into the world of action." (Pt 79- 80) (55:6) "The wrong in the world continues to exist just because people talk only of their ideals, and do not strive to put them into practise." (Pt 16) (55:7) "Delight not yourselves in the things of the world and its vain ornaments, neither set your hopes on them. Let your reliance on the remembrance of God, the Most Exalted, the Most Great. He will, erelong, bring to naught all the things ye possess... Forget not His covenant with you, and be not... shut out as by a veil from Him." (Gl 127- 8)
(55:8)
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