Ralph Waldo Emerson Gnothi Seauton (Verse 1 and 2 from 11 verses) If thou canst bear Strong meat of simple truth If thou durst my words compare With what thou thinkest in my soul'd free youth, Then take this fact unto they soul,---- God dwells in thee. It is no metaphor nor parable, It is unknown to thousands, and to thee; Yet there is God. He is in thy world, But the world knows him not. He is the mighty Heart From which life's varied pulses part. Clouded and shrouded there doth sit The Infinite Embosomed in a man; And thou art stranger to thy guest And know'st not what thou doth invest. The clouds that veil his life within Are thy thick woven webs of sin, Which his glory struggling through Darkens to thine evil hue. If you are positive you are a physical being, a complete and separate individual that will some day pass away and end, then you have "missed the mark" (the only "original sin" or "ignorance"). Note: In the far east, SPIRITUAL SCHOOLS were called ASHRAMS. In the west (Greek), a SPIRITUAL SCHOOL was called an ACADEMY. 124.22www.guardiantext.orgPreviousTable of ContentsNextHome |