The Beloved

from Stranger By The River – Paul Twitchell

 The Beloved

 The seeker sat in the darkness while the wind blew around him and his beloved,and the river sang it's way past into the flat plains of India.
 He kept wondering if God had put him and this woman together,sitting silently side by side.But he knew that whether God meant it or not he would soon be gone.
 He wondered where the Tibetan might be out there in the darkness; probably wandering about with his mind upon the Universal work.
 The seeker's thoughts returned to the girl,and over and over the thought ran through his mind,"we are one. Nothing i can say or do can be kept from her."
 His hand reached up and touched her hair,and then suddenly he looked at her with the starlight in her eyes.
 Then suddenly as his thoughts began they stopped, and the world stood still.
 He pulled away and looking up saw Rebezar Tarzs standing beside them,his right hand raised in blessing.
He said "Shall it be life or shall it be death? Yet death is only the night of life, for out of the night comes the morning. Only when day and night and life are one,and swallowed up in that from which they came, shall ye both be at-one-ment with God, and with thy own two selves."
 The seeker said "Long have we waited for thee, O Lord. Yet our love for thee lessened not.Long have we waited and our reward is now at hand.We sought thee once far away, and thou left us alone. Now through the hours of the night we have struggled to reach thee,and have found thee again at our side. Therefore, we rejoice for the light is with us, and the sound in us, and thou art before us."
 "Reach to me my beloved ones", said the Traveler."Reach to me across the gulf of time. Put your hand upon mine and I will lead thee to God. To the Absolute Father who is all present, all powerful and all knowing!"
 Taking their hands in his, he seated himself on the ground and said "Behold the hawk in the sky. It sails on the wing, gliding upon the air currents looking for it's victim. Are ye immortal against the talons of the hawk?Yet ye live upon the strong breads of this earth.No ye must turn to the Lord,for tender nurture and strength to endure life."
 "Ah man, you have profaned thy woman. Forgive me God but man has all but broken woman by his careless entanglement of her heart, and abandonment of her love. Ah but let me look into the heart of woman and see the love she has for man, her husband and son and lover. It is only the reflection of Thy love,O God!"
 "Woman your lamp cannot burn without oil; and man cannot live without woman .Neither of ye can live without one another nor without God! He alone is really a great soul, who is illuminated with spiritual light!"
 "Strength, beauty, power and the the things dear to man are but bubbles. Is not ambition but an endless ladder by which no heights are climbed until the last unreachable rung is mounted? Heights lead but to heights,and there is no resting place upon the rungs, for the rungs grow upon the rungs and there is no limit to the number. Life becomes dull and no longer serves to satisfy hours of pleasure, or buy an ease of mind."
 "Is there no end to wisdom, my children, so that ye may hope to win it?Is not thy wisdom but a gnawing hunger calling thy consciousness day by day to a knowledge of the empty craving of the mind? Would it not then, be better to serve the Lord for just a tiny crumb from His table? Whereby man could have just a glimpse of God's face rather than none? Nay, I tell thee,my children, it is time for man's hunt for God; he seeks God everywhere but where I really am!"
 "Where do i really dwell O man? I will tell thee. In the heart of thy beloved. Look there and see me, my son!"
 "So i tell thee, my children, this great principle. Human love is that which speaks of the self; a selfish love which demands a return of the love that pours forth."
 "And divine love is that which has no thought of anything in return. When ye both have the love of others, regardless of what may happen or be done to thee, then ye have divine love."
 "When ye love one another so great that it does not matter what the other does, then ye have unconditional love, and thy love has risen above the planes of this earthly world."
 "Then ye know how to love me, thy God, and creator."
 The Guru dropped their hands and arose,looking down into the darkness.His great black eyes shining with fire through the shadows. Then he turned and strode towards the murmuring river, a majestic figure in the windy night.

From the book, Stranger By the River © 1987 Eckankar – Sri Paul Twitchell