"It is to you I bring this grand message, my discouraged sister, wake up and get out of the illusion that you are what that poor worn-out body of yours stands for. No, dear sister, a thousand times no; for you are 'Existence Absolute, Knowledge Absolute, and Bliss Absolute.'
"The reason that you and your sex are where you are to-day, is because you are in bondage to your material forms, looking upon yourselves and wishing men to look upon you also for what you are in body, instead of women looking upon themselves as spiritual beings and having men do the same. The reason that men are where they are to-day is because they are in bondage to their material forms, looking upon themselves as being men, and also expecting women to look upon them as such, instead of men looking upon themselves as pure spiritual beings possessing the qualities of the Divine, and looking upon women as being exactly the same spiritually as themselves.
"You have all drawn veils over your Divine nature through this illusion, and from this illusion springs all the acts which keep you from realizing your Divine nature. Your greed, your vanity, your self-conceit, your love of praise, your love of self, your attachment to yourself, and all that is yours, your appetites all act as shades over the windows of the soul. When will you break these various bonds and be free?
[2]"There is a story that the king of gods, 'Indra,' once became a pig, wallowing in mire. He had a she pig and a lot of baby pigs and was very happy. Then some other angels saw his plight, came to him and told him, 'You are the king of the gods, you have all the gods to command. Why are you here?' But Indra said, 'Let me be. I am all right here, I don't care for the heavens while I have the sow and little pigs.' The poor gods were at their wits' end what to do. After a time they decided to come now and again and slay one of the little pigs and then another, until they had slain all the pigs and the sow, too. When all were dead Indra began to weep and mourn. Then the gods ripped his pig body open and he come out of it, and began to laugh. What a hideous dream he had had. He, the king of gods, to have become a pig and to think that pig life was the only life. Not only so but to have wanted the whole universe to come into the pig life.
"The soul when it identifies itself with nature forgets that it is pure and Infinite. The soul does not live, it is life itself. It does not exist, it is existence itself. The soul does not know, it is knowledge itself. It is an entire mistake to say the soul lives, or knows, or loves. Love and existence are not the qualities of the soul, but its essence. When they get reflected on that something you may call them the qualities of that something. Remember what you read in Hindu philosophy, that the finer body, and what is called in Christian theology the spiritual body, is not the soul. The soul is beyond them all. It is this soul which is Divine.
"Now let us follow out this thought that all of you are Divine and that each one of you looks upon himself as being Divine, and that you look upon all others as being Divine also. What is the result? Let's see. The Divine nature is one of love, one of purity, one of justice, one of harmony, one of peace. As a Divine being you are looking within for all your happiness and are not dependent on things outside of yourself to make you happy. As a Divine being you are not grasping and wanting things that don't belong to you, and making yourself and others miserable by wishing you were where you cannot go, or you want things you cannot have. As a Divine being your conduct towards others under all circumstances is one of love. Therefore you are not stirring up contentions and strifes and you are trying, as far as possible, to make those around you happy, and are yourself striving to be the same under all circumstances. All things which disturb you keep you from realizing the Divine. Therefore you have control over your temper and are manifesting peace and harmony. As you are Divine, you should do your work in the world without attachment to things of the world. You should not be owned by the external world, for all forms and things perish, but the life of the spirit is eternal.
"As a Divine being you will be honest and truthful to yourself and others; you will practise no deception; you will not want what belongs to others; and try in trade or barter to cheat another, for you look upon all as Divine like yourself. As a Divine being you will want to earn your living by the sweat of your own brow, instead of by the sweat of others as many do to-day.
"Let that thought enter the life of the family and instead of the husband and father being cross and cranky at times, he will always be the same; trying each day in some new way to make his wife and children better and happier, and they in return will be a joy to themselves and a comfort to him. What a happy home where that thought reigns.
"Let that thought be carried into the affairs of the County, State and Nation, and see what a revolution of peace and happiness it would bring. The first change would be that all women would have the same right to vote as men have; not because they are women, but because they are Divine, like man. In short because they are spiritual beings like men.
"The aphorism, 'Equal rights to all and special privileges to none,' will be lived out, because no one who is living the thought that all are Divine, will wish to have opportunities that they deny to others.