And he placed his two hands for a moment over my eyes and then removed them. I uttered a cry of ecstasy—for there before me on the moonlit water I saw the 'Dream'!—her sails glittering with light, and her aerial shape clearly defined against the sky! Oh, how I longed to fly across the strip of water which alone seemed to divide us!—and once more to stand on the deck beside him whom I now loved more than my very hopes of heaven! But I knew it was only a vision conjured up before me by the magic of Aselzion,—a magic used gently for my sake, to help and comfort me in a moment of sadness and heart's longing. And I watched, knowing that the picture must fade,—as it slowly did,—vanishing like a rainbow in a swirl of cloud.
"It is indeed a 'Dream'!" I said, smiling faintly, as I turned again to
Aselzion—"I pray that love itself may never be so fleeting!"
"If love is fleeting, it is not love!"—he answered—"As ephemeral passion called by that name is the ordinary sort of attraction existing between ordinary men and women,—men, who see no farther than the gratification of a desire, and women, who see no higher than the yielding to that desire. Men who love in the highest and most faithful meaning of the term, are much rarer than women,—women are very near the divine in love when it is first awakened in them—if afterwards they sink to a lower level, it is generally the men who have dragged them down. Unless a man is bent on the highest, he is apt to settle on the lowest—whereas a woman generally soars to the highest ideals at first in the blind instinct of a Soul seeking its mate—how often she is hurled back from the empyrean only the angels know! Not to all is given power to master and control the life-forces—and it is this I would have you understand before I leave you to-night. I can teach you the way to hold your life safely above all disintegrating elements—but the learning of the lesson rests with yourself."
He sat down, and I resumed my place in the chair opposite to him, prepared to hear him with the closest attention. There were a few things on the table which I had not previously noticed, and one of these was a circular object covered with a cloth. He removed this covering, and showed me a crystal globe which appeared to be full of some strange volatile fluid, clear in itself, but intersected with endless floating brilliant dots and lines.
"Look well at this"—he said—"for here you have a very simple manifestation of a great truth. These dots and lines which you observe perpetually in motion are an epitome of what is going on in the composition of every human being. Some of them, as you see, go in different directions, yet meet and mingle with each other at various points of convergence—then again become separated. They are the building-up and the disintegrating forces of the whole cosmos—and—mark this well!—they are all, when unimprisoned, directed by a governing will-power. You, in your present state of existence, are simply an organised Form, composed of these atoms, and your will-power, which is part of the Divine creative influence, is set within you to govern them. If you govern them properly, the building-up and revivifying atoms within you obey your command, and with increasing strength gradually control and subdue their disintegrating opponents,—opponents which after all are only their servants, ready to disencumber them from all that is worthless and useless at the first sign of disablement. There is nothing more simple than this law, which has only to be followed in order to preserve both life and youth. It 5s all contained in an effort of the WILL, to which everything in Nature responds, just as a well-steered ship obeys the compass. Remember this well!—I say, EVERYTHING IN NATURE! This crystal globe holds momentarily imprisoned atoms which cannot just now be directed because they are shut in, away from all Will to govern them—but if I left them as they are for a few more hours their force would shatter the crystal, and they would escape to resume their appointed way. They are only shown to you as an object lesson, to prove that such things ARE—they are facts, not dreams. You, like this crystal globe, are full of imprisoned atoms—atoms of Spirit and Matter which work together to make you what you are—but you have also the governing Will which is meant to control them and move them either to support, sustain and revivify you, or else to weaken, break down and finally disperse and disintegrate you, preparatory to your assumption of another form and phase of existence. Now, do you begin to understand?"
"I think I do,"—I answered—"But is it possible always to make this effort of the Will?"
"There is no moment in which you do not, consciously or subconsciously, 'will' something"—he answered—"And the amount of power you use up in 'willing' perfectly trifling and ephemeral things, could almost lift a planet! But let us take simple actions—such as raising a hand. You think this movement instinctive or mechanical—but it is only because you WILL to raise it that you can do it. If you willed NOT to raise it, it could not raise itself OF itself. This tremendous force,—this divine gift of will-power, is hardly exercised at all by the majority of men and women—hence their manner of drifting here and there—their pliable yielding to this or that opinion—the easy sway obtained over the million by a few leaders and reformers—the infectious follies which possess whole communities at a time—the caprices of fashion—the moods of society—all these are due to scattered will-power, which if concentrated would indeed 'replenish the earth and subdue it.' But we cannot teach the world, and therefore we must be content to teach and train a few individuals only. And when you ask if it is possible always to make the necessary effort of will, I answer yes,—of course it is possible. The secret of it all is to resolve upon a firm attitude and maintain it. If you encourage thoughts of fear, hesitation, disease, trouble, decay, incompetency, failure and feebleness, you at once give an impetus to the disintegrating forces within you to begin their work—and you gradually become ill, timorous, and diseased in mind and body. If, on the contrary, your thoughts are centred on health, vitality, youth, joy, love and creativeness, you encourage all the revivifying elements of your system to build up new nerve tissue and fresh brain cells, as well as to make new blood. No scientist has ever really discovered any logical cause why human beings should die—they are apparently intended to live for an indefinite period. It is they themselves who kill themselves,—even so-called 'accidents' are usually the result of their own carelessness, recklessness or inattention to warning circumstance. I am trying to put all this as simply as I can to you,—there are hundreds of books which you might study, in which the very manner of expression is so abstruse and involved that even the most cultured intelligence can scarcely grasp it,—but what I have told you is perfectly easy of comprehension,—the only difficulty lies in its practical application. To-night, therefore, and for the remainder of the time you are here, you will enter upon certain tests and trials of your will-force—and the result of these will prove whether you are strong enough to be successful in your quest of life and youth and love. If you are capable of maintaining the true attitude,—if you can find and keep the real centre-poise of the Divine Image within you, all will be well. And remember, that if you once learn how to govern and control the atomic forces within yourself, you will equally govern and control all atomic forces which come within your atmosphere. This gives you what would be called by the ignorant 'miraculous' power, though it is no miracle. It is nothing more than the attitude of Spirit controlling Matter. You will find yourself not only able to govern your own forces but also to draw upon Nature for fresh supplies—the air, the sunshine, the trees, the flowers, will give you all they have to give on demand—and nothing shall be refused to you. 'Ask, and ye shall receive—seek, and ye shall find—knock, and it shall be opened unto you.' Naturally the law is, that what you receive you must give out again in an ungrudging outflow of love and generosity and beneficence and sympathy, not only towards mankind but to everything that lives—for as you are told—'Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down and shaken together and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal, it shall be measured to you again.' These sayings of our greatest Master are heard so often that they are considered by many people almost trite and commonplace,—but they hold a truth from which we cannot escape. Even such a little matter as a kind word is paid back to the one who uttered it with a double interest of kindness, while a cruel or coarse one carries its own punishment. Those who take without giving are generally unsuccessful in their lives and aims—while those who give without taking appear to be miraculously served by both fame and fortune,—this being merely the enactment of the spiritual law."
"I do not want fame or fortune,"—I said—"Love is enough for me!"
Aselzion smiled.
"Enough for you indeed! My child, it is enough for all! If you have love, you have entered into the secret mind of God! Love inspires all nobleness, all endurance, all courage,—and I think you have some of its attributes, for you have been bold in your first independent essay—and it is this very boldness that has brought me here to speak to you to-night. You have, of your own accord, and without preparation, passed what we students and mystics call 'the first circle of fire,' and you are therefore ready for the rest of your trial. So I will now take you back to your own room and leave you there, for you must face your ordeal alone."