their souls, these brave ones — it would have done your hearts good. I would go a
hundred miles to see the like of them. Lord bless them!...
Never be anxious for me for a moment. I will be taken care of, and if not, I shall know
my time has come — and pass out.... Now good dreams, good thoughts for you. You
are good and noble. Instead of materializing the spirit, i.e. dragging the spiritual to the
material plane as these fellers do, convert matter into spirit — catch a glimpse at least,
every day, of that world of infinite beauty and peace and purity, the spiritual, and try to
live in it day and night. Seek not, touch not with your toes, anything which is uncanny.
Let your souls ascend day and night like an unbroken string unto the feet of the
Beloved, whose throne is in your own heart, and let the rest take care of themselves, i.
e. the body and everything else. Life is an evanescent, floating dream; youth and
beauty fade. Say day and night: 'Thou art my father, my mother, my husband, my love,
my Lord, my God — I want nothing but Thee, nothing but Thee, nothing but Thee.
Thou in me, I in Thee — I am Thee, Thou art me.' Wealth goes, beauty vanishes, life
flies, powers fly — but the Lord abideth for ever, love abideth for ever. If there is glory
in keeping the machine in good trim, it is more glorious to withhold the soul from
suffering with the body. That is the only demonstration of your being 'not matter' — by
letting matter alone.
Stick to God. Who cares what comes, in the body or anywhere? Through the terrors of
evil, say, 'My God, my Love!' Through the pangs of death, say, 'My God, my Love!'
Through all the evils under the sun, say: 'My God, my Love! Thou art here, I see Thee.
Thou art with me, I feel Thee. I am Thine, take me. I am not the world's but Thine —
leave Thou not me.' Do not go for glass beads, leaving the mine of diamonds. This life
is a great chance. What! Seekest thou the pleasures of this world? He is the fountain of
all bliss. Seek the highest, aim for the highest, and you shall reach the highest.
At Greenacre the Swami became a friend of Dr. Lewis G. Janes, Director of the School
of Comparative Religions organized by the Greenacre Conference, and President of the
Brooklyn Ethical Association. The following autumn he lectured in Baltimore and
Washington.
During the Swami's visit in New York he was the guest of friends, mostly rich ladies of
the metropolitan city. He had not yet started any serious work there. Soon he began to
feel a sort of restraint put upon his movements. Very few of his wealthy friends
understood the true import of his message; they were interested in him as a novelty
from India. Also to them he was the man of the hour. They wanted him to mix with
only the exclusive society of 'the right people.' He chafed under their domination and
one day cried: 'Siva! Siva! Has it ever come to pass that a great work has been grown
by the rich? It is brain and heart that create, and not purse.' He wanted to break away
from their power and devote himself to the training of some serious students in the
spiritual life. He was fed up with public lectures; now he became eager to mould
silently the characters of individuals. He could no longer bear the yoke of money and
all the botheration that came in its train. He would live simply and give freely, like the
holy men of India. Soon an opportunity presented itself.