Chapter 18
After the judgment of Anuhasaj and Chesota at Theovrahkistan, Ahura asked Lika for assistance to remove the remainder of Vara-pishanaha to Hao-yusta, which Lika granted, allotting ten million of his etherean hosts to accomplish it. With these Ahura, Anuhasaj and Chesota accomplished the removal.
Not many days after this, Sudga was delivered from the hells of Auprag, and because Ahura had been previously informed as to the time, he accordingly had gone to Auprag, to be ready to receive Sudga, and help restore him if required.
Sudga, on his delivery from the knot, where there had been thirty million bound, was bereft of reason, but not gentle like Anuhasaj, but fierce, battling right and left, a very maddened maniac that neither saw nor heard, but raved and cursed with all his strength, choked up with madness. For all the curses of his broken-down kingdom recoiled upon himself; the projective curses of his billions of slaves were piercing his soul from every quarter.
But they held him firmly and carried him into the ship, which sailed for Hao-yusta, where he was landed in the same condition. Ahura was with him, and Ahura arranged for a circle of deliverance to assemble and labor in the restoration. And it required thirty days and nights to bring him around, so he could even see and hear; but as for his judgment it was yet a hundred days more before it manifested.
So Ahura could not wait any longer with him, but returned to the hells where Te-in was bound, the Ak-a-loo-ganuz, for Te-in was to be delivered. But again Ahura was disappointed, for Te-in was neither frightened nor wild nor mad, but limpid, helpless as water, and with no more knowledge than a vessel of water. His energies had all been exhausted, and in a dead swoon he lay in the heart of the knot. Him they also carried to Hao-yusta, and Ahura provided for his restoration.
But before Te-in awoke from his stupor, Ahura departed for Osiris, who was bound in the hells of Prayogotha. Osiris had been in hell now for more than a hundred years, and in a knot for fifty years.
When the false Osiris was delivered he was deranged, but preaching Jehovih, calling everybody Jehovih, and everything Jehovih. Him they also carried to Hao-yusta and provided restoration for him. And Ahura went there also to assist with all his wisdom and strength.
Thus were delivered all the self-Gods who had rebelled against Jehovih and established the great confederacy, of which not one vestige was now left.
But of all the angels delivered out of the hells and knots not one in ten was of sound judgment, while more than half of them were only drujas at best.
Thus was founded the new kingdom of Hao-yusta, as yet in the charge of the ethereans, who were to commit it to Anuhasaj and his one-time confederates, for their deliverance.
It came to pass in course of time that Sudga, Te-in and Osiris were restored to judgment, and in this matter Anuhasaj, Ahura and Chesota were constant workers. And when they were all restored, they in turn set about to restore others, to which labor they were committed till the close of dawn.
Osiris, Te-in and Sudga desired to go before Lika, to be adjudged and sentenced; and they all sentenced themselves, which was granted to them. On this occasion Osiris said:
Your lessons are near at hand, O Jehovih. But who will learn them? Mortals go insane because they have not learned to throw their cares upon You. To throw government upon You, O Jehovih, is this not wisdom? To cast riches and kingdoms into Your lap; to own nothing; to have nothing; is this not the sum of the highest happiness?
Whoever does this will battle against no man for anything in heaven or earth. But he who does otherwise will sooner or later descend into hell. For what is hell but the opposite of bliss? What is battling against others, but sowing the seed of anarchy in one’s own soul? To battle against others is to gain the lower, by sacrificing the higher, of which latter You, O Jehovih, are the summit.
To go against You, O Father, is to go against one’s fellows; to go against one’s fellows is to go against You. And who can go against You without sooner or later evolving his own fall?
To mortals You have given kings and queens, and shown them that sooner or later their kingdoms will fall to pieces. And yet Lords and Gods, seeing these things, will not believe. Every one, in his own conceit, imagines his particular kingdom will be governed more wisely than all his predecessors. And yet his also falls.
Now I will turn to find You, O Jehovih, and the search shall be everlasting. Kingdoms are nothing to me; all possessions, except wisdom and love, are but vanity and vexation. I know You are above all else, and yet You are that which has given Yourself all away, so that none can look upon Your face. Truly You have hidden Yourself away; to be like You is to hide away the self of one’s self; and that which will remain will be Your mouthpiece and Your hand. ||
Then Sudga spoke to Jehovih, saying: Why was I puffed up, seeing that I did not even create my own self? Nor did I have anything in earth or heaven to use or to work with, except substance already made. Yes, I leapt into Your garden which You had planted.
I raised up my voice against You; because You were too Holy for my gross senses to perceive, I condemned You. I wanted You gross, so that I could look upon You; so that I could walk around You, and behold Your stature. I saw that all men were like me in this.
Therefore I made a figurehead of myself; I said to Your children: Behold me! And at first they were pleased, because they imagined they had found a Creator they could measure. But Your eye was upon me, Your hand pointed the way and the manner of my iniquity. And they searched me out and found I was only a man, like they themselves. And, so, they condemned me.
The fool acknowledges no person unless he can grapple with him, and find the arms, and their length, and the feet and their standing place. How vain I was in this, O Jehovih!
He who professed Your Person I denounced as a fool; because I did not see Your completeness, You allowed me to pursue my vanity. Because I had risen above acknowledging Your Person I was forced to make man the All Highest; and this drove me to make myself the all highest man. But You did not come against me to beat me from my iniquity, but gave me full play to do my utmost.
On all sides You have encompassed Your creation with liberty. Even Your enemy You have not restrained. He stands in public, saying: Jehovih, I deny You. If You are mightier than I, strike me down. Behold, I deny You and Your Person! You Void Nothingness! You fool Creator, with Your half-created world. You Who have created sin! And created misery! You Father of evil! O You dumb Nothing.
Yes, even to him You have given free speech; and he builds up his own soul in his own way. And for a season he is the delight of the druk and the druj; yes, they fasten upon him, and he gains a multitude of evil ones, divided one against another, but the seed of his curses takes root in them, and he becomes encompassed with foulness and bondage.
To find harmony in You, O Jehovih; to measure the Goodness of You; to rejoice in one’s joys; to treasure Your best gifts; to laud Your love; to love You because You have given me power to love, and things to love; to rejoice in Your fruits and flowers and all perfected things; to harp forever upon Your glories and the magnitude of Your creation; to sing praises to You for harmony wherever found; to love to comprehend all good things; to find the good that is in all men and women; to rejoice in delights; to teach others to rejoice, and to search after all perfected beauties and goodness and righteousness and love; these shall be my service to You, my everlasting Father.
To not seek to find imperfections; to not seek to find disharmonies; to not seek to find evil; to not seek to find ugliness; to not seek to find evil in others, nor their darkness nor shortcomings; to not seek to prove imperfections upon You, O Jehovih; to find no fault with You; to not complain against You; to not complain for trials nor for hardships, nor for the evil others inflict me with; to not quibble because I cannot comprehend Your vastness; to not quibble for myself; to not speak evilly against anything You have created. O Jehovih, make me strong and wise forever. ||
Te-in spoke to Jehovih, saying: Where is the limit of experience, O Jehovih! And how short have I not been before You, My Father! Behold, I had learned all philosophies; I had been taught for a long season in the right way, but I rebelled against You, my Creator.
I had been taught to not hoard up anything; to own nothing; to desire nothing but wisdom and love. And Your teachers, O Jehovih, showed me the evidence of thousands of great rulers, and every one of them had come to evil and destruction. Why then, O Father, was I not wise in the evidence before me? But I rose up against all this testimony, and I fashioned a mighty kingdom. Yes, You allowed me to try in my own way to the full.
I went not by peace but by war; I raised up standing armies and great warriors without limit; by force I established myself, but only as a tree that grows up and is cut down. But what was I in Your great universe, O Jehovih? What was my experience but the repetition of others who had been before me?
Now I will be wise; most cautious in my wisdom, and slow to proceed. But how can I make my experience profitable to others? You have stood me far away; whoever hears me will say: Ah, if I had tried it I would have succeeded better. You prick each one to go in and try, but they all fail. Yes, they reiterate their failure; but of this experience where is the profit to others? How can I ever reach them, O Jehovih!
What greater profit do I have than a mortal who dwells on the earth? Have the angels not testified for thousands of years that the rich man was crippling his own soul, and that the king and queen were binding themselves with chains for the habitation of hell? But they will not heed; every one hopes he, at least, will find a way to escape; to gain prestige over others; to be a leader; to have servants; to be idle; to live at ease; to have great possessions; to revel in luxuries. Are these not more powerful motivators than another’s experience; greater in the eyes of the ignorant than all the wisdom of earth and heaven?
You have wisely shaped Your creatures, O Father! You make great servants of us in a way we do not know of. Behold, I desired a mighty kingdom in heaven, and You gave one into my hand. Yes, I flattered myself with my success; I laughed at the Gods who had been before my time. How things are changed now, O Jehovih!
You have made me a servant of servants; yes, by my own hand I have bound myself. Have I not heard mortals say: O if only I had a kingdom to rule over! O if only I had great riches, how good I would be! And because You deny them for their own good, they complain against You. Who shall answer for the vanity of men and angels! They do not have patience with You, Who created them alive and know what is best.
One says: There is a great king, why does he not do a great good? Or, there is a rich man, why does he not do a great good also? O if only I were in their places. ||
How shall I show them, O Father, that to be a king is to go away from doing good; that to be a rich man is to deny goodness? Yes, by the very act of possession he is testimony in the opposite way. For he who is good gives all; even as You gave all and so, made all things. And the greater the possessions the greater the bondage. Who has so small a responsibility as he who has nothing? This is the sum of wisdom, O Jehovih; and all men and all angels sooner or later will acknowledge it.
Better You have made it for the servant than for the master; better for the poor than the rich; and these things will also come to their understanding in course of time. But how can I, O Father, make them know wisdom without experience, to accept the testimony of others’ tortures in hell?
Behold, You gave me great learning when I was of the earth; and when in hada great advantages to attain to deep wisdom; but, after all, I was caught in a snare of my own setting. How much, then, O Father, must I expect of the multitude? Happy is he who has nothing, and desires only wisdom and love. To cultivate such a garden, what a harvest will ripen out to him. ||
When the three had thus spoken before the throne and before the High Council, Ahura stood aside and spoke also. He said: