Beth

1. 1

   ONE, and One only, am I in essence;Changeless, indivisible;Concealing within my beingThe Ten Lights of divine emanation.

   In this, mine unalterable unity,Am I supreme,And none is equal unto me.Yet though I myself remain unchangedThroughout eternity,My power doth manifest itself in ceaseless change.

2. 2

   They err who speak of my changelessness in essenceAs if it were fixity in operation.That which changeth not is mine own nature,But this includeth the possibilityOf infinite diversity in ways and works.

3. 3

   For the uninstructed this is a stumbling-block.Confused by words of double meaning,They perceive not that this, mine immutable nature,Is an essence whose first ground is Life,And not mere Being.Thou knowest me not, O Israel,If thou regardest me only as 'He who IS.'They know me indeed who knowThat I am 'He who LIVETH.'

   I am Life itself,And without Mind there is no Life.I am the essence of Mind,And the essence of mind is Will.Of my Will all created wills are but reflections,And the essence of that Will -What is it but Desire?

   I am Life eternal,And I am the eternal longing for manifestation,Because of which I bring forth the shining worlds.For this do I divide myself, becoming two.

4. 4

   Of these two, the first is the CROWN of my Primal Will.This, my superior nature, standeth above the world,Which floweth forth from mine act of knowing.Yet even the superior nature

   Is to mine inmost essence as something outside,And therefore is it to me as BETH, my House.

   For I am within it,And it is an emanation from me.Nevertheless, I fill my dwelling-place.Hence it is written that the SupremeIs distinguished from the Crown by name only.

5. 5

   In my supreme abode stand I as the Onlooker.Because of mine unwavering contemplationThe stream of manifestation continueth on its course.

   Whatsoever existethHath its beginning in my Will,Continueth in my Will,And by my Will cometh at last to its appointed end.Than this, indeed, there is no other willIn all the universe,Yet in it do all creatures have a part.

6. 6

   From my substance all things derive their substance,And all that hath formIs built from my four-fold elemental manifestation.Four are the subtle principlesWhich the wise conceal from the uninitiate by thenames:

   FIRE, WATER, AIR, and EARTH.

   In endless variety of mixture and proportion,Directed by my Will,These mingle together for the production of forms.They are transmutations of a single essence,And from their mingling are brought forth all things.

   Watching thus the multiplicity of existencesProceeding from my single essence,I understand them in all their relations.I perceive that their beginning, middle, and endIs in truth myself.Thus do I see that all things,Whatsoever their appearance,Because they spring from mine own natureAre grounded in goodness.

7. 7

   My superior nature is reflected alsoIn the mind of man, created in mine image.Know me thus as the source of all true will.Know me also as the power to perceive objectsAs having the appearanceOf standing outside and apart fromHim who regardeth them.

   That in thee which so perceiveth objects,Which giveth the power to distinguish between them,Which revealeth them unto theeIn their relations to each other and to thyself,And enableth thee to search outThe laws of their reciprocal action,Know this to be identical with my superior nature.

   Wherever this power acteth,Whether in low forms or in high,I only am its source,And I the Knower.

   Not thine, but mine, is the power of attention,Of observation, of discovery,Of the discerning of sequence in the operation ofnature.In all this, and in the power of discrimination,My superior nature worketh through thee.

8. 8

   Happy art thou if thou canst grasp this truth.For then, understanding that not thy weak self,But my all-knowing Mind,Looketh out upon the world through thine eyes,Shalt thou have faith to let me see.

   Then shalt thou overcome the evil of thy senses ..By devoting: them wholly to my use.

   Not thou, but I,Shall then, discern the weight and shape and textureOf the things thou touchest,

   Not thine, but mine,Shall be the knowledge of scent and savourGained through nose and tongue.And when I use thine ears for hearing,They shall be attuned to sweetest harmonies,Where now they are assailed by strident discord.

   So shalt thou become a partakerIn the bliss of mine experience of the universe,A joy unknown to those of unperfected soulWhose time of realization is not yet at hand.