the Inner Voice

/I would be true, for there are those who trust me;
I would be pure, for there are those who care;
I would be strong, for there is much to suffer;
I would be brave, for there is much to dare./
- Howard Arnold Walter

To be true, pure, strong and brave, what we need is the Inner Voice. Our Inner Voice is the Truth Power within us. Our outer voice is the money power without. Man is not pure enough to see the Truth-Power operating in his outer world of desires and demands. Man is not fortunate enough to see the money power operating in his inner world of aspirations and needs. The Truth Power used for humanity and the money power used for divinity can and will change the face of the world. Truth Power will awaken and illumine slumbering and unlit humanity. Money power will serve and fulfil the yet unfulfilled divinity on earth.

The Inner Voice is the heart's wealth. When an aspirant uses this wealth, it soulfully smiles. When an unbeliever and disbeliever in God attempts to use this wealth, it is mercilessly suffocated.

The Inner Voice tells us to help the world only in accordance with God's express Will. If help is rendered otherwise, it is bound to turn into dire calamity later on. He is not only divinely liberal but supremely blessed whose help to another is God inspired and God-ordained.

To give on second thought a thing requested is to give once. To give a thing for the asking is to give twice. To give a thing unsought is to give thrice. To give a thing when God wants it to be given is to give the thing for good, along with one's own body and soul.

We shall never hear the Song of the Inner Voice if we consciously or unconsciously make friends with anxiety. What is anxiety? Anxiety is the destructive breath of life's poverty.

There can be no greater choice or higher prize than to listen to the Inner Voice. If we wilful refuse to listen to the Inner Voice, our false gains will lead us to an inevitable loss. And if we listen soulfully to the Inner Voice, our true gains will not only protect us from imminent destruction but will surprisingly hasten our realisation of the transcendental Truth.

An aspirant must realise that the Inner Voice is not a gift, but an achievement. The more soulfully he strives for it, the sooner he unmistakably owns it.

Sincerity tells man he should be truly proud that he has the all-discerning Inner Voice. Humility tells man he should be supremely proud that the wrong shunning, the right performing and the good-fulfilling Inner Voice has him.

The Inner Voice is at once man's untiring guide and his true friend. If a man goes deep within, the Inner Voice will tell him what to do. If he goes deeper, the Inner Voice will give him the capacity. If he goes still deeper, the Inner Voice will convince him that he is doing the right thing in the right way.

There is a word that is very sweet, pure and familiar to us. This word is conscience. Conscience is another name for the Inner Voice. Divinely inspired is the utterance of Shakespeare: "I feel within me a peace above all earthly anxieties, a still and quiet conscience."

Conscience can live in two places: In the heart of truth and in the mouth of falsehood. When conscience strikes us once, we must think that it is showing us its unconditional love. When it strikes us twice, we must feel that it is showing us its unreserved concern. When it strikes us thrice, we must realise that it is offering us its boundless compassion to prevent us from diving deep into the sea of Ignorance.

Rousseau says something quite striking: "Conscience is the voice of the soul, as passion is the voice of the body. No wonder they often contradict each other."

Conscience and passion need not contradict each other if man aspires to offer his heart's light to his passion and his heart's surrender to his conscience. In this way, he can easily transcend this apparently irreconcilable contradiction. Once man has transcended all contradiction, he can powerfully sing with Whitman: "Do I contradict myself? Very well, then I contradict myself. (I am large, I contain multitudes.)"

If you want to be a good man, then contradict yourself when sincerity demands. If you want to be a great man, then don't contradict yourself even when necessity demands.

Fear asks, "Is it safe?" Doubt asks, 'Is it true?" Conscience asks, "If not God, who else? What else?"

The Inner Voice is the Temple within us. The Inner Voice is the Deity within us. The Inner Voice is the divine Duty within us. The Inner Voice is the supreme Necessity within us.

God has commanded the Inner Voice to be the friend of aspiring souls and the judge of unaspiring souls.

The Inner Voice is not only constant constancy, but also perfect Perfection.

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*October 1st, 1969*
Syracuse University, Syracuse, N.Y.