On Brotherhood

The first step that the true Brother takes when he seeks to know his God is the great vow to all humanity that he will respect, honor, and love all created things—all mankind becomes his brother and all womankind his sister. This is the universal and cosmic law that for millions of years has guided the true student towards spiritual knowledge, and he who is living true to these ideals recognizes his responsibility and shoulders it like a human being.

Hall, Manly P., From Manuscript Lecture: Marriage - the Mystic Rite

On Love

Love is a purifying emotion in itself, making the total person a nobler creature. It is the power to move through the boundaries of personality, and to express one of the deepest needs of our human natures. The moment we understand that it does not require reciprocation, and that we have no right to demand love from others simply because we have bestowed it upon them, most of the hurt generally associated with emotional experiences is removed. Also, others may love us whom we never know, and to whom we are not drawn. This is good for them, however, for love is its own reward, giving to those who experience it their first conscious kinship with universal regard and divine affection. If we demand nothing from love, except the light that shines within our own hearts, and do not use our affections to bind others or impose restrictions upon their conduct, we shall not be disappointed in love, and will not instinctively defend ourselves against the danger of personal pain.

Hall, Manly P., "In Reply", PRS Journal (Spring 1959) Vol. 18, No. 4: p. 55

On Happiness

Absolute adjustment with Nature's purposes is the secret of both happiness and longevity. Disease is a departure from Nature; health a return again. To realize this is to possess the secret of life and to apply this realization is to live. Nature is just and the unjust must perish for their intemperance; Nature is impersonal and all that is personal must pass away. Nature envies nothing, is jealous of nothing, and is a stranger to ambition. All who are motivated by impulses less universal than those of life itself will be destroyed by the inadequacy of their own ideals. Those who are narrow cease for lack of breadth; those who are shallow perish for lack of depth. Only such as are in all things moderate, in all things consistent, and in all things natural can survive, for these live on because they partake of the qualities of continuance. Sharing in the qualities of the gods (who have neither beginning nor end) man thus unfolds one by one every divine potentiality until his divine destiny is at length fulfilled. Disease, decay, and death are absorbed into the effulgency of the illumined soul; and man diverging from the limitations of the flesh, inclines towards immortality, to finally merge himself with infinite and changeless Good.

Hall, Manly P., "Healing", Supplement to "Letters to Students" (November, 1934) p. 4

On Spirit

Spirit is the eternal, indestructible permanence concealed within all objective manifestations. It is the germ of perfect homogeneity, which dwells within the center of its own radiations, which radiations are called heterogeneity. Universal spirit is the essence of Eternal Being. We might say that spiritually it is the root of the verb "to be". The spirit in man is an indestructible spark of the Great Flame. It is separate from, yet always a part of, Universal Reality. It is the root and seed from which grows the triple branch of consciousness, intelligence, and function. Among the lower forms of Nature this spiritual spark is called the Monad. Among those beings with a separately organized mental nature, it assumes the dignity of the Ego (I AM).

Hall, Manly P. "Special Class in Secret Doctrine", Question 11

On Wisdom

There is a story frequently told of a Hindu chela who asked his master what a man had to do in order to become wise. The master took him into the Ganges and held the disciple's head under water for several seconds. "What did you think of while I was holding your head down?" asked the teacher. "Only one thing," replied the chela, "I wanted air." "How badly did you want air?" "More than anything else in the world." "Did you think of wealth or rewards or ambitions?" "No master, only air." "Very well, my son, when you want wisdom as you just wanted air, then you will become wise."

Hall, Manly P., Letters to Students, July, 1935, page 7

On the Gods

The universe is filled with beings in various stages of unfoldment. In every case the greater, while expanding their own complex organisms, offer fields for the growth and expression of millions of lesser intelligences. This is true of man also, who offers the opportunity for expression to millions of tiny cells within his own body. The God whom we unconsciously worship is the spirit of our solar system. The planets and ethers are his body. On and in these bodies millions of lesser intelligences, including ourselves, live and move and have their being. This great Solar Man is seeking perfection the same as we are. But if he would receive anything in Nature, he must give something; therefore, in order that he may grow, he gives the opportunity of growth to millions of lives within his aura. His consciousness is in them. His consciousness expands as the minute particles of himself expand. Therefore we grow for Him, while He serves and protects us. We call Him God.

Hall, Manly P., Special Class in Secret Doctrine, Question 33

On Vibration

As all things in the universe are composed of One Thing, the difference lies in the rates of vibration by which this one substance is agitated. Things of a certain rate of vibration function to and are aware of other things vibrating at the same rate as themselves. Vibration lies behind all manifestation in Nature as the cause of it and the reason for its individuality.

Hall, Manly P., Special Class in Secret Doctrine, Question 42

On the Heart

It is customary in Eastern theories of metaphysics to represent the heart as a shrine. Often this shrine is shown as a small Buddha-like structure within the breast. In some systems, especially the Buddhistic, the heart is described as a lotus bud. When this bud opens under the gentle influence of the concentration, the seated figure of the meditating Buddha is found within. The heart is indeed a "House of Hidden Places," the very sanctuary of the body, the symbol of the throne of majesty in man. It is proper, therefore, that this, of all the organs in the bodily economy, should represent the Self, the reality, the most sacred part of the whole nature of the universe and of man.

Hall, Manly P., Letters to Students, February, 1941, page 6