Lectionary Readings for Tuesday, June 25th, 2019

3rd Quarter Moon

Book of the Arc of Bon Chapters 23 and 24

Chapter 23

1. Chine spake Jehovih’s words, saying: They have sought after pleasure, and after thee, O
earth! They have bowed down to men, to the king and the rich man, and now, behold
their misery! The king said: Come serve me. Take thy spear, and thy strong bow and
arrow, and come with me. I will show thee great delights; thou shalt slaughter my
enemies; and I will give thee wages.

2. And they ran to serve the king; yea, they washed their hands in the blood of My
innocent ones. Because the king said: Brave! Good slaughterer! Then were they pleased,
highly recompensed!

3. I have said: Ye are on the wrong road; serve only Me, for I am Good Delights.
Because ye slay one another, the land will not be tilled; ye are hungered and
ragged. And they queried: What will Jehovih give for wages? More than the king?

4. Herein is thy weakness, O man! Thou sayest: Wait a little while, I will serve the man
first; and afterward Jehovih.

5. What profit hast thou in thy brother’s death? With all his treasures of gold and silver,
what hast thou?

6. Behold, even they that choose Me and My ways, thou wilt not suffer to live in peace.
Because they say: My Creator is my King; Him will I serve. The king saith: Go for them;
slaughter them! They put Jehovih higher than me!

7. And thou sayest: It is a good and wholesome thing to serve the king, and kill his
enemies. To serve my country by killing men, this is great glory!

8. But the voice of My beloved rose up to Me; My lambs fleeing before the wolves, and
driven away from My goodly pastures. Behold Me, I am come to them, to the lovers of
peace and virtue and loving kindness. My hand is stretched over them in great power; My
word is given unto them, and is not dead.

9. I will call them together; they shall again hold up their heads and rejoice because of My
Presence.

10. After Jehovih’s voice came to Chine he traveled far and near; and because of
his wonderful wisdom, men of great learning and even kings sent for him. And wherever
he went he preached after the same manner, for peace and love, and against war.

11. For three years Chine traveled, proclaiming the Creator above all else in heaven and
earth. And then he rested one hundred and forty days, sleeping like a young child, saying
naught more than a child would say.

12. Then came a change upon Chine; he was as a new man in the world, and not as a God.
And he rose up, saying: My Father, Creator of men, calleth me. I hear His voice. It is like
a burning fire in my soul, moving me. Not with pain, but with great power. He saith:

13. Chine, My Son! Chine, My Son! My house is on fire! My little ones are burning. Go
thou, Chine, to them. They are in fear and trembling; they know not what way to turn.
The kings of the earth have outlawed them; they are hunted down, and are famished. Go
thou to them, O Chine! For that end created I thee alive in the world; thou shalt be My
Voice unto them.

14. Chine said: Jehovih saith: Who can overcome the fire when he remaineth in the
house? He goeth outside where there is water. Call thou My people out of the house of
My enemies. Give them a well spring of clean water; they are parched up and athirst. Say
to them: Jehovih liveth! His love aboundeth; come ye to My fountains that are not dried
up. Come ye and hear the covenant of My Son, Chine.

15. I swear to Thee, O Jehovih, Thou my Almighty! I will have no other God but Thee,
Thou Creator! All Light, Most Glorious! Thou art my King! Holy, Holy, Ever Present! O
my Captain, my All Highest Captain! I salute Thee in the Rising Sun! In the High Noon,
most Mighty! And in the sweet Setting Sun!

16. I know nothing but Thee; to Thee I swear this my most solemn oath, O Jehovih! Call
Thou up Thy angels, holy and most wise; Thy recording angels! They shall hear my
covenant unto Thee, My Creator! They shall write it in the books of heaven, O my
Master! And whilst the sun standeth, and the moon and the earth and the stars, my oath
unto Thee shall stand up against me:

17. Thou only shalt be my King; Thou only shalt be my God and Heavenly Ruler. All
other kings I forswear, and all other Gods and captains and great rulers: None of them
will I bow down to or worship, forever. I, Chine, have spoken.

18. I swear unto Thee, Thou Great Spirit, Thou art my bond to the end of the world. I
will not war nor abet war; to peace forever am I sworn. And though they impress me
and torture me, or slay me outright, they shall not force me; I will not draw one drop
of blood in any man or woman or child whom Thou hast created alive on the earth.

19. I swear unto thee, Thou All Person, Who art so large that the earth and sun and stars
would not fill the hollow of Thy hand; to be like unto Thee, O Jehovih. Fair dealing unto
all men, as Thou wouldst; good, forgiving and without anger, forever. And equally in all
possessions with Thy chosen, O Jehovih.

20. To raise them up that are cast down; to deliver the afflicted and helpless; to render not
evil, nor the fruit of anger, unto any man, forever, O Jehovih. And good to them that
abuse me; and in my actions steadfast in Thy course, my Creator.

21. In my blood do I covenant with thee; by the veins in my flesh make oath forever. To
wed not out of Thy Order, the Hi-tspe. Blood of the blood of Thy chosen shall be my
heirs and my heirs after me, forever.

22. Hear me, O Jehovih: I make a new covenant; it shall be written upon the firmament of
heaven. I will do good with all my might; the tears of the suffering poor shall be as
scalding blood in my veins; I will not sit down and rest, nor take my ease, nor hold
possessions whilst they are in want.

23. Prick me, O my Father in heaven; sharpen my conscience keener than a sword; drive
me to labor for the poor and afflicted, give me no rest, but whilst I am doing good unto
them.

24. O that my covenant were set with swords, pointing every way; that I could find no
peace but in serving Thee, my Creator, Ormazd. And I were pure and strong and wise and
swifter than life and death, and as unfailing.

25. And that my oath reached unto thy chosen, and they heard me; that my voice was
sweet unto them, and enticing like an early love.

26. That they would come forth from their hiding places, Thy faithful children, and be not
afraid.

27. I would go to them as a lover, and bow my head down to them for their long
suffering, and their faith unto Thee, Jehovih.

28. As a father that has lost his son and found him again, I would take them in my arms,
Thy worshippers, Thou All One, Everlasting Spirit.

29. As a rose-bush trampled in the mire; how they have been scourged, O Jehovih. Poor
unto death, and ragged and scattered. But I would wash them clean, and give them new
soil; their voices in song and praise should gladden the whole earth.

Chapter 24

1. The great cities of the ancients in Jaffeth were destroyed by Joss (Te-in) and his evil
spirits, who inspired mortals to war. And for the most part, it was a land of ruins, but
thousands of cities, standing beside the broken walls, were spread over the entire breadth
of the land.

2. Jehovih spake to Chine, saying: Now is a good time for My chosen. Behold My
enemies, the idolaters; know thou them by their soldiers. They are weak now. They pant
with the labor of their great battles. Let My people come out of their quarters and hold up
their heads.

3. Say thou unto them, O Chine, there is no Joss, no Ho-Joss, no Te-in, no Po, no Po-Tein, to make you afraid. And whilst the enemy resteth, bid My sons and daughters arise!
They shall inhabit the land that is spoilt, and cause it to bloom and bring forth abundantly.
Call up My outlawed race; the enemy is sick of his wounds; his heart is ashamed and
disconsolate, he is cast down.

4. Chine went to A’shong and gathered up many converts, descendants of the Faithists,
the pure Brahmins, the line of Zarathustra, the people of the Great All One, who accepted
not Gods and Lords. And he established them, and invented plows and mattocks for
digging the ground; for these implements had been lost and destroyed, hundreds of years,
and no man knew how to make them.

5. Chine said unto them: This is a good philosophy; wait not till ye are well fed and
clothed before ye bow down your heads at the altar of Jehovih. When ye have prayed and
sung before Him, then go forth into the field to work. And He will bless you.

6. Remember the heathen, they say: First provide the natural body, and then the spirit. But
I say unto you, Jehovih created them both together. And he who saith: First provide the
natural body, never looketh to his spirit afterward.

7. In all things give ye precedence to the spirit; as the Creator is over all His works, so
should the spirit of man be over man’s works, and over his corporeal body also.

8. Herein laid the foundation of the wisdom of your forefathers, the Zarathustrians. For
the heathen and idolater, who labor for self, what are they but servants unto the flesh?

9. Some people labor for the raising of the spirit, which is purity, and love, and goodness,
and justice; such people are on the right road to become a great people. But when they
strive, every man for himself, such people are beginning to fall.

10. Her boundaries may be large, and her people increasing, but she hah a canker worm
within, that soon or late will let her down suddenly.

11. Two extremes meeting are always dangerous: great wealth, and extensive poverty. It
not only devolveth on the rich to give their substance to the poor, but they shall go
amongst them, teaching them and lifting them up.

12. He who doeth not this, consider how vain it is for him to pray to Jehovih. His prayer
riseth not upward. Let him himself first answer the poor. This is the opening of his own
soul, so Jehovih can reach him.

13. Remember thou that all men have judgment, and that they should be perfected to see
things from their own standpoint, and not from thine. Consider, then, how unjust it is to
foist thy opinions on any man, uncalled for.

14. Chine established families of the chosen, but limited them to two hundred; and to
each family he gave one priest. But he gave privilege to four thousand people to dwell in
one city.

15. Chine said: Ye have been afflicted with Gods; I was sent into the world by the Creator
to deliver you unto liberty in the family. I am only a man. I have no authority in myself.
Jehovih, the Creator, dwelleth freely in me. Ye can attain the same.

16. Because He is within me, this shall be called Chine-land. There is a time for this. My
name is as a post to mark the time when the Creator began His temple of peace, which
shall extend over all these people.

17. Jehovih saith: Why will man be vain of himself? Verily have I not created one man on
the face of the earth that is himself. He is made up of all oddities, soul and body.
Consider his flesh; whence he received it and sustaineth it. Not so much as one hair on
his head is of his own making; neither is it made out of new material, but hath been used
over and over forever.

18. Even so is his mind not his own; not even his simplest thought; but he is made up of
borrowed things from beginning to end, for so I created him.

19. He imagineth I, Who created him, am nothing; but even his imagination he picked up
from someone else. He gathereth a little here, and a little there, and then proclaimeth what
he knoweth.

20. Chine said: One man saith: I am normal; neither angels or mortals rule over me! Yet
he hath only boasted as a crazy man, who will say the same thing. Another saith: Behold
my wisdom! the highest of angels course through me. Yet he knoweth not whether it be
true or not. Neither do any of them know the fountain head. For if an angel say it, the
angel himself is made up of borrowed knowledge.

21. Chine said: I saw a great mathematician one day, and he said: There are no Gods, nor
Lords, nor angels, nor any All Person. Everything is void. He showed me a book he had,
and I asked: Who made the book? He said: I made it; nay, I made not the cloth, nor the
binding; I mean, I made the philosophy that is in the book; nay, I made not the
philosophy, but found it; nay, it was not lost; I mean I led myself to find the philosophy;
nay, a man cannot lead himself; I mean that I searched and found what was new to me.
So, but little of that book was his, after all.

22. I saw three angels standing beside that man, and they were laughing at him. If I had
asked the angels, they might have said: Nay, the thoughts were ours. And had I looked
further I had seen angels back of them, claiming the same things. Yet, even such are not
the highest.

23. Wherefore I say unto you: All things come from an All Highest, name ye Him what ye
will. He who saith: Jehovih spake to me: He is the nearest the mark of all. For all good
knowledge that cometh to man, is Jehovih’s word to that man. Whether it come by an
angel or by another man, or by the commonest corporeal thing, it is nevertheless from the
All Highest.

24. For which reason bow ye not down in worship to man nor angels, but only to the
Highest, Jehovih, for He is the Figure-head and Pinnacle of the All Highest conceived of.
And in contradistinction, the all lowest; the foot of the ladder, call ye darkness and evil,
and wickedness, and sin, and death and satan.

25. Attribute not to men or angels this or that, for they themselves are not first causes nor
responsible but in part; but attribute all good, high, best and wise things unto Jehovih; and
all evil, dark, wicked, low things to satan.

26. By these terms ye shall make plain to one another what ye mean; and it is an easy
matter to look into your own souls and comprehend as to which of these two ye most
incline.

27. The soul may be likened unto a vine, which can be trained either upward or
downward. And if ye desire to know if a vine be up or down, look ye for the fruit, and not
to the fragrance. Some men pray much, but as to good works they are like a vine without
fruit, but with plenty of fragrance.