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58 BYWAYS TO BLESSEDNESS

end of his stock of information, and so becomes void and repetitious. His works lack the sweet
spontaneity of life and ever-renewed freshness of inspiration. Such a man has cut himself off from
the infinite supply and deals, not with life itself, but with dead or decaying appearances.
Information is limited; knowledge is boundless.
The inspiration of genius and greatness is fostered, evolved, and finally completed in solitude.
The most ordinary man who conceives a noble purpose, and, summoning all his energies and will,
broods upon and ripens his purpose in solitude will accomplish his object and become a genius.
The man who renounces the pleasure of the world, who avoids popularity and fame, and who
works in obscurity and thinks in solitude for the accomplishment of a lofty ideal for the human
race, becomes a seer and a prophet. He who silently sweetens his heart, who attunes his mind to
that which is pure and beautiful and good, who in long hours of lonely contemplation strives to

reach to the central an eternal heart of things, brings himself in touch with the inaudible
harmonies of being, opens himself for the reception of the cosmic song, and becomes at last a
singer and a poet.
And so with all genius: it is the child of solitude — a very simple-hearted child — wide-eyed
and listening and beautiful, yet withal to the noise-enamoured world an incomprehensible
mystery, of which it is only now and then vouchsafed a glimpse from beyond the well-guarded
Portals of Silence.
“In man’s self arise August anticipations; symbols, types Of a dim splendour ever on before In
that eternal circle life pursues.” St.Paul, the cruel persecutor and blind bogot, after spending three
years alone in the desert, comes forth a loving apostle and an inspired seer. Gautama Siddhartha,
the man of the world, after six years (in the forest) of lonely struggle with his passions and intense
meditation upon the deep mysteries of his nature, becomes Buddha, the enlightened one, the
embodiment of calm, serene wisdom, to whom a heart-thirsty world turns to refreshing waters of
immortality. Lao-tze, an ordinary citizen filling a worldly office, in his search for knowledge courts
solitude, and discovers Tao, the Supreme Reason, by virtue of which he becomes a world-teacher.
Jesus, the unlettered carpenter, after many years of solitary communion upon the mountains with
the Unfailing Love and Wisdom, comes forth a blessed saviour of mankind.
Even after they had attained, and had scaled the lofty heights of divine knowledge these Great
Souls were much alone, and retired frequently for brief seasons of solitude. The greatest man will
fall from his moral height and lose his influence if he neglects that renewal of power which can
only be obtained in solitude. These Masters attained their power by consciously harmonising their
thoughts and lives with the creative energies within themselves, and by transcending individuality
and sinking their petty personal will in the Universal Will they became Masters of Creative
Thought, and stand as the loftiest instruments for the outworking of cosmic evolution.
And this is not miraculous, it is a matter of law; it is not mysterious except in so far as law is
mysterious. Every man becomes a creative master in so far as he subordinate himself to the
universally good and true. Every poet, painter, saint, and sage is the mouth-piece of the Eternal.
The perfection of the message varies with the measure of individual selflessness. In so far as self
intervenes the distinctness of the work and message becomes blurred. Perfect selflessness is the
acme of genius, the consummation of power.