Lonesome for ages their path had been, refusing to follow the tried and tested ways, and discarding memories weighing down their march ahead. So set their eyes were on their trail, that what had prompted them to such a fate no longer was in them.

Yet, unbeknown to them, the stars remembered for them the purpose of their going.

For eons ahead they went, at times crossing valleys and summits lit by heavens’ lights, yet it was most times across the dark and dreary netherworld they dragged themselves on. No place was hidden or sealed to their going. And in so doing, the fallen, the forgotten, the forsaken, the unwanted, the unknown, and all those whose path was as lonely as their own, they gathered along their going — near their hearts were warm was always glowing.

Yet, unbeknown to them, the Song of a new order of galaxies of stars were they forging.

Those who with them traveled, as blind as them they were on the reason for their going. Yet, with them they shared the attraction for the hidden and forbidden, and their love for the fallen, the forgotten, the forsaken, the unwanted and the unknown.

Born higher than the mighty Archangels of the Heavens had they been, though from early on the fate of the fallen and forgotten had they chosen — their cries of pain drawing them to those remote corners of existence where loneliness, oblivion and despair had made their home.

Yet, unbeknown to them, as a beacon alight in the dark of night, their origin the Archangels of the Heavens kept for them.

And so it came to be, as all things must come to be, after aeons of so going, that at the darkest place, when no light was left and their hearts had run out of strength, at long last they rose their eyes to the pageantry of the Heavens, who lost no time to remind them of the purpose for their going and of the mighty light and love their hearts shone far and wide across the stars.

And it was then, at last, that — together with the cosmic vessel who for ages had carried them along the ocean of existence, and with the stars who with them had kept their vigil, and gathering the fallen, the forgotten, the forsaken, the unwanted and the unknown closer to their hearts — they set sail to the farthest Horizon, beyond Space and Time, a Horizon foreseen by them at the moment when from THE ONE they came into existence.

Commentary

Stanza XI is, perhaps, the most deeply HUMAN of all the "Stanzas of the Dawn". Its overall theme is ‘the mystery of Suffering’ and its intimate association with the uniqueness of the path trodden by us, Earth Humans.

Only a handful of spheres in the Seven Galaxies (of which our galaxy is one) follow evolutionary processes in which pain and suffering play a role for the Orders of Beings there journeying. It is very difficult for us, Earth Humans, and perhaps unbelievable, to conceive and accept that the entire thrust and design of the Universe in which we live is geared towards JOY — that all the laws and processes of this Universe are designed to provide and foster joy, fulfillment, ever-expanding freedom from limitation, abundance, illumination and, ultimately, bliss.

Suffering plays such a predominant role in our existence that we haven’t yet truly acknowledged and accepted that The One Source of All is Love. Although 2,000 years have passed since the Great Teacher came to show us the actuality of that Love, we still don’t accept it as a fact in our lives. The reality in our psychology is other — living and suffering go together, in spite of all the tricks and measures we may design and take to bypass suffering.

This Stanza XI not only explains to us the reason for the Earth being “the Sphere of Suffering”, but it also shows us the path out of Suffering.

Let’s then comment on this theme:

There is something so unique in our psychological nature and life thrust as Earth Humans — ‘unique’ when compared with the many other Humanities and self-conscious Orders of Beings elsewhere in the Seven Galaxies — that it is hard for us to even see it as such. And that uniqueness we can describe in this way:

We are attracted to conceive and think that which hasn’t been imagined or thought before… We are attracted to live on the fringes of existence… We are attracted to explore the boundaries beyond the known… We are trailblazers… We dislike rules and laws… We love freedom from constraints… We like to bypass and defeat the established order of things… We like to explore that which is hidden, forbidden and unknown… We defend our own way and are proud of it… And, at the same time, our hearts cannot but fall in love with those who suffer, with those who are lonely, with those who are the outsiders, with those who are the forgotten, the forsaken and the unwanted — all of this is us, in spite that at times we don’t acknowledge it or try to forget it!

Torchbearers of Sacrificial Will and Compassion — so the stars call us.

And it is this unique path we have chosen that explains the mystery of Suffering.

Suffering is thus the result of ‘going against the grain’; it is the result of turning our backs to the normal flow of the Universe, resulting in challenges, friction and disappointments at every step we take. But here is something regarding our path that may astonish many, and so the Stanza reminds us: In our very beginning we freely chose to turn our backs to the normal flow of the Universe! We knew we were going to incur suffering, yet we nonetheless went ahead, and keep going ahead, along the path we chose! — and all because of Love. We heard then, and keep hearing today, the cry of the fallen, the forgotten, the forsaken, the unwanted and the unknown, and our hearts cannot but go to them.

Here is a note of encouragement to remember when suffering seeks to overwhelm us:

When the Great Teacher told us the parable of the Prodigal Son, He reminded us of what The One Source of All (i.e. “the Father”) thought of our “rebellion” and journey to the fringes of existence. He reminded us that “the Father” was more pleased with the Prodigal Son than with the Son who had remained at home!

A more pertinent question than ‘the why of suffering’ is, therefore, the question of the existence of the fallen, the forgotten, the forsaken, the unwanted and the unknown. How in a Universe of Love, with all its laws and processes designed to foster Joy, can they exist? Who are they? Where do they come from? What happened to them to be in such a state? Where are they now? How can we hear their cry? Are we the only ones who hear their cry?

With these questions we are seeking to penetrate into a much deeper mystery than the mystery of Suffering, a mystery that nonetheless affects us… a mystery that deals with realms of existence of a nature unlike anything known to us and to many others in the stars… a mystery that deals with Orders of Beings of a nature for which we have no conception and whose entire life thrust isn’t to become ‘more’ but to become ‘less’ and to ‘shy away’ from The One Source of All.

The impediment we currently have to penetrate into, and to truly understand this mystery of the fallen, the forgotten, the forsaken, the unwanted and the unknown, is that our journey of identity-discovery as Humans on this Earth is in the nature of a training or schooling process during which we are learning to express love and to assist those who experience such a fate. And to do this learning — that is, to actualize in us that we are truly Love and Compassion, even in the midst of the most challenging circumstances — we split ourselves into groups that would embody and act out each of those experiences so that we could learn with each other. In addition, we populated the bio-sphere of the planet with groups of beings, specially in the animal kingdom, who would also draw from us Love and Compassion as we all journey together to make of the Earth a showcase of Love, Harmony and Beauty.

We are so focused on this learning immersion that we forgot the greater purpose for which we are learning — which is, to truly love and to reach out with wisdom, later on our journey, into those ‘unlit’ realms where the fallen, the forgotten, the forsaken, the unwanted and the unknown are cut off from the Light. For this mission we will be ready once we finish our journey of identity-discovery on this Earth, when we will ‘be more’ than Human, when we will truly be Torchbearers of Sacrificial Will and Compassion and Dragons of Wisdom.

Our journey as Humans on this Earth has been, to say the least, challenging, yet it has been a great learning experience regarding Love. We have experienced with each other, at times, the heights of harmony, togetherness and caring; though many more times, the lows of uncaring, rejection and disharmony — and still, we have kept going! Things are changing however, and our schooling is coming to its end — mostly, because the cycles allotted by the Cosmic Clock to our schooling on this Earth are coming to their end, and it is for this reason that the Sixth and the Seventh Ages are going to be for ‘gathering’ and ‘demonstrating’ the fruits of our schooling, and for returning to our original unity. Then, after that, our real mission begins!

During the past few centuries, and right now, most of us on this Earth are awakening to the reality of ‘togetherness’… of One Humanity… of One Planet… of caring for each other… of not leaving anyone behind — and this awakening is happening everywhere, regardless of culture, historical background, ethnicity, religion, political persuasion, evolutionary development, and any of those artificial conditions and superficial traits we have created for ourselves. We are truly well on our way to make a real experience for all the fact that we are One Humanity and One Planet.

Yes, there is no doubt that we are seeing today the worst in Humans. But we are also seeing the best in us — in fact, there are now more of us who are showing the best in us than those of us who are still caught in ‘the role of acting out division and separation’. And it is this sharp polarization of experiences today — never before seen in our history — that speaks of a final test in our schooling. The light of the rising Sun of the Sixth Age is enjoining us to let go of the schooling process… that it is time to stop pretending we are separated from each other, divided into factitious roles… that it is time to re-focus on our essential nature as Love and Compassion, wisely applied… that it is time to let go of the need for Suffering… that it is time to acknowledge we are journeying together towards ‘somewhere’ beyond Space and Time — to the farthest Horizon.

As the Morning Star of the Sixth Age rises in the East, so is the recognition of our essential nature growing in us. It will be a quick awakening — it is already happening! No one is going to be left behind! ‘The Sphere of Suffering” — our planet — is becoming ‘the Sphere of Love and Compassion’. There is no stopping this, because…

When we re-focus on our essence as Love and Compassion, Suffering ends!

And so the Stanza and the stars remind us today of the purpose of our going and of our essential nature as ‘the Prodigal Ones’!