(85) Like one in this world, when he has a dear and near kinsman, who returns home from foreign parts of the world, whom he had a very hearty desire and earnest longing to see, there is joy and friendly saluting, and bidding welcome, also a friendly loving discourse or conference between them, and so he treateth this loving and welcome guest in the best manner that he can; yet this is but cold water, in respect of the heavenly.

(48) Here is nothing but a cordial or hearty loving, a meek and gentle love, a friendly, courteous discourse, a gracious, amiable and blessed society, where the one always delighteth to see the others, and [where they delight] to honour one another.

(1) Another mode also of erudition is transmitted to us, which was effected through Pythagoric precepts, and sentences which extended to human life and human opinions; a few of which out of many I shall narrate. One of these therefore contains an exhortation to remove contention and strife from true friendship, and especially from all friendship, if possible. But if this is not possible, at least to expel it from paternal friendship, and universally from that which subsists with elders and benefactors. For to contend pervicaciously with such as these, anger or some other similar passion intervening, is not to preserve, [but destroy] the existing friendship. But they say it is necessary that the smallest lacerations and ulcerations should take place in friendships.

And that this will be effected, if both the friends know how to yield and subdue their anger, and especially the younger of the two, and who belongs to some one of the above-mentioned orders. They likewise thought it necessary that the corrections and admonitions which they called pædartases , and which the elder employed towards the younger, should be made with much suavity of manners and great caution; and also that much solicitude and appropriation should be exhibited in admonitions. For thus the admonition will become decorous and beneficial. They likewise say that faith should never be separated from friendship, neither seriously nor in jest. For it is no longer easy for the existing friendship to remain in a sane condition, when falsehood once insinuates itself into the manners of those who assert themselves to be friends.

And again they say, that friendship is not to be rejected on account of misfortune, or any other imbecility which happens to human life; but that the only laudable rejection of a friend and of friendship, is that which takes place through great and incurable vice. Such therefore was the form of correction with the Pythagoreans through sentences, and which extended to all the virtues, and to the whole of life.

(121) Therefore when they are guests feasting at the sweet and light quality, then are they affected, and pleasant, very joyful and triumphing in the creature.

(62) Does not every soul bring along with it a new triumph? and so there is nothing else but an exceeding friendly welcoming and salutation there.

(27) Moreover, such individuals are "universal" in their sympathies, and can feel with any form of life with which they come in contact. And as a consequence of the latter, they tend to inspire in other persons and living creatures a "liking," fellowship, and understanding. Many of the great illumined souls of the race, having this consciousness in at least some degree, find themselves "at home" with all manners and conditions of mankind, and in many cases with the lower life forms as well. Sympathy has been defined as "a fellow feeling," and it may be seen at once that when one has a feeling of fellowship with all Life (and such individuals have this to some degree), then there are created certain bonds and links of sympathy and unity which serve to unite the individual more or less strongly to all living things. In the case of the great teachers of the race, such as the founders of the great religions and similar souls, we find that universal sympathy with and understanding of all life which sets such individuals apart as marked and distinguished men, and imparts to them a universality which makes them citizens of all countries and dwellers in all time.

(3) I come to you, O Circle of gods in Restau, and I bring to you N . Grant to him Bread, Water, Air and an allotment in the Sechit-hotepu like Horus

(79) IV. They knew likewise very well that they were not the whole room or place, but were therein to increase the joy and wonderful proportion, variety and harmony of that same place, and were to accord, qualify and act friendly with that room or place of the Deity, and in a friendly manner affect the qualities that are without, distinct from their bodies.

(2) These men, then, exhorted others to remove from true friendship, contest and contention, and if possible, indeed, from all friendship; but if not, at least from that which is parental, and universally from that which pertains to seniors and benefactors. For to strive or contend with such as these, in consequence of anger intervening, or some other such-like passion, is not the salvation of the existing friendship. But they said it is requisite that there should be the least possible scars and ulcers in friendships; and that this will be the case, if those that are friends know how to soften and subdue anger. If both indeed know this, or rather the younger of the two, and who ranks in some one of the above-mentioned orders [their friendship will be more easily preserved].

They also were of opinion, that corrections and admonitions, which they called pædartases , should take place from the elder to the younger with much suavity and caution; and likewise, that much sedulous and appropriate attention should be manifested in admonitions. For thus they will be decorous and beneficial. They also said, that confidence should never be separated from friendship, neither seriously nor even in jest. For it is no longer easy for the existing friendship to be in a sane condition, when falsehood once insinuates itself into the manners of those that acknowledge themselves to be friends. Again, according to them, friendship should not be abandoned on account of misfortune, or any other imbecility to which human life is incident; but they said, that the only approvable rejection of a friend and friendship, is that which arises from great and incorrigible vice.

Likewise, that hatred should not be voluntarily entertained against those who are not perfectly bad; but that if it is once formed, it should be generously and strenuously retained, unless the object of it changes his manners, so as to become a better man. That the hostility also should not consist in words, but in deeds; And that this war is legitimate and holy, when it is conducted in such a way as it becomes one man to contend with another.

(331) If an occasion arises, friends are pleasant; enjoyment is pleasant, whatever be the cause; a good work is pleasant in the hour of death; the giving up of all grief is pleasant.

(11) The world is like a table spread for successive relays of guests who come and go. There are gold and silver dishes, abundance of food and perfumes. The wise guest eats as much as is sufficient for him, smells the perfumes, thanks his host, and departs. The foolish guest, on the other hand, tries to carry off some of the gold and silver dishes, only to find them wrenched out of his hands and himself thrust forth, disappointed and disgraced.

(17) Socrates: One, two, three,—but where, my dear Timaeus, is the fourth of our guests of yesterday, our hosts of today? Timaeus: Some sickness has befallen him, Socrates; for he would never have stayed away from our gathering of his own free will. Socrates: Then the task of filling the place of the absent one falls upon you and our friends here, does it not? Timaeus: Undoubtedly, and we shall do our best not to come short;

(5) 'And he who desires the world of the friends, by his mere will the friends come to receive him, and having obtained the world of the friends, he is happy.

(11) When thou makest a dinner or a supper, call not thy friends, nor thy brethren, neither thy kinsmen, nor thy rich neighbors; lest they also bid thee again, and a recompense be made thee. But when thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind; and thou shalt be blessed; for they cannot recompense thee: for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just.

(5) An Arab once went to Persia and was astonished at the customs of the country. One day he happened to pass the dwelling of a group of Qalandars and saw a handful of men who said not a word. They had no wives, and not even an obol, but they were pure of heart and undefiled. Each held a flask of muddy wine which he carefully filled before sitting down. The Arab felt sympathetic towards these men; he stopped and at that moment his mind and heart fell on to the road.

At this the Qalandars said: 'Enter, O man of nothing!' So he went in, willy-nilly, just like that! He was given a cup of wine and at once lost his senses. He became drunk and his strength was reduced to nothing. His gold and silver and valuables were taken from him by one of the Qalandars, more wine was given to him and at last they put him out of the house. Then this Arab returned to his own country", oneeyed and poor, his state changed and his lips dry. When he arrived at his native place his companions asked him: 'What is the matter? What have you done with your money and valuables? Were they stolen while you slept? Have you done badly in Persia? Tell us! Perhaps we can help you!'

'I was moving about in the street,' said he, 'and all at once I fell in with the Qalandars. I know nothing else except that my possessions and I were parted and now I have nothing.' They asked him to describe the Qalandars. He only replied, 'They simply said to me "Enter" '.

The Arab remained ever after in a state of surprise and astonishment, like a child, and dumbfounded by the word 'Enter'.

You too, put your foot forward. If you do not wish to, then follow your fantasies. But if you prefer the secrets of

H

the love of your soul you uill sacrifice everything. You will lose what you considered to be valuable, but you will soon hear the sacramental word 'Enter'.

(6) It is likewise related of Clinias the Tarentine, that when he had learnt that Prorus the Cyrenæan, who was zealously addicted to the Pythagorean doctrines, was in danger of losing all his property, he sailed to Cyrene, after having collected a sum of money, and restored the affairs of Prorus to a better condition, not only incurring, in so doing, a diminution of his own property, but despising the peril which he was exposed to in the voyage. After the same manner also, Thestor Posidoniates, having learnt from report alone, that Thymaridas Parius the Pythagorean had fallen into poverty, from the possession of great wealth, is said to have sailed to Parus, after having collected a large sum of money, and thus reinstated Thymaridas in property.

These therefore are beautiful instances of friendship. The decisions, however, of the Pythagoreans respecting the communion of divine goods, the concord of intellect, and things pertaining to a divine soul, are much more admirable than the above examples. For they perpetually exhorted each other, not to divulse the God within them. Hence all the endeavour of their friendship both in deeds and words, was directed to a certain divine mixture, to a union with divinity, and to a communion with intellect and a divine soul. But it is not possible to find any thing better than this, either in what is uttered by words, or performed by deeds. For I am of opinion, that all the goods of friendship are comprehended in this. Hence, as we have collected in this, as in a summit, all the prerogatives of the Pythagoric friendship, we shall omit to say any thing further about it.

(53) My friends! We are neighbours of one another: I wish to repeat my discourse to you day and night, so that you should not cease for a moment to long to set out in quest of Truth.

(5) It is also said, that the Pythagoreans endeavoured to perform the offices of friendship to those of their sect, though they were unknown to, and had never been seen by each other, when they had received a certain indication of the participation of the same doctrines; so that from such friendly offices the assertion may be credited, that worthy men, even though they should dwell in the most remote parts of the earth, are mutually friends, and this before they become known to and salute each other. It is said therefore, that a certain Pythagorean, travelling through a long and solitary road on foot, came to an inn; and there, from labor and other all-various causes, fell into a long and severe disease, so as to be at length in want of the necessaries of life.

The inn-keeper, however, whether from commiseration of the man, or from benevolence, supplied him with every thing that was requisite, neither sparing for this purpose any assistance or expense. But the Pythagorean falling a victim to the disease, wrote a certain symbol, before he died, in a table, and desired the inn-keeper, if he should happen to die, to suspend the table near the road, and observe whether any passenger read the symbol. For that person, said he, will repay you what you have spent on me, and will also thank you for your kindness. The inn-keeper, therefore, after the death of the Pythagorean, having buried, and paid the requisite attention to his body, had neither any hopes of being repaid, nor of receiving any recompense from some one who might read the table.

At the same time, however, being surprised at the request of the Pythagorean, he was induced to expose the writing in the public road. A long time after, therefore, a certain Pythagorean passing that way, having understood the symbol, and learnt who it was that placed the table there, and having also investigated every particular, paid the inn-keeper a much greater sum of money than he had disbursed.

(2) Seeing we poor Adamical Men are, with our Father Adam and Mother Eve, gone forth out of the incorruptible, and unchangeable Inheritance, out from our true native Country, into a strange Inn, where we are not at Home, but are merely Guests and where we must in so great Misery continually expect, when our strange Host will thrust us out, and bereave us of all our Ability, and take away from us all we have, so that we are truly swimming in a Deep Sea of Misery, and swelter in a strange Bath of Thorns and Thistles; and we know for certain, and see it also daily before our Eyes, that we are no other than Pilgrims in this Inn, which must continually expect when the Breaker [or Destroyer] will come, and take our Heart, Senses, and Mind, also our Flesh and Blood, and Goods; therefore it is indeed most necessary for us, to learn to know and find the Way to our true native Country, that we may avoid the great Misery and Calamity, and enter into an eternal Inn, which is our own, whence none may drive us out.

(1) Prayer and fasting and pilgrimage and holy war Giving alms and offerings and quitting avarice So, a table spread for guests serves as a plain sign, Saying, "O guest, I am your sincere well-wisher." So, offerings and presents and oblations Bear witness, saying, "I am well pleased with you." Each of these men lavishes his wealth or pains, What means it but to say, "I have a virtue within me, Yea, a virtue of piety or liberality, Whereof my oblations and fasting bear witness"?