The poem Mastery was first published by Earl G. Barr in Los Angeles, California, in 1928, in a small hardbound volume of just 26 pages. The book itself was titled Mastery, taking its name from this profound poem, which stands as the centerpiece of the collection. The author is identified only as Retsama, a pseudonym that reveals its meaning when reversed, “A Master.”
This poem was Reverend Geary Salvat’s favorite, which he often referred to as “I the One the Many Make.” He felt it captured the very essence of the Universal Understanding of the God Consciousness; particularly the dual nature of humanity and the process of individualization through which the individual evolves toward mastery.
MASTERY
I, at last, have reached my goal,
And solved the mystery of my soul;I am that to which I’ve prayed,
That to which I’ve looked for aid;
I am that which I did seek,
I am my own mountain peak.I upon creation now look
As on a page in my own book.
Now I, the one, the many make,
And substance which from one I take;
For all is me, there are not two;
Creation is myself all through.All I grant unto myself,
I take down from my own shelf.
And give to me, the only one,
For I’m the Father and the Son.When I want, I do but see
My wishes coming forth in me;
For I’m the knower and the known,
Ruler, subject, and the throne.The three in one is what I am;
Hell itself is but my dam,
Which I did put in my stream,
When in a nightmare I did dream
That I was not the only one.Thus by me was pain begun,
Which ran its course till I awoke,
And found that I with me did joke.So now that I stand here awake,
I, my throne, do wisely take,
And rule my kingdom, which is me,
A master through eternity.
