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    "slug": "00-light-on-the-path-with-notes-and-comments",
    "title": "Light on the Path (with Notes and Comments)",
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    "text": "## Light on the Path (with Notes and Comments)\n\n\nto- .\n\nLight on the- Path,\n\nWITH NOTES AND COMMENTS\n\nFOR THE PERSONAL USE OF THOSE WHO ARE IGNORANT\nOF THE EASTERN WISDOM, AND WHO DESIRE\nTO ENTER WITHIN ITS INFLUENCE.\n\nM. C.\n\nKeprtnteU,\n\nBT SPECIAL PERMISSION.\n\nOCCULT PUBLISHING COMPANY,\nBOSTON.\n\nBY THE AUTHOR.\n\nA TREATISE\n\nWRITTEN DOWN BY\n\nWoodbury\n\nLight on the Path.\n\ni.\n\nThese rules are written for all disciples.\nAttend you to them.\n\nBefore the eyes can see, they must be incapable\nof tears. Before the ear can hear, it must have\nlost its sensitiveness. Before the voice can speak\nin the presence of the Masters, it must have lost\nthe power to wound. Before the soul can stand\nin the presence of the Masters, its feet must be\nwashed in the blood of the heart.\n\n1. Kill out ambition.\n\n2. Kill out desire of life.\n\n3. Kill out desire of comfort.\n\n4. Work as those work who are ambitious.\nRespect life as those do who desire it. Be happy\nas those are who live for happiness.\n\nSeek in the heart the source of evil, and ex-\npunge it. It lives fruitfully in the heart of the\ndevoted disciple, as well as in the heart of the\nman of desire. Only the strong can kill it out.\n\nLight on the Path.\n\nThe weak must wait for its growth, its fruition,\nits death. And it is a plant that lives and in-\ncreases throughout the ages. It flowers when\nthe man has accumulated unto himself innumer-\nable existences. He who will enter upon the\npath of power must tear this thing out of his\nheart. And then the heart will bleed, and the\nwhole life of the man seem to be utterly dis-\nsolved. This ordeal must be endured: it may\ncome at the first step of the perilous ladder\nwhich leads to the path of life : it may not come\nuntil the last. But, O disciple ! remember that it\nhas to be endured, and fasten the energies of\nyour soul upon the task. Live neither in the\npresent nor the future, but in the eternal.\nThis giant weed cannot flower there : this blot\nupon existence is wiped out by the very atmos-\nphere of eternal thought.*\n\n*Note. — Ambition is the first curse, — the great tempter of\nthe man who is rising above his fellows. It is the simplest\nform of looking for reward. Men of intelligence and power\nare led away from their higher possibilities by it continually.\nYet it is a necessary teacher. Its results turn to dust and\nashes in the mouth ; like death and estrangement, it shows the\nman at last, that to work for self is to work for disappointment.\nBut, though this first rule seems so simple and easy, do not\nquickly pass it by. For these vices of the ordinary man pass\nthrough a subtle transformation, and re-appear with changed\naspect in the heart of the disciple. It is easy to say, \" I will\nnot be ambitious : \" it is not so easy to say, \" When the Master\nreads the heart, He will find it clean utterly.\" The pure artist,\n\nLight on the Path.\n\n5. Kill out all sense of separateness.*\n\n6. Kill out desire for sensation.\n\n7. Kill out the hunger for growth.\n\n8. Yet stand alone and isolated, because no-\nthing that is embodied, nothing that is conscious\nof separation, nothing that is out of the eternal,\n\nwho works for the love of his work, is sometimes more firmly-\nplanted on the right road than the occultist, who fancies he\nhas removed his interest from self, but who has in reality only\nenlarged the limits of experience and desire, and transferred his\ninterest to the things which concern his larger span of life.\nThe same principle applies to the other two seemingly simple\nrules. Linger over them, and do not let yourself be easily de-\nceived by your own heart. For now, at the threshold, a mis-\ntake can be corrected. But carry it on with you, and it will\ngrow and come to fruition, or else you must suffer bitterly in\nits destruction.\n\n* Note. — Do not fancy you can stand aside from the bad\nman or the foolish man. They are yourself, though in a less\ndegree than your friend or your master. But if you allow the\nidea of separateness from any evil thing or person to grow up\nwithin you, by so doing you create Karma, which will bind you\nto that thing or person till your soul recognizes that it cannot be\nisolated. Remember that the sin and shame of the world are\nyour sin and shame ; for you are a part of it, your Karma is inex-\ntricably interwoven with the great Karma. And, before you can\nattain knowledge, you must have passed through all places,\nfoul and clean alike. Therefore, remember that the soiled gar-\nment you shrink from touching may have been yours yesterday,\nmay be yours to-morrow. And if you turn with horror from it\nwhen it is flung upon your shoulders, it will cling the more\nclosely to you. The self-rightous man makes for himself a bed\nof mire. Abstain because it is right to abstain, not that your-\nself shall be kept clean.\n\nLight on the Path.\n\ncan aid you. Learn from sensation, and observe\nit ; because only so can you commence the sci-\nence of self-knowledge, and plant your foot on\nthe first step of the ladder. Grow as the flower\ngrows, unsconsciously, but eagerly anxious to\nopen its soul to the air. So must you press for-\nward to open your soul to the eternal. But\nit must be the eternal that draws forth your\nstrength and beauty, not desire of growth. For,\nin the one case, you develop in the luxuriance\nof purity ; in the other, you harden by the for-\ncible passion for personal stature.\n\n9. Desire only that which is within you.\n\n10. Desire only that which is beyond you.\n\n1 1 . i j Desire only that which is unattainable.\n\n12. For within you is the light of the world,\nthe only light that can be shed upon the Path.\nIf you are unable to perceive it within you, it is\nuseless to look for it elsewhere. It is beyond\nyou ; because, when you reach it, you have lost\nyourself. It is unattainable, because it forever\nrecedes. You will enter the light, but you will\nnever touch the flame.\n\n13. Desire power ardently.\n\n14. Desire peace fervently.\n\n15. Desire possessions above all.\n\nLight on the Path.\n\n1 6. But those possessions must belong to\nthe pure soul only, and be possessed therefore\nby all pure souls equally, and thus be the es-\npecial property of the whole only when united.\nHunger for such possessions as can be held by\nthe pure soul, that you may accumulate wealth\nfor that united spirit of life which is your only\ntrue self, f |The peace you shall desire is that sa-\ncred peace which nothing can disturb, and in\nwhich the soul grows as does the holy flower\nupon the still lagoons. And that power which\nthe disciple shall covet is that which shall make\nhim appear as nothing in the eyes of men.\n\n17. Seek out the way.*\n\n•Note. — These four words seem, perhaps, too slight to\nstand alone. The disciple may say, Should I study thoughts\nat all did I not seek out the way ? Yet do not pass on hastily.\nPause and consider awhile. Is it the way you desire, or is it\nthat there is a dim perspective in your visions of great heights\nto be scaled by yourself, of a great future for you to compass ?\nBe warned. The way is to be sought for its own sake, not\nwith regard to your feet that shall tread it.\n\nThere is a correspondence between this rule and the 17th of\nthe 2d series. When, after ages of struggle and many victories,\nthe final battle is won, the final secret demanded, then you are\nprepared for a further path. When the final secret of this\ngreat lesson is told, in it is opened the mystery of the new way,\n— a path which leads out of all human experience, and which\nis utterly beyond human perception or imagination. At each of\nthese points it is needful to pause long and consider well. At\neach of these points it is necessary to be sure that the way is\nchosen for its own sake. The way and the truth come first,\nthen follows the life.\n\nLight on the Path.\n\n1 8. Seek the way by retreating within.\n\n19. Seek the way advancing boldly without.\n\n20. Seek it not by any one road. To each\ntemperament, there is one road which seems the\nmost desirable. But the way is not found by de-\nvotion alone, by religious contemplation alone, by\nardent progress, by self-sacrificing labor, by stud-\nious observation of life. None alone can take\nthe disciple more than one step onwards. All\nsteps are necessary to make up the ladder. The\nvices of men become steps in the ladder, one by\none, as they are surmounted. The virtues of\nman are steps indeed, necessary — not by any\nmeans to be dispensed with. Yet, though they\ncreate a fair atmosphere and a happy future, they\nare useless if they stand alone. The whole nature\nof man must be used wisely by the one who de-\nsires to enter the way. Each man is to himself\nabsolutely the way, the truth, and life. But he\nis only so when he grasps his whole individuality\nfirmly, and, by the force of his awakened spirit-\nual will, recognizes this individuality as not\nhimself, but that thing which he has with pain\ncreated for his own use, and by means of which\nhe purposes, as his growth slowly develops his\nintelligence, to reach to the life beyond individu-\nality. When he knows that for this his wonderful\n\nLight on the Path.\n\ncomplex, separated life exists, then indeed, and\nthen only, he is upon the way. Seek it by\nplunging into the mysterious and glorious depths\nof your own inmost being. Seek it by testing\nall experience, by utilizing the senses, in order\nto understand the growth and meaning of in-\ndividuality, and the beauty and obscurity of those\nother divine fragments which are struggling side\nby side with you, and form the race to which\nyou belong. Seek it by study of the laws of\nbeing, the laws of nature, the laws of the super-\nnatural ; and seek it by making the profound\nobeisance of the soul to the dim star that burns\nwithin. Steadily, as you watch and worship, its\nlight will grow stronger. Then you may know\nyou have found the beginning of the way. And,\nwhen you have found the end, its light will sud-\ndenly become the infinite light.*\n\n* Note. — Seek it by testing all experience; and remember,\nthat, when I say this, I do not say, \" Yield to the seductions\nof sense, in order to know it.\" Before you have become an\noccultist, you may do this, but not afterwards. When you have\nchosen and entered the path, you cannot yield to these seduc-\ntions without shame. Yet you can experience them without\nhorror; can weigh, observe, and test them, and wait with the\npatience of confidence for the hour when they shall affect you\nno longer. But do not condemn the man that yields : stretch\nout your hand to him as a brother pilgrim whose feet have be-\ncome heavy with mire. Remember, O disciple I that great though\nthe gulf may be between the good man and the sinner, it is\ngreater between the good man and the man who has attained\n\nLight on the Path.\n\n21. Look for the flower to bloom in the si-\nlence that follows the storm ; not till then.\n\nIt shall grow, it will shoot up, it will make\nbranches and leaves and form buds, while the\nstorm continues, while the battle lasts. But not\ntill the whole personality of the man is dissolved\nand melted — not until it is held by the divine\nfragment which has created it, as a mere subject\nfor grave experiment and experience — not until\nThe whole nature has yielded, and become sub-\nject unto its higher self, can the bloom open,\nthen will come a calm such as comes in a tropical\ncountry after the heavy rain, when nature works\nso swiftly that one may see her action. Such\na calm will come to the harassed spirit. And,\n\nknowledge ; it is immeasurable between the good man and the\none on the threshold of divinity. Therefore be wary, lest too\nsoon you fancy yourself a thing apart from the mass. When\nyou have found the begining of the way, the star of your soul\nwill show its light; and, by that light, you will perceive how\ngreat is the darkness in which it burns. Mind, heart, brain, —\nall are obscure and dark until the first great battle has been\nwon. Be not appalled and terrified by this sight : keep your\neyes fixed on the small light, and it will grow. But let the\ndarkness within help you to understand the helplessness of\nthose who have seen no light, whose souls are in profound\ngloom. Blame them not. Shrink not from them, but try to\nlift a little of the heavy Karma of the world : give your aid to\nthe few strong hands that hold back the powers of darkness\nfrom obtaining complete victory. Then do you enter into a\npartnership of joy, which brings, indeed, terrible toil and pro-\nfound sadness, but also a great and ever-increasing delight.\n\nLight on the Path.\n\nin the deep silence, the mysterious event will oc-\ncur which will prove that the way has been found.\nCall it by what name you will, it is a voice that\nspeaks where there is none to speak, it is a mes-\nsenger that comes, — a messenger without form\nor substance, — or it is the flower of the soul\nthat has opened. It cannot be described by any\nmetaphor. But it can be felt after, looked for,\nand desired, even amid the raging of the storm.\nThe silence may last a moment of time, or it may\nlast a thousand years. But it will end. Yet you\nwill carry its strength with you. Again and a-\ngain the battle must be fought and won. It is\nonly for an interval that nature can be still.*\n\nThose written above are the first of the rules\nwhich are written on the walls of the Hall of\nLearning. Those that ask shall have. Those\nthat desire to read shall read. Those who de-\nsire to learn shall learn.f\n\n* Note. — The opening of the bloom is the glorious moment\nwhen perception awakes : with it comes confidence, knowl-\nedge, certainty. The pause of the soul is the moment of won-\nder ; and the next moment of satisfaction, that is the silence.\n\nKnow, O disciple ! that those who have passed through the\nsilence, and felt its peace, and retained its strength, they long\nthat you shall pass through it also. Therefore, in the Hall of\nLearning, when he is capable of entering there, the disciple\nwill always find his master.\n\nt Note. — Those that ask shall have. But, though the or-\ndinary man asks perpetually, his voice is not heard. For he\n\nLight on the Path.\n\nA Regard the three truths. They are equal.\n\nasks with his mind only, and the voice of the mind is only\nheard on that plane on which the mind acts. Therefore, not\nuntil the first twenty-one rules are past, do I say those that\nask shall have.\n\nTo read in the occult sense, is to read with the eyes of the\nspirit. To ask, is to feel the hunger within — the yearning of\nspiritual aspiration. To be able to read, means having obtained\nthe power in a small degree of gratifying that hunger. When\nthe disciple is ready to learn, then he is accepted, acknowledged,\nrecognized. It must be so ; for he has lit his lamp, and it can-\nnot be hidden. But to learn is impossible until the first great\nbattle has been won. The mind may recognize truth, but the\nspirit cannot receive it Once having passed through the storm,\nand attained the peace, it is then always possible to learn, even\nthough the disciple waver, hesitate, and turn aside. The voice\nof the silence remains within him ; and though he leave the\npath utterly, yet one day it will resound, and rend him asunder,\nand separate his passions from his divine possibilities. Then,\nwith pain and desperate cries from the deserted lower self, he\nwill return.\n\nTherefore I say, Peace be with you. \" My peace I give unto\nyou \" can only be said by the Master to the beloved disciples\nwho are as himself. There are some, even among those who\nare ignorant of the Eastern wisdom, to whom this can be said ;\nand to whom it can daily be said with more completeness.\n\nPeace be with you.\n\nLight on the Path.\n\n1 1\n\nII.\n\nOut of the silence that is peace, a resonant\nvoice shall arise. And this voice will say : It is\nnot well, thou hast reaped, now thou must sow.\nAnd, knowing this voice to be the silence itself,\nthou wilt obey.\n\nThou who art now a disciple, able to stand,\nable to hear, able to see, able to speak ; who hast\nconquered desire, and attained to self-knowledge ;\nwho hast seen thy soul in its bloom, and re-\ncognized it, and heard the voice of the silence, —\ngo thou to the Hall of Learning, and read what\nis written there for thee.*\n\nI . Stand aside in the coming battle ; and\n\n* Note. — To be able to stand, is to have confidence ; to be\nable to hear, is to have opened the doors of the soul ; to be able\nto see, is to have obtained perception ; to be able to speak, is to\nhave attained the power of helping others ; to have conquered\ndesire, is to have learned how to use and control the self ; to\nhave attained to self-knowledge, is to have retreated to the in-\nner fortress from whence the personal man can be viewed with\nimpartiality ; to have seen thy soul in its bloom, is to have ob-\ntained a momentary glimpse in thyself of the transfiguration\nwhich shall eventually make thee more than man ; to recognize,\nis to achieve the great task of gazing upon the blazing light\nwithout dropping the eyes, and not falling back in terror as\nthough before some ghastly phantom. This happens to some ;\nand so, when the victory is all but won, it is lost. To hear the\n\nI 2\n\nLight on the Path.\n\nthough thou fightest, be not thou the warrior.\n\n2. Look for the warrior, and let him fight\nin thee.\n\n3. Take his orders for battle, and obey them.\n\n4. Obey him, not as though he were a gen-\neral, but as though he were thyself, and his spoken\nwords were the utterance of thy secret desires;\nfor he is thyself, yet infinitely wiser and stronger\nthan thyself. Look for him, else, in the fever\nand hurry of the fight, thou mayest pass him ;\nand he will not know thee unless thou knowest\nhim. If thy cry reach his listening ear, then will\nhe fight in thee, and fill the dull void within.\nAnd, if this is so, then canst thou go through the\nfight cool and unwearied, standing aside, and\nletting him battle for thee. Then it will be im-\npossible for thee to strike one blow amissjj But if\nthou look not for him, if thou pass him by, then\nthere is no safeguard for thee. Thy brain will reel,\nthy heart grow uncertain, and, in the dust of\nthe battle-field, the sight and senses will fail, and\nthou wilt not know thy friends from thy enemies.\n\nvoice of silence, is to understand that from within comes the\nonly true guidance ; to go to the Hall of Learning, is to enter\nthe state in which learning becomes possible. Then will many-\nwords be written there for thee, and written in fiery letters for\nthee easily to read. For, when the disciple is ready, the Mas-\nter is veady also.\n\nLight on the Path.\n\nHe is thyself : yet thou art but finite, and lia-\nble to error. He is eternal, and is sure. He is\neternal truth. When once he has entered thee,\nand become thy warrior, he will never utterly\ndesert thee ; and, at the day of the great peace,\nhe will become one with thee.\n\n5. Listen to the song of life.*\n\n6. Store in your memory the melody you\nhear.\n\n7. Learn from it the lesson of harmony.\n\n8. You can stand upright now, firm as a rock\n\n* Note. — Look for it, and listen to it, first in your own heart.\nAt first you may say it is not there ; when I search I find only\ndiscord. Look deeper. If again you are disappointed, pause,\nand look deeper again.) )There is a natural melody, an obscure\nfount, in every human heart. It may be hidden over and utterly\nconcealed and silenced — but it is there. At the very base of\nyour nature, you will find faith, hope, and love. He that chooses\nevil refuses to look within himself, shuts his ears to the melody\nof his heart, as he blinds his eyes to the light of his soul. He\ndoes this because he finds it easier to live in desires. But un-\nderneath all life is the strong current that cannot be checked ;\nthe great waters are there in reality. Find them, and you will\nperceive that none, not the most wretched of creatures, but is\na part of it, however he blind himself to the fact, and build\nup for himself a phantasmal outer form of horror. In that\nsense it is that I say to you : All those beings among whom you\nstruggle on are fragments of the Divine. ■ And so deceptive is\nthe illusion in which you live, that it is hard to guess where\nyou will first detect the sweet voice in the hearts of others-\nBut know that it is certainly within yourself. Look for it there ;\nand, once having heard it, you will more readily recognize it\naround you.\n\nLight 071 the Path.\n\namid the turmoil, obeying the warrior who is\nthyself and thy king. Unconcerned in the battle\nsave to do his bidding, having no longer any care\nas to the result of the battle, — for one thing only\nis important, that the warrior shall win ; and you\nknow he is incapable of dafeat, — standing thus,\ncool and awakened, use the hearing you have\nacquired by pain and by the destruction of pain.\nOnly fragments of the great song come to your\nears while yet you are but man. But, if you\nlisten to it, remember it faithfully, so that none\nwhich has reached you is lost, and endeavor to\nlearn from it the meaning of the mystery which\nsurrounds you. In time you will need no teacher.\nFor as the individual has voice, so has that in\nwhich the individual exists. Life itself has speech\nand is never silent. And its utterance is not, as\nyou that are deaf may suppose, a cry : it is a song.\nLearn from it that you are a part of the harmony ;\nlearn from it to obey the laws of the harmony.\n\n9. Regard earnestly all the life that sur-\nrounds you.\n\n10. Learn to look intelligently into the hearts\nof men.*\n\n* Note. — From an absolutely impersonal point of view,\notherwise your sight is colored. Therefore impersonality must\nfirst be understood.\n\nIntelligence is impartial : no man is your enemy, no man is\n\nLight on the Path.\n\nI:\n\n1 1 . Regard most earnestly your own heart.\n\n12. For through your own heart comes the\nthe one light which can illuminate life, and make\nit clear to your eyes.\n\nStudy the hearts of men, that you may know\nwhat is that world in which you live, and of which\nyou will to be a part. Regard the constantly\nchanging and moving life which surrounds you,\nfor it is formed by the hearts of men ; and, as you\nlearn to understand their constitution and mean-\ning, you will by degrees be able to read the larger\nword of life.\n\n1 3. Speech comes only with knowledge. At-\ntain to knowledge, and you will attain to speech.*\n\nAfter the thirteenth rule, I can add no words\nto what is already written.\n\nyour friend. All alike are your teachers. Your enemy becomes\na mystery that must be solved, even though it take ages ; for\nman must be understood. Your friend becomes a part of your-\nself, an extension of yourself, a riddle hard to read. Only one\nthing is more difficult to know — your own heart. Not until\nthe bonds of personality are loosed, can that profound mystery\nof self begin to be seen. Not until you stand aside from it, will\nit in any way reveal itself to your understanding. Then, and not\ntill then, can you grasp and guide it. Then, and not till then,\ncan you use all its powers, and devote them to a worthy service.\n\n* Note. — It is impossible to help others till you have ob-\ntained some certainty of your own. When you have learned\nthe first twenty-one rules, and have entered the Hall of Learn-\ning with your powers developed and sense unchained, then you\nwill find there is a fount within you from which speech will arise.\n\ni6\n\nLight on the Path.\n\nMy peace I give unto you.\n\nThese rules are written only for those to whom\nI give my peace, — those who can read what I have\nwritten with the inner as well as the outer sense.\n\n14. Having obtained the use of the inner\nsenses, having conquered the desires of the outer\nsenses, having conquered the desires of the in-\ndividual soul, and having obtained knowledge,\nprepare now, O disciple ! to enter upon the way\nin reality. The path is found : make yourself\nready to tread it.\n\n15. Inquire of the earth, the air, and the wa-\nter, of the secrets they hold for you. The de-\nvelopment of your inner senses will enable you\nto do this.\n\n16. Inquire of the holy ones of the earth, of\nthe secrets they hold for you. The conquering\nof the desires of the outer senses, will give you\nthe right to do this.\n\n17. Inquire of the inmost, the one, of its fi-\nnal secret, which it holds for you through the ages.\n\nThe great and difficult victory, the conquering\nof the desires of the individual soul, is a work of\nages ; therefore expect not to obtain its reward\nuntil ages of experience have been accumulated.\nWhen the time of learning this seventeenth rule\n\nLight on the Path.\n\nis reached, man is on the threshold of becoming\nmore than man.\n\n18. The knowledge which is now yours is\nonly yours because your soul has become one\nwith all pure souls and with the inmost. It is a\ntrust vested in you by the Most High. Betray\nit, misuse your knowledge, or neglect it, and it\nis possible even now for you to fall from the high\nestate you have attained. Great ones fall back,\neven from the threshold, unable to sustain the\nweight of their responsibility, unable to pass on.\nTherefore look forward always with awe and\ntrembling to this moment, and be prepared for\nthe battle.\n\n19. It is written, that, for him who is on the\nthreshold of divinity, no law can be framed, no\nguide can exist. Yet to enlighten the disciple,\nthe final struggle may be thus expressed : —\n\nHold fast to that which is neither substance\nnor existence.\n\n20. Listen only to the voice which is soundless.\n\n21. Look only on that which is invisible\nalike to the inner and the outer sense.\n\nPeace be with you.\n\nA\n\ni8\n\nKarma.\n\nConsider with me that the individual existence\nis a rope which stretches from the infinite to the\ninfinite, and has no end and no commencement,\nneither is it capable of being broken, This rope is\nformed of innumerable fine threads, which, lying\nclosely together, form its thickness. These\nthreads are colorless, are perfect in their qualities\nof straightness, strength, and levelness. This rope,\npassing as it does through all places, suffers strange\naccidents. Very often a thread is caught and\nbecomes attached, or, perhaps, is only violently\npulled away from its even way. Then for a great\ntime it is disordered, and it disorders the whole.\nSometimes one is stained with dirt or with color ;\nand not only does the stain run on further than\nthe spot of contact, but it discolors other of the\nthreads. And remember that the threads are\nliving, — are like electric wires, more, are like\nquivering nerves. How far, then, must the stain,\nthe drag awry, be communicated ! But eventually\nthe long strands, the living threads which in their\nunbroken continuity form the individual, pass out\nof the shadow into the shine. Then the threads\n\nLight on the Path.\n\nare no longer colorless, but golden ; once more\nthey lie together, level. Once more harmony is\nestablished between them ; and, from that har-\nmony within, the greater harmony is perceived.\n\nThis illustration presents but a small portion,\na single side of the truth : it is less than a frag-\nment. Yet dwell on it : by its aid, you may be\nled to perceive more. What it is necessary first to\nunderstand is, not that the future is arbitrarily\nformed by any separate acts of the present, but\nthat the whole of the future is in unbroken con-\ntinuity with the present, as the present is with\nthe past. On one plane, from one point of view,\nthe illustration of the rope is correct.\n\nIt is said that a little attention to occultism\nproduces great Karmic results. That is because\nit is impossible to give any attention to occultism\nwithout making a definite choice between what\nare familiarly called good and evil. The first\nstep in occultism brings the student to the tree\nof knowledge. He must pluck and eat ; he must\nchoose. No longer is he capable of the indecision\nof ignorance. He goes on, either on the good\nor on the evil path. And to step definitely and\nknowingly even but one step on either path, pro-\nduces great Karmic results. The mass of men\nwalk waveringly, uncertain as to the goal they\naim at ; their standard of life is indefinite ; con-\n\nLight on the Path.\n\nsequently their Karma operates in a confused\nmanner. But, when once the threshold of know-\nledge is reached, the confusion begins to lessen,\nand consequently the Karmic results increase\nenormously, because all are acting in the same\ndirection on all the different planes ; for the oc-\ncultist cannot be half-hearted, nor can he return\nwhen he has passed the threshold. These things\nare as impossible as that the man should become\nthe child again. The individuality has approached\nthe state of responsibility by reason of growth :\nit cannot recede from it.\n\nHe who would escape from the bondage of\nKarma must raise his individuality out of the\nshadow into the shine ; must so elevate his ex-\nistence that these threads do not come in contact\nwith soiling substances, do not become so at-\ntached as to be pulled awry. He simply lifts\nhimself out of the region in which Karma op-\nerates. He does not leave the existence which\nhe is experiencing, because of that. The ground\nmay be rough and dirty, or full of rich flowers\nwhose pollen stains, and of sweet substances that\ncling and become attachments — but, overhead,\nthere is always the free sky. He who desires to\nbe Karmaless must look to the air for a home,\nand after that to the ether. He who desires to\nform good Karma will meet with many confusions,\n\nLight on the Path.\n\nand, in the effort to sow rich seed for his own\nharvesting, may plant a thousand weeds, and\namong them the giant. Desire to sow no seed\nfor your own harvesting : desire only to sow that\nseed the fruit of which shall feed the world.\nYou are a part of the world : in giving it food,\nyou feed yourself. Yet in even this thought\nthere lurks a great danger which starts forward\nand faces the disciple who has for long thought\nhimself working for good, while, in his inmost\nsoul, he has perceived only evil ; that is, he has\nthought himself to be intending great benefit to\nthe world, while all the time he has unconscious-\nly embraced the thought of Karma, and the\ngreat benefit he works for is for himself. A man\nmay refuse to allow himself to think of reward.\nBut in that very refusal is seen the fact that re-\nward is desired. And it is useless for the disciple\nto strive to learn by means of checking himself.\nThe soul must be unfettered, the desires free.\nBut until they are fixed only on that state where-\nin there is neither reward nor punishment, good\nnor evil, it is in vain that he endeavors. He may\nseem to make great progress, but some day he\nwill come face to face with his own soul, and\nwill recognize that when he came to the tree of\nknowledge he chose the bitter fruit and not the\nsweet ; and then the veil will fall utterly, and he\n\nLight on the Path.\n\nwill give up his freedom and become a slave of\ndesire. Therefore be warned, you who are but\nturning towards the life of occultism. Learn now\nthat there is no cure for desire, no cure for the\nlove of reward, no cure for the misery of longing,\nsave in the fixing of the sight and hearing upon\nthat which is invisible and soundless. Begin\neven now to practise it, and so a thousand ser-\npents will be kept from your path. Live in\nthe eternal.\n\nThe operations of the actual laws of Karma\nare not to be studied until the disciple has\nreached the point at which they no longer affect\nhimself. The initiate has a right to demand the\nsecrets of nature, and to know the rules which\ngovern human life. He obtains this right by\nhaving escaped from the limits of nature, and\nby having freed himself from the rules which\ngovern human life. He has become a recognized\nportion of the divine element, and is no longer\naffected by that which is temporary. He then\nobtains the knowledge of the laws which govern\ntemporary conditions. Therefore, you who desire\nto understand the laws of Karma, attempt first to\nfree yourself from these laws ; and this can only\nbe done by fixing your attention on that which is\nunaffected by those laws.\n\nComments on Liglit on the Path.\n\nComments on\nLight on the Path,\n\n\" Before the eyes can see they must be incapable of tears.\"\n\nIt should be very clearly remembered by all\nreaders of this volume that it is a book which\nmay appear to have some little philosophy in it,\nbut very little sense, to those who believe it to\nbe written in ordinary English. To the many,\nwho read in this manner it will be — not caviare\nso much as olives strong of their salt. Be warned\nand read but a little in this way.\n\nThere is another way of reading,, which is, in-\ndeed, the only one of any use with many authors.\nIt is reading, not between the lines but within\nthe words. In fact, it is deciphering a profound\ncipher. All alchemical works are written in the\ncipher of which I speak ; it has been used by the\ngreat philosophers and poets of all time. It is\nused systematically by the adepts in life and\nknowledge, who, seemingly giving out their deep-\nest wisdom, hide in the very words which frame\nit its actual mystery. They cannot do more.\nThere is a law of nature which insists that a man\n\n24 Comments on Light on the Path.\n\nshall read these mysteries for himself. By no\nother method can he obtain them. A man who\ndesires to live must eat his food himself: this is\nthe simple law of nature — which applies also to\nthe higher life. A man who would live and act\nin it cannot be fed like a babe with a spoon ; he\nmust eat for himself.\n\nI propose to put into new and sometimes plain-\ner language parts of \" Light on the Path \" ; but\nwhether this effort of mine will really be any in-\nterpretation I cannot say. To a deaf and dumb\nman, a truth is made no more intelligible if, in\norder to make it so, some misguided linguist\ntranslates the words in which it is couched into\nevery living or dead language, and shouts these\ndifferent phrases in his ear. But for those who\nare not deaf and dumb one language is generally\neasier than the rest ; and it to such as these I ad-\ndress myself.\n\nThe very first aphorisms of \" Light on the\nPath,\" included under Number I. have, I know\nwell, remained sealed as to their inner meaning\nto many who have otherwise followed the purpose\nof the book.\n\nThere are four proven and certain truths with\nregard to the entrance to occultism, The Gates of\nGold bar that threshold ; yet there are some who\npass those gates and discover the sublime and\n\nComments on Light on the Path. 2 5\n\nillimitable beyond. In the far spaces of Time all\nwill pass those gates. But I am one who wish\nthat Time, the great deluder, were not so over-\nmasterful. To those who know and love him I\nhave no word to say; but to the others — and\nthere are not so very few as some may fancy —\nto whom the passage of Time is as the stroke of\na sledge-hammer, and the sense of Space like the\nbars of an iron cage, I will translate and re-trans-\nlate until they understand fully.\n\nThe four truths written on the first page of\n\" Light on the Path,\" refer to the trial initiation\nof the would-be occultist. Until he has passed\nit, he cannot even reach to the latch of the gate\nwhich admits to knowledge. Knowledge is man's\ngreatest inheritance ; why, then, should he not\nattempt to reach it by every possible road ? The\nlaboratory is not the only ground for experiment ;\nscience, we must remember, is derived from sciens,\npresent participle of scire, \"to know,\" — its origin\nis similar to that of the word \"discern,\" to \"ken.\"\nScience does not therefore deal only with matter,\nno, not even its subtlest and obscurest forms.\nSuch an idea is born merely of the idle spirit of\nthe age. Science is a word which covers all forms\nof knowledge. It is exceedingly interesting to\nhear what chemists discover, and to see them\nfinding their way through the densities of matter\n\n26 Comments on Light on the Path.\n\nto its finer forms ; but there are other kinds of\nknowledge than this, and it is not every one who\nrestricts his ( strictly scientific ) desire for knowl-\nedge to experiments which are capable of being\ntested by the physical senses.\n\nEveryone who is not a dullard, or a man\nstupefied by some predominant vice, has guessed\nor even perhaps discovered with some certainty,\nthat there are subtle senses lying within the\nphysical senses. There is nothing at all extra-\nordinary in this ; if we took the trouble to call\nNature into the witness box we should find that\neverything which is perceptible to the ordinary\nsight, has something even more important than\nitself hidden within it; the microscope has opened\na world to us, but within those encasements\nwhich the microscope reveals, lies the mystery\nwhich no machinery can probe.\n\nThe whole world is animated and lit, down to\nits most material shapes, by a world within it.\nThis inner world is called Astral by some people,\nand it is as good a word as any other, though it\nmerely means starry ; but the stars, as Locke\npointed out, are luminous bodies which give light\nof themselves. This quality is characteristic of\nthe life which lies within matter ; for those who see\nit, need no lamp to see it by. The word star, more-\nover, is derived from the Anglo-Saxon \" stir-an,\"\n\nComments on Light on the Path.\n\nto steer, to stir, to move, and undeniably it is the\ninner life which is master of the outer, just\nas a man's brain guides the movements of his\nlips. So that although Astral is no very excel-\nlent word in itself, I am content to use it for my\npresent purpose.\n\nThe whole of \" Light on the Path \" is written\nin an astral cipher and can therefore only be de-\nciphered by one who reads astrally. And its\nteaching is chiefly directed towards the cultivation\nand development of the astral life. Until the\nfirst step has been taken in this development, the\nswift knowledge, which is called intuition with\ncertainty, is impossible to man. And this positive\nand certain intuition is the only form of know-\nledge which enables a man to work rapidly or\nreach his true and high estate, within the limit\nof his conscious effort. To obtain knowledge\nby experiment is too tedious a method for\nthose who aspire to accomplish real work ; he\nwho gets it by certain intuition, lays hands on\nits various forms with supreme rapidity, by\nfierce effort of will ; as a determined workman\ngrasps his tools, indifferent to their weight or\nany other difficulty which may stand in his way.\nHe does not stay for each to be tested ■ — ■ he\nuses such as he sees are fittest.\n\nAll the rules contained in \" Light on the Path,\"\n\nComments on Light on the Path.\n\nare written for all disciples, but only for disciples\n— those who \"take knowledge.\" To none else\nbut the student in this school are its laws of any\nuse or interest.\n\nTo all who are interested seriously in Occult-\nism, I say first — take knowledge. To him who\nhath shall be given. It is useless to wait for it.\nThe womb of Time will close before you, and in\nlater days you will remain unborn, without pow-\ner. I therefore say to those who have any\nhunger or thirst for knowledge, attend to these\nrules.\n\nThey are none of my handicraft or invention.\nThey are merely the phrasing of laws in super-\nnature, the putting into words truths as absolute\nin their own sphere, as those laws which govern\nthe conduct of the earth and its atmosphere.\n\nThe senses spoken of in these four statements\nare the astral, or inner senses.\n\nNo man desires to see that light which illu-\nmines the spaceless soul until pain and sorrow\nand despair have driven him away from the life\nof ordinary humanity. First he wears out pleas-\nure ; then he wears out pain — till, at last, his\neyes become incapable of tears.\n\nThis is a truism, although I know perfectly\nwell that it will meet with a vehement denial\nfrom many who are in sympathy with thoughts\n\nComments on Light on the Path. 29\n\nwhich spring from the inner life. To see with the\nastral sense of sight is a form of activity which\nit is difficult for us to understand immediately.\nThe scientist knows very well what a miracle is\nachieved by each child that is born into the\nworld, when it first conquers its eye-sight and\ncompels it to obey its brain. An equal miracle\nis performed with each sense certainly, but this\nordering of sight is perhaps the most stupendous\neffort. Yet the child does it almost unconscious-\nly, by force of the powerful heredity of habit.\nNo one now is aware that he has ever done it\nat all ; just as we connot recollect the individual\nmovements which enabled us to walk up a hill a\nyear ago. This arises from the fact that we\nmove and live and have our being in matter.\nOur knowledge of it has become intuitive.\n\nWith our astral life it is very much otherwise.\nFor long ages past, man has paid very little at-\ntention to it — so little, that he has practically\nlost the use of his senses. It is true, that in\nevery civilization the star arises, and man confess-\nes, with more or less of folly and confusion,\nthat he knows himself to be. But most often he\ndenies it, and in being a materialist becomes that\nstrange thing, a being which cannot see its own\nlight, a thing of life which will not live, an astral\nanimal which has eyes, and ears, and speech,\n\nComments oil Light on the Path.\n\nand power, yet will use none of these gifts. This\nis the case, and the habit of ignorance has become\nso confirmed, that now none will see with the in-\nner vision till agony has made the physical eyes\nnot only unseeing, but without tears — the moist-\nure of life. To be incapable of tears is to have\nfaced and conquered the simple human nature,\nand to have attained an equilibrium which cannot\nbe shaken by personal emotions. It does not\nimply any hardness of heart, or any indifference.\nIt does not imply the exhaustion of sorrow, when\nthe suffering soul seems powerless to suffer a-\ncutely any longer ; it does not mean the deadness\nof old age, when emotion is becoming dull be-\ncause the strings which vibrate to it are wearing\nout. None of these conditions are fit for a dis-\nciple, and if any one of them exist in him it\nmust be overcome before the path can be entered\nupon. Hardness of heart belongs to the selfish\nman, the egotist, to whom the gate is for ever\nclosed. Indifference belongs to the fool and the\nfalse philosopher ; those whose lukewarmness\nmakes them mere puppets, not strong enough\nto face the realities of existence. When pain or\nsorrow has worn out the keenness of suffering,\nthe result is a lethargy not unlike that which ac-\ncompanies old age, as it is usually experienced\nby men and women. Such a condition makes\n\nComments on Light on the Path. 3 1\n\nthe entrance to the path impossible, because the\nfirst step is one of difficulty and needs a strong\nman, full of psychic and physical vigour, to\nattempt it.\n\nIt is a truth, that, as Edgar Allan Poe said,\nthe eyes are the windows for the soul, the win-\ndows of that haunted palace in which it dwells.\nThis is the very nearest interpretation into or^\ndinary language of the meaning of the text. II\ngrief, dismay, disappointment or pleasure, can\nshake the soul so that it loses its fixed hold on\nthe calm spirit which inspires it, and the moist-\nure of life breaks forth, drowning knowledge in\nsensation, then all is blurred, the windows are\ndarkened, the light is useless. This is as literal\na fact as that if a man, at the edge of a precipice,\nloses his nerve through some sudden emotion he\nwill certainly fall. The poise of the body, the\nbalance, must be preserved, not only in danger-\nous places, but even on the level ground, and\nwith all the assistance Nature gives us by the law\nof gravitation. So it is with the soul, it is the\nlink between the outer body and the starry spirit\nbeyond ; the divine spark dwells in the still place\nwhere no convulsion of Nature can shake the\nair ; this is so always. But the soul may lose\nits hold on that, its knowledge of it, even though\nthese two are part of one whole; and it is\n\n32 Comments on Light on the Path.\n\nby emotion, by sensation, that this hold is loosed.\nTo suffer either pleasure or pain, causes a vivid\nvibration which is, to the consciousness of man,\nlife. Now this sensibility does not lessen when\nthe disciple enters upon his training ; it increases.\nIt is the first test of his strength ; he must suffer,\nmust enjoy or endure, more keenly, than other\nmen, while yet he has taken on him a duty which\ndoes not exist for other men, that of not allowing\nhis suffering to shake him from his fixed purpose.\nHe has, in fact, at the first step to take himself\nsteadily in hand and put the bit into his own\nmouth ; no one else can do it for him.\n\nThe first four aphorisms of \" Light on the\nPath,\" refer entirely to astral development.\nThis development must be accomplished to a\ncertain extent' — that is to say it must be fully\nentered upon — before the remainder of the book\nis really intelligible except to the intellect; in\nfact, before it can be read as a practical, not a\nmetaphysical treatise.\n\nIn one of the great mystic Brotherhoods, there\nare four ceremonies, that take place early in the\nyear, which practically illustrate and elucidate\nthese aphorisms. They are ceremonies in which\nonly novices take part, for they are simply ser-\nvices of the threshold. But it will show how\nserious a thing it is to become a disciple, when\n\nComments on Light on the Path.\n\nit is understood that these are all ceremonies of\nsacrifice. The first one is this of which I have\nbeen speaking. The keenest enjoyment, the\nbitterest pain, the anguish of loss and dispair,\nare brought to bear on the trembling soul, which\nhas not yet found light in the darkness, which is\nhelpless as a blind man is, and until these\nshocks can be endured without loss of equilibri-\num the astral senses must remain sealed. This\nis the merciful law. The \" medium, \" or \" spirit-\nualist,\" who rushes into the psychic world with-\nout preparation, is a law-breaker, a breaker of\nthe laws of super-nature. Those who break Na-\nture's laws lose their physical health ; those who\nbreak the laws of the inner life, lose their psychic\nhealth. \" Mediums \" become mad, suicides,\nmiserable creatures devoid of moral sense ; and\noften end as unbelievers, doubters even of that\nwhich their own eyes have seen. The disciple\nis compelled to become his own master before\nhe adventures on this perilous path, and attempts\nto face those beings who live and work in the\nastral world, and whom we call masters, because\nof their great knowledge and their ability to\ncontrol not only themselves but the forces\naround them.\n\nThe condition of the soul when it lives for the\nlife of sensation as distinguished from that of\n\nComments on Light on the Path.\n\nknowledge, is vibratory or oscillating, as dis-\ntinguished from fixed. That is the nearest literal\nrepresentation of the fact ; but it is only literal to\nthe intellect, not to the intuition. For this part\nof man's consciousness a different vocabulary\nis needed. The idea of \" fixed \" might perhaps\nbe transposed into that of \" at home.\" In sensa-\ntion no permanent home can be found, because\nchange is the law of this vibratory existence,\nthat fact is the first one which must be learned\nby the disciple. It is useless to pause and weep\nfor a scene in a kaleidoscope which has passed.\n\nIt is a very well-known fact, one with which\nBulwer Lytton dealt with great power, that an\nintolerable sadness in the very first experience\nof the neophyte in Occultism. A sense of blank-\nness falls upon him which makes the world a\nwaste, and life a vain exertion. This follows his\nfirst serious contemplation of the abstract. In\ngazing, or even in attempting to gaze, on the in-\neffable mystery of his own higher nature, he\nhimself causes the initial trial to fall on him. The\noscillation between pleasure and pain ceases for\n— perhaps an instant of time ; but that is enough\nto have cut him loose from his fast moorings in\nthe world of sensation. He has experienced,\nhowever briefly, the greater life ; and he goes on\nwith ordinary existence weighted by a sense of\n\nComments on Light on the Path. 3 5\n\nunreality, of blank, of horrid negation. This was\nthe nightmare which visited Bulwer Lytton's\nneophyte in \" Zanoni \" ; and even Zanoni himself,\nwho had learned great truths, and been entrust-\ned with great powers, had not actually passed\nthe threshold where fear and hope, despair and\njoy seem at one moment absolute realities, at the\nnext mere forms of fancy.\n\nThis initial trial is often brought on us by life\nitself. For life is after all, the great teacher.\nWe return to study it, after we have acquired\npower over it, just as the master in chemistry\nlearns more in the laboratory then his pupil does.\nThere are persons so near the door of knowledge\nthat life itself prepares them for it, and no in-\ndividual hand has to invoke the hideous guar-\ndian of the entrance. These must naturally be\nkeen and powerful organizations, capable of the\nmost vivid pleasure ; then pain comes and fills\nits great duty. The most intense forms of suffer-\ning fall on such a nature, till at last it arouses\nfrom its stupor of consciousness, and by the force\nof its internal vitality steps over the threshold\ninto a place of peace. Then the vibration of life\nloses its power of tyranny. The sensitive nature\nmust suffer still ; but the soul has freed itself and\nstands aloof, guiding the life towards its greatness.\nThose who are the subjects of Time, and go slow-\n\nComments on Light o?i the Path.\n\nly through all his spaces, live on through a long-\ndrawn series of sensations, and suffer a constant\nmingling of pleasure and of pain. They do not\ndare to take the snake of self in a steady grasp\nand conquer it, so becoming divine; but prefer to\ngo on fretting through divers experiences, suffer-\ning blows from the opposing forces.\n\nWhen one of these subjects of Time decides 6\nenter on the path of Occultism, it is this which\nis his first task. If life has not taught it to him,\nif he is not strong enough to teach himself, and\nif he has power enough to demand the help of a\nmaster, then this fearful trial, depicted in Zanoni,\nis put upon him. The oscillation in which he\nlives, is for an instant stilled ; and he has to sur-\nvive the shock of facing what seems to him at\nfirst sight as the abyss of nothingness. Not till\nhe has learned to dwell in this abyss, and has\nfound its peace, is it possible for his eyes to have\nbecome incapable of tears.\n\n\" Before the ear can hear, it must have lost its sensitiveness.\"\n\nThe first four rules of Light on the Path are,\nundoubtedly, curious though the statement may\nseem, the most important in the whole book,\nsave one only. Why they are so important is\nthat they contain the vital law, the very creative\nessence of the astral man. And it is only in the\n\nComments on Light on- the Path. 37\n\nastral ( or self-illuminated ) consciousness that the\nrules which follow them have any living meaning.\nOnce attain to the use of the astral senses and it\nbecomes a matter of course that one commences\nto use them ; and the later rules are but guidance\nin their use. When I speak like this I mean,\nnaturally, that the first four rules are the ones\nwhich are of importance and interest to those\nwho read them in print upon a page. . When\nthey are engraved on a man's heart and on his\nlife, unmistakably then the other rules become\nnot merely interesting, or extraordinary, meta-\nphysical statements, but actual facts in life which\nhave to be grasped and experienced.\n\nThe four rules stand written in the great\nchamber of every actual lodge of a living Broth-\nerhood. Whether the man is about to sell his\nsoul to the devil, like Faust ; whether he is to be\nworsted in the battle, like Hamlet ; or whether\nhe is to pass on within the precincts ; in any case\nthese words are for him. The man can choose\nbetween virtue and vice, but not until he is a man ;\na babe or a wild animal cannot so choose. Thus\nwith the disciple, he must first become a disciple\nbefore he can even see the paths to choose be-\ntween. This effort of creating himself as a dis-\nciple, the re-birth, he must do for himself without\nany teacher. Until the four rules are learned\n\nComments' on Liglit on the Path.\n\nno teacher can be of any use to him ; and that is\nwhy \" the Masters \" are referred to in the way\nthey are. No real masters, whether adepts in\npower, in love, or in blackness, can affect a man\ntill these four rules are passed.\n\nTears, as I have said, may be called the\nmoisture of life. The soul must have laid aside\nthe emotions of humanity, must have secured a\nbalance which cannot be shaken by misfortune,\nbefore its eyes can open upon the super-human\nworld.\n\nThe voice of the Masters is always in the\nworld ; but only those hear it whose ears are no\nlonger receptive of the sounds which affect the\npersonal life. Laughter no longer lightens the\nheart, anger may no longer enrage it, tender\nwords bring it no balm. For that within, to\nwhich the ears are as an outer gateway, is an un-\nshaken place of peace in itself which no person\ncan disturb.\n\nAs the eyes are the windows of the soul, so\nare the ears its gateways or doors. Through\nthem comes knowledge of the confusion of the\nworld. The great ones who have conquered\nlife, who have become more than disciples, stand\nat peace and undisturbed amid the vibration and\nkaleidoscopic movement of humanity. They\nhold within themselves a certain knowledge, as\n\nComments on Liglit on the Path.\n\nwell as a perfect peace ; and thus they are not\nroused or excited by the partial and erroneous\nfragments of information which are brought to\ntheir ears by the changing voices of those around\nthem. When I speak of knowledge, I mean in-\ntuitive knowledge. This certain information can\nnever be obtained by hard work, or by experi-\nment ; for these methods are only applicable to\nmatter, and matter is in itself a perfectly uncer-\ntain substance, continually effected by change.\nThe most absolute and universal laws of natural\nand physical life, as understood by the scientist,\nwill passed away when the life of this universe has\npassed away, and only its soul is left in the silence.\nWhat then will be the value of the knowledge of\nits laws acquired by industry and observation ? I\npray that no reader or critic will imagine that by\nwhat I have said I intend to depreciate or disparage\nacquired knowledge, or the work of scientists. On\nthe contrary, I hold that scientific men are the\npioneers of modern thought. The days of litera-\nture and of art, when poets and sculptors saw the\ndivine light, and put it into their own great lan-\nguage— these days lie buried in the long past with\nthe ante-Phidian sculptors and the pre-Homeric\npoets. The mysteries no longer rule the world\nof thought and beauty ; human life is the govern-\ning power, not that which lies beyond it. But\n\n4-0 Comments on Light on the Path.\n\nthe scientific workers are progressing, not so\nmuch by their own will as by sheer force of\ncircumstances, towards the far line which divides\nthings interpretable from things uninterpretable.\nEvery fresh discovery drives them a step on-\nward. Therefore do I very highly esteem the\nknowledge obtained by work and experiment.\n\nBut intuitive knowledge is an entirely different\nthing. It is not acquired in any way, but is, so\nto speak, a faculty of the soul ; not the animal\nsoul, that which becomes a ghost after death,when\nlust or liking or the memory of ill-deeds holds\nit to the neighborhood of human beings, but the\ndivine soul which animates all the external forms\nof the individualised being.\n\nThis is, of course, a faculty which indwells in\nthat soul which is inherent. The would-be dis-\nciple has to arouse himself to the consciousness\nof it by a fierce and resolute and indomitable\neffort of will. I use the word indomitable for a\nspecial reason. Only he who is untameable, who\ncannot be dominated, who knows he has to play\nthe lord over men, over facts, over all things\nsave his own divinity, can arouse this faculty.\n\" With faith all things are possible.\" The skep-\ntical laugh at faith and pride themselves on its\nabsence from their own minds. The truth is\nthat faith is a great engine, an enormous power,\n\nComments on Light on the Path.\n\n4*\n\nwhich in fact can accomplish all things. For it\nis the covenant or engagement between man's\ndivine part and his lesser self.\n\nThe use of this engine is quite necessary in\norder to obtain intuitive knowledge ; for unless\na man believes such knowledge exists within him-\nself how can he claim and use it ?\n\nWithout it he is more helpless than any drift-\nwood or wreckage on the great tides of the ocean.\nThey are cast hither and thither indeed ; so may\na man be by the chances of fortune. But such\nadventures are purely external and of very small\naccount. A slave may be dragged through the\nstreets in chains, and yet retain the quiet soul of\na philosopher, as was well seen in the person of\nEpictetus. A man may have every worldly prize\nin his possession, and stand absolute master of\nhis personal fate, to all appearance, and yet he\nknows no peace, no certainty, because he is shak-\nen within himself by every tide of thought that\nhe touches on. And these changing tides do not\nmerely sweep the man bodily hither and thither\nlike drift-wood on the water ; that would be noth-\ning. They enter into the gateways of his soul, and\nwash over that soul and make it blind and blank\nand void of all permanent intelligence, so that\npassing impressions affect it.\n\nTo make my meaning plainer I will use an\n\nComments on Light on the Path.\n\nillustration. Take an author at his writing, a\npainter at his canvas, a composer listening to the\nmelodies that dawn upon his glad imagination ;\nlet any one of these workers pass his daily hours\nby a wide window looking on a busy street. The\npower of the animating life blinds sight and\nhearing alike, and the great traffiic of the. city\ngoes by like nothing but a passing pageant.\nBut a man whose mind is empty, whose day is\nobjectless, sitting at the same window, notes the\npassers-by and remembers the faces that chance\nto please or interest him. So it is with the mind\nin its relation to eternal truth. If it no longer\ntransmits its fluctuations, its partial knowledge,\nits unreliable information to the soul, then in the\ninner place of peace already found when the first\nrule has been learned — in that inner place there\nleaps into flame the light of actual knowledge.\nThen the ears begin to hear. Very dimly, very\nfaintly at first. And, indeed, so faint and tender\nare these first indications of the commencement\nof true actual life, that they are sometimes\npushed aside as mere fancies, mere imaginings.\n\nBut before these are capable of becoming more\nthan mere imaginings, the abyss of nothingness\nhas to be faced in another form. The utter silence\nwhich can only come by closing the ears to all\ntransitory sounds comes as a more appalling\n\nComments on Light on the Path. 43\n\nhorror than even the formless emptiness of space.\nOur only mental conception of blank space is, I\nthink, when reduced to its barest element of\nthought, that of black darkness. This is a great\nphysical terror to most persons, and when re-\ngarded as an eternal and unchangable fact, must\nmean to the mind the idea of annihilation rather\nthan anything else. But it is the obliteration of\none sense only ; and the sound of a voice may\ncome and bring comfort even in the profoundest\ndarkness. The disciple, having found his way\ninto this blackness, which is the fearful abyss,\nmust then so shut the gates of his soul that no\ncomforter can enter there nor any enemy. And\nit is in making this second effort that the fact of\npain and pleasure being but one sensation be-\ncomes recognisable by those who have before\nbeen unable to perceive it. For when the solitude\nof silence is reached the soul hungers so fiercely\nand passionately for some sensation on which to\nrest, that a painful one would be as keenly wel-\ncomed as a pleasant one. When this conscious-\nness is reached the courageous man by seizing\nand retaining it, may destroy the \" sensitiveness \"\nat once. When the ear no longer discriminates\nbetween that which is pleasant or that which is\npainful, it will no longer be affected by the voices\nof others. And then it is safe and possible to\n\n44 Comments on Light on the Path'\n\nopen the doors of the soul.\n\n\" Sight \" is the first effort, and the easiest, be-\ncause it is accomplished partly by an intellectual\neffort. The intellect can conquer the heart, as is\nwell known in ordinary life. Therefore, this pre-\nliminary step still lies within the dominion of\nmatter. But the second step allows of no such\nassistance, nor of any material aid whatever. Of\ncourse, I mean by material aid the action of the\nbrain, or emotions, or human soul. In compel-\nling the ears to listen only to the eternal silence,\nthe being we call man becomes something which\nis no longer man. A very superficial survey of\nthe thousand and one influences which are brought\nto bear on us by others will show that this must\nbe so. A disciple will fulfil all the duties of his\nmanhood ; but he will fulfil them according to\nhis own sense of right, and not according to that\nof any person or body of persons. This is a very\nevident result of following the creed of knowledge\ninstead of any of the blind creeds.\n\nTo obtain the pure silence necessary for the\ndisciple, the heart and emotions, the brain and\nits intellectualisms, have to be put aside. Both\nare but mechanisms, which will perish with the\nspan of man's life. It is the essence beyond, that\nwhich is the motive power, and makes man live,\nthat is now compelled to rouse -itself and act.\n\nComments on Light on the Path.\n\nNow is the greatest hour of danger. In the first\ntrial men go mad with fear ; of this first trial Bul-\nwer Lytton wrote. No novelist has followed to\nthe second trial, though some of the poets have.\nIts subtlety and great danger lies in the fact that\nin the measure of a man's strength is the measure\nof his chance of passing beyond it or coping with\nit at all. If he has power enough to awaken that\nunaccustomed part of himself, the supreme es-\nsence, then has he power to lift the gates of gold,\nthen is he the true alchemist, in possession of\nthe elixir of life.\n\nIt is at this point of experience that the oc-\ncultist becomes separated from all other men and\nenters on to a life which is his own ; on to the\npath of individual accomplishment instead of\nmere obedience to the genii which rule our earth.\nThis raising of himself into an individual power\ndoes in reality identify him with the nobler for-\nces of life and make him one with them. For\nthey stand beyond the powers of this earth and\nthe laws of this universe. Here lies man's only\nhope of success in the great effort ; to leap right\naway from his present standpoint to his next and\nat once become an intrinsic part of the divine\npower as he has been as intrinsic part of the in-\ntellectual power, of the great nature to which he\nbelongs. He stands always in advance of him-\n\nComments on Light on the Path.\n\nself, if such a contradiction can be understood. It\nis the men who adhere to this position, who be-\nlieve in their innate power of progress, and that\nof the whole race, who are the elder brothers,\nthe pioneers. Each man has to accomplish the\ngreat leap for himself and without aid ; yet it is\nsomething of a staff to lean on to know that oth-\ners have gone on that road. It is possible that\nthey have been lost in the abyss ; no matter, they\nhave had the courage to enter it. Why I say that\nit is possible they have been lost in the abyss\nis because of this fact, that one who has passed\nthrough is unrecognizable until the other and al-\ntogether new condition is attained by both. It\nis unnecessary to enter upon the subject of what\nthat condition is at present. I only say this, that\nin the early state in which man is entering upon\nthe silence he loses knowledge of his friends, of his\nlovers, of all who have been near and dear to him ;\nand also loses sight of his teachers and of those\nwho have preceded him on his way. I explain this\nbecause scarce one passes through without bitter\ncomplaint. Could but the mind grasp beforehand\nthat the silence must be complete, surely this\ncomplaint need not arise as a hindrance on the\npath. Your teacher, or your predecessor may-\nhold your hand in his, and give you the utmost\nsympathy the human heart is capable of. But\n\nComments on Light on the Path. 47\n\nwhen the silence and the darkness comes, you\nlose all knowledge of him ; you are alone and he\ncannot help you, not because his power is gone,\nbut because you have invoked your great enemy.\n\nBy your great enemy, I mean yourself. If\nyou have the power to face your own soul in the\ndarkness and silence, you will have conquered\nthe physical or animal self which dwells in sen-\nsation only.\n\nThis statement, I feel, will appear involved ;\nbut in reality it is quite simple. Man, when he\nhas reached his fruition, and civilization is at its\nheight, stands between two fires. Could he but\nclaim his great inheritance, the encumbrance of\nthe mere animal life would fall away from him\nwithout difficulty. But he does not do this, and\nso the races of men flower and then droop and\ndie and decay off the face of the earth, however\nsplendid the bloom may have been. And it is\nleft to the individual to make this great effort ;\nto refuse to be terrified by his greater nature, to\nrefuse to be drawn back by his lesser or more\nmaterial self. Every individual who accomplishes\nthis is a great redeemer of the race. He may\nnot blazon forth his deeds, he may dwell in secret\nand silence ; but it is a fact that he forms a link\nbetween man and his divine part ; between the\nknown and the unknown ; between the stir of the\n\n48 Comments on Light on the Path'\n\nmarketplace and the stillness of the snow-capped\nHimalayas. He has not to go about among men\nin order to form this link ; in the astral he is that\nlink, and this fact makes him a being of another\norder from the rest of mankind, - Even so early\non the road towards knowledge, when he has but\ntaken the second step, he finds his footing more\ncertain, and becomes conscious that he is a re-\ncognized part of a whole.\n\nThis is one of the contradictions in life which\noccur so constantly that they afford fuel to the\nfiction writer. The occultist finds them become\nmuch more marked as he endeavors to live the\nlife he has chosen. As he retreats within him-\nself and becomes self-dependent, he finds himself\nmore definitely becoming part of a great tide of\ndefinite thought and feeling. When he has learned\nthe first lesson, conquered the hunger of the heart,\nand refused to live on the love of others, he finds\nhimself more capable of inspiring love. As he\nflings life away it comes to him in a new form\nand with a new meaning. The world has always\nbeen a place with many contradictions in it, to\nthe man ; when he becomes a disciple he finds\nlife is describable as a series of paradoxes. This\nis a fact in nature, and the reason for it is intelli-\ngible enough. Man's soul \" dwells like a star\napart,\" even that of the vilest among us ; while\n\nComments on Light on the Path. 49\n\nhis consciousness is under the law of vibratory\nand sensuous life. This alone is enough to cause\nthose complications of character which are the\nmaterial for the novelist ; every man is a mystery,\nto friend and enemy alike, and to himself.\nHis motives are often undiscoverable, and he can-\nnot probe to them or know why he does this or\nthat. The disciple's effort is that of awakening\nconsciousness in this starry part of himself, where\nhis power and divinity lie sleeping. As this con-\nsciousness becomes awakened, the contradictions\nin the man himself become more marked than\never ; and so do the paradoxes which he lives\nthrough. For, of course man creates his own\nlife ; and \"adventures are to the adventurous\" is\none of those wise proverbs which are drawn from\nactual fact, and cover the whole area of human\nexperience.\n\nPressure on the divine part of man re-acts up-\non the animal part. As the silent soul awakes\nit makes the ordinary life of the man more pur-\nposeful, more vital, more real, and responsible.\nTo keep to the two instances already mentioned,\nthe occultist who has withdrawn into his own\ncitadel has found his strength ; immediately he\nbecomes aware of the demands of duty upon him.\nHe does not obtain his strength by his own right,\nbut because he is a part of the whole ; and as\n\n50 Comments on Light on the Path.\n\nsoon as he is safe from the vibration of life and\ncan stand unshaken, the outer world cries out to\nhim to come and labor in it. So with the heart.\nWhen it no longer wishes to take, it is called\nupon to give abundantly.\n\n\" Light on the Path \" has been called a book of\nparadoxes, and very justly ; what else could it be,\nwhen it deals with the actual personal experience\nof the disciple?\n\nTo have acquired the astral senses of sight and\nhearing ; or in other words to have attained per-\nception and opened the doors of the soul, are\ngigantic tasks and may take the sacrifice of many\nsuccessive incarnations. And yet, when the will\nhas reached its strength, the whole miracle may\nbe worked in a second of time. Then is the dis-\nciple the servant of Time no longer.\n\nThese two first steps are negative ; that is to\nsay they imply retreat from a present condition\nof things rather than advance towards another.\nThe two next are active, implying the advance\ninto another state of being.\n\n\" Before the voice can speak in the presence of the Masters.\"\n\nSpeech is the power of communication ; the\nmoment of entrance into active life is marked by\nits attainment.\n\nAnd now, before I go any further, let me ex-\n\nComments on Light on the Path. 5 1\n\nplain a little the way in which the rules written\ndown in \" Light on the Path \" are arranged.\nThe first seven of those which are numbered are\nsub-divisions of the two first unnumbered rules,\nthose with which I have dealt in the two preced-\ning papers. The numbered rules were simply\nan effort of mine to make the unnumbered ones\nmore intelligible. \"Eight\" to \"fifteen\" of these\nnumbered rules belong to this unnumbered rule\nwhich is now my text.\n\nAs I have said, these rules are written for all\ndisciples, but for none else ; they are not of in-\nterest to any other persons. Therefore I trust\nno one else will trouble to read these papers any\nfurther. The first two rules, which include the\nwhole of that part of the effort which necessi-\ntates the use of the surgeon's knife, I will en-\nlarge upon further if I am asked to do so. But\nthe disciple is expected to deal with a snake, his\nlower self, unaided ; to suppress his human pas-\nsions and emotions by the force of his own will.\nHe can only demand assistance of a master\nwhen this is accomplished, or at all events, par-\ntially so. Otherwise the gates and windows of\nhis soul are blurred, and blinded, and darkened,\nand no knowledge can come to him. I am not,\nin these papers, purposing to tell a man how to\ndeal with his own soul, I am simply giving, to\n\nComments on Light on the Path.\n\nthe disciple, knowledge. That I am not writing\neven now, so that all who run may read, is ow-\ning to the fact that super-nature prevents this by\nits own immutable laws. . &-\n\nThe four rules which I written down for those\nin the West who wish to study them, are as I\nhave said, written in the ante-chamber of every\nliving Brotherhood ; I may add more, in the ante-\nchamber of every living or dead Brotherhood, or\nOrder yet to be formed. When I speak of a Broth-\nerhood or an Order, I do not mean an arbitrary\nconstitution made by scholiasts or intellectualists;\nI mean an actual fact in super-nature, a stage* of\ndevelopment towards the absolute God or Good.\nDuring this development the disciple encounters\nharmony, pure knowledge, pure truth, in different\ndegrees, and as he enters these degrees, he finds\nhimself becoming part of what might be roughly\ndescribed as a layer of human consciousness.\nHe encounters his equals, men of his own self-less\ncharacter, and with them his association becomes\npermanent and indissoluble, because founded on\na vital likeness of nature. To them he becomes\npledged by such vows as need no utterance or\nframework in ordinary words. This is one aspect\nof what I mean by a Brotherhood.\n\nIf the first rules are conquered, the disciple\nfinds himself standing at the threshold. Then if\n\nComments on Light on the Path.\n\nhis will is sufficiently resolute his power of speech\ncomes ; a two-fold power. For, as he advances\nnow, he finds himself entering into a state of blos-\nsoming, where every bud that opens throws out\nits several rays or petals. If he is to exercise\nhis new gift, he must use it in its two-fold char-\nacter. He finds in himself the power to speak in\nthe presence of the masters ; in other words, he .\nhas the right to demand contact with the di-\nvinest element of that state of consciousness into\nwhich he has entered. But he finds himself com-\npelled, by the nature of his position, to act in two\nways at the same time. He cannot send his\nvoice up to the heights where sit the gods till he\nhas penetrated to the deep places where their\nlight shines not at all. He has come within the\ngrip of an iron law. If he demands to become\na neophyte, he at once becomes a servant. Yet\nhis service is sublime, if only from the character\nof those who share it. For the masters are also\nservants ; they serve and claim their reward\nafterwards. Part of their service is to let their\nknowledge touch him ; his first act of service is\nto give some of that knowledge to those who are\nnot yet fit to stand where he stands. This is no ar-\nbitrary decision, made by any master or teacher\nor any such person, however divine. It is a law\nof that life which the disciple has entered upon.\n\n54 Comments on Light on the Path\n\nTherefore was it written in the inner doorway\nof the lodges of the old Egyptian Brotherhood,\n\" the laborer is worthy of his hire.\" \" Ask and\nye shall have,\" sounds like something too easy\nand simple to be credible. But the disciple can-\nnot \" ask \" in the mystic sense in which the word\nis used in this scripture until he has attained the\npower of helping others.\n\nWhy is this ? Has the statement too dogmatic\na sound?\n\nIs it too dogmatic to say that a man must have\nfoothold before he can spring ? The position is\nthe same. If help is given, if work is done, then\nthere is actual claim — not what we call a person-\nal claim of payment, but the claim of co-nature.\nThe divine give, they demand that you also shall\ngive before you can be of their kin.\n\nThis law is discovered as soon as the disciple\nendeavors to speak. For speech is a gift which\ncomes only to the disciple of power and knowl-\nedge. The spiritualist enters the psychic-astral\nworld, but he does not find there any certain\nspeech, unless he at once claims it and continues\nto do so. If he is interested in \" phenomena,\"\nor mere circumstance and accident of astral life,\nthen he enters no direct ray of thought or pur-\npose, he merely exists and amuses himself in the\nastral life as he has existed and amused himself\n\nComments 071 Light on the Path.\n\nin the physical life. Certainly there are one or\ntwo simple lessons which the psychic-astral can\nteach him, just as there are simple lessons which\nmaterial and intellectual life teach him. And\nthese lessons have to be learned ; the man who\nproposes to enter upon the life of the disciple\nwithout having learned the early and simple les-\nsons must always suffer from his ignorance.\nThey are vital, and have to be studied in a vital\nmanner ; experienced through and through, over\nand over again, so that each part of the nature\nhas been penetrated by them.\n\nTo return. In claiming the power of speech,\nas it is called, the Neophyte cries out to the\nGreat One who stands foremost in the ray of\nknowledge on which he has entered, to give him\nguidance. When he does this, his voice is hurled\nback by the power he has approached, and ech-\noes down to the deep recesses of human ignor-\nance. In some confused aud blurred manner\nthe news that there is knowledge and abeneficient\npower which teaches is carried to as many men\nas will listen to it. No disciple can cross the\nthreshold without communicating this news, and\nplacing it on record in some fashion or other.\n\nHe stands horror-struck at the imperfect and\nunprepared manner in which he has done this ;\nand then comes the desire to do it well, and with\n\n56 Comments on Light on the Path.\n\nthe desire thus to help others comes the power.\nFor it is a pure desire, this which comes upon\nhim ; he can gain no credit, no glory, no person-\nal reward by fulfilling it. And therefore he ob-\ntains the power to fulfil it.\n\nThe history of the whole past, so far as we\ncan trace it, shows very plainly that there is\nneither credit, glory, or reward to be gained by\nthis first task which is given to the Neophyte.\nMystics have always been sneered at, and seers\ndisbelieved ; those who have had the added pow-\ner of intellect have left for posterity their written\nrecord, which to most men appears unmeaning\nand visionary, even when the authors have the\nadvantage of speaking from a far-off past. The\ndisciple who undertakes the task, secretly hoping\nfor fame or success, to appear as a teacher and\napostle before the world, fails even before his\ntask is attempted, and his hidden hypocracy\npoisons his own soul, and the souls of those he\ntouches. He is secretly worshiping himself, and\nthis idolatrous practice must bring forth its own\nreward.\n\nThe disciple who has the power of entrance,\nand is strong enough to pass each barrier, will,\nwhen the divine message comes to his spirit,\nforget himself utterly in the new consciousness\nwhich falls upon him. If this lofty contact can\n\nComments on Light on the Path. 57\n\nreally rouse him, he becomes as one of the divine\nin his desire to give rather than to take, in his\nwish to help rather than be helped, in his resolu-\ntion to feed the hungry rather than take\nmanna from Heaven himself. His nature is\ntransformed, and the selfishness which prompts\nmen's actions in ordinary life suddenlydeserts him.\n\n\" Before the voice can speak in the presence of the Masters,\nit must have lost the power to wound.\"\n\nThose who give merely passing and superficial\nattention to the subject of occultism — and their\nname is Legion — constantly inquire why, if\nadepts in life exist, they do not appear in the\nworld and show their power. That the chief\nbody of these wise ones should be understood to\ndwell beyond the fastnesses of the Himalayas,\nappears to be sufficient proof that they are only\nfigures of straw. Otherwise why place them so\nfar off?\n\nUnfortunately, Nature has done this and not\npersonal choice or arrangement. There are cer-\ntain spots on the earth where the advance of\n\" civilization \" is unfelt, and the nineteenth\ncentury fever is kept at bay. In these favored\nplaces there is always time, always opportunity,\nfor the realities of life ; they are not crowded out\nby the doings of an inchoate, money-loving^\npleasure seeking society. While there are adepts\n\n58 Comments on Light on the Path\n\nupon the earth, the earth must preserve to them\nplaces of seclusion. This is a fact in nature\nwhich is only an external expression of a profound\nfact in super-nature.\n\nThe demand of the neophyte remains unheard\nuntil the voice in which it is uttered has lost the\npower to wound. This is because the divine-as-\ntral life* is a place in which order reigns, just as\nit does in natural life. There is, of course, always\nthe centre and the circumference as there is in\nnature. Close to the central heart of life, on any\nplane, there is knowledge, there order reigns\ncompletely ; and chaos makes dim and confused\nthe outer margin of the Circle. In fact, life in\nevery form bears a more or less strong resem-\nblance to a philosophic school. There are always\nthe devotees to knowledge who forget their own\nlives in their pursuit of it ; there are always the\n\nflippant crowd who come and go Of such,\n\nEpictus said that it was as easy to teach them\nphilosophy as to eat custard with a fork. The\nsame state exists in the super-astral life ; and the\nadept has an even deeper and more profound se-\nclusion there in which to dwell. This place of\n\n* Of course every occultist knows by reading Eliphas Levi and\nother authors that the \"astral \" plane is a plane of unequalized\nforces, and that a state of confusion necessarily prevails. But\nthis does not apply to the \"divine astral\" plane, which is a\nplane where wisdom, and therefore order, prevails.\n\nComments on Light on the Path. 59\n\nretreat is so safe, so sheltered, that no sound\nwhich has discord in it can reach his ears. Why\nshould this be, will be asked at once, if he is a\nbeing of such great powers as those say who\nbelieve in his existence ? The answer seems\nvery apparent. He serves humanity and identi-\nfies himself with the whole world ; he is ready to\nmake vicarious sacrifice for it at any moment —\nby living not by dying for it. Why should he\nnot die for it ? Because he is part of the great\nwhole, and one of the most valuable parts of it.\nBecause he lives under laws of order which he\ndoes not desire to break. His life is not his own,\nbut that of the forces which work behind him.\nHe is the flower of humanity, the bloom which\ncontains the divine seed. He is, in his own per-\nson, a treasure of the universal nature, which is\nguarded and made safe in order that the fruition\nshall be perfected. It is only at definite periods\nof the world's history that he is allowed to go\namong the herd of men as their redeemer. But\nfor those who have the power to separate them-\nselves from this herd he is always at hand. And\nfor those who are strong enough to conquer the\nvices of the personal human nature, as set forth\nin these four rules, he is consciously at hand,\neasily recognized, ready to answer.\n\nBut this conquering of self implies a destruc-\n\n6o\n\nComments on Light on the Path.\n\ntion of qualities which most men regard as not\nonly indestructible but desirable. The \"power\nto wound\" includes much that men value, not\nonly in themselves, but in others. The instinct\nof self-defence and of self-preservation is part of\nit; the idea that one has any right or rights,\neither as citizen, or man, or individual, the pleas-\nant consciousness of self-respect and of virtue.\nThese are hard sayings to many ; yet they are\ntrue. For these words that I am writing now,\nand those which I have written on this subject,\nare not in any sense my own. They are drawn\nfrom the traditions of the lodge of the great\nBrotherhood, which was once the secret splen-\ndor of Egypt. The rules written in its ante-cham-\nber were the same as those now written in the\nante-chamber of existing schools. Through all\ntime the wise men have lived apart from the mass.\nAnd even when some temporary purpose or ob-\nject induces one of them to come into the midst\nof human life, his seclusion and safety is pre-\nserved as completely as ever. It is part of his in-\nheritance, part of his position, he has an actual\ntitle to it, and can no more put it aside then the\nDuke of Westminster can say he does not choose\nto be the Duke of Westminster. In the various\ngreat cities of the world an adept lives for a\nwhile from time to time, or perhaps only passes\n\nComments on LigJit on the Path.\n\n6:\n\nthrough ; but all are> occasionally aided by the\nactual power and presence of one of these men.\nHere in London, as in Paris and St. Petersburgh,\nthere are men high in development. But they\nare only known as mystics by those who have\nthe power to recognize ; the power given by the\nconquering of self. Otherwise how could they\nexist, even for an hour, in such a mental and\npsychic atmosphere as is created by the confusion\nand disorder of a city? Unless protected and\nmade safe their own growth would be interfered\nwith, their work injured. And the neophyte\nmay meet an adept in the flesh, may live in the\nsame house with him, and yet be unable to\nrecognize him, and unable to make his own\nvoice heard by him. For no nearness in space,\nno closeness of relations, no daily intimacy, can\ndo away with the inexorable laws which give the\nadept his seclusion. No voice penetrates to his\ninner hearing till it has become a divine voice, a\nvoice which gives no utterance to the cries of self.\nAny lesser appeal would be as useless, as much\na waste of energy and power, as for mere chil-\ndren who are learning their alphabet to be taught\nit by a professor of philology. Until a man has\nbecome in heart and spirit, a disciple, he has no\nexistence for those who are teachers of disciples.\nAnd he becomes this by one method only —\n\nComments on Light on the Path'\n\nthe surrender of his personal humanity.\n\nFor the voice to have lost the power to wound,\na man must have reached that point where\nhe sees himself only as one of the vast multitude\nthat live ; one of the sands washed hither and\nthither by the sea of vibratory existence. It is\nsaid that every grain of sand in the ocean bed\ndoes, in its turn, get washed up on to the shore\nand lie for a moment in the sunshine. So with\nhuman beings, they are driven hither and thither\nby a great force, and each, in his turn, finds the\nsunrays on him. When a man is able to regard\nhis own life as part of a whole like this he will\nno longer struggle in order to obtain anything\nfor himself. This is the surrender of personal\nrights. The ordinary man expects, not to take\nequal fortunes with the rest of the world, but in\nsome points, about which he cares, to fare better\nthan the others. The disciple does not expect\nthis. Therefore, though he be, like Epictetus, a\nchained slave, he has no word to say about it.\nHe knows that the wheel of life turns ceaselessly.\nBurne Jones has shown it in his marvellous pict-\nure— the wheel turns, and on it are bound the\nrich and the poor, the great and the small — each\nhas its moment of good fortune when the wheel\nbrings him uppermost — the King rises and falls, k\nthe poet is feted and forgotten, the slave is happy\n\nComments o?i Light on the Path. 63\n\nand afterwards discarded. Each in his turn is\ncrushed as the wheel turns on. The disciple\nknows that this is so, and though it is his duty\nto make the utmost of the life that is his, he\nneither complains of it nor is elated by it, nor does\nhe complain against the better fortune of others.\nAll alike, as he well knows, are but learning a\nlesson ; and he smiles at the socialist and the re-\nformer who endeavor by sheer force to re-ar-\nrange circumstances which arise out of the forces\nof human nature itself. This is but kicking\nagainst the pricks ; a waste of life and energy.\n\nIn realising this a man surrenders his imagined\nindividual rights, of whatever sort. That takes\naway one keen sting which is common to all or-\ndinary men.\n\nWhen the disciple has fully recognized that\nthe very thought of individual rights is only the\noutcome of the venomous quality in himself, that\nit is the hiss of the snake of self which poisons\nwith its sting his own life and the lives of those\nabout him, then he is ready to take part in a year-\nly ceremony which is open to all neophytes who\nare prepared for it. All weapons of defence and\noffence are given up ; all weapons of mind and\nheart, and brain, and spirit. Never again can\nanother man be regarded as a person who can\nbe criticised or condemned ; never again can the\n\n64 Comments 011 Light on the Path'\n\nneophyte raise his voice in self-defence or excuse.\nFrom that ceremony he turns into the world as\nhelpless, as unprotected, as a new-born child.\nThat, indeed, is what he is. He has begun to be\nborn again on to the higher plane of life, that\nbreezy and well-lit plateau from whence the eyes\nsee intelligently and regard the world with a\nnew insight.\n\nI have said, a little way back, that after parting\nwith the sense of individual rights, the disciple\nmust part also with the sense of self-respect and\nof virtue. This may sound a terrible doctrine, yet\nall occultists know well that it is not a doctrine,\nbut a fact. He who thinks himself holier than\nanother, he who has any pride in his own ex-\nemption from vice or folly, he who believes him-\nself wise, or in any way superior to his fellow men\nis incapable of discipleship. A man must be-\ncome as a little child before he can enter into\nthe kingdom of heaven.\n\nVirtue and wisdom are sublime things ; but if\nthey create pride and a consciousness of separate-\nness from the rest of humanity in the mind of a\nman, then they are only the snakes of self re-ap-\npearing in a finer form. At any moment he may\nput on his grosser shape and sting as fiercely as\nwhen he inspired the actions of a murderer who\nkills for gain or hatred, or a politician who\n\nComments on Light on tlie Path.\n\nsacrifices the mass for his own or his party's\ninterests.\n\nIn fact, to have lost the power to wound, im-\nplies that the snake is not only scotched, but\nkilled. When it is merely stupefied or lulled to\nsleep it awakes again and the disciple uses his\nknowledge and his power for his own ends, and\nis a pupil of the many masters of the black art,\nfor the road to destruction is very broad and easy,\nand the way can be found blindfold. That it is\nthe way to destruction is evident, for when a man\nbegins to live for self he narrows his horizon\nsteadily till at last the fierce driving inwards\nleaves him but the space of a pin's-head to dwell\nin. We have all seen this phenomenon occur in\nordinary life. A man who becomes selfish iso-\nlates himself, grows less interesting and less\nagreeable to others. The sight is an awful one,\nand people shrink from a very selfish person at\nlast, as from a beast of prey. How much more\nawful is it when it occurs on the advanced\nplane of life, with the added powers of knowledge,\nand through the greater sweep of successive in-\ncarnations !\n\nTherefore I say, pause and think well upon\nthe threshold. For if the demand of the neophyte\nis made without the complete purification, it will\nnot penetrate the seclusion of the divine adept,\n\nComments on Light on the Path.\n\nbut will evoke the terrible forces which attend\nupon the black side of our human nature.\n\n\" Before the soul can stand in the presence of the Masters, its\nfeet must be washed in the blood of the heart.\"\n\nThe word soul, as used here, means the divine\nsoul, or \" starry spirit.\"\n\n\"To be able to stand is to have confidence; \"\nand to have confidence means that the disciple is\nsure of himself, that he has surrendered his\nemotions, his very self, even his humanity ; that\nhe is incapable of fear and unconscious of pain ;\nthat his whole consciousness is centred in the\ndivine life, which is expressed symbolically by the\nterm \"the Masters;\" that he has neither eyes,\nnor ears, nor speech, nor power, save in and for\nthe divine ray on which his highest sense has\ntouched. Then is he fearless, free from suffering,\nfree from anxiety or dismay ; his soul stands\nwithout shrinking or desire of postponement, in\nthe full blaze of the divine light which penetrates\nthrough and through his being. Then he has\ncome into his inheritance and can claim his kin-\nship with the teachers of men ; he is upright, he\nhas raised his head, he breathes the same air that\nthey do.\n\nBut before it is in any way possible for him to\ndo this, the feet of the soul must be washed mi h\nblood of the heart.\n\nComments on Light on the Path.\n\nThe sacrifice, or surrender of the heart of man,\nand its emotions, is the first of the rules ; it in-\nvolves the \" attaining of an equilibrium which\ncannot be shaken by personal emotion.\" This\nis done by the stoic philosopher ; he, too, stands\naside and looks equably upon his own sufferings,\nas well as on those of others.\n\nIn the same way that \" tears \" in the language\nof occultists expresses the soul of emotion, not\nits material appearance, so blood expresses, not\nthat blood which is an essential of physical life,\nbut the vital creative principle in man's nature,\nwhich drives him into human life in order to ex-\nperience pain and pleasure, joy and sorrow.\nWhen he has let the blood flow from the heart\nhe stands before the Masters as a pure spirit\nwhich no longer wishes to incarnate for the sake\nof emotion and experience. Through great cy-\ncles of time successive incarnations in gross mat-\nter may yet be his lot ; but he no longer desires\nthem, the crude wish to live has departed from\nhim. When he takes upon him man's form in\nthe flesh he does it in the pursuit of a divine ob-\nject, to accomplish the work of \" the Masters,\"\nand for no other end. He looks neither for\npleasure nor pain, asks for no heaven, and fears\nno hell ; yet he has entered upon a great inher-\nitance which is not so much a compensation for\n\n68 Comments on Light on the Path.\n\nthese things surrendered, as a state which simply\nblots out the memory of them. He lives now\nnot in the world, but with it ; his horizon has\nextended itself to the width of the whole universe.\n\nA\n\nHOW BEST TO BECOME A THEOSO-\nPHIST.\n\nBrothers and Sisters Theosophists, — In address-\ning you I feel deeply impressed with the importance\nof the question I now put to you — How best to be-\ncome a theosophist?\n\nAs a preliminary observation I need scarcely remind\nyou that all who aspire to become theosophists pledge\nthemselves to live a pure, simple, temperate, and self-\ndenying life, and with brotherly and sisterly love.\n\nTheosophy means the science of the wisdom of God.\nBut who is there among us who shall presume to dog-\nmatise on a science beyond the comprehension of the\nhuman mind ? for \" who (in soul life) can by searching\nfind out God? or who can find out the Almighty unto\nperfection ? \"\n\nAll we can do is to conceive in our minds an idea\nin harmony with our highest inspirations, and in doing\nso we shall accept of the axiom of the initiated King\nof Israel, when he said, \" The awe of God is the begin-\nning of wisdom.\"\n\nLet us here recall the definition of our position as\nlaid down in the rules of our Society which read\nthus : —\n\n\" The British Theosophical Society is founded for\nthe purpose of discovering the nature and powers of\n\n4 HOW BEST TO BECOME A THEOSOPHIST.\n\nthe human soul and spirit by investigation and experi-\nment.\n\n\" Our object is to increase the amount of human\nhealth, happiness, knowledge, wisdom, and goodness ;\nand we pledge ourselves to the best of our powers, to\nlive a life of truth, temperance, purity, and brotherly\nlove.\n\n\"We believe in a great first intelligent Cause, and\nin the Divine sonship of the spirit of man, and hence\nin the immortality of that spirit, and in the universal\nbrotherhood of the human race.\"\n\nThis is truly a holy and sublime programme, and\nthe question which should present itself for our con-\ntinual consideration is, \" How best shall we carry out\nthese rules, and thus become theosophists ? \"\n\nIn endeavouring to arrive at the best method, I shall\ndo my best to present all sides of the question with\nfairness and submission; and if I fail to point out\nthe truest method, or, in your opinion, under-estimate\nany method, or over-estimate any other method, it will\nbe for you to exercise your reason, and in a brotherly\nand sisterly way point out the defects. This, I beg\nto say, once for all, that you cannot confer a greater\nfavour than by, now and at all times, pointing out\nany defect in manner, matter, or thought, which you\nmay discover in your President ; and if you promise to\nshow me this kindness, I will now frankly promise in\nreturn to render you a like service, for thus we shall\n\" bear each other's infirmities,\" and thus fulfil one of\nthe highest laws.\n\nI feel how unworthy I am to occupy the position\nyou have placed me in, but in all I say I shall endeau>m\nto speak in the spirit so sublimely expressed by out;\n\nHOW BEST TO BECOME A THEOSOPHIST. 5\n\nof the most intensely true and loving of men, himself\napparently an initiate, and at least illuminated with that\nknowledge without which there can be no comprehen-\nsion of theosophy — the triune nature of man as Body,\nSoul, and Spirit. This Paul of Tarsus says, when writ-\ning to those of his society then residing in \\ihe city of\nCorinth : —\n\n\" Though I speak with the tongues of men and angels,\nand have not charity, I am become as sounding brass\nand a tinkling cymbal ; and although I have the gift\nof prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all\nknowledge, and although I have all faith, so that I\ncould remove mountains, and have not charity, I am\nnothing ; and although I give all my goods to feed the\npoor, and although I give my body to be burned, and\nhave not charity, it prohteth me nothing.\"\n\nThis magnificent picture of charity or love cannot\nbe surpassed in nobleness of expression, and I submit\nthat our Society could not do better than write -it up\nas our initiatory rule of life.\n\nWe all, I understand, fully realise the trinity in man\nof body, soul, and spirit; and thus it is that our rules\nindicate that we shall do our best to increase our\nbodily health, our souls' strength and purity, and the\nexaltation of the spirit; and we all, I think, thus un-\nderstand that the central essence of all true religion\ni3 one and identical, namely, to evoke the hidden spiritual\ncentre of the soul, and unite that with God.\n\nWe see this and thus also we are able to see, that just\nin proportion as we descend from this sublime stand-\npoint, and attempt to formulate our belief by symbols,\nor by a ritual, we encounter the danger of more or less\nworshipping the creature in the place o£ the Creator;\n\n6 HOW BEST TO BECOME A THEOSOPHIST.\n\nand of descending into idolatry, dogmatism, sectarianism,\nand intolerance.\n\nThis, I think, all theosophists will admit; and yet the\n. human mind, so long at least as it is united to the body,\ndemands something more tangible, and more loveable,\nand more capable of application to daily life than is found\nin the sublime but abstract and incomprehensible idea of\na central spiritual essence.\n\nHence religion, although its essential meaning is religio,\nto rebind, that is, to rebind the spirit of man with the\nSpirit of God, has, in harmony with human nature, been\nformulated as the Spirit of the Son seeking the Spirit of\nthe Father. And thus in all nations, and in all ages of\nthe world, religion has attempted to concrete itself, and\nin doing so, and in attempting to realise the Divine Mind,\nhas worshipped that idea as exhibited in or by the ad-\nvent from time to time of Avatars, or manifestations of\nthe Logos or Wisdom, or Spirit of God, in Divine and\nmiraculous men.\n\nHence we have Gautama Buddha in the East and Jesus\nChrist in the West, who, esoterically considered, may be\nsaid to teach the one great law of religion, namely, that\nman can only know the Divine by evoking the gift of\nGod, the Divine light which lies latent within him, and\nby which light only he can know his Father, and thus\nreturn to the bosom of his God.\n\nBut although it may in a sense be said that these two\nesoterically considered are one, yet each would seem to\nhave been moulded in body, soul, and spirit, in harmony\nwith the physical aspects of Nature, as existing on thai\npart of our planet on which he appeared.\n\nIn the East we find a hot atmosphere, a luxurious vege-\ntation, and stupendous mountains; and the form the\n\nHOW BEST TO BECOME A THEOSOPHIST.\n\nreligion takes is that of power, subtlety, contemplation,\nstillness, repose, rest, sleep, and entrancement ; and the\nascetic life, with its diet of fruits, vegetables, and cereals,\nand its soul-power — entrancement and magic.\n\nIn the West, on the other hand, we find a more temper-\nate climate and a more active life — a bigger brain and a\nmanifestation of a wider range of the intellectual ana\npractical life; and while we find the same prayer and\ncontemplation and sacrifice of the bodily desires as in the\nEast, we find at the same time less subtlety and idealism\n— less repose, but more energy — a severer standard of\ntruth and a more practical benevolence.\n\nIn the East we find abstraction, subtlety, secrecy, and\nthe magical power of the individual; in the West we find\nprayer, a fervid and open boldness with truth, and a spir-\nitual love content with nothing less than the salvation of\nthe whole world.\n\nMoreover, I believe this, that there is in the moral and\nspiritual progress of the world an evolution, as in the\nvegetable and animal creation ; and with Tennyson I can\nsay that\n\n\" I doubt not through the ages an increasing purpose runs,\nAnd the thoughts of men are widened by the process of the suns.\"\n\nWe find that all esoteric and ascetic forms of religion\ntake the same ground regarding the body, namely, that it\nmust be brought under subjection to the soul, and thereby\nrendered a fitter temple for the rule of the spirit.\n\nIn this respect the East seems to me to have a more\ncomplete and scientific method than the West, for in the\nEast the method has been systematised after a manner\nalmost unknown in the West, and regarding which no\nsystematic rules are laid down, either by Jesus of Naz-\n\n8 HOW BEST TO BECOME A THEOSOPHIST.\n\nareth, or by any of His disciples ; although this may per-\nhaps be explained by the fact that no universal and minute\nrules can be laid down with regard to physical details, for\nthat which might be best in Central India could not be\nbest in London or in Greenland.\n\nWhen I attempt to describe the Eastern method, I do\nnot pretend to speak with authority as to details, because,\nas we all know, the innermost details are hidden from all\nbut the initiated, and we, as a society, after one year's\nconnection with the East, have not yet received more than\na few fragments of knowledge to be picked up at the\nthreshold.\n\nBroadly stated, however, the occult and ascetic method\nof the East, consists in a life separated from th£ family\nties, and all the anxieties and discords of the world, and\nin which continual contemplation of God is required.\n\nThe devotee must live a life of absolute chastity ; he\nmust abstain from the flesh of animals and from all alco-\nhols, and he must practise frequent ablutions.\n\nHaving freed his soul from bodily desires and his body\nfrom superfluous flesh, he must still further totally ab-\nstract himself from the world, and fix his thoughts on\nthe supreme centre ; after which, by the practice of retain-\ning the breath, the attainment of which power is progres-\nsive, he ultimately obtains the \"Internal respiration,\"\nand by the final assistance of those who know, he projects\nhis soul into the astral, and thus becoming the one internal\nsense he is as a unity at one with God — knowing good\nand evil, and working as a divine and magical man.\n\nHow the adept lives after this stupendous victory, or\nhow he occupies his life, or what his desires and works\nare, we in the West know very little, except generally.\n\nIt is seen, however, that ae becomes a magician in the\n\nHOW BEST TO BECOME A THEOSOPHIST. &\n\nbest sense ; and so long as he fixes his thoughts on God\nas the supreme power, and truth, and love, he must live a\nlife of abstract if not active goodness.\n\nHaving these magical powers, moreover, he must, unless\nsimple and wise and true and loving, be exposed to terri-\nble temptations; and if \"the angels kept not their first\nestate,\" but by \" ambition, that last infirmity of noble\nminds,\" fell, \" how can man, then, the {frail) image of\nhis Maker, hope to win by it?\" Or how shall he escape\nthe fate of that \" Lucifer son of the morning \"who, aspir-\ning to be as God, was cast out of heaven and fell headlong\nv into the abyss ? 1\n\nBut the idea of the adept is most fascinating to the\nhuman mind, and to attain to the dignity and power of\nthe magical man is an ambition far transcending all\nearthly ambition.\n\nThe idea of the true adept is one whose powers and\nknowledge far transcend all merely human power and\nknowledge, and with him riches and worldly honours,\nand rank and distinction, are as nothing. But for this\nvery reason the adept, I conceive, must be for ever in a\ncritical position.\n\nTo subdue our base and worldly and animal desires is\ncomparatively an easy triumph over matter. Will-force\n\n1 Colonel Olcott, in the Theosophist, p. 213, says, \" The adept\nthough unseen is yet ever doing good.\" Bnt as this good is\nwrought secretly we have no idea what direction it takes. So\nfar as I know it has not in modern times manifested itself openly\nin Poetry, Art, Science, Philosophy, Theology, or Philanthropy,\nand herein lies one great distinction from Christian saintship\nwhich for ever obeys the command to let its light shine before\nmen. Truly spiritual adepts in the East will not be offended by\nthese remarks, because they will instinctively know that they\nare made in all sincerity.\n\n10 HOW BEST TO BECOME A THEOSOPHIST.\n\nis sufficient for that. But this very will-force must for\never present the temptation of that self-will, which be-\ncomes spiritual tyranny ; and if it be true that the adept\ncontrols and uses for his high purposes the souls of weaker\nspirits, how can he escape that penalty which follows all\nslaveholding ? Must he not sooner or later be compelled\nto pay the price for work done? Or \" can any man touch\npitch and not be defiled ? \"\n\nSecrecy as an essential in Eastern adept-ship is so far a\ngood, as it is of the nature of that reticence which is so\nfar strength ; but can secrecy be maintained for a life-\ntime, and be the essence of one's life, and not tend to\nengender selfishness?\n\nIn certain conditions of society, and for certain ends,\nsecrecy may be essential to safety ; but perhaps the day\nis beginning to arrive when even with adeptship the rule\nof absolute secrecy may be relaxed, and it almost seems\nas if Madame Blavatsky, as editor of The Theosophist,\nwere really preparing the way to give us a second and\ntrue edition of \" Isis ( fully') Unveiled.\"\n\nAnother question suggests itself to us as members of\nthe British Theosophical Society. If, as we are told,\nsome of those who practise yogi perish from over-strained\nbodies, while others, becoming entangled in the middle\npassage, are torn to pieces by the demons of infernal\ndesire, how could we, the pale faces of the West, endure\nthe ordeal? Unless, indeed, the victory were gained after\na long and systematic training of soul and body.\n\nFinally we may ask, granting that magical powers can\nbe obtained by these spiritual athletes, should we of the\nWest, at least, not be in the position of those physical\nathletes, of whom we know that they ever stand on the\nverge of dangerous disease?\n\nHOW BEST TO BECOME A THEOSOPHIST. 11\n\nBut T have already confessed that we know almost\nnothing of the powers or mode of life followed by the\nEastern adept.\n\nPerhaps one may some day appear in our midst and\ninstruct us, although it may be a question whether he\ncould, with advantage to himself, forsake his native soil\nand air, and, isolated from his brothers, stand before us.\n\nBut although we are ignorant, and therefore must speak\nwith discretion regarding the adeptship of the East, we\ncan with knowledge and confidence speak regarding what\nI ask permission, for the sake of analogy, to call the\nChristian adeptship of the West, because in the life and\nteachings of Jesus of Nazareth we find the history of the\ngreatest of all the magicians 1 who ever stood on this planet,\nbecause lie sought not His own will, but the will of Him\nwho sent Him.\n\nHis rule of life is distinctly laid down in words, and\nwas openly and continually manifested in His life and\nworks ; and all who choose may freely enrol themselves\nas brothers and sisters of His order, while those who\nbegin to live the life will at once begin to know the\ndoctrine ; and those who truly live the life will know the\ndoctrine in its fulness.\n\nNow the rules for Christian adeptship we find fully\nlaid down by the Founder Himself in His Sermon from\nthe Mount.\n\nThe historian, after a rapid sketch of the birth and\nearly life of Jesus of Xazareth, suddenly introduces Him\nas entering on His public life as a teacher of righteousness\nand a worker of miracles.\n\n1 I use this term, magician, again for the sake of analogy and\nas signifying the Master of Divine Knowledge, Wisdom, and\nPower.\n\n12 HOW BEST TO BECOME A THEOSOPHIST.\n\nWe find, if I may reverently use the term, that He com\npleted His initiation by going into the wilderness and\nfasting forty days and forty nights, after which He was\n\" an hungered.\"\n\nThen, as in Eastern initiation, still following the par-\nallel, He became subject to the test temptations of what\nis called the devil, but which Easterns and moderns call\nevil spirits; and thus the narrative proceeds.\n\n\" And the tempter came to Him and said : H Thou be\nthe Son of God, command that these stones be made\nbread. But He answered and said : Man shall not live\nby bread alone, but by every word proceeding out of the\nmouth of God. Then the devil taketh Him up into the\nHoly City and setteth Him on a pinnacle of the temple,\nand said unto Him: If Thou be the Son of God, cast\nThyself down, for it is written, He shall give His angels\ncharge concerning Thee, and in their hands they shall\nbear Thee up, lest Thou dash Thy foot against a stone.\nAnd Jesus answered and said : It is written, Thou shalt\nnot tempt the Lord thy God. Again the devil taketh\nHim up into an exceeding high mountain, and showeth\nHim all the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them,\nand said unto Him: All these things will I give Thee if\nThou wilt fall down and worship me. Then Jesus an-\nswered and said : Get thee behind Me, Satan, for it is\nwritten, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him\nonly shalt thou serve. Then the devil left Him, and\nangels came and ministered unto Him.\"\n\nWe could not conceive a grander tableau of that soul\nwhich, aspiring to be a Son, and thus one with God, in-\nfallibly encounters the demons of the middle passage, but\ntriumphing over these, the world, the flesh, and the devil,\nfrom henceforth lives with the angelic ministrations.\n\nHOW BEST TO BECOME A THEOSOPHIST. 13\n\nThus we find — From that time Jesus (having left the\nwilderness and entered on His ministry) began to preach\nand to say, \" Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at\nhand,\" and \"taking His disciples up into a mountain\napart,\" He propounded unto them the entire rule of His\nadeptship as follows.1\n\nWhosoever would be My disciple must crucify those\naffections and lusts which war against the soul, and must\ntake up his cross daily and follow Me (The Logos) ; and\nno one who loveth father or mother, or brother or sisters,\nor houses or lands, more than Me (Divine Wisdom) can\nbe My disciple.\n\nAnd he who would (selfishly) save his life shall lose it,\nbut he who would lose his life (for righteousness) shall\nfind it ; for to be dead in the flesh is to be alive in the\nspirit, and what would it profit a man to gain the whole\nworld and lose his own soul, or what shall a man give in\nexchange for his soul ?\n\nAnd if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off and cast it\nfrom thee, for it is better to enter into life maimed, rather\nthan with two hands to be cast into hell fire. And if thy\nright eye offend thee, pluck it out and cast it from thee,\nfor it is better to enter into life with one eye, rather than\nwith two eyes to be cast into hell fire. And lay not up\nfor yourselves (redundant) treasures upon earth, where\nmoth and rust do corrupt, and where thieves break through\nand steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven,\nwhere neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, nor thieves\nbreak through and steal ; for where your treasure is, there\n\n1 The rule is taken almost entirely from the Sermon on the\nMount, but the sentences are sometimes transposed, and some-\ntimes cumulated directly or indirectly from the teachings of\nJesus.\n\n14 HOW BEST TO BECOME A THEOSOPHIST.\n\nwill your heart be also. And take no (inordinate) thought\nas to what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, or where-\nwithal ye shall be clothed, for your Father knoweth that\nye have need of these things. But consider the lilies how\nthey grow ; they toil not, neither do they spin, and yet I\nsay unto you that Solomon in all his glory was not ar-\nrayed like one of these. And behold the fowls of the air.\nfor they sow not, neither do they reap nor gather into\nbarns ; yet your Heavenly Father feedeth them.\n\nWhether, therefore, ye eat or drink, or whatsoever ye\ndo, do all (with sacrifice) to the glory of God ; and who-\nsoever would be great among you, let him be your minis-\nter, and who would be chief among you, let him be your\nservant. And choose not the uppermost rooms at feasts,\nnor the chief seats at the synagogue, nor greetings in the\nmarket-place, nor to be called Master, for One is your\nMaster, even Christ.\n\nBut seek ye first the kingdom of God and His right-\neousness, and all things else shall be added unto you.\n\nAnd, behold, the kingdom of heaven is within you, the\ntrue light that lighteth every soul that cometh into the\nworld. But except ye be born again ye cannot enter into\nthe kingdom of God. And no man can serve two mas-\nters, therefore resist the devil, and he will flee from you,\nand draw near unto God, and He will draw near unto\nyou; for if your eye be single, your whole body shall be\nfull of light.\n\nBut except you become as little children, whose angels\ndo always behold the face of the Father, ye cannot enter\ninto the kingdom of heaven.\n\nAnd whosoever liveth the life shall know of the doc-\ntrine.\n\nThen to him who overcometh will I give to eat of the\n\nHOW BEST TO BECOME A THEOSOPHIST. 15\n\ntree which is in the midst of the paradise of God, even\nthe hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and\nin the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth\nsave he that receiveth it ; a name unlawful and impossi-\nble (for the human larynx) to utter ; but thou shalt be-\nhold the King in His beauty, and the Lord shall be thy\nlight.\n\nThen shall rough places become plain, and crooked\nplaces shall become straight, and ye shall tread on ser-\npents, and heal the diseased, and open the eyes of the\nblind, and cleanse the lepers, and stop the mouths of\nlions, and quench the violence of fire, and cast out devils,\nand raise the dead, and be yourselves raised from the\ndead.\n\nXevertheless, rejoice not that the spirits are subject\nunto you, but rather rejoice that your names are written\nin heaven.\n\nBut let him who standeth take heed lest he fall, and\nwatch and pray lest ye enter into temptation, for the Son\nof Man cometh at an hour when ye think not. Ask, and\nye shall receive ; seek, and ye shall find ; knock, and it\nshall be opened unto you : yet strive ye to enter into the\nstrait gate, for strait is the gate, and narrow is the way\nthat leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.\n\nBut see that your light shine before men, that they,\nseeing your good works, may glorify your Father which\nis in heaven.\n\nTherefore, let love be without dissimulation; abhor\nthat which is evil, and cleave to that which is good. Let\nbrotherly love continue, in honour preferring one an-\nother.\n\nResent not injuries, and give no place unto wrath ; but\nlove your enemies, and bless them which curse you, and\n\n16 HOW BEST TO BECOME A THEOSOPHIST.\n\npray for them which despitefully use you and persecute\nyou ; for freely ye have received, therefore freely give.\n\nBe not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.\n\nFinally, thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy\nheart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and\nwith all thy strength, and thy neighbour as thyself ; for\nthis is the whole of the law and the prophets, and none\nother commandment is greater than these.\n\nThen blessed are the humble, for theirs is the kingdom\nof heaven.\n\nAnd blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the\nearth.\n\nAnd blessed are they that do hunger and thirst after\nrighteousness, for they shall be filled.\n\nAnd blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain\nmercy.\n\nAnd blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called\nthe children of God.\n\nAnd blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see\nGod.\n\nThus, with a power beyond all merely human words,\nfor \" never man spake as this Man,\" are revealed to us\nthe rules of Christian adeptship ; that is, in one word, So\nto empty the soul of self that the Father, becoming manifest\nin His Sons, illuminates and regenerates the world.\n\nIn the East, adeptship is secret and mysterious, and\nhidden from all except a select few, who have passed\nthrough an ordeal so severe and dangerous that many, it\nis said, perish in body or in soul on making the attempt,\nand into which select few no woman has ever been fully\nadmitted.\n\nBut the Christian adept not only invites but implores\nall to enter into the order.\n\nHOW BEST TO BECOME A THEOSOPHIST. 17\n\nThe Oriental adept obtains magical or soul power ovei\nmatter, which he uses for his own high ends — and over\ninferior spirits. But the Christian adept or saint desires\nonly to communicate with angels or with the Holy Spirit,\nwhile his life is spent in openly transmuting his spiritual\npowers into good works for the good of mankind.\n\nBut you will ask — Have any men or women by follow\ning Christ's rules, and by living the life, ever reached to\nthat spiritual power over ordinary law which we believe\nis obtained by Oriental magicians ?\n\nTo this question I reply emphatically — Yes.\n\nThe founder of the system not only possessed powers\nfar beyond any ever manifested by any magician, but he\nconferred those powers on His disciples by breathing on\nthem and saying, \" Receive ye the Holy Spirit.\"\n\nThese disciples went out and healed all manner of dis-\neases, and cast out devils, and spake with tongues, and\nforetold events, as He had done. And like powers have\nfrom time to time been manifested in the lives of Chris-\ntian saints, who, forsaking self have found God.\n\nSt. Ignatius Loyola, St. Teresa, Savonarola, and others\nin the middle ages wrought miracles, and, becoming born of\nthe spirit, ascended in the air, becoming transfigured and\neffulgent, while others were caught up into paradise and\n\" beheld that glory which eye hath not seen, nor ear heard,\nnor hath it entered into the heart of man to conceive.\"\n\nIn modern times like instances have occurred ; and in\nthe life of the Cure D'Ars, who left this earth only a few\nyears ago, we have an example of a man wholly self-sac-\nrificing, and wholly given to God and good works. He\nbecame a divine and miraculous man, and with the power\nof prayer and the laying on of hands he cured all manner\nof disease ; he saw the secrets of those who hid from hire\n\n18 HOW BEST TO BECOME A THEOSOPHIST.\n\nin confession their inner sins. He transformed wicked\nmen and women into repentant, remorseful, and good\nbeings by a mere word, or touch of the hand, or glance of\nthe eye ; and while he himself lived on crusts and water,\nhe fed an orphanage of children, sometimes by a miracu-\nlous increase of bread.\n\nIn the life also of the Protestant Sister Dora we see the\nDivine possibilities of a Christian faith as exemplified in\na life of devout self-sacrifice accompanied by all but\nsuperhuman powers.\n\nI must not, however, be misunderstood as exhibiting\nthe lives of the Romish saints as perfect patterns for us\nto follow.\n\nFor the most part they lived under the tyrannical influ-\nence of an ignorant and superstitious and self-seeking\npriesthood, and they committed the fatal error of think-\ning that it was holy to mascerate and disfigure their\nbodies, under the delusion that the body was all sin, and\nthe soul only holy.\n\nBut the Theosophist knows, on the contrary, that the\nbody is a necessary part of our triune nature ; and, as the\ntemple of the spirit, must be rendered clean, pure, strong,\nand beautiful.\n\nBut can we Theosophists in London, surrounded by the\nnoise and care and routine of daily life, with its money\nanxieties, attain to that life of holy self-sacrifice, the re-\nsult of which with the saints was the gift of miracle ?\n\nCan we, in short, reach that Regeneration of soul and\nbody which is the essence of the Hermetic mysteries, and\nwithout which, Christ says, we cannot enter (directly) into\nthe kingdom of heaven ?\n\nThis regeneration was signified by the successive fer-\nmentations, deaths, and distillations of the salts of the\n\nHOW BEST TO BECOME A THEOSOPHIST. 19\n\nalchemists, through which process the perfect gold and\nthe elixir were achieved — signifying a sevenfold process\nof deaths and resurrections, and corresponding to the\ndays of the creation of the earth and man, which culmi-\nnated in the Angel in Paradise, in a Sabbath of peace and\nperfection.\n\nThis regeneration or transfiguration may be further\nillustrated by the law of crystals, wherein a positive acid\ndominating a negative alkali thus creates a body called a\nsalt, it may be triangular in shape and of a dull colour ;\nwhich crystal may in its turn be seized by a more positive\nacid, the weaker acid displaced, and the crystal re-formed\nor regenerated into, it may be, a hexagonal crystal, in colour\neffulgent.\n\nThe nearest approach to this in our experience, is when\nthe sensitive, who may be an ignorant and almost an ugly\nwoman, is during entrancement transfigured sometimes\ninto almost angelic beauty.\n\nBut such transformations or regenerations are in our\nexperience evanescent — resembling that transient glimpse\nof happiness got when the sun, glinting through the\nleaden clouds hanging on a highland hill, illuminates the\ngorse and the heather, and creates a momentary fairyland\nof magical beauty.\n\nThe question, then, of how far true regeneration of soul\nand body is possible for us is not easily answered, for so\nfar as we know there has not occurred one perfect in-\nstance on this earth during the last eighteen hundred\nyears.\n\nBut with the Spirit all things are possible. At the\nsame time, \" strait is the gate and narrow is the way that\nleadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.\"\n\nBut, as our rule says, the object of this society is by\n\n20 HOVT BEST TO BECOME A THEOSOPHIST.\n\ninvestigation, and experiment to discover the nature and\npower of the soul and spirit ; and if so, may I now ask,\nare there any in this society willing to enter upon these\nexperiments in person ?\n\nLet us all begin as neophytes, and see how far we can\npractise a life of self-denial and unselfishness, free from\nscandals, strifes, envy, and jealousy, but full of brotherly\nlove.\n\nThe essence of all sin, and therefore of all weakness, is\nselfishness, and the foundation of all true spiritual power\nis love, self-denial, and unselfishness. And as like attracts\nlike, let us set our affections on things above, for if we do\nso, angelic spirits will minister unto us, for thus should\n\" we surround ourselves with the forms of our affections.\"\n\n\" Draw near unto God,\" for thus only does the Spirit\ndraw near unto you ; and thus it is that we can see how\nthe highest science of psychology, namely, a knowledge of\nhow to save the soul, consists merely in believing and in\nasking truthfully, sincerely, and unselfishly.\n\nIf you do this, then not only will gradually come to\nyou health and strength of body, but clearness and purity\nof mind, and that \" Spirit which will lead you into all\ntruth.\"\n\n******\n\nThose who have watched the transformations which\nsometimes take place in ecstatic entrancement, where\nperhaps some almost ugly and ignorant person suddenly\nbecomes radiant, and moves with consummate grace, as\nshe utters words of heavenly wisdom, will easily under-\nstand how the enlightened, trained, and purified Christian\nneophyte may rise to beatific visions.\n\nIf any one is prepared to say, \" I no longer desire to\nfeed on the husks which the swine do eat; I desire to\n\nHOW BEST TO BECOME A THEOSOPHIST. 23\n\n•forsake the sins which so easily beset me;'\" and -who\nsays, M I will arise and go to my Father ; \" \"I will set my\nface steadfastly to go to Jerusalem,\" as He did who knew\nthat insults, crucifixion, and death awaited Him; or who,\nlike the child Samuel, as he watched in the temple, says,\n\" Speak, Lord, for Thy servant heareth ; \" — if there be any\nsuch a one, then while listening, he or she will become\nconscious that there is One \" who stands at the door and\nknocks \" — and very suddenly, it may be, you will be led\nrapidly through the vestibule and into the presence cham-\nber, and \" your eyes shall behold the King in His beauty,\"\nwhile by an ineffable effulgence, \" the secret of tlie Logos \"\n— 11 the kingdom of heaven within you \" — \"the Lord of the\nTemple\" — will be revealed. Then no longer will you\nask how best to become a Theosophist; for you will\nknow, because you have already, while on earth, attained\nto the spiritual resurrection of your body, and to eternal\nlife in the presence of your God.\n\nTheosophy, Religion, and Occult Science, by Henry S. Olcott,\nPresident of the Theosophical Society, with a Glossary of Indian\nTerms, and an Index. To one who has previously made the acquaint-\nance of, and familiarized himself with the doctrines of the so-called\nTheosophical Society or Brotherhood, these lectures of Colonel 01-\ncott's will be rich in interest and suggestiveness. Cloth $2.00.\n\nThe Perfect Way, or the Finding of Christ. With illustrative dia-\ngrams. By Dr. Anna Kingsford and Edward Maitland. A compen-\ndium of Esoteric Religion, Christian Theosophy. Mysticism, and Oc-\ncult Science, showing the divine potentialities of hnmanity and their\nculmination in Christ. Cloth #1.00. Paper 50 cents.\n\nAn Adventure Among the Rosicrucians, by Franz Hartmann, M. D.\nThis is an account of a dream-visit to a Rosicrucian Monastery, and\nof the topics expounded by its Adept inmates. Among these are the\nnature and power of Will, Psychic Locomotion, Universal Life, con-\nstitution and development of Man, the materialization of Ideas into\nForms, etc. The book is full of Occult information and suggestions.\nCloth 75 cents. Paper 50 cents.\n\nPractical Instructions in Animal Magnetism. By J. F. Deleuze.\nTranslated by Thos. Hartshorn. Revised Edition, with an appendix\nof notes by the translator, also letters from eminent Physicians and\nothers, descriptive of Cases in the United States. Cloth $2.00.\n\nHuman Magnetism: Its Nature, Physiology, ann Psychology. Its\nuses, as a remedial agent, in Moral and Intellectual Improvement, etc.\nBy H. S. Drayton, LL B, M. D. Cloth, Illustrated, 75 cents.\n\nSecret Symbols of the Rosicrucians of the Sixteenth and Seventeenth\nCenturies. With a treatise on the Philosopher's Stone; translated\nfrom the German, by Franz Hartmann, M. D. The plates of \"Secret\nSymbols,\" 27 in number, have been colored by hand, exactly duplica-\nting the originals which Dr. Hartmann secured during his researches\namong ancient Mss. and Occult works in Germany. Cloth $6.00.\n\nIncidents hi the Life of Madame Blavatsky. Compiled from infor-\nmation supplied by her relatives and friends, and edited by A. P. Sin-\nnett, with a Portrait reproduced from an original portrait by Hermann\nSchmiechen. Cloth S3. 00.\n\nThe Bhagavad Gita;. or, the Lord's Lay. With Commentary and\nNotes, as well as References to the Christian Scriptures. Translated\nfrom the Sanscrit, for the benefit of those in search of Spiritual Light,\nby Mohini Mohun Chatterji, M. A. The classic poem of Asia, pro-\nfound and majestic in its power and harmony. Its translator is one of\nthe most eminent of Hindoo scholars. Cloth $2.00.\n\n^^\"Atty of the above works, sent postpaid, on receipt of price.\nOccult Publishing Co., - 66 Boylston St., Boston, Mass.\n\nA Working Glossary for the use of Students of Theosophical Liter,\nature. This is an attempt to furnish Students of Theosophical Liter-\nature who are not Sanskritists with a Glossary, nothing else, of the\nmany Sanskrit and other strange words found so often in books and\nwritings, published and written by members of the Theosophical So-\nciety. Paper 50 cents.\n\nKey to Theosophy. Being a clear exposition in the form of question\nand answer, of the Ethics, Science, and Philosophy, for the study of\nwhich the Theosophical Society has been founded by H. P. Blavatsky.\nThis is a clear and concise exposition of the principles and teachings\nof Theosophy. Cloth $1.50.\n\nIn the Pronoas of the Temple of Wisdom, containing the history\nof the true and false Rosicrucians, with an Introduction into the Mys-\nteries of the Hermetic Philosophy. By Franz Hartmann, M. D.\nContents: — Introduction; The Hermetic Philosophy; Mediaeval Phil-\nosophers; Among the ''Adepts\"; The Rosicrucian \"Orders\"; Pseudo-\nRosicrucians; Imposters and Fools; In the Pronoas of the Temple of\nthe True Cross; Alchemy. Cloth £2.00.\n\nEchoes from the Orient. A Broad Outline of Theosophical Doc-\ntrines. By Wm. Q. Judge. Being a series of 21 Articles reprinted\nfrom Kate Field's Washington. Cloth 50 cents.\n\nEastward; or a Buddhist Lover. A brilliant Novel. Tastefully\nprinted and handsomely bound. Cloth £1.50.\n\nThe Wilkesbarre Letters on Theosophy, by a member of the Aryan\nTheosophical Society, of New York City. Paper 10 cents.\n\nIdyll of the White Lotus, by M. C. As the preface says: \"This is\na story which has been told in all a«es and among every people. It is\nthe tragedy of the soul. Attracted by Desire, the ruling element in\nthe lower nature of Man, it stoops to sin; brought to itself by suffer-\ning, it turns for help to the redeeming Spirit within; and in the final\nsacrifice achieves its apothesis and sheds a blessing on mankind.\"\nCloth Si. co. Paper 50 cents.\n\nKarma. A Theosophical novel by by A. P. Sinnett, author of\n\"Esoteric Buddhism.\" Paper 30 cents.\n\nReincarnation. A study of Forgotten Truth, by E. D. Walker.\nContents: — What is Reincarnation; Western Evidences of Reincar-\nnation; Western Objections to Reincarnation; Western Authors upon\nReincarnation; Western Poets upon Reincarnation; Reincarnation\namong the Ancients; Reincarnation in the Bible; Reincarnation in\nEarly Christendom; Reincarnation in the East Today; Eastern Poets\non Reincarnation; Eastern Oriental Reincarnation; Transmigration\nthrough Animals; Death, Heaven and Hell; Karma, the Companion\nTruth of Reincarnation; Conclusion; Bibliography of Reincarnation.\nCloth $1.00. Paper 50 cents.\n\nVJgr°4ny of the above works, sent postpaid, on receipt of price.\nOccult Publishing Co., - 66 Boylston St., Boston, Mass.\n\nThe Purpose of Theosophy, by Mrs. A. P. Sinnett. Cloth 75 cents.\nPaper 50 cents. Cheap paper edition 15 cents.\n\nThe Occult World, by A. P. Sinnett. Contents: Introduction;\nOccultism and its Adepts; The Theosophical Society; Recent Occult\nPhenomena; Teachings of Occult Philosophy. Cloth #1.00. Paper\n50 cents.\n\nEsoteric Buddhism, by A. P. Sinnett. Contents: Esoteric Teach-\ners; The Constitution of Man; The Planetary Chain; The World\nPeriods; Devachan; Kama Locha; The Human Tide Wave; The\nProgress of Humanity; Buddha; Nirvana; The Universe; The Doc-\ntrine Reviewed. Cloth #1.00. Paper 50 cents.\n\nLight on the Path, with notes and forty-five pages of commentary\nby the author. A treatise written for the personal use of those who\nare ignorant of the Eastern wisdom, and who desire to enter within its\ninfluence. In the whole range of Theosophical Literature there is\nnothing that combines so much and is of such value to the student as\nthe rules in this book. The edition published by the Occult Pub-\nlishing Company is the only one containing the \"Comments'' with-\nout which, the book is to many, well nigh incomprehensible. There\nhas also been added to this edition, an Address delivered before the\nLondon Theosophical Society by one of its former Presidents, G. Wyld,\nM. D., entitled \"How Best to Become a Theosophist.\" Cloth 40\ncents. Paper 25 cents.\n\nThrough the Gates of Gold. A Fragment of Thought. Contents:\nPrologue; The Search of Pleasure; The Mystery of the Threshold;\nThe Initial Effort; The Meaning of Pain; The Secret of Strength.\nCloth 50 cents.\n\nLife of Jehoshua, the Prophet of Nazareth, by Franz Hartmann,\nM. D. This book is an Occult Study regarding the nature of the true\nChrist, and an investigation in regard to the historical Jesus. It is a\nkey to the Bible, dispelling the mists that for many centuries have\nbeen hiding the face of the True Redeemer from the sight of humanity.\nIt is a book full of practical instructions, showing the way which each\nman has to go if he desires to find the true Christ within himself.\nCloth, 8vo, 208 pages, price $1.50.\n\nThe Finding of the Gnosis: The Soul's own Book. This book ex-\nemplifies a new order of literature. It answers the question, What is\nthe Truth? — not in the absolute method because no language can ef-\nfect that — but rather by showing plainly how one may secure the key\nto the answer. In other phrase, the real answer is something to be\n■worked out by ones self. It cannot be communicated. Are not the\nvery few immortal joys of life those which come by virtue of one's\nown limitless power to overcome error? How many are there who\nknow what this limitless power signifies? Who would choose not to\nbe one's own creator? Cloth 50 cents.\n\nJ^^'Any of the above works, sent postpaid, on receipt of price.\nOccult Publishing Co., - 66 Boylston St., Boston, Mass.\n\nThe Astral Light. An attempted exposition of certain Occult\nPrinciples in Nature, with some remarks upon Modern Spiritualism.\nBy Nizida. Cloth 75 cents.\n\nThe Blossom and the Fruit: the true story of a Black Magician.\nA tale of Mystery and Adventure, by Mabel Collins. Cloth §1.00.\nPaper 50 cents.\n\nMagic, White and Black, or the Science of Finite an Infinite Life,\nby Franz Hartmann, M. D. This is an American Edition of this\nwonderful work, and the author has revised and enlarged it, and also\nadded an appendix containing a new \"Light on the Path.\" Cloth £1.00.\nPaper 50 cents.\n\nIsis Unveiled. A Master-Key to the Mysteries of Ancient and\nModern Science and Religion. Two large volumes, containing about\n1500 pages, by Madame H. P. Blavatsky. New Edition with portrait\nof the author. Parties intending to study Theosophy should procure\nthis work. Cloth S7. 50.\n\nThe Secret Doctrine; the Synthesis of Science, Religion, and Phil-\nosophy, by H. P. Blavatsky, author of \"Isis Unveiled.\"\n\nIn all ages, and in all lands, the belief has existed that a Divine de-\ngree of knowledge is possible to human beings under certain condi-\ntions; and, as a corollary to this, the conviction has dwelt in the hearts\nof people that living men exist who possess this knowledge; whether\nthey be called sages, philosophers, adepts, or by other names.\n\nIn ancient times this knowledge was taught and communicated in\nthe \"Mysteries,\" of which traces have been found among all the na-\ntions of the earth, from Japan through China and India to America,\nand from the frozen north to the islands of the South Pacific.\n\nThe author of this work has devoted more than forty years to the\nacquisition of this knowledge; she has gained admittance as a student\nto some of the Secret Schools of this Wisdom, and has learned to\nknow and appreciate its extent and value.\n\nThe purpose of the present work, then is to lay before the thinking\nworld so much of this \"Hidden Wisdom\" as it is thought expedient\nto make known at present to men in general.\n\nIn two volumes, Royal Octavo, 650 pages each,\"price $10.00.\n\nMan; Fragments of Forgotten History, by two Chelas in the Theo-\nsophical Society. Contents: — Preliminary; Supra-Mundane Man:\nPhysical Evolution of Man; or Descent into Matter; Primitive Man;\nEvolution of Sex; The Fourth Race — Atlanteans; Early Aryans;\nGrowth of Language and Religion; Man and other orders of Exist-\nence; Occult Hierarchy. Cloth $1.25.\n\nGeomancy: the Easiest Method of Divination. With 150 Illustra-\ntive Examples. By Franz Hartmann, M. D., author of \"Magic,\"\n\"Paracelsus.'' \"Secret Symbols of the Rosicrucians,\" \"Life of Jehosh-\nua,\" etc. Cloth 75 cents.\n\nVj^T^Any of the above works, sent postpaid, on receipt of price.\nOccult Publishing Co., - 66 Eoylston St., Bosfon, Mass.\n\nThe Mystery of the Ages, contained in the Secret Doctrine of all\nReligions. By Marie, Countess of Caithness. Contents: — Introduc-\ntory; The Theory and Practice of Theosophy; The Secret of Mythol-\nogy; Egyptian and Christian Gnosticism; The Theosophy of the\nBrahmins, Magi, and Druids; Buddhist Theosophy; Esoteric Budd-\nhism; Chinese Theosophy; Pagan Theosophy; Theosophic Ideas of\nthe Ancient Romans; The Kabala, or Hebrew Philosophy; The Sufis\nand Mohamedan Theosophy; Christian Theosophy; The Theosophy\nof Christ; The Theosophic Interpretation of the Bible: Conclusion;\nSoul, Infinity, The Path, Nirvana, The End. Cloth #3.00.\n\nThe Mysteries of Magic; a digest of the writings of Eliphas Levi.\nWith a Biographical and Critical Essay by Arthur Edward Waite.\nEliphas Levi, who died in 1865, and whose real name was Alphonse\nLouis Constant, ranks, beyond controversy, as the prince of the French\nadepts. His writings contain a revelation of the Grand Secret and a\nlucid interpretation of the theory of the Astral Light, which is the\nGreat Magical Agent. His philosophy of miracles is of lasting value\nand interest, and absolutely indispensable to all students of Occultism.\nIt establishes a harmony between religion and science based on a ra-\ntional explanation of all prodigies. Eliphas Levi revealed for the first\ntime to the modern world the arcanum of will-power in the operations\nof transcendental magic, and he was also the originator of a new de-\nparture in Kabalistic Exegesis. In the present digest, the information\nof the various branches of Esoteric Science, which is scattered over\nsix large volumes of the French originals, has been diligently collated,\nand the translation carefully made. Cloth $3.00.\n\nParacelsus; or, The life of Philippus Theopratus, Bombast of Hon-\nenheim, and the substance of his teachings concerning Cosmology,\nAnthropology, Pneumato!ogy, Magic and Sorcery, Medicine, Alchemy\nand Astrology, Theosophy, and Philosophy. By Franz Hartmann,\nM. D., author of \"Magic\", etc. Paracelcus was a high priest among\nmystics and Alchemists, and he left behind him one hundred and six\ntreatises on medical and occult subjects, which are likely to be read by\nthe curious as long as mysticism remains a necessary study for who-\never would trace the development of Civilization. Cloth $3.00.\n\nThe Virgin of the World. By Hermes Mercurius Trismegistus.\nA treatise on Initiations, or Asclepios; the definitions of Asclepios;\nFragments of the writings of Hermes. Translated and edited by the\nauthors of the \"Perfect Way.\" With an Introduction by A. K., and\nan Essay on \"Hermetic Books,\" by E. M. The so-called writings of\nHermes are regarded by scholars as undoubted forgeries of the Alex-\nandrian Neo-Platonists. This fact, however, in no way diminishes\ntheir value to students of occult science, who will find in the \"Virgin\nof the World\" the true doctrines of an extraordinary and mysterious\nsystem of Esoteric Wisdom. Cloth $3.00.\n\nJgg^'Any of the above works, sent postpaid, on receipt of price.\nOccult Publishing Co., - 66 Boylston St., Boston, Mass.\n\nKabala Denudata: (translated into English). Containing the fol-\nlowing books of the Zohar. i. The Book of Concealed Mystery.\n2. The Greater Holy Assembly. 3. The Lesser Holy Assembly.\nBy S. Liddell MacGregor Matthews, Fra. Ros. Cru. This work is\none that no occult student should be without, inasmuch as it is the key\nand fountain head of the mystical ideas held by the great mediaeval\nphilosophers. From Paracelsus to Eliphas Levi, from Cornelius\nAgrippa to Madame Blavatsky, all occult thinkers have found it abso-\nlutely necessary to acquaint themselves with its teachings. Cloth,\ni2mo, $3.00.\n\nThe Biogen Series. Under the above title, a series of concise and\nwell-written essays on live questions of the day, or of historical re-\nsearch in Religion, Science, and Philosophy, have been prepared by\nwriters of eminent ability, under the editorial direction of Prof. El-\nliott Ccues.\n\nVol. I. Biogen. A Speculation on the Origen and Nature of\nLife. By Prof. Elliott Coues. Parchment 50 cents.\n\nVol. II. The Daemon of Darwin. By Prof. Elliott Coues.\nInvaluable in Psychic research, to those seeking the basis of a sound\nsystem of psychic science. Parchment 50 cents.\n\nVol. III. A Buddhist Catechism; According to the Canon\nof the Southern Church. By Col. Henry S. Olcott Edited, with an\nIntroduction and Notes, by Prof. Coues. Parchment 50 cents.\n\nVol. IV. Can Matter Think. A Problem in Psychics. By\nF. T. S. Edited, with a Preface and Notes, by Prof. Coues. Parch-\nment 50 cents.\n\nVol. V. Kuthumi; The True and Complete (Economy of Hu-\nman Life. Parchment 50 cents.\n\nVol. VI. A Woman in the Case. An Address delivered at\nthe Annual Commencement af the National Medical College, in the\nCongregational Church of Washington, March 16th, 1887, by Prof.\nElliott Coues. Second Edition, with an Introduction by Elisabeth\nCavazza. Parchment 50 cents.\n\nThe six volumes, when purchased together, $2.50.\n\nThe Buddhist Diet-Book, prepared by Laura C. Holloway. The\nreceipts contained in this little book, were secured by the author, dur-\ning a sojourn of many months among the Buddhists. Parchment 50\ncents.\n\nPhilosophy of Mysticism. (Philosophic der Mystik.) By Dr. Carl\nDu Prel. Translated from the German by C. C. Massey. 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