The So-Called Dangers of Initiation

Although it has already been mentioned here by one side or the other, it may be worth pointing out once again that the most unfair and at the same time most impossible accusation that can be made against the Secret Science and its work is that it somehow makes people unworldly, detached from the world, or seduces them into asceticism. It must be emphasized again and again that because our world of the senses our world of physical life is based on a spiritual world with its beings and forces that constantly influence our sensory world, those who do not care about the true and actual forces of existence and want to limit themselves only to the outer world, to what the senses say and what they can enjoy, must be called unworldly and detached from the world. There is no question of theosophy urging its adherents to lead an ascetic life, to practice self-denial, or to be unworldly. It is true, however, that those who develop an interest in what flows from the secret science, in what it has to offer, must have different desires, different sympathies and antipathies than many people have.