The So-Called Dangers of Initiation

There is no greater asceticism, no more terrible deprivation for those who are interested in Spiritual Science than to devote themselves to the hustle and bustle that many circles call “life.” If one calls life: getting up in the morning, reading one's newspaper, pursuing this or that which one can see has a practical use, participating in this or that banality in the evening — if one calls that life, then there is indeed an “asceticism” for the theosophist, a terrible deprivation, namely, when one is forced to participate in this life. If, therefore, despite all opposing forces, interest in theosophy and in what may be made public from the secret science is growing ever greater today, this is only proof that there are more and more people who want to escape the “ascetic” life of ordinary pleasures and throw themselves into the arms of real life. People would have to realize this if they would only consult with themselves, for life in the Secret Science is certainly not one of whining and moaning under suffering and deprivation. And the practice of life is a chapter that has already been discussed in the various lectures.