37. The Dangers of Initiation

Of course, certain dangers also come from another direction. For example, anyone who carries social prejudices into the higher worlds — they are of no use there — and cannot discard them, will not be able to ascend without danger. Therefore, man must acquire a high degree of inner freedom and independence. Those who cannot do so can only advance to a small degree. It is not a matter of external independence here; a person can be as dependent as he likes externally, but internally the soul can be completely free. We must beware of the numerous misunderstandings that we encounter. Anyone who really wants to walk the path of truth should realize that a sentence can contain worthless words and that the same sentence can carry profound truth. Those who seriously want to follow the path must beware of empty phrases and mere set expressions, for although the highest light prevails in Theosophy, so too does the most extreme phrase-mongering and hollowness. This is a bad habit of our time, but it contains a real danger for Theosophy.