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diff --git a/14599-0.txt b/14599-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..fd8a7b4 --- /dev/null +++ b/14599-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,5187 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 14599 *** + +The present edition of LIGHT ON THE PATH +is a verbatim reprint of the 1888 edition +(George Redway, London) in which later edition +the NOTES by the Author first appear. The +COMMENTS, which are not in the 1888 edition, +are here taken directly from _Lucifer_, Volume I, +1887-8, where they were first published. + +Also in this volume we reprint verbatim the +original edition (1887) of THROUGH THE +GATES OF GOLD by the same Author, together +with a commentary by William Q. Judge taken +from his magazine, _The Path_, March, 1887. + + + + +*Light on the Path* + + +_A Treatise_ + +WRITTEN FOR THE PERSONAL USE OF THOSE WHO +ARE IGNORANT OF THE EASTERN WISDOM, AND +WHO DESIRE TO ENTER WITHIN ITS INFLUENCE + + + +_Written down by_ M.C. + +_with Notes by the Author_ + + + + +*LIGHT ON THE PATH* + + +LIGHT ON THE PATH + + +I + +These rules are written for all disciples: +Attend you to them. + +Before the eyes can see, they must be incapable +of tears. Before the ear can hear, it +must have lost its sensitiveness. Before the +voice can speak in the presence of the Masters +it must have lost the power to wound. Before +the soul can stand in the presence of the Masters +its feet must be washed in the blood of +the heart. + +1. Kill out ambition. + +2. Kill out desire of life. + +3. Kill out desire of comfort. + +4. Work as those work who are ambitious. + +Respect life as those do who desire it. Be +happy as those are who live for happiness. + +Seek in the heart the source of evil and +expunge it. It lives fruitfully in the heart of +the devoted disciple as well as in the heart of +the man of desire. Only the strong can kill it +out. The weak must wait for its growth, its +fruition, its death. And it is a plant that lives +and increases throughout the ages. It flowers +when the man has accumulated unto himself +innumerable existences. He who will enter +upon the path of power must tear this thing +out of his heart. And then the heart will bleed, +and the whole life of the man seem to be utterly +dissolved. This ordeal must be endured: +it may come at the first step of the perilous +ladder which leads to the path of life: it may +not come until the last. But, O disciple, remember +that it has to be endured, and fasten +the energies of your soul upon the task. Live +neither in the present nor the future, but in +the eternal. This giant weed cannot flower +there: this blot upon existence is wiped out by +the very atmosphere of eternal thought. + +5. Kill out all sense of separateness. + +6. Kill out desire for sensation. + +7. Kill out the hunger for growth. + +8. Yet stand alone and isolated, because +nothing that is imbodied, nothing that is conscious +of separation, nothing that is out of the +eternal, can aid you. Learn from sensation and +observe it, because only so can you commence +the science of self-knowledge, and plant your +foot on the first step of the ladder. Grow as +the flower grows, unconsciously, but eagerly +anxious to open its soul to the air. So must you +press forward to open your soul to the eternal. +But it must be the eternal that draws forth your +strength and beauty, not desire of growth. For +in the one case you develop in the luxuriance of +purity, in the other you harden by the forcible +passion for personal stature. + +9. Desire only that which is within you. + +10. Desire only that which is beyond you. + +11. Desire only that which is unattainable. + +12. For within you is the light of the world--the +only light that can be shed upon the +Path. If you are unable to perceive it within +you, it is useless to look for it elsewhere. It is +beyond you; because when you reach it you +have lost yourself. It is unattainable, because it +for ever recedes. You will enter the light, but +you will never touch the flame. + +13. Desire power ardently. + +14. Desire peace fervently. + +15. Desire possessions above all. + +16. But those possessions must belong to +the pure soul only, and be possessed therefore +by all pure souls equally, and thus be the +especial property of the whole only when +united. Hunger for such possessions as can be +held by the pure soul; that you may accumulate +wealth for that united spirit of life, which is +your only true self. The peace you shall desire +is that sacred peace which nothing can disturb, +and in which the soul grows as does the holy +flower upon the still lagoons. And that power +which the disciple shall covet is that which +shall make him appear as nothing in the eyes +of men. + + 17. Seek out the way. + + 18. Seek the way by retreating within. + + 19. Seek the way by advancing boldly without. + + 20. Seek it not by any one road. To each +temperament there is one road which seems the +most desirable. But the way is not found by devotion +alone, by religious contemplation alone, +by ardent progress, by self-sacrificing labor, by +studious observation of life. None alone can +take the disciple more than one step onward. +All steps are necessary to make up the ladder. +The vices of men become steps in the ladder, +one by one, as they are surmounted. The virtues +of man are steps indeed, necessary--not +by any means to be dispensed with. Yet, +though they create a fair atmosphere and a +happy future, they are useless if they stand +alone. The whole nature of man must be used +wisely by the one who desires to enter the way. +Each man is to himself absolutely the way, the +truth, and the life. But he is only so when he +grasps his whole individuality firmly, and, by +the force of his awakened spiritual will, recognises +this individuality as not himself, but that +thing which he has with pain created for his +own use, and by means of which he purposes, +as his growth slowly develops his intelligence, +to reach to the life beyond individuality. When +he knows that for this his wonderful complex +separated life exists, then, indeed, and then +only, he is upon the way. Seek it by plunging +into the mysterious and glorious depths of your +own inmost being. Seek it by testing, all experience, +by utilizing the senses in order to +understand the growth and meaning of individuality, +and the beauty and obscurity of those +other divine fragments which are struggling +side by side with you, and form the race to +which you belong. Seek it by study of the laws +of being, the laws of nature, the laws of the +supernatural: and seek it by making the profound +obeisance of the soul to the dim star that +burns within. Steadily, as you watch and worship, +its light will grow stronger. Then you +may know you have found the beginning of +the way. And when you have found the end its +light will suddenly become the infinite light. + +21. Look for the flower to bloom in the +silence that follows the storm not till then. + +It shall grow, it will shoot up, it will make +branches and leaves and form buds, while the +storm continues, while the battle lasts. But +not till the whole personality of the man is dissolved +and melted--not until it is held by the +divine fragment which has created it, as a mere +subject for grave experiment and experience--not +until the whole nature has yielded and +become subject unto its higher self, can the +bloom open. Then will come a calm such as +comes in a tropical country after the heavy rain, +when Nature works so swiftly that one may see +her action. Such a calm will come to the harassed +spirit. And in the deep silence the mysterious +event will occur which will prove that +the way has been found. Call it by what name +you will, it is a voice that speaks where there +is none to speak--it is a messenger that comes, +a messenger without form or substance; or it is +the flower of the soul that has opened. It cannot +be described by any metaphor. But it can +be felt after, looked for, and desired, even +amid the raging of the storm. The silence may +last a moment of time or it may last a thousand +years. But it will end. Yet you will carry its +strength with you. Again and again the battle +must be fought and won. It is only for an interval +that Nature can be still. + +These written above are the first of the +rules which are written on the walls of the +Hall of Learning. Those that ask shall have. +Those that desire to read shall read. Those who +desire to learn shall learn. + +PEACE BE WITH YOU. + + + + +II + + +Out of the silence that is peace a resonant +voice shall arise. And this voice will say, It is +not well; thou hast reaped, now thou must sow. +And knowing this voice to be the silence itself +thou wilt obey. + +Thou who art now a disciple, able to stand, +able to hear, able to see, able to speak, who +hast conquered desire and attained to self-knowledge, +who hast seen thy soul in its bloom +and recognised it, and heard the voice of the +silence, go thou to the Hall of Learning and +read what is written there for thee. + + 1. Stand aside in the coming battle, and +though thou fightest be not thou the warrior. + + 2. Look for the warrior and let him fight in +thee. + + 3. Take his orders for battle and obey +them. + + 4. Obey him not as though he were a general, +but as though he were thyself, and his +spoken words were the utterance of thy secret +desires; for he is thyself, yet infinitely wiser +and stronger than thyself. Look for him, else +in the fever and hurry of the fight thou mayest +pass him; and he will not know thee unless +thou knowest him. If thy cry meet his listening +ear, then will he fight in thee and fill the +dull void within. And if this is so, then canst +thou go through the fight cool and unwearied, +standing aside and letting him battle for thee. +Then it will be impossible for thee to strike +one blow amiss. But if thou look not for him, +if thou pass him by, then there is no safeguard +for thee. Thy brain will reel, thy heart grow +uncertain, and in the dust of the battlefield thy +sight and senses will fail, and thou wilt not +know thy friends from thy enemies. + +He is thyself, yet thou art but finite and +liable to error. He is eternal and is sure. He +is eternal truth. When once he has entered +thee and become thy warrior, he will never utterly +desert thee, and at the day of the great +peace he will become one with thee. + +5. Listen to the song of life. + +6. Store in your memory the melody you +hear. + +7. Learn from it the lesson of harmony. + +8. You can stand upright now, firm as a +rock amid the turmoil, obeying the warrior +who is thyself and thy king. Unconcerned in +the battle save to do his bidding, having no +longer any care as to the result of the battle, for +one thing only is important, that the warrior +shall win, and you know he is incapable of defeat--standing +thus, cool and awakened, use +the hearing you have acquired by pain and by +the destruction of pain. Only fragments of +the great song come to your ears while yet you +are but man. But if you listen to it, remember +it faithfully, so that none which has reached +you is lost, and endeavor to learn from it the +meaning of the mystery which surrounds you. +In time you will need no teacher. For as the +individual has voice, so has that in which the +individual exists. Life itself has speech and is +never silent. And its utterance is not, as you +that are deaf may suppose, a cry: it is a song. +Learn from it that you are part of the harmony; +learn from it to obey the laws of the +harmony. + +9. Regard earnestly all the life that surrounds +you. + +10. Learn to look intelligently into the +hearts of men. + +11. Regard most earnestly your own heart. + +12. For through your own heart comes the +one light which can illuminate life and make it +clear to your eyes. + +Study the hearts of men, that you may know +what is that world in which you live and of +which you will to be a part. Regard the constantly +changing and moving life which surrounds +you, for it is formed by the hearts of +men; and as you learn to understand their +constitution and meaning, you will by degrees +be able to read the larger word of life. + +13. Speech comes only with knowledge. Attain +to knowledge and you will attain to +speech. + +14. Having obtained the use of the inner +senses, having conquered the desires of the +outer senses, having conquered the desires of +the individual soul, and having obtained knowledge, +prepare now, O disciple, to enter upon +the way in reality. The path is found: make +yourself ready to tread it. + +15. Inquire of the earth, the air, and the +water, of the secrets they hold for you. The +development of your inner senses will enable +you to do this. + +16. Inquire of the holy ones of the earth +of the secrets they hold for you. The conquering +of the desires of the outer senses will +give you the right to do this. + +17. Inquire of the inmost, the one, of its +final secret which it holds for you through +the ages. + +The great and difficult victory, the conquering +of the desires of the individual soul, is a +work of ages; therefore expect not to obtain +its reward until ages of experience have been +accumulated. When the time of learning this +seventeenth rule is reached, man is on the +threshold of becoming more than man. + +18. The knowledge which is now yours is +only yours because your soul has become one +with all pure souls and with the inmost. It is +a trust vested in you by the Most High. Betray +it, misuse your knowledge, or neglect it, and +it is possible even now for you to fall from +the high estate you have attained. Great ones +fall back, even from the threshold, unable to +sustain the weight of their responsibility, unable +to pass on. Therefore look forward always +with awe and trembling to this moment, and +be prepared for the battle. + +19. It is written that for him who is on the +threshold of divinity no law can be framed, no +guide can exist. Yet to enlighten the disciple, +the final struggle may be thus expressed: + +Hold fast to that which has neither substance +nor existence. + +20. Listen only to the voice which is soundless. + +21. Look only on that which is invisible +alike to the inner and the outer sense. + +PEACE BE WITH YOU. + + + + + +NOTES + + +_Note on Rule 1._--Ambition is the first +curse: the great tempter of the man who is +rising above his fellows. It is the simplest +form of looking for reward. Men of intelligence +and power are led away from their +higher possibilities by it continually. Yet it is +a necessary teacher. Its results turn to dust +and ashes in the mouth; like death and +estrangement it shows the man at last that to +work for self is to work for disappointment. +But though this first rule seems so simple and +easy, do not quickly pass it by. For these +vices of the ordinary man pass through a subtle +transformation and reappear with changed +aspect in the heart of the disciple. It is easy +to say, I will not be ambitious: it is not so +easy to say, when the Master reads my heart +he will find it clean utterly. The pure artist +who works for the love of his work is sometimes +more firmly planted on the right road +than the occultist, who fancies he has removed +his interest from self, but who has in reality +only enlarged the limits of experience and +desire, and transferred his interest to the things +which concern his larger span of life. The +same principle applies to the other two seemingly +simple rules. Linger over them and do +not let yourself be easily deceived by your own +heart. For now, at the threshold, a mistake +can be corrected. But carry it on with you +and it will grow and come to fruition, or else +you must suffer bitterly in its destruction. + + +_Note on Rule 5_.--Do not fancy you can +stand aside from the bad man or the foolish +man. They are yourself, though in a less +degree than your friend or your master. But +if you allow the idea of separateness from any +evil thing or person to grow up within you, +by so doing you create Karma, which will +bind you to that thing or person till your soul +recognises that it cannot be isolated. Remember +that the sin and shame of the world are +your sin and shame; for you are a part of it; +your Karma is inextricably interwoven with +the great Karma. And before you can attain +knowledge you must have passed through all +places, foul and clean alike. Therefore, remember +that the soiled garment you shrink +from touching may have been yours yesterday, +may be yours tomorrow. And if you turn +with horror from it, when it is flung upon +your shoulders, it will cling the more closely +to you. The self-righteous man makes for +himself a bed of mire. Abstain because it is +right to abstain--not that yourself shall be +kept clean. + +_Note on Rule 17._--These four words +seem, perhaps, too slight to stand alone. The +disciple may say, Should I study these thoughts +at all did I not seek out the way? Yet do +not pass on hastily. Pause and consider awhile. +Is it the way you desire, or is it that there +is a dim perspective in your visions of great +heights to be scaled by yourself, of a great +future for you to compass? Be warned. The +way is to be sought for its own sake, not with +regard to your feet that shall tread it. + +There is a correspondence between this rule +and the 17th of the 2nd series. When after +ages of struggle and many victories the final +battle is won, the final secret demanded, then +you are prepared for a further path. When +the final secret of this great lesson is told, in +it is opened the mystery of the new way--a +path which leads out of all human experience, +and which is utterly beyond human perception +or imagination. At each of these points +it is needful to pause long and consider well. +At each of these points it is necessary to be +sure that the way is chosen for its own sake. +The way and the truth come first, then follows +the life. + +_Note on Rule 20_.--Seek it by testing all +experience, and remember that when I say this +I do not say, Yield to the seductions of sense +in order to know it. Before you have become +an occultist you may do this; but not afterwards. +When you have chosen and entered +the path you cannot yield to these seductions +without shame. Yet you can experience them +without horror: can weigh, observe and test +them, and wait with the patience of confidence +for the hour when they shall affect you no +longer. But do not condemn the man that +yields; stretch out your hand to him as a +brother pilgrim whose feet have become heavy +with mire. Remember, O disciple, that great +though the gulf may be between the good man +and the sinner, it is greater between the good +man and the man who has attained knowledge; +it is immeasurable between the good man and +the one on the threshold of divinity. Therefore +be wary lest too soon you fancy yourself +a thing apart from the mass. When you have +found the beginning of the way the star of +your soul will show its light; and by that light +you will perceive how great is the darkness +in which it burns. Mind, heart, brain, all are +obscure and dark until the first great battle +has been won. Be not appalled and terrified +by this sight; keep your eyes fixed on the small +light and it will grow. But let the darkness +within help you to understand the helplessness +of those who have seen no light, whose souls +are in profound gloom. Blame them not, shrink +not from them, but try to lift a little of the +heavy Karma of the world; give your aid to +the few strong hands that hold back the +powers of darkness from obtaining complete +victory. Then do you enter into a partnership +of joy, which brings indeed terrible toil and +profound sadness, but also a great and ever-increasing +delight. + +_Note on Rule 21._--The opening of the +bloom is the glorious moment when perception +awakes: with it comes confidence, knowledge, +certainty. The pause of the soul is the moment +of wonder, and the next moment of satisfaction, +that is the silence. + +Know, O disciple, that those who have +passed through the silence, and felt its peace +and retained its strength, they long that you +shall pass through it also. Therefore, in the +Hall of Learning, when he is capable of entering +there, the disciple will always find his +master. + +Those that ask shall have. But though the +ordinary man asks perpetually, his voice is not +heard. For he asks with his mind only; and +the voice of the mind is only heard on that +plane on which the mind acts. Therefore, not +until the first twenty-one rules are past do I +say those that ask shall have. + +To read, in the occult sense, is to read with +the eyes of the spirit. To ask is to feel the +hunger within--the yearning of spiritual +aspiration. To be able to read means having +obtained the power in a small degree of gratifying +that hunger. When the disciple is ready +to learn, then he is accepted, acknowledged, +recognised. It must be so, for he has lit his +lamp, and it cannot be hidden. But to learn +is impossible until the first great battle has +been won. The mind may recognise truth, but +the spirit cannot receive it. Once having passed +through the storm and attained the peace, it is +then always possible to learn, even though the +disciple waver, hesitate, and turn aside. The +voice of the silence remains within him, and +though he leave the path utterly, yet one day +it will resound and rend him asunder and +separate his passions from his divine possibilities. +Then with pain and desperate cries +from the deserted lower self he will return. + +Therefore I say, Peace be with you. My +peace I give unto you can only be said by the +Master to the beloved disciples who are as +himself. There are even some amongst those +who are ignorant of the Eastern wisdom to +whom this can be said, and to whom it can +daily be said with more completeness. + +Regard the three truths. They are equal. + + + + + +PART II + + +_Note on Sect. II_--To be able to stand is +to have confidence; to be able to hear is to +have opened the doors of the soul; to be able +to see is to have attained perception; to be +able to speak is to have attained the power +of helping others; to have conquered desire +is to have learned how to use and control the +self; to have attained to self-knowledge is to +have retreated to the inner fortress from +whence the personal man can be viewed with +impartiality; to have seen thy soul in its bloom +is to have obtained a momentary glimpse in +thyself of the transfiguration which shall eventually +make thee more than man; to recognise +is to achieve the great task of gazing upon the +blazing light without dropping the eyes and +not falling back in terror, as though before +some ghastly phantom. This happens to some, +and so when the victory is all but won it is lost; +to hear the voice of the silence is to understand +that from within comes the only true +guidance; to go to the Hall of Learning is to +enter the state in which learning becomes possible. +Then will many words be written there +for thee, and written in fiery letters for thee +easily to read. For when the disciple is ready +the Master is ready also. + + +_Note on Rule 5_.--Look for it and listen to +it first in your own heart. At first you may +say it is not there; when I search I find only +discord. Look deeper. If again you are disappointed, +pause and look deeper again. There +is a natural melody, an obscure fount in every +human heart. It may be hidden over and utterly +concealed and silenced--but it is there. +At the very base of your nature you will find +faith, hope, and love. He that chooses evil +refuses to look within himself, shuts his ears to +the melody of his heart, as he blinds his eyes +to the light of his soul. He does this because +he finds it easier to live in desires. But underneath +all life is the strong current that cannot +be checked; the great waters are there in reality. +Find them, and you will perceive that none, +not the most wretched of creatures, but is a +part of it, however he blind himself to the +fact and build up for himself a phantasmal +outer form of horror. In that sense it is that I +say to you--All those beings among whom +you struggle on are fragments of the Divine. +And so deceptive is the illusion in which you +live, that it is hard to guess where you will first +detect the sweet voice in the hearts of others. + +But know that it is certainly within yourself. +Look for it there, and once having heard it, you +will more readily recognise it around you. + +_Note on Rule 10._--From an absolutely impersonal +point of view, otherwise your sight is +colored. Therefore impersonality must first be +understood. + +Intelligence is impartial: no man is your +enemy: no man is your friend. All alike are +your teachers. Your enemy becomes a mystery +that must be solved, even though it take ages: +for man must be understood. Your friend becomes +a part of yourself, an extension of yourself, +a riddle hard to read. Only one thing is +more difficult to know--your own heart. Not +until the bonds of personality are loosed, can +that profound mystery of self begin to be seen. +Not till you stand aside from it will it in any +way reveal itself to your understanding. Then, +and not till then, can you grasp and guide it. +Then, and not till then, can you use all its +powers, and devote them to a worthy service. + +_Note on Rule 13._--It is impossible to help +others till you have obtained some certainty +of your own. When you have learned the first +21 rules and have entered the Hall of Learning +with your powers developed and sense unchained, +then you will find there is a fount +within you from which speech will arise. + +After the 13th rule I can add no words to +what is already written. + +My peace I give unto you. [Greek: D] + +These notes are written only for those to +whom I give my peace; those who can read +what I have written with the inner as well as +the outer sense. + + + + +COMMENTS + +I + + +"BEFORE THE EYES CAN SEE THEY MUST BE +INCAPABLE OF TEARS." + + +It should be very clearly remembered by +all readers of this volume that it is a book +which may appear to have some little philosophy +in it, but very little sense, to those who +believe it to be written in ordinary English. +To the many, who read in this manner it will +be--not caviare so much as olives strong of +their salt. Be warned and read but a little in +this way. + +There is another way of reading, which is, +indeed, the only one of any use with many +authors. It is reading, not between the lines +but within the words. In fact, it is deciphering +a profound cipher. All alchemical works +are written in the cipher of which I speak; +it has been used by the great philosophers and +poets of all time. It is used systematically by +the adepts in life and knowledge, who, seemingly +giving out their deepest wisdom, hide in +the very words which frame it its actual mystery. +They cannot do more. There is a law of +nature which insists that a man shall read these +mysteries for himself. By no other method can +he obtain them. A man who desires to live +must eat his food himself: this is the simple law +of nature--which applies also to the higher +life. A man who would live and act in it cannot +be fed like a babe with a spoon; he must +eat for himself. + +I propose to put into new and sometimes +plainer language parts of "Light on the Path"; +but whether this effort of mine will really be +any interpretation I cannot say. To a deaf +and dumb man, a truth is made no more intelligible +if, in order to make it so, some misguided +linguist translates the words in which +it is couched into every living or dead language, +and shouts these different phrases in his ear. +But for those who are not deaf and dumb one +language is generally easier than the rest; and +it is to such as these I address myself. + +The very first aphorisms of "Light on the +Path," included under Number I, have, I know +well, remained sealed as to their inner meaning +to many who have otherwise followed the purpose +of the book. + +There are four proven and certain truths +with regard to the entrance to occultism. The +Gates of Gold bar that threshold; yet there are +some who pass those gates and discover the +sublime and illimitable beyond. In the far +spaces of Time all will pass those gates. But +I am one who wish that Time, the great deluder, +were not so over-masterful. To those +who know and love him I have no word to +say; but to the others--and there are not so +very few as some may fancy--to whom the +passage of Time is as the stroke of a sledge-hammer, +and the sense of Space like the bars +of an iron cage, I will translate and re-translate +until they understand fully. + +The four truths written on the first page +of "Light on the Path," refer to the trial initiation +of the would-be occultist. Until he has +passed it, he cannot even reach to the latch of +the gate which admits to knowledge. Knowledge +is man's greatest inheritance; why, then, +should he not attempt to reach it by every +possible road? The laboratory is not the only +ground for experiment; _science_, we must remember, +is derived from _sciens_, present participle +of _scire_, "to know,"--its origin is similar +to that of the word "discern," to "ken." +Science does not therefore deal only with +matter, no, not even its subtlest and obscurest +forms. Such an idea is born merely of the idle +spirit of the age. Science is a word which +covers all forms of knowledge. It is exceedingly +interesting to hear what chemists discover, +and to see them finding their way through the +densities of matter to its finer forms; but there +are other kinds of knowledge than this, and it +is not every one who restricts his (strictly scientific) +desire for knowledge to experiments +which are capable of being tested by the physical +senses. + +Everyone who is not a dullard, or a man +stupefied by some predominant vice, has +guessed or even perhaps discovered with some +certainty, that there are subtle senses lying +within the physical senses. There is nothing at +all extraordinary in this; if we took the trouble +to call Nature into the witness box we should +find that everything which is perceptible to the +ordinary sight, has something even more important +than itself hidden within it; the microscope +has opened a world to us, but within +those encasements which the microscope reveals, +lies a mystery which no machinery can +probe. + +The whole world is animated and lit, down +to its most material shapes, by a world within +it. This inner world is called Astral by some +people, and it is as good a word as any other, +though it merely means starry; but the stars, as +Locke pointed out, are luminous bodies which +give light of themselves. This quality is characteristic +of the life which lies within matter; +for those who see it, need no lamp to see it by. +The word star, moreover, is derived from the +Anglo-Saxon "stir-an," to steer, to stir, to move, +and undeniably it is the inner life which is +master of the outer, just as a man's brain +guides the movements of his lips. So that although +Astral is no very excellent word in +itself, I am content to use it for my present +purpose. + +The whole of "Light on the Path" is written +in an astral cipher and can therefore only be +deciphered by one who reads astrally. And +its teaching is chiefly directed towards the cultivation +and development of the astral life. +Until the first step has been taken in this development, +the swift knowledge, which is called +intuition with certainty, is impossible to man. +And this positive and certain intuition is the +only form of knowledge which enables a man +to work rapidly or reach his true and high +estate, within the limit of his conscious effort. +To obtain knowledge by experiment is too +tedious a method for those who aspire to accomplish +real work; he who gets it by certain +intuition, lays hands on its various forms with +supreme rapidity, by fierce effort of will; as a +determined workman grasps his tools, indifferent +to their weight or any other difficulty +which may stand in his way. He does not stay +for each to be tested--he uses such as he sees +are fittest. + +All the rules contained in "Light on the +Path," are written for all disciples, but only +for disciples---those who "take knowledge." +To none else but the student in this school are +its laws of any use or interest. + +To all who are interested seriously in Occultism, +I say first--take knowledge. To him +who hath shall be given. It is useless to wait for +it. The womb of Time will close before you, +and in later days you will remain unborn, without +power. I therefore say to those who have +any hunger or thirst for knowledge, attend to +these rules. + +They are none of my handicraft or invention. +They are merely the phrasing of laws in +super-nature, the putting into words truths as +absolute in their own sphere, as those laws +which govern the conduct of the earth and its +atmosphere. + +The senses spoken of in these four statements +are the astral, or inner senses. + +No man desires to see that light which +illumines the spaceless soul until pain and sorrow +and despair have driven him away from +the life of ordinary humanity. First he wears +out pleasure; then he wears out pain--till, at +last, his eyes become incapable of tears. + +This is a truism, although I know perfectly +well that it will meet with a vehement denial +from many who are in sympathy with thoughts +which spring from the inner life. _To see_ with +the astral sense of sight is a form of activity +which it is difficult for us to understand immediately. +The scientist knows very well what a +miracle is achieved by each child that is born +into the world, when it first conquers its eyesight +and compels it to obey its brain. An equal +miracle is performed with each sense certainly, +but this ordering of sight is perhaps the most +stupendous effort. Yet the child does it almost +unconsciously, by force of the powerful heredity +of habit. No one now is aware that he +has ever done it at all; just as we cannot recollect +the individual movements which enabled +us to walk up a hill a year ago. This arises +from the fact that we move and live and have +our being in matter. Our knowledge of it has +become intuitive. + +With our astral life it is very much otherwise. +For long ages past, man has paid very +little attention to it--so little, that he has +practically lost the use of his senses. It is true, +that in every civilization the star arises, and +man confesses, with more or less of folly and +confusion, that he knows himself to be. But +most often he denies it, and in being a materialist +becomes that strange thing, a being +which cannot see its own light, a thing of life +which will not live, an astral animal which has +eyes, and ears, and speech, and power, yet +will use none of these gifts. This is the case, +and the habit of ignorance has become so confirmed, +that now none will see with the inner +vision till agony has made the physical eyes not +only unseeing, but without tears--the moisture +of life. To be incapable of tears is to have +faced and conquered the simple human nature, +and to have attained an equilibrium which cannot +be shaken by personal emotions. It does +not imply any hardness of heart, or any indifference. +It does not imply the exhaustion of +sorrow, when the suffering soul seems powerless +to suffer acutely any longer; it does not +mean the deadness of old age, when emotion is +becoming dull because the strings which vibrate +to it are wearing out. None of these conditions +are fit for a disciple, and if any one of +them exist in him it must be overcome before +the path can be entered upon. Hardness of +heart belongs to the selfish man, the egotist, to +whom the gate is forever closed. Indifference +belongs to the fool and the false philosopher; +those whose lukewarmness makes them mere +puppets, not strong enough to face the realities +of existence. When pain or sorrow has worn +out the keenness of suffering, the result is a +lethargy not unlike that which accompanies old +age, as it is usually experienced by men and +women. Such a condition makes the entrance +to the path impossible, because the first step is +one of difficulty and needs a strong man, full +of psychic and physical vigor, to attempt it. + +It is a truth, that, as Edgar Allan Poe said, +the eyes are the windows for the soul, the windows +of that haunted palace in which it dwells. +This is the very nearest interpretation into ordinary +language of the meaning of the text. If +grief, dismay, disappointment or pleasure, can +shake the soul so that it loses its fixed hold on +the calm spirit which inspires it, and the moisture +of life breaks forth, drowning knowledge +in sensation, then all is blurred, the windows +are darkened, the light is useless. This is as +literal a fact as that if a man, at the edge of a +precipice, loses his nerve through some sudden +emotion he will certainly fall. The poise of the +body, the balance, must be preserved, not only +in dangerous places, but even on the level +ground, and with all the assistance Nature +gives us by the law of gravitation. So it is with +the soul, it is the link between the outer body +and the starry spirit beyond; the divine spark +dwells in the still place where no convulsion of +Nature can shake the air; this is so always. But +the soul may lose its hold on that, its knowledge +of it, even though these two are part +of one whole; and it is by emotion, by +sensation, that this hold is loosed. To suffer +either pleasure or pain, causes a vivid vibration +which is, to the consciousness of man, +life. Now this sensibility does not lessen when +the disciple enters upon his training; it +increases. It is the first test of his strength; +he must suffer, must enjoy or endure, more +keenly than other men, while yet he has taken +on him a duty which does not exist for other +men, that of not allowing his suffering to shake +him from his fixed purpose. He has, in fact, +at the first step to take himself steadily in +hand and put the bit into his own mouth; +no one else can do it for him. + +The first four aphorisms of "Light on the +Path," refer entirely to astral development. +This development must be accomplished to a +certain extent--that is to say it must be fully +entered upon--before the remainder of the +book is really intelligible except to the intellect; +in fact, before it can be read as a practical, +not a metaphysical treatise. + +In one of the great mystic Brotherhoods, +there are four ceremonies, that take place early +in the year, which practically illustrate and +elucidate these aphorisms. They are ceremonies +in which only novices take part, for they +are simply services of the threshold. But it +will show how serious a thing it is to become +a disciple, when it is understood that these +are all ceremonies of sacrifice. The first one +is this of which I have been speaking. The +keenest enjoyment, the bitterest pain, the +anguish of loss and despair, are brought to +bear on the trembling soul, which has not yet +found light in the darkness, which is helpless +as a blind man is, and until these shocks can +be endured without loss of equilibrium the +astral senses must remain sealed. This is the +merciful law. The "medium," or "spiritualist," +who rushes into the psychic world without +preparation, is a law-breaker, a breaker of +the laws of super-nature. Those who break +Nature's laws lose their physical health; those +who break the laws of the inner life, lose their +psychic health. "Mediums" become mad, suicides, +miserable creatures devoid of moral +sense; and often end as unbelievers, doubters +even of that which their own eyes have seen. +The disciple is compelled to become his own +master before he adventures on this perilous +path, and attempts to face those beings who +live and work in the astral world, and whom +we call masters, because of their great knowledge +and their ability to control not only +themselves but the forces around them. + +The condition of the soul when it lives for +the life of sensation as distinguished from that +of knowledge, is vibratory or oscillating, as +distinguished from fixed. That is the nearest +literal representation of the fact; but it is only +literal to the intellect, not to the intuition. +For this part of man's consciousness a different +vocabulary is needed. The idea of "fixed" +might perhaps be transposed into that of "at +home." In sensation no permanent home can +be found, because change is the law of this +vibratory existence. That fact is the first one +which must be learned by the disciple. It is +useless to pause and weep for a scene in a +kaleidoscope which has passed. + +It is a very well-known fact, one with which +Bulwer Lytton dealt with great power, that +an intolerable sadness is the very first experience +of the neophyte in Occultism. A sense of +blankness falls upon him which makes the +world a waste, and life a vain exertion. This +follows his first serious contemplation of the +abstract. In gazing, or even in attempting to +gaze, on the ineffable mystery of his own higher +nature, he himself causes the initial trial to +fall on him. The oscillation between pleasure +and pain ceases for--perhaps an instant of +time; but that is enough to have cut him loose +from his fast moorings in the world of sensation. +He has experienced, however briefly, the +greater life; and he goes on with ordinary +existence weighted by a sense of unreality, of +blank, of horrid negation. This was the nightmare +which visited Bulwer Lytton's neophyte +in "Zanoni"; and even Zanoni himself, who +had learned great truths, and been entrusted +with great powers, had not actually passed the +threshold where fear and hope, despair and +joy seem at one moment absolute realities, at +the next mere forms of fancy. + +This initial trial is often brought on us by +life itself. For life is after all, the great +teacher. We return to study it, after we have +acquired power over it, just as the master in +chemistry learns more in the laboratory than +his pupil does. There are persons so near the +door of knowledge that life itself prepares +them for it, and no individual hand has to +invoke the hideous guardian of the entrance. +These must naturally be keen and powerful +organizations, capable of the most vivid pleasure; +then pain comes and fills its great duty. +The most intense forms of suffering fall on +such a nature, till at last it arouses from its +stupor of consciousness, and by the force of its +internal vitality steps over the threshold into a +place of peace. Then the vibration of life loses +its power of tyranny. The sensitive nature +must suffer still; but the soul has freed itself +and stands aloof, guiding the life towards its +greatness. Those who are the subjects of Time, +and go slowly through all his spaces, live on +through a long drawn series of sensations, and +suffer a constant mingling of pleasure and of +pain. They do not dare to take the snake of +self in a steady grasp and conquer it, so becoming +divine; but prefer to go on fretting through +divers experiences, suffering blows from the +opposing forces. + +When one of these subjects of Time decides +to enter on the path of Occultism, it is this +which is his first task. If life has not taught +it to him, if he is not strong enough to teach +himself and if he has power enough to demand +the help of a master, then this fearful trial, +depicted in Zanoni, is put upon him. The +oscillation in which he lives, is for an instant +stilled; and he has to survive the shock of +facing what seems to him at first sight as the +abyss of nothingness. Not till he has learned +to dwell in this abyss, and has found its peace, +is it possible for his eyes to have become +incapable of tears. + + + + +II + +"BEFORE THE EAR CAN HEAR, IT MUST +HAVE LOST ITS SENSITIVENESS." + + +The first four rules of "Light on the Path" +are, undoubtedly, curious though the statement +may seem, the most important in the whole +book, save one only. Why they are so important +is that they contain the vital law, the very +creative essence of the astral man. And it is +only in the astral (or self-illuminated) consciousness +that the rules which follow them +have any living meaning. Once attain to the +use of the astral senses and it becomes a matter +of course that one commences to use them; +and the later rules are but guidance in their +use. When I speak like this I mean, naturally, +that the first four rules are the ones which are +of importance and interest to those who read +them in print upon a page. When they are +engraved on a man's heart and on his life, unmistakably +then the rules become not merely +interesting, or extraordinary, metaphysical +statements, but actual facts in life which have +to be grasped and experienced. + +The four rules stand written in the great +chamber of every actual lodge of a living +Brotherhood. Whether the man is about to +sell his soul to the devil, like Faust; whether +he is to be worsted in the battle, like Hamlet; +or whether he is to pass on within the precincts; +in any case these words are for him. +The man can choose between virtue and vice, +but not until he is a man; a babe or a wild +animal cannot so choose. Thus with the disciple, +he must first become a disciple before +he can even see the paths to choose between. +This effort of creating himself as a disciple, +the re-birth, he must do for himself without +any teacher. Until the four rules are learned +no teacher can be of any use to him; and that +is why "the Masters" are referred to in the +way they are. No real masters, whether adepts +in power, in love, or in blackness, can affect a +man till these four rules are passed. + +Tears, as I have said, may be called the +moisture of life. The soul must have laid aside +the emotions of humanity, must have secured +a balance which cannot be shaken by misfortune, +before its eyes can open upon the +super-human world. + +The voice of the Masters is always in the +world; but only those hear it whose ears are +no longer receptive of the sounds which affect +the personal life. Laughter no longer lightens +the heart, anger may no longer enrage it, tender +words bring it no balm. For that within, +to which the ears are as an outer gateway, is +an unshaken place of peace in itself which no +person can disturb. + +As the eyes are the windows of the soul, so +are the ears its gateways or doors. Through +them comes knowledge of the confusion of the +world. The great ones who have conquered +life, who have become more than disciples, +stand at peace and undisturbed amid the +vibration and kaleidoscopic movement of +humanity. They hold within themselves a certain +knowledge, as well as a perfect peace; and +thus they are not roused or excited by the +partial and erroneous fragments of information +which are brought to their ears by the changing +voices of those around them. When I speak +of knowledge, I mean intuitive knowledge. +This certain information can never be obtained +by hard work, or by experiment; for these +methods are only applicable to matter, and +matter is in itself a perfectly uncertain substance, +continually affected by change. The +most absolute and universal laws of natural +and physical life, as understood by the scientist, +will pass away when the life of this universe +has passed away, and only its soul is left in +the silence. What then will be the value of +the knowledge of its laws acquired by industry +and observation? I pray that no reader or +critic will imagine that by what I have said I +intend to depreciate or disparage acquired +knowledge, or the work of scientists. On the +contrary, I hold that scientific men are the +pioneers of modern thought. The days of literature +and of art, when poets and sculptors saw +the divine light, and put it into their own +great language--these days lie buried in the +long past with the ante-Phidian sculptors and +the pre-Homeric poets. The mysteries no longer +rule the world of thought and beauty; human +life is the governing power, not that which +lies beyond it. But the scientific workers are +progressing, not so much by their own will as +by sheer force of circumstances, towards the +far line which divides things interpretable from +things uninterpretable. Every fresh discovery +drives them a step onward. Therefore do I +very highly esteem the knowledge obtained by +work and experiment. + +But intuitive knowledge is an entirely different +thing. It is not acquired in any way, but +is, so to speak, a faculty of the soul; not the +animal soul, that which becomes a ghost after +death, when lust or liking or the memory of +ill deeds holds it to the neighborhood of +human beings, but the divine soul which +animates all the external forms of the individualized +being. + +This is, of course, a faculty which indwells +in that soul, which is inherent. The would-be +disciple has to arouse himself to the consciousness +of it by a fierce and resolute and +indomitable effort of will. I use the word +indomitable for a special reason. Only he who +is untameable, who cannot be dominated, who +knows he has to play the lord over men, over +facts, over all things save his own divinity +can arouse this faculty. "With faith all things, +are possible." The skeptical laugh at faith and +pride themselves on its absence from their own +minds. The truth is that faith is a great +engine, an enormous power, which in fact can +accomplish all things. For it is the convenant +or engagement between man's divine part and +his lesser self. + +The use of this engine is quite necessary +in order to obtain intuitive knowledge; for +unless a man believes such knowledge exists +within himself how can he claim and use it? + +Without it he is more helpless than any +drift-wood or wreckage on the great tides of +the ocean. They are cast hither and thither +indeed; so may a man be by the chances of +fortune. But such adventures are purely +external and of very small account. A slave +may be dragged through the streets in chains, +and yet retain the quiet soul of a philosopher, +as was well seen in the person of Epictetus. A +man may have every worldly prize in his possession, +and stand absolute master of his +personal fate, to all appearance, and yet he +knows no peace, no certainty, because he is +shaken within himself by every tide of thought +that he touches on. And these changing tides +do not merely sweep the man bodily hither +and thither like drift-wood on the water; that +would be nothing. They enter into the gate-ways +of his soul, and wash over that soul and +make it blind and blank and void of all permanent +intelligence so that passing impressions +affect it. + +To make my meaning plainer I will use an +illustration. Take an author at his writing, a +painter at his canvas, a composer listening to +the melodies that dawn upon his glad imagination; +let any one of these workers pass his daily +hours by a wide window looking on a busy +street. The power of the animating life blinds +sight and hearing alike, and the great traffic of +the city goes by like nothing but a passing +pageant. But a man whose mind is empty, +whose day is objectless, sitting at that same +window, notes the passers-by and remembers +the faces that chance to please or interest him. +So it is with the mind in its relation to eternal +truth. If it no longer transmits its fluctuations, +its partial knowledge, its unreliable information +to the soul, then in the inner place of +peace already found when the first rule has +been learned--in that inner place there leaps +into flame the light of actual knowledge. Then +the ears begin to hear. Very dimly, very +faintly at first. And, indeed, so faint and +tender are these first indications of the commencement +of true actual life, that they are +sometimes pushed aside as mere fancies, mere +imaginings. + +But before these are capable of becoming +more than mere imaginings, the abyss of +nothingness has to be faced in another form. +The utter silence which can only come by closing +the ears to all transitory sounds comes as +a more appalling horror than even the formless +emptiness of space. Our only mental conception +of blank space is, I think, when reduced +to its barest element of thought, that of black +darkness. This is a great physical terror to +most persons, and when regarded as an eternal +and unchangeable fact, must mean to the mind +the idea of annihilation rather than anything +else. But it is the obliteration of one sense +only; and the sound of a voice may come and +bring comfort even in the profoundest darkness. +The disciple, having found his way into +this blackness, which is the fearful abyss, must +then so shut the gates of his soul that no +comforter can enter there nor any enemy. And +it is in making this second effort that the fact +of pain and pleasure being but one sensation +becomes recognisable by those who have before +been unable to perceive it. For when the solitude +of silence is reached the soul hungers so +fiercely and passionately for some sensation on +which to rest, that a painful one would be as +keenly welcomed as a pleasant one. When +this consciousness is reached the courageous +man by seizing and retaining it, may destroy +the "sensitiveness" at once. When the ear no +longer discriminates between that which is +pleasant or that which is painful, it will no +longer be affected by the voices of others. And +then it is safe and possible to open the doors +of the soul. + +"Sight" is the first effort, and the easiest, +because it is accomplished partly by an intellectual +effort. The intellect can conquer the +heart, as is well known in ordinary life. Therefore, +this preliminary step still lies within the +dominion of matter. But the second step allows +of no such assistance, nor of any material aid +whatever. Of course, I mean by material aid +the action of the brain, or emotions, or human +soul. In compelling the ears to listen only to +the eternal silence, the being we call man +becomes something which is no longer man. A +very superficial survey of the thousand and +one influences which are brought to bear on +us by others will show that this must be so. +A disciple will fulfil all the duties of his manhood; +but he will fulfil them according to +his own sense of right, and not according to +that of any person or body of persons. This +is a very evident result of following the creed +of knowledge instead of any of the blind +creeds. + +To obtain the pure silence necessary for the +disciple, the heart and emotions, the brain and +its intellectualisms, have to be put aside. Both +are but mechanisms, which will perish with the +span of man's life. It is the essence beyond, +that which is the motive power, and makes man +live, that is now compelled to rouse itself and +act. Now is the greatest hour of danger. In +the first trial men go mad with fear; of this +first trial Bulwer Lytton wrote. No novelist +has followed to the second trial, though some +of the poets have. Its subtlety and great +danger lies in the fact that in the measure of a +man's strength is the measure of his chance of +passing beyond it or coping with it at all. If +he has power enough to awaken that unaccustomed +part of himself, the supreme essence, +then has he power to lift the gates of gold, +then is he the true alchemist, in possession of +the elixir of life. + +It is at this point of experience that the +occultist becomes separated from all other men +and enters on to a life which is his own; on to +the path of individual accomplishment instead +of mere obedience to the genii which rule our +earth. This raising of himself into an individual +power does in reality identify him with +the nobler forces of life and make him one +with them. For they stand beyond the powers +of this earth and the laws of this universe. Here +lies man's only hope of success in the great +effort; to leap right away from his present +standpoint to his next and at once become an +intrinsic part of the divine power as he has +been an intrinsic part of the intellectual power, +of the great nature to which he belongs. He +stands always in advance of himself, if such +a contradiction can be understood. It is the +men who adhere to this position, who believe +in their innate power of progress, and that +of the whole race, who are the elder brothers, +the pioneers. Each man has to accomplish the +great leap for himself and without aid; yet it is +something of a staff to lean on to know that +others have gone on that road. It is possible +that they have been lost in the abyss; no +matter, they have had the courage to enter it. +Why I say that it is possible they have been +lost in the abyss is because of this fact, that one +who has passed through is unrecognisable until +the other and altogether new condition is attained +by both. It is unnecessary to enter upon +the subject of what that condition is at present. + +I only say this, that in the early state in +which man is entering upon the silence he loses +knowledge of his friends, of his lovers, of all +who have been near and dear to him; and also +loses sight of his teachers and of those who +have preceded him on his way. I explain this +because scarce one passes through without +bitter complaint. Could but the mind grasp +beforehand that the silence must be complete, +surely this complaint need not arise as a hindrance +on the path. Your teacher, or your +predecessor may hold your hand in his, and +give you the utmost sympathy the human heart +is capable of. But when the silence and the +darkness comes, you lose all knowledge of him; +you are alone and he cannot help you, not +because his power is gone, but because you +have invoked your great enemy. + +By your great enemy, I mean yourself. If +you have the power to face your own soul in +the darkness and silence, you will have conquered +the physical or animal self which dwells +in sensation only. + +This statement, I feel, will appear involved; +but in reality it is quite simple. Man, when +he has reached his fruition, and civilization is +at its height, stands between two fires. Could +he but claim his great inheritance, the encumbrance +of the mere animal life would fall away +from him without difficulty. But he does not +do this, and so the races of men flower and +then droop and die and decay off the face of +the earth, however splendid the bloom may +have been. And it is left to the individual to +make this great effort; to refuse to be terrified +by his greater nature, to refuse to be drawn +back by his lesser or more material self. Every +individual who accomplishes this is a redeemer +of the race. He may not blazon forth his deeds, +he may dwell in secret and silence; but it is +a fact that he forms a link between man and +his divine part; between the known and the +unknown; between the stir of the marketplace +and the stillness of the snow-capped Himalayas. +He has not to go about among men in +order to form this link; in the astral he _is_ that +link, and this fact makes him a being of +another order from the rest of mankind. Even +so early on the road towards knowledge, when +he has but taken the second step, he finds his +footing more certain, and becomes conscious +that he is a recognised part of a whole. + +This is one of the contradictions in life +which occur so constantly that they afford fuel +to the fiction writer. The occultist finds them +become much more marked as he endeavors to +live the life he has chosen. As he retreats within +himself and becomes self-dependent, he finds +himself more definitely becoming part of a +great tide of definite thought and feeling. +When he has learned the first lesson, conquered +the hunger of the heart, and refused +to live on the love of others, he finds himself +more capable of inspiring love. As he flings +life away it comes to him in a new form and +with a new meaning. The world has always +been a place with many contradictions in it, +to the man; when he becomes a disciple he +finds life is describable as a series of paradoxes. +This is a fact in nature, and the reason for it is +intelligible enough. Man's soul "dwells like +a star apart," even that of the vilest among +us; while his consciousness is under the law of +vibratory and sensuous life. This alone is +enough to cause those complications of character +which are the material for the novelist; +every man is a mystery, to friend and enemy +alike, and to himself. His motives are often +undiscoverable, and he cannot probe to them or +know why he does this or that. The disciple's +effort is that of awakening consciousness in +this starry part of himself, where his power +and divinity lie sleeping. As this consciousness +becomes awakened, the contradictions in the +man himself become more marked than ever; +and so do the paradoxes which he lives +through. For, of course man creates his own +life; and "adventures are to the adventurous" +is one of those wise proverbs which are drawn +from actual fact, and cover the whole area of +human experience. + +Pressure on the divine part of man re-acts +upon the animal part. As the silent soul +awakes it makes the ordinary life of the man +more purposeful, more vital, more real, and +responsible. To keep to the two instances +already mentioned, the occultist who has withdrawn +into his own citadel has found his +strength; immediately he becomes aware of +the demands of duty upon him. He does not +obtain his strength by his own right, but because +he is a part of the whole; and as soon as +he is safe from the vibration of life and can +stand unshaken, the outer world cries out to +him to come and labor in it. So with the heart. +When it no longer wishes to take, it is called +upon to give abundantly. + +"Light on the Path" has been called a book +of paradoxes, and very justly; what else could +it be, when it deals with the actual personal +experience of the disciple? + +To have acquired the astral senses of sight +and hearing; or in other words to have attained +perception and opened the doors of the soul, +are gigantic tasks and may take the sacrifice +of many successive incarnations. And yet, when +the will has reached its strength, the whole +miracle may be worked in a second of time. +Then is the disciple the servant of Time no +longer. + +These two first steps are negative; that is +to say they imply retreat from a present condition +of things rather than advance towards +another. The two next are active, implying the +advance into another state of being. + + + + +III + +"BEFORE THE VOICE CAN SPEAK IN THE +PRESENCE OF THE MASTERS." + + +Speech is the power of communication; the +moment of entrance into active life is marked +by its attainment. + +And now, before I go any further, let me +explain a little the way in which the rules +written down in "Light on the Path" are arranged. +The first seven of those which are +numbered are sub-divisions of the two first +unnumbered rules, those with which I have +dealt in the two preceding papers. The numbered +rules were simply an effort of mine to +make the unnumbered ones more intelligible. +"Eight" to "fifteen" of these numbered rules +belong to this unnumbered rule which is now +my text. + +As I have said, these rules are written for +all disciples, but for none else; they are not +of interest to any other persons. Therefore +I trust no one else will trouble to read these +papers any further. The first two rules, which +include the whole of that part of the effort +which necessitates the use of the surgeon's +knife, I will enlarge upon further if I am asked +to do so. But the disciple is expected to deal +with a snake, his lower self, unaided; to suppress +his human passions and emotions by the +force of his own will. He can only demand +assistance of a master when this is accomplished, +or at all events, partially so. Otherwise +the gates and windows of his soul are blurred, +and blinded, and darkened, and no knowledge +can come to him. I am not, in these papers, +purposing to tell a man how to deal with his +own soul; I am simply giving, to the disciple, +knowledge. That I am not writing even now, +so that all who run may read, is owing to the +fact that super-nature prevents this by its own +immutable laws. + +The four rules which I have written down +for those in the West who wish to study them, +are as I have said, written in the ante-chamber +of every living Brotherhood; I may add more, +in the ante-chamber of every living or dead +Brotherhood, or Order yet to be formed. When +I speak of a Brotherhood or an Order, I do not +mean an arbitrary constitution made by scholiasts +and intellectualists; I mean an actual +fact in super-nature, a stage of development +towards the absolute God or Good. During +this development the disciple encounters harmony, +pure knowledge, pure truth, in different +degrees, and, as he enters these degrees, he +finds himself becoming part of what might be +roughly described as a layer of human consciousness. +He encounters his equals, men of +his own selfless character, and with them his +association becomes permanent and indissoluble, +because founded on a vital likeness of +nature. To them he becomes pledged by such +vows as need no utterance or framework in +ordinary words. This is one aspect of what I +mean by a Brotherhood. + +If the first rules are conquered, the disciple +finds himself standing at the threshold. Then +if his will is sufficiently resolute his power of +speech comes; a two-fold power. For, as he +advances now, he finds himself entering into +a state of blossoming, where every bud that +opens throws out its several rays or petals. If +he is to exercise his new gift, he must use it +in its two-fold character. He finds in himself +the power to speak in the presence of the +masters; in other words, he has the right to +demand contact with the divinest element of +that state of consciousness into which he has +entered. But he finds himself compelled, by +the nature of his position, to act in two ways +at the same time. He cannot send his voice up +to the heights where sit the gods till he has +penetrated to the deep places where their light +shines not at all. He has come within the grip +of an iron law. If he demands to become a +neophyte, he at once becomes a servant. Yet +his service is sublime, if only from the character +of those who share it. For the masters +are also servants; they serve and claim their +reward afterwards. Part of their service is to +let their knowledge touch him; his first act of +service is to give some of that knowledge to +those who are not yet fit to stand where he +stands. This is no arbitrary decision, made by +any master or teacher or any such person, however +divine. It is a law of that life which the +disciple has entered upon. + +Therefore was it written in the inner doorway +of the lodges of the old Egyptian Brotherhood, +"the laborer is worthy of his hire." "Ask +and ye shall have," sounds like something too +easy and simple to be credible. But the disciple +cannot "ask" in the mystic sense in which the +word is used in this scripture until he has +attained the power of helping others. + +Why is this? Has the statement too dogmatic +a sound? + +Is it too dogmatic to say that a man must +have foothold before he can spring? The position +is the same. If help is given, if work is +done, then there is an actual claim--not what +we call personal claim of payment, but the +claim of co-nature. The divine give, they +demand that you also shall give before you +can be of their kin. + +This law is discovered as soon as the disciple +endeavors to speak. For speech is a gift +which comes only to the disciple of power and +knowledge. The spiritualist enters the psychic-astral +world, but he does not find there any +certain speech, unless he at once claims it and +continues to do so. If he is interested in "phenomena," +or the mere circumstance and accident +of astral life, then he enters no direct ray +of thought or purpose, he merely exists and +amuses himself in the astral life as he has +existed and amused himself in the physical life. +Certainly there are one or two simple lessons +which the psychic-astral can teach him, just +as there are simple lessons which material and +intellectual life teach him. And these lessons +have to be learned; the man who proposes to +enter upon the life of the disciple without having +learned the early and simple lessons must +always suffer from his ignorance. They are +vital, and have to be studied in a vital manner; +experienced through and through, over and +over again, so that each part of the nature has +been penetrated by them. + +To return. In claiming the power of speech, +as it is called, the Neophyte cries out to the +Great One who stands foremost in the ray of +knowledge on which he has entered, to give +him guidance. When he does this, his voice is +hurled back by the power he has approached, +and echoes down to the deep recesses of human +ignorance. In some confused and blurred manner +the news that there is knowledge and a +beneficent power which teaches is carried to +as many men as will listen to it. No disciple +can cross the threshold without communicating +this news, and placing it on record in some +fashion or other. + +He stands horror-struck at the imperfect +and unprepared manner in which he has done +this; and then comes the desire to do it well, +and with the desire thus to help others comes +the power. For it is a pure desire, this which +comes upon him; he can gain no credit, no +glory, no personal reward by fulfilling it. And +therefore he obtains the power to fulfil it. + +The history of the whole past, so far as we +can trace it, shows very plainly that there is +neither credit, glory, nor reward to be gained +by this first task which is given to the Neophyte. +Mystics have always been sneered at, +and seers disbelieved; those who have had the +added power of intellect have left for posterity +their written record, which to most men appears +unmeaning and visionary, even when the +authors have the advantage of speaking from a +far-off past. The disciple who undertakes the +task, secretly hoping for fame or success, to +appear as a teacher and apostle before the +world, fails even before his task is attempted, +and his hidden hypocrisy poisons his own soul, +and the souls of those he touches. He is +secretly worshiping himself, and this idolatrous +practice must bring its own reward. + +The disciple who has the power of entrance, +and is strong enough to pass each barrier, will, +when the divine message comes to his spirit, +forget himself utterly in the new consciousness +which falls on him. If this lofty contact can +really rouse him, he becomes as one of the +divine in his desire to give rather than to take, +in his wish to help rather than be helped, in +his resolution to feed the hungry rather than +take manna from Heaven himself. His nature +is transformed, and the selfishness which +prompts men's actions in ordinary life suddenly +deserts him. + + + + +IV + + +"BEFORE THE VOICE CAN SPEAK IN THE +PRESENCE OF THE MASTERS, IT MUST HAVE +LOST THE POWER TO WOUND." + +Those who give merely passing and superficial +attention to the subject of occultism--and +their name is Legion--constantly inquire +why, if adepts in life exist, they do not appear +in the world and show their power. That the +chief body of these wise ones should be understood +to dwell beyond the fastnesses of the +Himalayas, appears to be a sufficient proof that +they are only figures of straw. Otherwise why +place them so far off? + +Unfortunately, Nature has done this and +not personal choice or arrangement. There are +certain spots on the earth where the advance +of "civilization" is unfelt, and the nineteenth +century fever is kept at bay. In these favored +places there is always time, always opportunity, +for the realities of life; they are not crowded +out by the doings of an inchoate, money-loving, +pleasure seeking society. While there are +adepts upon the earth, the earth must preserve +to them places of seclusion. This is a fact in +nature which is only an external expression of +a profound fact in super-nature. + +The demand of the neophyte remains unheard +until the voice in which it is uttered has +lost the power to wound. This is because the +divine-astral life[A] is a place in which order +reigns, just as it does in natural life. There +is, of course, always the center and the circumference +as there is in nature. Close to the +central heart of life, on any plane, there is +knowledge, there order reigns completely; and +chaos makes dim and confused the outer margin +of the circle. In fact, life in every form +bears a more or less strong resemblance to a +philosophic school. There are always the devotees +to knowledge who forget their own lives +in their pursuit of it; there are always the +flippant crowd who come and go--of such, +Epictetus said that it was [as] easy to teach +them philosophy as to eat custard with a fork. +The same state exists in the super-astral life; +and the adept has an even deeper and more +profound seclusion there in which to dwell. +This place of retreat is so safe, so sheltered, +that no sound which has discord in it can reach +his ears. Why should this be, will be asked at +once, if he is a being of such great powers as +those say who believe in his existence? The +answer seems very apparent. He serves humanity +and identifies himself with the whole world; +he is ready to make vicarious sacrifice for it at +any moment--_by living not by dying for it_. +Why should he not die for it? Because he is +part of the great whole, and one of the most +valuable parts of it. Because he lives under +laws of order which he does not desire to +break. His life is not his own, but that of the +forces which work behind him. He is the +flower of humanity, the bloom which contains +the divine seed. He is, in his own person, a +treasure of the universal nature, which is +guarded and made safe in order that the fruition +shall be perfected. It is only at definite +periods of the world's history that he is allowed +to go among the herd of men as their redeemer. +But for those who have the power to separate +themselves from this herd he is always at hand. +And for those who are strong enough to conquer +the vices of the personal human nature, as +set forth in these four rules, he is consciously +at hand, easily recognised, ready to answer. + +[Footnote A: Of course every occultist knows by reading +Eliphas Lévi and other authors that the "astral" +plane is a plane of unequalized forces, and that a +state of confusion necessarily prevails. But this does +not apply to the "divine astral" plane, which is a +plane where wisdom, and therefore order, prevails.] + +But this conquering of self implies a destruction +of qualities which most men regard +as not only indestructible but desirable. The +"power to wound" includes much that men +value, not only in themselves, but in others. +The instinct of self-defense and of self-preservation +is part of it; the idea that one has any +right or rights, either as a citizen, or man, or +individual, the pleasant consciousness of self-respect +and of virtue. These are hard sayings +to many; yet they are true. For these words +that I am writing now, and those which I have +written on this subject, are not in any sense +my own. They are drawn from the traditions +of the lodge of the great Brotherhood, which +was once the secret splendor of Egypt. The +rules written in its ante-chamber were the same +as those now written in the ante-chamber of +existing schools. Through all time the wise +men have lived apart from the mass. And +even when some temporary purpose or object +induces one of them to come into the midst of +human life, his seclusion and safety is preserved +as completely as ever. It is part of his +inheritance, part of his position, he has an +actual title to it, and can no more put it aside +than the Duke of Westminster can say he does +not choose to be the Duke of Westminster. In +the various great cities of the world an adept +lives for a while from time to time, or perhaps +only passes through; but all are occasionally +aided by the actual power and presence of one +of these men. Here in London, as in Paris and +St. Petersburgh, there are men high in development. +But they are only known as mystics by +those who have the power to recognise; the +power given by the conquering of self. Otherwise +how could they exist, even for an hour, +in such a mental and psychic atmosphere as is +created by the confusion and disorder of a city? +Unless protected and made safe their own +growth would be interfered with, their work +injured. And the neophyte may meet an adept +in the flesh, may live in the same house with +him, and yet be unable to recognise him, and +unable to make his own voice heard by him. For +no nearness in space, no closeness of relations, +no daily intimacy, can do away with the inexorable +laws which give the adept his seclusion. +No voice penetrates to his inner hearing till it +has become a divine voice, a voice which gives +no utterance to the cries of self. Any lesser +appeal would be as useless, as much a waste of +energy and power, as for mere children who +are learning their alphabet to be taught it by +a professor of philology. Until a man has +become, in heart and spirit, a disciple, he has no +existence for those who are teachers of disciples. +And he becomes this by one method only--the +surrender of his personal humanity. + +For the voice to have lost the power to +wound, a man must have reached that point +where he sees himself only as one of the vast +multitudes that live; one of the sands washed +hither and thither by the sea of vibratory existence. +It is said that every grain of sand in the +ocean bed does, in its turn, get washed up on to +the shore and lie for a moment in the sunshine. +So with human beings, they are driven hither +and thither by a great force, and each, in his +turn, finds the sunrays on him. When a man +is able to regard his own life as part of a whole +like this he will no longer struggle in order +to obtain anything for himself. This is the surrender +of personal rights. The ordinary man +expects, not to take equal fortunes with the +rest of the world, but in some points, about +which he cares, to fare better than the others. +The disciple does not expect this. Therefore, +though he be, like Epictetus, a chained slave, +he has no word to say about it. He knows that +the wheel of life turns ceaselessly. Burne Jones +has shown it in his marvellous picture--the +wheel turns, and on it are bound the rich and +the poor, the great and the small--each has +his moment of good fortune when the wheel +brings him uppermost--the King rises and +falls, the poet is _fêted_ and forgotten, the slave +is happy and afterwards discarded. Each in his +turn is crushed as the wheel turns on. The disciple +knows that this is so, and though it is his +duty to make the utmost of the life that is his, +he neither complains of it nor is elated by it, +nor does he complain against the better fortune +of others. All alike, as he well knows, are but +learning a lesson; and he smiles at the socialist +and the reformer who endeavor by sheer force +to re-arrange circumstances which arise out of +the forces of human nature itself. This is but +kicking against the pricks; a waste of life +and energy. + +In realizing this a man surrenders his +imagined individual rights, of whatever sort. +That takes away one keen sting which is +common to all ordinary men. + +When the disciple has fully recognised that +the very thought of individual rights is only +the outcome of the venomous quality in himself, +that it is the hiss of the snake of self +which poisons with its sting his own life and +the lives of those about him, then he is ready +to take part in a yearly ceremony which is open +to all neophytes who are prepared for it. All +weapons of defense and offense are given up; +all weapons of mind and heart, and brain, and +spirit. Never again can another man be regarded +as a person who can be criticized or +condemned; never again can the neophyte +raise his voice in self-defense or excuse. From +that ceremony he returns into the world as +helpless, as unprotected, as a new-born child. +That, indeed, is what he is. He has begun to +be born again on to the higher plane of life, +that breezy and well-lit plateau from whence +the eyes see intelligently and regard the world +with a new insight. + +I have said, a little way back, that after +parting with the sense of individual rights, the +disciple must part also with the sense of self-respect +and of virtue. This may sound a terrible +doctrine, yet all occultists know well that it +is not a doctrine, but a fact. He who thinks +himself holier than another, he who has any +pride in his own exemption from vice or folly, +he who believes himself wise, or in any way +superior to his fellow men, is incapable of +discipleship. A man must become as a little +child before he can enter into the kingdom of +heaven. + +Virtue and wisdom are sublime things; but +if they create pride and a consciousness of +separateness from the rest of humanity in the +mind of a man, then they are only the snakes +of self re-appearing in a finer form. At any +moment he may put on his grosser shape and +sting as fiercely as when he inspired the actions +of a murderer who kills for gain or hatred, +or a politician who sacrifices the mass for his +own or his party's interests. + +In fact, to have lost the power to wound, +implies that the snake is not only scotched, +but killed. When it is merely stupefied or +lulled to sleep it awakes again and the disciple +uses his knowledge and his power for his own +ends, and is a pupil of the many masters of +the black art, for the road to destruction is very +broad and easy, and the way can be found +blindfold. That it is the way to destruction +is evident, for when a man begins to live for +self he narrows his horizon steadily till at last +the fierce driving inwards leaves him but the +space of [a] pin's-head to dwell in. We have +all seen this phenomenon occur in ordinary life. +A man who becomes selfish isolates himself, +grows less interesting and less agreeable to +others. The sight is an awful one, and people +shrink from a very selfish person at last, as +from a beast of prey. How much more awful is +it when it occurs on the more advanced plane +of life, with the added powers of knowledge, +and through the greater sweep of successive +incarnations! + +Therefore I say, pause and think well upon +the threshold. For if the demand of the neophyte +is made without the complete purification, +it will not penetrate the seclusion of the +divine adept, but will evoke the terrible forces +which attend upon the black side of our human +nature. + + + + +V + + +"BEFORE THE SOUL CAN STAND IN THE +PRESENCE OF THE MASTERS, ITS FEET MUST +BE WASHED IN THE BLOOD OF THE HEART." + + +The word soul, as used here, means the +divine soul, or "starry spirit." + +"To be able to stand is to have confidence"; +and to have confidence means that the disciple +is sure of himself, that he has surrendered his +emotions, his very self, even his humanity; +that he is incapable of fear and unconscious of +pain; that his whole consciousness is centered +in the divine life, which is expressed symbolically +by the term "the Masters"; that he has +neither eyes, nor ears, nor speech, nor power, +save in and for the divine ray on which his +highest sense has touched. Then he is fearless, +free from suffering, free from anxiety or dismay; +his soul stands without shrinking or +desire of postponement, in the full blaze of the +divine light which penetrates through and +through his being. Then he has come into his +inheritance and can claim his kinship with the +teachers of men; he is upright, he has raised +his head, he breathes the same air that they do. + +But before it is in any way possible for him +to do this, the feet of the soul must be washed +in the blood of the heart. + +The sacrifice, or surrender of the heart of +man, and its emotions, is the first of the rules; +it involves the "attaining of an equilibrium +which cannot be shaken by personal emotion." +This is done by the stoic philosopher; he, too, +stands aside and looks equably upon his own +sufferings, as well as on those of others. + +In the same way that "tears" in the language +of occultists expresses the soul of +emotion, not its material appearance, so blood +expresses, not that blood which is an essential +of physical life, but the vital creative principle +in man's nature, which drives him into human +life in order to experience pain and pleasure, +joy and sorrow. When he has let the blood +flow from the heart he stands before the Masters +as a pure spirit which no longer +to incarnate for the sake of emotion and +experience. Through great cycles of time successive +incarnations in gross matter may yet +be his lot; but he no longer desires them, the +crude wish to live has departed from him. +When he takes upon him man's form in the +flesh he does it in the pursuit of a divine object, +to accomplish the work of "the Masters," and +for no other end. He looks neither for pleasure +nor pain, asks for no heaven, and fears +no hell; yet he has entered upon a great +inheritance which is not so much a compensation +for these things surrendered, as a state +which simply blots out the memory of them. +He lives now not in the world, but with it: his +horizon has extended itself to the width of +the whole universe. + + + + +KARMA + + +Consider with me that the individual existence +is a rope which stretches from the +infinite to the infinite and has no end and no +commencement, neither is it capable of being +broken. This rope is formed of innumerable +fine threads, which, lying closely together, +form its thickness. These threads are colorless, +are perfect in their qualities of straightness, +strength, and levelness. This rope, passing as +it does through all places, suffers strange +accidents. Very often a thread is caught and +becomes attached, or perhaps is only violently +pulled away from its even way. Then for a +great time it is disordered, and it disorders the +whole. Sometimes one is stained with dirt or +with color, and not only does the stain run on +further than the spot of contact, but it discolors +other of the threads. And remember that the +threads are living--are like electric wires, +more, are like quivering nerves. How far, then, +must the stain, the drag awry, be communicated! +But eventually the long strands, the +living threads which in their unbroken +continuity form the individual, pass out of the +shadow into the shine. Then the threads are no +longer colorless, but golden; once more they lie +together, level. Once more harmony is established +between them; and from that harmony +within the greater harmony is perceived. + +This illustration presents but a small +portion--a single side of the truth: it is less +than a fragment. Yet, dwell on it; by its aid +you may be led to perceive more. What it is +necessary first to understand is, not that the +future is arbitrarily formed by any separate +acts of the present, but that the whole of the +future is in unbroken continuity with the +present as the present is with the past. On one +plane, from one point of view, the illustration +of the rope is correct. + +It is said that a little attention to occultism +produces great Karmic results. That is because +it is impossible to give any attention to +occultism without making a definite choice between +what are familiarly called good and evil. +The first step in occultism brings the student to +the tree of knowledge. He must pluck and eat; +he must choose. No longer is he capable of the +indecision of ignorance. He. goes, on, either on +the good or on the evil path. And to step +definitely and knowingly even but one step on +either path produces great Karmic results. The +mass of men walk waveringly, uncertain as to +the goal they aim at; their standard of life is +indefinite; consequently their Karma operates +in a confused manner. But when once the +threshold of knowledge is reached, the confusion +begins to lessen, and consequently the +Karmic results increase enormously, because +all are acting in the same direction on all the +different planes: for the occultist cannot be +half-hearted, nor can he return when he has +passed the threshold. These things are as +impossible as that the man should become the +child again. The individuality has approached +the state of responsibility by reason of growth; +it cannot recede from it. + +He who would escape from the bondage of +Karma must raise his individuality out of the +shadow into the shine; must so elevate his +existence that these threads do not come in +contact with soiling substances, do not become +so attached as to be pulled awry. He simply +lifts himself out of the region in which Karma +operates. He does not leave the existence which +he is experiencing because of that. The ground +may be rough and dirty, or full of rich flowers +whose pollen stains, and of sweet substances +that cling and become attachments--but +overhead there is always the free sky. He who +desires to be Karmaless must look to the air +for a home; and after that to the ether. He +who desires to form good Karma will meet +with many confusions, and in the effort to sow +rich seed for his own harvesting may plant a +thousand weeds, and among them the giant. +Desire to sow no seed for your own harvesting; +desire only to sow that seed the fruit of which +shall feed the world. You are part of the +world; in giving it food you feed yourself. Yet +in even this thought there lurks a great danger +which starts forward and faces the disciple, +who has for long thought himself working for +good, while in his inmost soul he has perceived +only evil; that is, he has thought himself to +be intending great benefit to the world while +all the time he has unconsciously embraced the +thought of Karma, and the great benefit he +works for is for himself. A man may refuse to +allow himself to think of reward. But in that +very refusal is seen the fact that reward is +desired. And it is useless for the disciple to +strive to learn by means of checking himself. +The soul must be unfettered, the desires free. +But until they are fixed only on that state +wherein there is neither reward nor punishment, +good nor evil, it is in vain that he endeavors. +He may seem to make great progress, but some +day he will come face to face with his own +soul, and will recognise that when he came to +the tree of knowledge he chose the bitter fruit +and not the sweet; and then the veil will fall +utterly, and he will give up his freedom and +become a slave of desire. Therefore be warned, +you who are but turning toward the life of +occultism. Learn now that there is no cure for +desire, no cure for the love of reward, no cure +for misery of longing, save in the fixing of the +sight and hearing upon that which is invisible +and soundless. Begin even now to practise it, +and so a thousand serpents will be kept from +your path. Live in the eternal. + +The operations of the actual laws of Karma +are not to be studied until the disciple has +reached the point at which they no longer affect +himself. The initiate has a right to demand +the secrets of nature and to know the rules +which govern human life. He obtains this right +by having escaped from the limits of nature +and by having freed himself from the rules +which govern human life. He has become a +recognised portion of the divine element, and +is no longer affected by that which is temporary. +He then obtains a knowledge of the laws +which govern temporary conditions. Therefore +you who desire to understand the laws of +Karma, attempt first to free yourself from +these laws; and this can only be done by +fixing your attention on that which is unaffected +by those laws. + + + + +*THROUGH THE GATES OF GOLD* + +*Through the + +Gates of Gold* + + +*A FRAGMENT OF THOUGHT* + +PROLOGUE + + +Every man has a philosophy of life of his +own, except the true philosopher. The most +ignorant boor has some conception of his object +in living, and definite ideas as to the easiest +and wisest way of attaining that object. The +man of the world is often, unconsciously to +himself, a philosopher of the first rank. He +deals with his life on principles of the clearest +character, and refuses to let his position be +shattered by chance disaster. The man of +thought and imagination has less certainty, +and finds himself continually unable to formulate +his ideas on that subject most profoundly +interesting to human nature,--human life +itself. The true philosopher is the one who +would lay no claim to the name whatever, who +has discovered that the mystery of life is +unapproachable by ordinary thought, just as +the true scientist confesses his complete +ignorance of the principles which lie behind +science. + +Whether there is any mode of thought or +any effort of the mind which will enable a +man to grasp the great principles that evidently +exist as causes in human life, is a +question no ordinary thinker can determine. +Yet the dim consciousness that there is cause +behind the effects we see, that there is order +ruling the chaos and sublime harmony pervading +the discords, haunts the eager souls of the +earth, and makes them long for vision of the +unseen and knowledge of the unknowable. + +Why long and look for that which is beyond +all hope until the inner eyes are opened? Why +not piece together the fragments that we have, +at hand, and see whether from them some +shape cannot be given to the vast puzzle? + + + + +CHAPTER I + +THE SEARCH FOR PLEASURE + +I + + +We are all acquainted with that stern thing +called misery, which pursues man, and strangely +enough, as it seems at first, pursues him with +no vague or uncertain method, but with a positive +and unbroken pertinacity. Its presence is +not absolutely continuous, else man must cease +to live; but its pertinacity is without any break. +There is always the shadowy form of despair +standing behind man ready to touch him with +its terrible finger if for too long he finds +himself content. What has given this ghastly +shape the right to haunt us from the hour we +are born until the hour we die? What has +given it the right to stand always at our door, +keeping that door ajar with its impalpable yet +plainly horrible hand, ready to enter at the +moment it sees fit? The greatest philosopher +that ever lived succumbs before it at last; and +he only is a philosopher, in any sane sense, who +recognises the fact that it is irresistible, and +knows that like all other men he must suffer +soon or late. It is part of the heritage of men, +this pain and distress; and he who determines +that nothing shall make him suffer, does but +cloak himself in a profound and chilly selfishness. +This cloak may protect him from pain, it +will also separate him from pleasure. If peace +is to be found on earth, or any joy in life, it +cannot be by closing up the gates of feeling, +which admit us to the loftiest and most vivid +part of our existence. Sensation, as we obtain +it through the physical body, affords us all that +induces us to live in that shape. It is inconceivable +that any man would care to take the +trouble of breathing, unless the act brought +with it a sense of satisfaction. So it is with +every deed of every instant of our life. We +live because it is pleasant even to have the +sensation of pain. It is sensation we desire, +else we would with one accord taste of the deep +waters of oblivion, and the human race would +become extinct. If this is the case in the +physical life, it is evidently the case with the +life of the emotions,--the imagination, the +sensibilities, all those fine and delicate formations +which, with the marvellous recording +mechanism of the brain, make up the inner +or subtile man. Sensation is that which makes +their pleasure; an infinite series of sensations +is life to them. Destroy the sensation which +makes them wish to persevere in the experiment +of living, and there is nothing left. +Therefore the man who attempts to obliterate +the sense of pain, and who proposes to maintain +an equal state whether he is pleased or +hurt, strikes at the very root of life, and +destroys the object of his own existence. And +that must apply, so far as our present reasoning +or intuitive powers can show us, to every +state, even to that of the Oriental's longed-for +Nirvana. This condition can only be one of +infinitely subtiler and more exquisite sensation, +if it is a state at all, and not annihilation; and +according to the experience of life from which +we are at present able to judge, increased +subtility of sensation means increased vividness,--as, +for instance, a man of sensibility +and imagination feels more in consequence of +the unfaithfulness or faithfulness of a friend +than can a man of even the grossest physical +nature feel through the medium of the senses. +Thus it is clear that the philosopher who +refuses to feel, leaves himself no place to +retreat to, not even the distant and unattainable +Nirvanic goal. He can only deny himself +his heritage of life, which is in other words +the right of sensation. If he chooses to sacrifice +that which makes him man, he must be +content with mere idleness of consciousness,--a +condition compared to which the oyster's +is a life of excitement. + +But no man is able to accomplish such a +feat. The fact of his continued existence proves +plainly that he still desires sensation, and +desires it in such positive and active form that +the desire must be gratified in physical life. It +would seem more practical not to deceive one's +self by the sham of stoicism, not to attempt +renunciation of that with which nothing would +induce one to part. Would it not be a bolder +policy, a more promising mode of solving the +great enigma of existence, to grasp it, to take +hold firmly and to demand of it the mystery +of itself? If men will but pause and consider +what lessons they have learned from pleasure +and pain, much might be guessed of that +strange thing which causes these effects. But +men are prone to turn away hastily from self-study, +or from any close analysis of human +nature. Yet there must be a science of life as +intelligible as any of the methods of the +schools. The science is unknown, it is true, +and its existence is merely guessed, merely +hinted at, by one or two of our more advanced +thinkers. The development of a science is only +the discovery of what is already in existence; +and chemistry is as magical and incredible now +to the ploughboy as the science of life is to +the man of ordinary perceptions. Yet there +may be, and there must be, a seer who perceives +the growth of the new knowledge as the +earliest dabblers in the experiments of the laboratory +saw the system of knowledge now +attained evolving itself out of nature for man's +use and benefit. + + + + +II + + +Doubtless many more would experiment in +suicide, as many now do, in order to escape +from the burden of life, if they could be convinced +that in that manner oblivion might be +found. But he who hesitates before drinking +the poison from the fear of only inviting +change of mode of existence, and perhaps a +more active form of misery, is a man of more +knowledge than the rash souls who fling themselves +wildly on the unknown, trusting to its +kindliness. The waters of oblivion are something +very different from the waters of death, +and the human race cannot become extinct by +means of death while the law of birth still +operates. Man returns to physical life as the +drunkard returns to the flagon of wine,--he +knows not why, except that he desires the sensation +produced by life as the drunkard desires +the sensation produced by wine. The true +waters of oblivion lie far behind our consciousness, +and can only be reached by ceasing +to exist in that consciousness,--by ceasing to +exert the will which makes us full of senses +and sensibilities. + +Why does not the creature man return into +that great womb of silence whence he came, +and remain in peace, as the unborn child is at +peace before the impetus of life has reached +it? He does not do so because he hungers for +pleasure and pain, joy and grief, anger and +love. The unfortunate man will maintain that +he has no desire for life; and yet he proves +his words false by living. None can compel +him to live; the galley-slave may be chained to +his oar, but his life cannot be chained to his +body. The superb mechanism of the human +body is as useless as an engine whose fires are +not lit, if the will to live ceases,--that will +which we maintain resolutely and without +pause, and which enables us to perform the +tasks which otherwise would fill us with dismay, +as, for instance, the momently drawing +in and giving out of the breath. Such herculean +efforts as this we carry on without complaint, +and indeed with pleasure, in order that +we may exist in the midst of innumerable +sensations. + +And more; we are content, for the most +part, to go on without object or aim, without +any idea of a goal or understanding of which +way we are going. When the man first becomes +aware of this aimlessness, and is dimly conscious +that he is working with great and +constant efforts, and without any idea towards +what end those efforts are directed, then +descends on him the misery of nineteenth-century +thought. He is lost and bewildered, +and without hope. He becomes sceptical, disillusioned, +weary, and asks the apparently +unanswerable question whether it is indeed +worth while to draw his breath for such +unknown and seemingly unknowable results. +But are these results unknowable? At least, to +ask a lesser question, is it impossible to make a +guess as to the direction in which our goal lies? + + + + +III + + +This question, born of sadness and weariness, +which seems to us essentially part of the +spirit of the nineteenth century, is in fact a +question which must have been asked all +through the ages. Could we go back throughout +history intelligently, no doubt we should +find that it came always with the hour when +the flower of civilization had blown to its +full, and when its petals were but slackly held +together. The natural part of man has +reached then its utmost height; he has rolled +the stone up the Hill of Difficulty only to watch +it roll back again when the summit is reached,--as +in Egypt, in Rome, in Greece. Why this +useless labor? Is it not enough to produce a +weariness and sickness unutterable, to be forever +accomplishing a task only to see it undone +again? Yet that is what man has done throughout +history, so far as our limited knowledge +reaches. There is one summit to which, by +immense and united efforts, he attains, where +there is a great and brilliant efflorescence of all +the intellectual, mental, and material part of +his nature. The climax of sensuous perfection +is reached, and then his hold weakens, his +power grows less, and he falls back, through +despondency and satiety, to barbarism. Why +does he not stay on this hill-top he has +reached, and look away to the mountains +beyond, and resolve to scale those greater +heights? Because he is ignorant, and seeing +a great glittering in the distance, drops his +eyes bewildered and dazzled, and goes back +for rest to the shadowy side of his familiar +hill. Yet there is now and then one brave +enough to gaze fixedly on this glittering, and +to decipher something of the shape within it. +Poets and philosophers, thinkers and teachers,--all +those who are the "elder brothers of the +race,"--have beheld this sight from time to +time, and some among them have recognised +in the bewildering glitter the outlines of the +Gates of Gold. + +Those Gates admit us to the sanctuary of +man's own nature, to the place whence his +life-power comes, and where he is priest of the +shrine of life. That it is possible to enter here, +to pass through those Gates, some one or two +have shown us. Plato, Shakespeare, and a few +other strong ones have gone through and +spoken to us in veiled language on the near +side of the Gates. When the strong man has +crossed the threshold he speaks no more to +those at the other side. And even the words +he utters when he is outside are so full of +mystery, so veiled and profound, that only +those who follow in his steps can see the light +within them. + + + + +IV + + +What men desire is to ascertain how to +exchange pain for pleasure; that is, to find out +in what way consciousness may be regulated +in order that the sensation which is most +agreeable is the one that is experienced. +Whether this can be discovered by dint of +human thought is at least a question worth +considering. + +If the mind of man is turned upon any +given subject with a sufficient concentration, +he obtains illumination with regard to it sooner +or later. The particular individual in whom +the final illumination appears is called a genius, +an inventor, one inspired; but he is only the +crown of a great mental work created by +unknown men about him, and receding back +from him through long vistas of distance. +Without them he would not have had his material +to deal with. Even the poet requires +innumerable poetasters to feed upon. He is the +essence of the poetic power of his time, and +of the times before him. It is impossible to +separate an individual of any species from +his kin. + +If, therefore, instead of accepting the +unknown as unknowable, men were _with one +accord_ to turn their thoughts towards it, those +Golden Gates would not remain so inexorably +shut. It does but need a strong hand to push +them open. The courage to enter them is the +courage to search the recesses of one's own +nature without fear and without shame. In +the fine part, the essence, the flavor of the +man, is found the key which unlocks those +great Gates. And when they open, what is it +that is found? + +Voices here and there in the long silence +of the ages speak to answer that question. +Those who have passed through have left +words behind them as legacies to others of +their kin. In these words we can find definite +indications of what is to be looked for beyond +the Gates. But only those who desire to go +that way read the meaning hidden within the +words. Scholars, or rather scholiasts, read the +sacred books of different nations, the poetry +and the philosophy left by enlightened minds, +and find in it all the merest materiality. +Imagination glorifying legends of nature, or +exaggerating the psychic possibilities of man, +explains to them all that they find in the Bibles +of humanity. + +What is to be found within the words of +those books is to be found in each one of us; +and it is impossible to find in literature or +through any channel of thought that which +does not exist in the man who studies. This +is of course an evident fact known to all real +students. But it has to be especially remembered +in reference to this profound and obscure +subject, as men so readily believe that nothing +can exist for others where they themselves find +emptiness. + +One thing is soon perceived by the man +who reads: those who have gone before have +not found that the Gates of Gold lead to +oblivion. On the contrary, sensation becomes +real for the first time when that threshold is +crossed. But it is of a new order, an order +unknown to us now, and by us impossible to +appreciate without at least some clew as to its +character. This clew can be obtained undoubtedly +by any student who cares to go through +all the literature accessible to us. That mystic +books and manuscripts exist, but remain inaccessible +simply because there is no man ready +to read the first page of any one of them, +becomes the conviction of all who have studied +the subject sufficiently. For there must be the +continuous line all through: we see it go from +dense ignorance up to intelligence and wisdom; +it is only natural that it should go on to +intuitive knowledge and to inspiration. Some +scant fragments we have of these great gifts +of man; where, then, is the whole of which +they must be a part? Hidden behind the thin +yet seemingly impassable veil which hides it +from us as it hid all science, all art, all powers +of man till he had the courage to tear away +the screen. That courage comes only of conviction. +When once man believes that the thing +exists which he desires, he will obtain it at any +cost. The difficulty in this case lies in man's +incredulity. It requires a great tide of thought +and attention to set in towards the unknown +region of man's nature in order that its gates +may be unlocked and its glorious vistas +explored. + +That it is worth while to do this whatever +the hazard may be, all must allow who have +asked the sad question of the nineteenth century,--Is +life worth living? Surely it is sufficient +to spur man to new effort,--the +suspicion that beyond civilization, beyond +mental culture, beyond art and mechanical +perfection, there is a new, another gateway, +admitting to the realities of life. + + + + +V + + +When it seems as if the end was reached, +the goal attained, and that man has no more +to do,--just then, when he appears to have +no choice but between eating and drinking and +living in his comfort as the beasts do in theirs, +and scepticism which is death,--then it is that +in fact, if he will but look, the Golden Gates +are before him. With the culture of the age +within him and assimilated perfectly, so that +he is himself an incarnation of it, then he is fit +to attempt the great step which is absolutely +possible, yet is attempted by so few even of +those who are fitted for it. It is so seldom +attempted, partly because of the profound difficulties +which surround it, but much more +because man does not realize that this is actually +the direction in which pleasure and +satisfaction are to be obtained. + +There are certain pleasures which appeal +to each individual; every man knows that in +one layer or another of sensation he finds his +chief delight. Naturally he turns to this systematically +through life, just as the sunflower +turns to the sun and the water-lily leans on the +water. But he struggles throughout with an +awful fact which oppresses him to the soul,--that +no sooner has he obtained his pleasure +than he loses it again and has once more to +go in search of it. More than that; he never +actually reaches it, for it eludes him at the +final moment. This is because he endeavors to +seize that which is untouchable and satisfy +his soul's hunger for sensation by contact with +external objects. How can that which is +external satisfy or even please the inner man,--the +thing which reigns within and has no +eyes for matter, no hands for touch of objects, +no senses with which to apprehend that which +is outside its magic walls? Those charmed +barriers which surround it are limitless, for +it is everywhere; it is to be discovered in all +living things, and no part of the universe can +be conceived of without it, if that universe is +regarded as a coherent whole. And unless that +point is granted at the outset it is useless to +consider the subject of life at all. Life is indeed +meaningless unless it is universal and coherent, +and unless we maintain our existence by +reason of the fact that we are part of that +which is, not by reason of our own being. + +This is one of the most important factors +in the development of man, the recognition--profound +and complete recognition--of the +law of universal unity and coherence. The +separation which exists between individuals, +between worlds, between the different poles of +the universe and of life, the mental and +physical fantasy called space, is a nightmare +of the human imagination. That nightmares +exist, and exist only to torment, every child +knows; and what we need is the power of +discrimination between the phantasmagoria of +the brain, which concern ourselves only, and +the phantasmagoria of daily life, in which +others also are concerned. This rule applies +also to the larger case. It concerns no one +but ourselves that we live in a nightmare of +unreal horror, and fancy ourselves alone in +the universe and capable of independent +action, so long as our associates are those +only who are a part of the dream; but when +we desire to speak with those who have tried +the Golden Gates and pushed them open, then +it is very necessary--in fact it is essential--to +discriminate, and not bring into our life the +confusions of our sleep. If we do, we are +reckoned as madmen, and fall back into the +darkness where there is no friend but chaos. +This chaos has followed every effort of man +that is written in history; after civilization has +flowered, the flower falls and dies, and winter +and darkness destroy it. While man refuses +to make the effort of discrimination which +would enable him to distinguish between the +shapes of night and the active figures of day, +this must inevitably happen. + +But if man has the courage to resist this +reactionary tendency, to stand steadily on the +height he has reached and put out his foot in +search of yet another step, why should he +not find it? There is nothing to make one +suppose the pathway to end at a certain point, +except that tradition which has declared it is +so, and which men have accepted and hug to +themselves as a justification for their indolence. + + + + +VI + + +Indolence is, in fact, the curse of man. As +the Irish peasant and the cosmopolitan gypsy +dwell in dirt and poverty out of sheer idleness, +so does the man of the world live contented +in sensuous pleasures for the same reason. The +drinking of fine wines, the tasting of delicate +food, the love of bright sights and sounds, of +beautiful women and admirable surroundings,--these +are no better for the cultivated man, +no more satisfactory as a final goal of enjoyment +for him, than the coarse amusements and +gratifications of the boor are for the man +without cultivation. There can be no final +point, for life in every form is one vast series +of fine gradations; and the man who elects to +stand still at the point of culture he has +reached, and to avow that he can go no +further, is simply making an arbitrary statement +for the excuse of his indolence. Of course +there is a possibility of declaring that the gypsy +is content in his dirt and poverty, and, because +he is so, is as great a man as the most highly +cultured. But he only is so while he is ignorant; +the moment light enters the dim mind the +whole man turns towards it. So it is on the +higher platform; only the difficulty of penetrating +the mind, of admitting the light, is even +greater. The Irish peasant loves his whiskey, +and while he can have it cares nothing for the +great laws of morality and religion which are +supposed to govern humanity and induce men +to live temperately. The cultivated gourmand +cares only for subtle tastes and perfect flavors; +but he is as blind as the merest peasant to the +fact that there is anything beyond such gratifications. +Like the boor he is deluded by a +mirage that oppresses his soul; and he fancies, +having once obtained a sensuous joy that +pleases him, to give himself the utmost satisfaction +by endless repetition, till at last he +reaches madness. The bouquet of the wine he +loves enters his soul and poisons it, leaving +him with no thoughts but those of sensuous +desire; and he is in the same hopeless state +as the man who dies mad with drink. What +good has the drunkard obtained by his +madness? None; pain has at last swallowed +up pleasure utterly, and death steps in to +terminate the agony. The man suffers the final +penalty for his persistent ignorance of a law +of nature as inexorable as that of gravitation,--a +law which forbids a man to stand still. +Not twice can the same cup of pleasure be +tasted; the second time it must contain either +a grain of poison or a drop of the elixir of life. + +The same argument holds good with regard +to intellectual pleasures; the same law operates. +We see men who are the flower of their +age in intellect, who pass beyond their fellows +and tower over them, entering at last upon a +fatal treadmill of thought, where they yield +to the innate indolence of the soul and begin +to delude themselves by the solace of repetition. +Then comes the barrenness and lack of +vitality,--that unhappy and disappointing +state into which great men too often enter +when middle life is just passed. The fire of +youth, the vigor of the young intellect, conquers +the inner inertia and makes the man +scale heights of thought and fill his mental +lungs with the free air of the mountains. But +then at last the physical reaction sets in; the +physical machinery of the brain loses its powerful +impetus and begins to relax its efforts, +simply because the youth of the body is at an +end. Now the man is assailed by the great +tempter of the race who stands forever on the +ladder of life waiting for those who climb so +far. He drops the poisoned drop into the ear, +and from that moment all consciousness takes +on a dulness, and the man becomes terrified +lest life is losing its possibilities for him. He +rushes back on to a familiar platform of +experience, and there finds comfort in touching +a well-known chord of passion or emotion. +And too many having done this linger on, +afraid to attempt the unknown, and satisfied to +touch continually that chord which responds +most readily. By this means they get the assurance +that life is still burning within them. +But at last their fate is the same as that of the +gourmand and the drunkard. The power of +the spell lessens daily as the machinery which +feels loses its vitality; and the man endeavors +to revive the old excitement and fervor by +striking the note more violently, by hugging +the thing that makes him feel, by drinking +the cup of poison to its fatal dregs. And then +he is lost; madness falls on his soul, as it +falls on the body of the drunkard. Life has no +longer any meaning for him, and he rushes +wildly into the abysses of intellectual insanity. +A lesser man who commits this great folly +wearies the spirits of others by a dull clinging +to familiar thought, by a persistent hugging of +the treadmill which he asserts to be the final +goal. The cloud that surrounds him is as fatal +as death itself, and men who once sat at his +feet turn away grieved, and have to look back +at his early words in order to remember his +greatness. + + + + +VII + + +What is the cure for this misery and waste +of effort? Is there one? Surely life itself has +a logic in it and a law which makes existence +possible; otherwise chaos and madness would +be the only state which would be attainable. +When a man drinks his first cup of pleasure +his soul is filled with the unutterable joy that +comes with a first, a fresh sensation. The drop +of poison that he puts into the second cup, and +which, if he persists in that folly, has to become +doubled and trebled till at last the whole cup +is poison,--that is the ignorant desire for +repetition and intensification; this evidently +means death, according to all analogy. The +child becomes the man; he cannot retain his +childhood and repeat and intensify the pleasures +of childhood except by paying the +inevitable price and becoming an idiot. The +plant strikes its roots into the ground and +throws up green leaves; then it blossoms and +bears fruit. That plant which will only make +roots or leaves, pausing persistently in its development, +is regarded by the gardener as a thing +which is useless and must be cast out. + +The man who chooses the way of effort, +and refuses to allow the sleep of indolence to +dull his soul, finds in his pleasures a new and +finer joy each time he tastes them,--a something +subtile and remote which removes them +more and more from the state in which mere +sensuousness is all; this subtile essence is that +elixir of life which makes man immortal. He +who tastes it and who will not drink unless it +is in the cup finds life enlarge and the world +grow great before his eager eyes. He recognises +the soul within the woman he loves, and +passion becomes peace; he sees within his +thought the finer qualities of spiritual truth, +which is beyond the action of our mental machinery, +and then instead of entering on the +treadmill of intellectualisms he rests on the +broad back of the eagle of intuition and soars +into the fine air where the great poets found +their insight; he sees within his own power of +sensation, of pleasure in fresh air and sunshine, +in food and wine, in motion and rest, the possibilities +of the subtile man, the thing which +dies not either with the body or the brain. The +pleasures of art, of music, of light and loveliness,--within +these forms, which men repeat +till they find only the forms, he sees the glory +of the Gates of Gold, and passes through to +find the new life beyond which intoxicates and +strengthens, as the keen mountain air intoxicates +and strengthens, by its very vigor. But +if he has been pouring, drop by drop, more +and more of the elixir of life into his cup, he +is strong enough to breathe this intense air and +to live upon it. Then if he die or if he live in +physical form, alike he goes on and finds new +and finer joys, more perfect and satisfying +experiences, with every breath he draws in and +gives out. + + + + + +CHAPTER II + +THE MYSTERY OF THRESHOLD + +I + + +There is no doubt that at the entrance on +a new phase of life something has to be given +up. The child, when it has become the man, +puts away childish things. Saint Paul showed +in these words, and in many others which he +has left us, that he had tasted of the elixir of +life, that he was on his way towards the Gates +of Gold. With each drop of the divine draught +which is put into the cup of pleasure something +is purged away from that cup to make room +for the magic drop. For Nature deals with +her children generously: man's cup is always +full to the brim; and if he chooses to taste +of the fine and life-giving essence, he must +cast away something of the grosser and less +sensitive part of himself. This has to be done +daily, hourly, momently, in order that the +draught of life may steadily increase. And to +do this unflinchingly, a man must be his own +schoolmaster, must recognise that he is always +in need of wisdom, must be ready to practise +any austerities, to use the birch-rod unhesitatingly +against himself, in order to gain his +end. It becomes evident to any one who regards +the subject seriously, that only a man who has +the potentialities in him both of the voluptuary +and the stoic has any chance of entering +the Golden Gates. He must be capable of +testing and valuing to its most delicate fraction +every joy existence has to give; and he must +be capable of denying himself all pleasure, and +that without suffering from the denial. When +he has accomplished the development of this +double possibility, then he is able to begin +sifting his pleasures and taking away from his +consciousness those which belong absolutely to +the man of clay. When those are put back, +there is the next range of more refined pleasures +to be dealt with. The dealing with these +which will enable a man to find the essence of +life is not the method pursued by the stoic +philosopher. The stoic does not allow that +there is joy within pleasure, and by denying +himself the one loses the other. But the true +philosopher, who has studied life itself without +being bound by any system of thought, sees +that the kernel is within the shell, and that, +instead of crunching up the whole nut like +a gross and indifferent feeder, the essence of +the thing is obtained by cracking the shell and +casting it away. All emotion, all sensation, +lends itself to this process, else it could not be +a part of man's development, an essential of +his nature. For that there is before him power, +life, perfection, and that every portion of his +passage thitherwards is crowded with the means +of helping him to his goal, can only be denied +by those who refuse to acknowledge life as +apart from matter. Their mental position is so +absolutely arbitrary that it is useless to encounter +or combat it. Through all time the unseen +has been pressing on the seen, the immaterial +overpowering the material; through all time +the signs and tokens of that which is beyond +matter have been waiting for the men of +matter to test and weigh them. Those who +will not do so have chosen the place of pause +arbitrarily, and there is nothing to be done +but let them remain there undisturbed, working +that treadmill which they believe to be the +utmost activity of existence. + + + + +II + + +There is no doubt that a man must educate +himself to perceive that which is beyond matter, +just as he must educate himself to perceive +that which is in matter. Every one knows that +the early life of a child is one long process +of adjustment, of learning to understand the +use of the senses with regard to their special +provinces, and of practice in the exercise of +difficult, complex, yet imperfect organs entirely +in reference to the perception of the world of +matter. The child is in earnest and works on +without hesitation if he means to live. Some +infants born into the light of earth shrink from +it, and refuse to attack the immense task which +is before them, and which must be accomplished +in order to make life in matter possible. +These go back to the ranks of the unborn; +we see them lay down their manifold instrument, +the body, and fade into sleep. So it is +with the great crowd of humanity when it has +triumphed and conquered and enjoyed in the +world of matter. The individuals in that +crowd, which seems so powerful and confident +in its familiar demesne, are infants in the +presence of the immaterial universe. And we +see them, on all sides, daily and hourly, refusing +to enter it, sinking back into the ranks of +the dwellers in physical life, clinging to the +consciousnesses they have experienced and +understand. The intellectual rejection of all +purely spiritual knowledge is the most marked +indication of this indolence, of which thinkers +of every standing are certainly guilty. + +That the initial effort is a heavy one is +evident, and it is clearly a question of strength, +as well as of willing activity. But there is +no way of acquiring this strength, or of using +it when acquired, except by the exercise of the +will. It is vain to expect to be born into great +possessions. In the kingdom of life there is no +heredity except from the man's own past. He +has to accumulate that which is his. This is +evident to any observer of life who uses his +eyes without blinding them by prejudice; and +even when prejudice is present, it is impossible +for a man of sense not to perceive the fact. It +is from this that we get the doctrine of punishment +and salvation, either lasting through great +ages after death, or eternal. This doctrine is a +narrow and unintelligent mode of stating the +fact in Nature that what a man sows that shall +he reap. Swedenborg's great mind saw the fact +so clearly that he hardened it into a finality in +reference to this particular existence, his prejudices +making it impossible for him to perceive +the possibility of new action when there is no +longer the sensuous world to act in. He was too +dogmatic for scientific observation, and would +not see that, as the spring follows the autumn, +and the day the night, so birth must follow +death. He went very near the threshold of the +Gates of Gold, and passed beyond mere intellectualism, +only to pause at a point but one +step farther. The glimpse of the life beyond +which he had obtained appeared to him to +contain the universe; and on his fragment of +experience he built up a theory to include all +life, and refused progress beyond that state +or any possibility outside it. This is only +another form of the weary treadmill. But +Swedenborg stands foremost in the crowd of +witnesses to the fact that the Golden Gates +exist and can be seen from the heights of +thought, and he has cast us a faint surge of +sensation from their threshold. + + + + +III + + +When once one has considered the meaning +of those Gates, it is evident that there is +no other way out of this form of life except +through them. They only can admit man to +the place where he becomes the fruit of which +manhood is the blossom. Nature is the kindest +of mothers to those who need her; she never +wearies of her children or desires them to lessen +in multitude. Her friendly arms open wide to +the vast throng who desire birth and to dwell +in forms; and while they continue to desire +it, she continues to smile a welcome. Why, +then, should she shut her doors on any? When +one life in her heart has not worn out a hundredth +part of the soul's longing for sensation +such as it finds there, what reason can there +be for its departure to any other place? Surely +the seeds of desire spring up where the sower +has sown them. This seems but reasonable; and +on this apparently self-evident fact the Indian +mind has based its theory of re-incarnation, of +birth and re-birth in matter, which has become +so familiar a part of Eastern thought as no +longer to need demonstration. The Indian +knows it as the Western knows that the day +he is living through is but one of many days +which make up the span of a man's life. This +certainty which is possessed by the Eastern with +regard to natural laws that control the great +sweep of the soul's existence is simply acquired +by habits of thought. The mind of many is +fixed on subjects which in the West are considered +unthinkable. Thus it is that the East +has produced the great flowers of the spiritual +growth of humanity. On the mental steps of a +million men Buddha passed through the Gates +of Gold; and because a great crowd pressed +about the threshold he was able to leave behind +him words which prove that those Gates +will open. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +THE INITIAL EFFORT + +I + + +It is very easily seen that there is no one +point in a man's life or experience where he +is nearer the soul of things than at any other. +That soul, the sublime essence, which fills the +air with a burnished glow, is there, behind the +Gates it colors with itself. But that there is no +one pathway to it is immediately perceived +from the fact that this soul must from its very +nature be universal. The Gates of Gold do +not admit to any special place; what they do +is to open for egress from a special place. +Man passes through them when he casts off +his limitation. He may burst the shell that +holds him in darkness, tear the veil that hides +him from the eternal, at any point where it is +easiest for him to do so, and most often this +point will be where he least expects to find it. +Men go in search of escape with the help of +their minds, and lay down arbitrary and limited +laws as to how to attain the, to them, unattainable. +Many, indeed, have hoped to pass +through by the way of religion, and instead they +have formed a place of thought and feeling so +marked and fixed that it seems as though long +ages would be insufficient to enable them to +get out of the rut! Some have believed that +by the aid of pure intellect a way was to be +found; and to such men we owe the philosophy +and metaphysics which have prevented the race +from sinking into utter sensuousness. But the +end of the man who endeavors to live by +thought alone is that he dwells in fantasies, +and insists on giving them to other men as +substantial food. Great is our debt to the meta-physicians +and transcendentalists; but he who +follows them to the bitter end, forgetting that +the brain is only one organ of use, will find +himself dwelling in a place where a dull +wheel of argument seems to turn forever on +its axis, yet goes nowhither and carries no +burden. + +Virtue (or what seems to each man to be +virtue, his own special standard of morality +and purity) is held by those who practise it to +be a way to heaven. Perhaps it is, to the heaven +of the modern sybarite, the ethical voluptuary. +It is as easy to become a gourmand in pure +living and high thinking as in the pleasures of +taste or sight or sound. Gratification is the +aim of the virtuous man as well as of the drunkard; +even if his life be a miracle of abstinence +and self-sacrifice, a moment's thought shows +that in pursuing this apparently heroic path he +does but pursue pleasure. With him pleasure +takes on a lovely form because his gratifications +are those of a sweet savor, and it pleases him +to give gladness to others rather than to enjoy +himself at their expense. But the pure life and +high thoughts are no more finalities in themselves +than any other mode of enjoyment; and +the man who endeavors to find contentment +in them must intensify his effort and continually +repeat it,--all in vain. He is a green +plant indeed, and the leaves are beautiful; but +more is wanted than leaves. If he persists in +his endeavor blindly, believing that he has +reached his goal when he has not even perceived +it, then he finds himself in that dreary +place where good is done perforce, and the +deed of virtue is without the love that should +shine through it. It is well for a man to lead +a pure life, as it is well for him to have clean +hands,--else he becomes repugnant. But +virtue as we understand it now can no more +have any special relation to the state beyond +that to which we are limited than any other +part of our constitution. Spirit is not a gas +created by matter, and we cannot create our +future by forcibly using one material agent +and leaving out the rest. Spirit is the great life +on which matter rests, as does the rocky world +on the free and fluid ether; whenever we can +break our limitations we find ourselves on that +marvellous shore where Wordsworth once saw +the gleam of the gold. When we enter there +all the present must disappear alike,--virtue +and vice, thought and sense. That a man reaps +what he has sown must of course be true also; +he has no power to carry virtue, which is of the +material life, with him; yet the aroma of his +good deeds is a far sweeter sacrifice than the +odor of crime and cruelty. Yet it may be, +however, that by the practice of virtue he will +fetter himself into one groove, one changeless +fashion of life in matter, so firmly that it is +impossible for the mind to conceive that death +is a sufficient power to free him, and cast him +upon the broad and glorious ocean,--a sufficient +power to undo for him the inexorable +and heavy latch of the Golden Gate. And +sometimes the man who has sinned so deeply +that his whole nature is scarred and blackened +by the fierce fire of selfish gratification is at +last so utterly burned out and charred that +from the very vigor of the passion light leaps +forth. It would seem more possible for such +a man at least to reach the threshold of the +Gates than for the mere ascetic or philosopher. + +But it is little use to reach the threshold of +the Gates without the power to pass through. +And that is all that the sinner can hope to +do by the dissolution of himself which comes +from seeing his own soul. At least this appears +to be so, inevitably because his condition is +negative. The man who lifts the latch of the +Golden Gate must do so with his own strong +hand, must be absolutely positive. This we can +see by analogy. In everything else in life, in +every new step or development, it is necessary +for a man to exercise his most dominant will +in order to obtain it fully. Indeed in many +cases, though he has every advantage and +though he use his will to some extent, he will +fail utterly of obtaining what he desires from +lack of the final and unconquerable resolution. +No education in the world will make a man +an intellectual glory to his age, even if his +powers are great; for unless he positively +desires to seize the flower of perfection, he will +be but a dry scholar, a dealer in words, a proficient +in mechanical thought, and a mere wheel +of memory. And the man who has this positive +quality in him will rise in spite of adverse circumstances, +will recognise and seize upon the +tide of thought which is his natural food, and +will stand as a giant at last in the place he +willed to reach. We see this practically every +day in all walks of life. Wherefore it does not +seem possible that the man who has simply +succeeded through the passions in wrecking the +dogmatic and narrow part of his nature should +pass through those great Gates. But as he is +not blinded by prejudice, nor has fastened +himself to any treadmill of thought, nor +caught the wheel of his soul in any deep rut +of life, it would seem that if once the positive +will might be born within him, he could at +some time not hopelessly far distant lift his +hand to the latch. + +Undoubtedly it is the hardest task we have +yet seen set us in life, that which we are now +talking of,--to free a man of all prejudice, +of all crystallized thought or feeling, of all +limitations, yet develop within him the positive +will. It seems too much of a miracle; for in +ordinary life positive will is always associated +with crystallized ideas. But many things which +have appeared to be too much of a miracle for +accomplishment have yet been done, even in +the narrow experience of life given to our +present humanity. All the past shows us that +difficulty is no excuse for dejection, much less +for despair; else the world would have been +without the many wonders of civilization. Let +us consider the thing more seriously, therefore, +having once used our minds to the idea +that it is not impossible. + +The great initial difficulty is that of fastening +the interest on that which is unseen. Yet, +this is done every day, and we have only to +observe how it is done in order to guide our +own conduct. Every inventor fastens his interest +firmly on the unseen; and it entirely +depends on the firmness of that attachment +whether he is successful or whether he fails. +The poet who looks on to his moment of +creation as that for which he lives, sees that +which is invisible and hears that which is +soundless. + +Probably in this last analogy there is a +clew as to the mode by which success in this +voyage to the unknown bourn ("whence," +indeed, "no traveller returns") is attained. It +applies also to the inventor and to all who +reach out beyond the ordinary mental and +psychical level of humanity. The clew lies in +that word "creation." + + + + +II + + +The words "to create" are often understood +by the ordinary mind to convey the idea of +evolving something out of nothing. This is +clearly not its meaning; we are mentally obliged +to provide our Creator with chaos from which +to produce the worlds. The tiller of the soil, +who is the typical producer of social life, must +have his material, his earth, his sky, rain, and +sun, and the seeds to place within the earth. +Out of nothing he can produce nothing. Out +of a void Nature cannot arise; there is that +material beyond, behind, or within, from which +she is shaped by our desire for a universe. It +is an evident fact that the seeds and the earth, +air, and water which cause them to germinate +exist on every plane of action. If you talk to +an inventor, you will find that far ahead of +what he is now doing he can always perceive +some other thing to be done which he cannot +express in words because as yet he has not +drawn it into our present world of objects. +That knowledge of the unseen is even more +definite in the poet, and more inexpressible +until he has touched it with some part of that +consciousness which he shares with other men. +But in strict proportion to his greatness he +lives in the consciousness which the ordinary +man does not even believe can exist,--the +consciousness which dwells in the greater +universe, which breathes in the vaster air, which +beholds a wider earth and sky, and snatches +seeds from plants of giant growth. + +It is this place of consciousness that we +need to reach out to. That it is not reserved +only for men of genius is shown by the fact +that martyrs and heroes have found it and +dwelt in it. It is not reserved for men of genius +only, but it can only be found by men of +great soul. + +In this fact there is no need for discouragement. +Greatness in man is popularly supposed +to be a thing inborn. This belief must be a +result of want of thought, of blindness to facts +of nature. Greatness can only be attained by +growth; that is continually demonstrated to us. +Even the mountains, even the firm globe itself, +these are great by dint of the mode of growth +peculiar to that state of materiality,--accumulation +of atoms. As the consciousness inherent +in all existing forms passes into more +advanced forms of life it becomes more active, +and in proportion it acquires the power +of growth by assimilation instead of accumulation. +Looking at existence from this special +point of view (which indeed is a difficult one +to maintain for long, as we habitually look +at life in planes and forget the great lines +which connect and run through these), we +immediately perceive it to be reasonable to +suppose that as we advance beyond our present +standpoint the power of growth by assimilation +will become greater and probably change into +a method yet more rapid, easy, and unconscious. +The universe is, in fact, full of magnificent +promise for us, if we will but lift our +eyes and see. It is that lifting of the eyes +which is the first need and the first difficulty; +we are so apt readily to be content with +what we see within touch of our hands. It is +the essential characteristic of the man of genius +that he is comparatively indifferent to that +fruit which is just within touch, and hungers +for that which is afar on the hills. In fact +he does not need the sense of contact to arouse +longing. He knows that this distant fruit, +which he perceives without the aid of the +physical senses, is a subtler and a stronger +food than any which appeals to them. And +how is he rewarded! When he tastes that +fruit, how strong and sweet is its flavor, and +what a new sense of life rushes upon him! +For in recognising that flavor he has recognised +the existence of the subtile senses, those +which feed the life of the inner man; and it is +by the strength of that inner man, and by his +strength only, that the latch of the Golden +Gates can be lifted. + +In fact it is only by the development and +growth of the inner man that the existence +of these Gates, and of that to which they +admit, can be even perceived. While man is +content with his gross senses and cares nothing +for his subtile ones, the Gates remain literally +invisible. As to the boor the gateway of the +intellectual life is as a thing uncreate and +non-existent, so to the man of the gross senses, +even if his intellectual life is active, that which +lies beyond is uncreate and non-existent, only +because he does not open the book. + +To the servant who dusts the scholar's +library the closed volumes are meaningless; +they do not even appear to contain a promise +unless he also is a scholar, not merely a servant. +It is possible to gaze throughout eternity +upon a shut exterior from sheer indolence,--mental +indolence, which is incredulity, and +which at last men learn to pride themselves +on; they call it scepticism, and talk of the reign +of reason. It is no more a state to justify pride +than that of the Eastern sybarite who will not +even lift his food to his mouth; he is "reasonable" +also in that he sees no value in activity, +and therefore does not exercise it. So with the +sceptic; decay follows the condition of inaction, +whether it be mental, psychic, or physical. + + + + +III + + +And now let us consider how the initial +difficulty of fastening the interest on that +which is unseen is to be overcome. Our gross +senses refer only to that which is objective in +the ordinary sense of the word; but just beyond +this field of life there are finer sensations +which appeal to finer senses. Here we find +the first clew to the stepping-stones we need. +Man looks from this point of view like a point +where many rays or lines centre; and if he +has the courage or the interest to detach himself +from the simplest form of life, the point, and +explore but a little way along these lines or +rays, his whole being at once inevitably widens +and expands, the man begins to grow in greatness. +But it is evident, if we accept this illustration +as a fairly true one, that the chief +point of importance is to explore no more +persistently on one line than another: else the +result must be a deformity. We all know how +powerful is the majesty and personal dignity +of a forest tree which has had air enough to +breathe, and room for its widening roots, and +inner vitality with which to accomplish its +unceasing task. It obeys the perfect natural +law of growth, and the peculiar awe it inspires +arises from this fact. + +How is it possible to obtain recognition of +the inner man, to observe its growth and +foster it? + +Let us try to follow a little way the clew +we have obtained, though words will probably +soon be useless. + +We must each travel alone and without +aids, as the traveller has to climb alone when +he nears the summit of the mountain. No beast +of burden can help him there; neither can the +gross senses or anything that touches the gross +senses help him here. But for a little distance +words may go with us. + +The tongue recognises the value of sweetness +or piquancy in food. To the man whose +senses are of the simplest order there is no +other idea of sweetness than this. But a finer +essence, a more highly placed sensation of the +same order, is reached by another perception. +The sweetness on the face of a lovely woman, +or in the smile of a friend, is recognised by +the man whose inner senses have even a little--a +mere stirring of--vitality. To the one +who has lifted the golden latch the spring of +sweet waters, the fountain itself whence all +softness arises, is opened and becomes part of +his heritage. + +But before this fountain can be tasted, or +any other spring reached, any source found, a +heavy weight has to be lifted from the heart, +an iron bar which holds it down and prevents +it from arising in its strength. + +The man who recognises the flow of sweetness +from its source through Nature, through +all forms of life, he has lifted this, he has +raised himself into that state in which there is +no bondage. He knows that he is a part of +the great whole, and it is this knowledge which +is his heritage. It is through the breaking +asunder of the arbitrary bond which holds him +to his personal centre that he comes of age +and becomes ruler of his kingdom. As he +widens out, reaching by manifold experience +along those lines which centre at the point +where he stands embodied, he discovers that +he has touch with all life, that he contains +within himself the whole. And then he has +but to yield himself to the great force which +we call good, to clasp it tightly with the grasp +of his soul, and he is carried swiftly on to the +great, wide waters of real living. What are +those waters? In our present life we have but +the shadow of the substance. No man loves +without satiety, no man drinks wine without +return of thirst. Hunger and longing darken +the sky and make the earth unfriendly. What +we need is an earth that will bear living fruit, +a sky that will be always full of light. +Needing this positively, we shall surely find it. + + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +THE MEANING OF PAIN + +I + + +Look into the deep heart of life, whence +pain comes to darken men's lives. She is always +on the threshold, and behind her stands +despair. + +What are these two gaunt figures, and +why are they permitted to be our constant +followers? + +It is we who permit them, we who order +them, as we permit and order the action of our +bodies; and we do so as unconsciously. But +by scientific experiment and investigation we +have learned much about our physical life, and +it would seem as if we can obtain at least as +much result with regard to our inner life by +adopting similar methods. + +Pain arouses, softens, breaks, and destroys. +Regarded from a sufficiently removed standpoint, +it appears as medicine, as a knife, as a +weapon, as a poison, in turn. It is an implement, +a thing which is used, evidently. What +we desire to discover is, who is the user; what +part of ourselves is it that demands the +presence of this thing so hateful to the rest? + +Medicine is used by the physician, the knife +by the surgeon; but the weapon of destruction +is used by the enemy, the hater. + +Is it, then, that we do not only use means, +or desire to use means, for the benefit of our +souls, but that also we wage warfare within +ourselves, and do battle in the inner sanctuary? +It would seem so; for it is certain that if man's +will relaxed with regard to it he would no +longer retain life in that state in which pain +exists. Why does he desire his own hurt? + +The answer may at first sight seem to be +that he primarily desires pleasure, and so is +willing to continue on that battlefield where +it wages war with pain for the possession of +him, hoping always that pleasure will win the +victory and take him home to herself. This is +but the external aspect of the man's state. In +himself he knows well that pain is co-ruler +with pleasure, and that though the war wages +always it never will be won. The superficial +observer concludes that man submits to the +inevitable. But that is a fallacy not worthy +of discussion. A little serious thought shows +us that man does not exist at all except by +exercise of his positive qualities; it is but +logical to suppose that he chooses the state +he will live in by the exercise of those same +qualities. + +Granted, then, for the sake of our argument, +that he desires pain, why is it that he +desires anything so annoying to himself? + + +II + +If we carefully consider the constitution of +man and its tendencies, it would seem as if +there were two definite directions in which he +grows. He is like a tree which strikes its roots +into the ground while it throws up young +branches towards the heavens. These two lines +which go outward from the central personal +point are to him clear, definite, and intelligible. +He calls one good and the other evil. But +man is not, according to any analogy, observation, +or experience, a straight line. Would +that he were, and that life, or progress, or +development, or whatever we choose to call it, +meant merely following one straight road or +another, as the religionists pretend it does. +The whole question, the mighty problem, +would be very easily solved then. But it is not +so easy to go to hell as preachers declare it +to be. It is as hard a task as to find one's +way to the Golden Gate! A man may wreck +himself utterly in sense-pleasure,--may debase +his whole nature, as it seems,--yet he fails +of becoming the perfect devil, for there is still +the spark of divine light within him. He tries +to choose the broad road which leads to +destruction, and enters bravely on his headlong +career. But very soon he is checked and +startled by some unthought-of tendency in +himself,--some of the many other radiations +which go forth from his centre of self. He +suffers as the body suffers when it develops +monstrosities which impede its healthy action. +He has created pain, and encountered his own +creation. It may seem as if this argument is +difficult of application with regard to physical +pain. Not so, if man is regarded from a loftier +standpoint than that we generally occupy. If +he is looked upon as a powerful consciousness +which forms its external manifestations according +to its desires, then it is evident that physical +pain results from deformity in those desires. +No doubt it will appear to many minds that +this conception of man is too gratuitous, and +involves too large a mental leap into unknown +places where proof is unobtainable. But if the +mind is accustomed to look upon life from +this standpoint, then very soon none other is +acceptable; the threads of existence, which +to the purely materialistic observer appear +hopelessly entangled, become separated and +straightened, so that a new intelligibleness +illumines the universe. The arbitrary and cruel +Creator who inflicts pain and pleasure at will +then disappears from the stage; and it is well, +for he is indeed an unnecessary character, and, +worse still, is a mere creature of straw, who +cannot even strut upon the boards without +being upheld on all sides by dogmatists. Man +comes into this world, surely, on the same +principle that he lives in one city of the earth +or another; at all events, if it is too much to +say that this is so, one may safely ask, why is +it not so? There is neither for nor against +which will appeal to the materialist, or which +would weigh in a court of justice; but I aver +this in favor of the argument,--that no man +having once seriously considered it can go back +to the formal theories of the sceptics. It is +like putting on swaddling-clothes again. + +Granting, then, for the sake of this argument, +that man is a powerful consciousness +who is his own creator, his own judge, and +within whom lies all life in potentiality, even +the ultimate goal, then let us consider why he +causes himself to suffer. + +If pain is the result of uneven development, +of monstrous growths, of defective +advance at different points, why does man not +learn the lesson which this should teach him, +and take pains to develop equally? + +It would seem to me as if the answer to +this question is that this is the very lesson +which the human race is engaged in learning. +Perhaps this may seem too bold a statement +to make in the face of ordinary thinking, +which either regards man as a creature of +chance dwelling in chaos, or as a soul bound +to the inexorable wheel of a tyrant's chariot +and hurried on either to heaven or to hell. But +such a mode of thought is after all but the +same as that of the child who regards his +parents as the final arbiters of his destinies, +and in fact the gods or demons of his universe. +As he grows he casts aside this idea, finding +that it is simply a question of coming of age, +and that he is himself the king of life like any +other man. + +So it is with the human race. It is king of +its world, arbiter of its own destiny, and there +is none to say it nay. Who talk of Providence +and chance have not paused to think. + +Destiny, the inevitable, does indeed exist +for the race and for the individual; but who +can ordain this save the man himself? There +is no clew in heaven or earth to the existence +of any ordainer other than the man who suffers +or enjoys that which is ordained. We know +so little of our own constitution, we are so +ignorant of our divine functions, that it is +impossible for us yet to know how much or +how little we are actually fate itself. But this +at all events we know,--that so far as any +provable perception goes, no clew to the +existence of an ordainer has yet been discovered; +whereas if we give but a very little +attention to the life about us in order to +observe the action of the man upon his own +future, we soon perceive this power as an +actual force in operation. It is visible, although +our range of vision is so very limited. + +The man of the world, pure and simple, +is by far the best practical observer and +philosopher with regard to life, because he is +not blinded by any prejudices. He will be +found always to believe that as a man sows so +shall he reap. And this is so evidently true +when it is considered, that if one takes the +larger view, including all human life, it makes +intelligible the awful Nemesis which seems +consciously to pursue the human race,--that +inexorable appearance of pain in the midst of +pleasure. The great Greek poets saw this +apparition so plainly that their recorded observation +has given to us younger and blinder +observers the idea of it. It is unlikely that so +materialistic a race as that which has grown +up all over the West would have discovered for +itself the existence of this terrible factor in +human life without the assistance of the older +poets,--the poets of the past. And in this we +may notice, by the way, one distinct value of +the study of the classics,--that the great ideas +and facts about human life which the superb +ancients put into their poetry shall not be +absolutely lost as are their arts. No doubt +the world will flower again, and greater +thoughts and more profound discoveries than +those of the past will be the glory of the men +of the future efflorescence; but until that +far-off day comes we cannot prize too dearly +the treasures left us. + +There is one aspect of the question which +seems at first sight positively to negative this +mode of thought; and that is the suffering in +the apparently purely physical body of the +dumb beings,--young children, idiots, animals,--and +their desperate need of the power +which comes of any sort of knowledge to help +them through their sufferings. + +The difficulty which will arise in the mind +with regard to this comes from the untenable +idea of the separation of the soul from the +body. It is supposed by all those who look +only at material life (and especially by the +physicians of the flesh) that the body and the +brain are a pair of partners who live together +hand in hand and react one upon another. +Beyond that they recognise no cause and +therefore allow of none. They forget that the +brain and the body are as evidently mere mechanism +as the hand or the foot. There is the +inner man--the soul--behind, using all these +mechanisms; and this is as evidently the truth +with regard to all the existences we know of as +with regard to man himself. We cannot find +any point in the scale of being at which soul-causation +ceases or can cease. The dull oyster +must have that in him which makes him choose +the inactive life he leads; none else can choose +it for him but the soul behind, which makes +him be. How else can he be where he is, or be +at all? Only by the intervention of an impossible +creator called by some name or other. + +It is because man is so idle, so indisposed +to assume or accept responsibility, that he falls +back upon this temporary makeshift of a +creator. It is temporary indeed, for it can only +last during the activity of the particular brain +power which finds its place among us. When +the man drops this mental life behind him, +he of necessity leaves with it its magic lantern +and the pleasant illusions he has conjured up +by its aid. That must be a very uncomfortable +moment, and must produce a sense of nakedness +not to be approached by any other sensation. +It would seem as well to save one's +self this disagreeable experience by refusing to +accept unreal phantasms as things of flesh +and blood and power. Upon the shoulders of +the Creator man likes to thrust the responsibility +not only of his capacity for sinning and +the possibility of his salvation, but of his very +life itself, his very consciousness. It is a poor +Creator that he thus contents himself with,--one +who is pleased with a universe of puppets, +and amused by pulling their strings. If he is +capable of such enjoyment, he must yet be in +his infancy. Perhaps that is so, after all; the +God within us is in his infancy, and refuses +to recognise his high estate. If indeed the soul +of man is subject to the laws of growth, of +decay, and of re-birth as to its body, then there +is no wonder at its blindness. But this is +evidently not so; for the soul of man is of that +order of life which causes shape and form, +and is unaffected itself by these things,--of +that order of life which like the pure, the +abstract flame burns wherever it is lit. This +cannot be changed or affected by time, and is +of its very nature superior to growth and +decay. It stands in that primeval place which +is the only throne of God,--that place whence +forms of life emerge and to which they return. +That place is the central point of existence, +where there is a permanent spot of life as +there is in the midst of the heart of man. It +is by the equal development of that,--first +by the recognition of it, and then by its equal +development upon the many radiating lines of +experience,--that man is at last enabled to +reach the Golden Gate and lift the latch. The +process is the gradual recognition of the god +in himself; the goal is reached when that +godhood is consciously restored to its +right glory. + + +III + +The first thing which it is necessary for the +soul of man to do in order to engage in this +great endeavor of discovering true life is the +same thing that the child first does in its desire +for activity in the body,--he must be able to +stand. It is clear that the power of standing, +of equilibrium, of concentration, of uprightness, +in the soul, is a quality of a marked character. +The word that presents itself most +readily as descriptive of this quality is +"confidence." + +To remain still amid life and its changes, +and stand firmly on the chosen spot, is a feat +which can only be accomplished by the man +who has confidence in himself and in his +destiny. Otherwise the hurrying forms of life, +the rushing tide of men, the great floods of +thought, must inevitably carry him with them, +and then he will lose that place of consciousness +whence it was possible to start on the +great enterprise. For it _must_ be done knowingly, +and without pressure from without,--this +act of the new-born man. All the great +ones of the earth have possessed this confidence, +and have stood firmly on that place +which was to them the one solid spot in the +universe. To each man this place is of necessity +different. Each man must find his +earth and his own heaven. + +We have the instinctive desire to relieve +pain, but we work in externals in this as in +everything else. We simply alleviate it; and +if we do more, and drive it from its first chosen +stronghold, it reappears in some other place +with reinforced vigor. If it is eventually driven +off the physical plane by persistent and successful +effort, it reappears on the mental or +emotional planes where no man can touch it. +That this is so is easily seen by those who +connect the various planes of sensation, and +who observe life with that additional illumination. +Men habitually regard these different +forms of feeling as actually separate, whereas +in fact they are evidently only different sides +of one centre,--the point of personality. If +that which arises in the centre, the fount of +life, demands some hindered action, and consequently +causes pain, the force thus created +being driven from one stronghold must find +another; it cannot be driven out. And all the +blendings of human life which cause emotion +and distress exist for its use and purposes as +well as for those of pleasure. Both have their +home in man; both demand their expression of +right. The marvellously delicate mechanism of +the human frame is constructed to answer to +their lightest touch; the extraordinary intricacies +of human relations evolve themselves, as +it were, for the satisfaction of these two great +opposites of the soul. + +Pain and pleasure stand apart and separate, +as do the two sexes; and it is in the merging, +the making the two into one, that joy and deep +sensation and profound peace are obtained. +Where there is neither male nor female +neither pain nor pleasure, there is the god in +man dominant, and then is life real. + +To state the matter in this way may savor +too much of the dogmatist who utters his +assertions uncontradicted from a safe pulpit; +but it is dogmatism only as a scientist's record +of effort in a new direction is dogmatism. +Unless the existence of the Gates of Gold can +be proved to be real, and not the mere phantasmagoria +of fanciful visionaries, then they +are not worth talking about at all. In the +nineteenth century hard facts or legitimate +arguments alone appeal to men's minds; and +so much the better. For unless the life we +advance towards is increasingly real and +actual, it is worthless, and time is wasted in +going after it. Reality is man's greatest need, +and he demands to have it at all hazards, at +any price. Be it so. No one doubts he is right. +Let us then go in search of reality. + + + + +IV + + +One definite lesson learned by all acute +sufferers will be of the greatest service to us +in this consideration. In intense pain a point is +reached where it is indistinguishable from its +opposite, pleasure. This is indeed so, but few +have the heroism or the strength to suffer to +such a far point. It is as difficult to reach +it by the other road. Only a chosen few have +the gigantic capacity for pleasure which will +enable them to travel to its other side. Most +have but enough strength to enjoy and to +become the slave of the enjoyment. Yet man +has undoubtedly within himself the heroism +needed for the great journey; else how is it +martyrs have smiled amid the torture? +How is it that the profound sinner who lives +for pleasure can at last feel stir within himself +the divine afflatus? + +In both these cases the possibility has arisen +of finding the way; but too often that +possibility is killed by the overbalance of the +startled nature. The martyr has acquired a +passion for pain and lives in the idea of heroic +suffering; the sinner becomes blinded by the +thought of virtue and worships it as an end, +an object, a thing divine in itself; whereas it +can only be divine as it is part of that infinite +whole which includes vice as well as virtue. +How is it possible to divide the infinite,--that +which is one? It is as reasonable to lend +divinity to any object as to take a cup of water +from the sea and declare that in that is contained +the ocean. You cannot separate the +ocean; the salt water is part of the great sea +and must be so; but nevertheless you do not +hold the sea in your hand. Men so longingly +desire personal power that they are ready to +put infinity into a cup, the divine idea into a +formula, in order that they may fancy themselves +in possession of it. These only are those +who cannot rise and approach the Gates of +Gold, for the great breath of life confuses +them; they are struck with horror to find how +great it is. The idol-worshipper keeps an +image of his idol in his heart and burns a +candle always before it. It is his own, and he +is pleased at that thought, even if he bow in +reverence before it. In how many virtuous and +religious men does not this same state exist? +In the recesses of the soul the lamp is burning +before a household god,--a thing possessed +by its worshipper and subject to him. Men +cling with desperate tenacity to these dogmas, +these moral laws, these principles and modes +of faith which are their household gods, their +personal idols. Bid them burn the unceasing +flame in reverence only to the infinite, and +they turn from you. Whatever their manner +of scorning your protest may be, within themselves +it leaves a sense of aching void. For +the noble soul of the man, that potential king +which is within us all, knows full well that +this household idol may be cast down and +destroyed at any moment,--that it is without +finality in itself, without any real and absolute +life. And he has been content in his possession, +forgetting that anything possessed can only by +the immutable laws of life be held temporarily. +He has forgotten that the infinite is +his only friend; he has forgotten that in its +glory is his only home,--that it alone can be +his god. There he feels as if he is homeless; +but that amid the sacrifices he offers to +his own especial idol there is for him a brief +resting-place; and for this he clings passionately +to it. + +Few have the courage even slowly to face +the great desolateness which lies outside themselves, +and must lie there so long as they cling +to the person which they represent, the "I" +which is to them the centre of the world, the +cause of all life. In their longing for a God +they find the reason for the existence of one; +in their desire for a sense-body and a world to +enjoy in, lies to them the cause of the universe. +These beliefs may be hidden very deep beneath +the surface, and be indeed scarcely accessible; +but in the fact that they are there is the reason +why the man holds himself upright. To himself +he is himself the infinite and the God; he +holds the ocean in a cup. In this delusion he +nurtures the egoism which makes life pleasure +and makes pain pleasant. In this profound +egoism is the very cause and source of the +existence of pleasure and of pain. For unless +man vacillated between these two, and ceaselessly +reminded himself by sensation that he +exists, he would forget it. And in this fact lies +the whole answer to the question, "Why does +man create pain for his own discomfort?" + +The strange and mysterious fact remains +unexplained as yet, that man in so deluding +himself is merely interpreting Nature backwards +and putting into the words of death the +meaning of life. For that man does indeed +hold within him the infinite, and that the ocean +is really in the cup, is an incontestable truth; +but it is only so because the cup is absolutely +non-existent. It is merely an experience of the +infinite, having no permanence, liable to be +shattered at any instant. It is in the claiming +of reality and permanence for the four walls of +his personality, that man makes the vast +blunder which plunges him into a prolonged +series of unfortunate incidents, and intensifies +continually the existence of his favorite forms +of sensation. Pleasure and pain become to him +more real than the great ocean of which he is +a part and where his home is; he perpetually +knocks himself painfully against these walls +where he feels, and his tiny self oscillates +within his chosen prison. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +THE SECRET OF STRENGTH + +I + + +Strength to step forward is the primary +need of him who has chosen his path. Where +is this to be found? Looking round, it is not +hard to see where other men find their strength. +Its source is profound conviction. Through this +great moral power is brought to birth in the +natural life of the man that which enables him, +however frail he may be, to go on and conquer. +Conquer what? Not continents, not worlds, but +himself. Through that supreme victory is +obtained the entrance to the whole, where all +that might be conquered and obtained by effort +becomes at once not his, but himself. + +To put on armor and go forth to war, +taking the chances of death in the hurry of the +fight, is an easy thing; to stand still amid +the jangle of the world, to preserve stillness +within the turmoil of the body, to hold silence +amid the thousand cries of the senses and +desires, and then, stripped of all armor and +without hurry or excitement take the deadly +serpent of self and kill it, is no easy thing. +Yet that is what has to be done; and it can +only be done in the moment of equilibrium +when the enemy is disconcerted by the silence. + +But there is needed for this supreme +moment a strength such as no hero of the +battlefield needs. A great soldier must be filled +with the profound convictions of the justness +of his cause and the rightness of his method. +The man who wars against himself and wins +the battle can do it only when he knows that +in that war he is doing the one thing which +is worth doing, and when he knows that in +doing it he is winning heaven and hell as his +servitors. Yes, he stands on both. He needs +no heaven where pleasure comes as a long-promised +reward; he fears no hell where pain +waits to punish him for his sins. For he has +conquered once for all that shifting serpent +in himself which turns from side to side in +its constant desire of contact, in its perpetual +search after pleasure and pain. Never again +(the victory once really won) can he tremble +or grow exultant at any thought of that which +the future holds. Those burning sensations +which seemed to him to be the only proofs +of his existence are his no longer. How, then, +can he know that he lives? He knows it only +by argument. And in time he does not care to +argue about it. For him there is then peace; +and he will find in that peace the power he +has coveted. Then he will know what is that +faith which can remove mountains. + + +II + +Religion holds a man back from the path, +prevents his stepping forward, for various very +plain reasons. First it makes the vital mistake +of distinguishing between good and evil. +Nature knows no such distinction; and the +moral and social laws set us by our religions +are as temporary, as much a thing of our own +special mode and form of existence, as are the +moral and social laws of the ants or the bees. +We pass out of that state in which these things +appear to be final, and we forget them forever. +This is easily shown, because a man of broad +habits of thought and of intelligence must +modify his code of life when he dwells among +another people. These people among whom +he is an alien have their own deep-rooted +religions and hereditary convictions, against +which he cannot offend. Unless his is an +abjectly narrow and unthinking mind, he sees +that their form of law and order is as good as +his own. What then can he do but reconcile +his conduct gradually to their rules? And then +if he dwells among them many years the sharp +edge of difference is worn away, and he forgets +at last where their faith ends and his commences. +Yet is it for his own people to say he +has done wrong, if he has injured no man and +remained just? + +I am not attacking law and order; I do not +speak of these things with rash dislike. In +their place they are as vital and necessary as +the code which governs the life of a beehive +is to its successful conduct. What I wish to +point out is that law and order in themselves +are quite temporary and unsatisfactory. +a man's soul passes away from its brief +dwelling-place, thoughts of law and order do +not accompany it. If it is strong, it is the +ecstasy of true being and real life which it +becomes possessed of, as all know who have +watched by the dying. If the soul is weak, it +faints and fades away, overcome by the first +flush of the new life. + +Am I speaking too positively? Only those +who live in the active life of the moment, who +have not watched beside the dead and dying, +who have not walked the battlefield and +looked in the faces of men in their last agony, +will say so. The strong man goes forth from +his body exultant. + +Why? Because he is no longer held back +and made to quiver by hesitation. In the +strange moment of death he has had release +given him; and with a sudden passion of +delight he recognises that it is release. Had; +he been sure of this before, he would have +been a great sage, a man to rule the world, +for he would have had the power to rule +himself and his own body. That release from +the chains of ordinary life can be obtained as +easily during life as by death. It only needs a +sufficiently profound conviction to enable the +man to look on his body with the same emotions +as he would look on the body of another +man, or on the bodies of a thousand men. In +contemplating a battlefield it is impossible to +realize the agony of every sufferer; why, then, +realize your own pain more keenly than +another's? Mass the whole together, and look +at it all from a wider standpoint than that +of the individual life. That you actually feel +your own physical wound is a weakness of +your limitation. The man who is developed +psychically feels the wound of another as +keenly as his own, and does not feel his own +at all if he is strong enough to will it so. +Every one who has examined at all seriously +into psychic conditions knows this to be a fact, +more or less marked, according to the psychic +development. In many instances, the psychic is +more keenly and selfishly aware of his own +pain than of any other person's; but that is +when the development, marked perhaps so far +as it has gone, only reaches a certain point. +It is the power which carries the man to the +margin of that consciousness which is profound +peace and vital activity. It can carry him no +further. But if he has reached its margin he +is freed from the paltry dominion of his own +self. That is the first great release. Look at +the sufferings which come upon us from our +narrow and limited experience and sympathy. +We each stand quite alone, a solitary unit, a +pygmy in the world. What good fortune can +we expect? The great life of the world rushes +by, and we are in danger each instant that +it will overwhelm us or even utterly destroy us. +There is no defence to be offered to it; no +opposition army can be set up, because in this +life every man fights his own battle against +every other man, and no two can be united +under the same banner. There is only one way +of escape from this terrible danger which we +battle against every hour. Turn round, and +instead of standing against the forces, join +them; become one with Nature, and go easily +upon her path. Do not resist or resent the +circumstances of life any more than the plants +present the rain and the wind. Then suddenly, +to your own amazement, you find you have +time and strength to spare, to use in the great +battle which it is inevitable every man must +fight,--that in himself, that which leads to +his own conquest. + +Some might say, to his own destruction. +And why? Because from the hour when he +first tastes the splendid reality of living he +forgets more and more his individual self. No +longer does he fight for it, or pit its strength +against the strength of others. No longer does +he care to defend or to feed it. Yet when +he is thus indifferent to its welfare, the individual +self grows more stalwart and robust, +like the prairie grasses and the trees of untrodden +forests. It is a matter of indifference to +him whether this is so or not. Only, if it is so, +he has a fine instrument ready to his hand; and +in due proportion to the completeness of his +indifference to it is the strength and beauty +of his personal self. This is readily seen; a +garden flower becomes a mere degenerate copy +of itself if it is simply neglected; a plant must +be cultivated to the highest pitch, and benefit +by the whole of the gardener's skill, or else it +must be a pure savage, wild, and fed only by +the earth and sky. Who cares for any intermediate +states? What value or strength is +there in the neglected garden rose which has +the canker in every bud? For diseased or +dwarfed blossoms are sure to result from an +arbitrary change of condition, resulting from +the neglect of the man who has hitherto been +the providence of the plant in its unnatural +life. But there are wind-blown plains where +the daisies grow tall, with moon faces such +as no cultivation can produce in them. Cultivate, +then, to the very utmost; forget no inch +of your garden ground, no smallest plant that +grows in it; make no foolish pretence nor fond +mistake in the fancy that you are ready to +forget it, and so subject it to the frightful consequences +of half-measures. The plant that is +watered to-day and forgotten to-morrow must +dwindle or decay. The plant that looks for no +help but from Nature itself measures its +strength at once, and either dies and is +re-created or grows into a great tree whose +boughs fill the sky. But make no mistake like +the religionists and some philosophers; leave +no part of yourself neglected while you know +it to be yourself. While the ground is the +gardener's it is his business to tend it; but +some day a call may come to him from another +country or from death itself, and in a moment +he is no longer the gardener, his business is at +an end, he has no more duty of that kind +at all. Then his favorite plants suffer and die, +and the delicate ones become one with the +earth. But soon fierce Nature claims the place +for her own, and covers it with thick grass or +giant weeds, or nurses some sapling in it +till its branches shade the ground. Be warned, +and tend your garden to the utmost, till you can +pass away utterly and let it return to Nature +and become the wind-blown plain where the +wild-flowers grow. Then, if you pass that way +and look at it, whatever has happened will +neither grieve nor elate you. For you will be +able to say, "I am the rocky ground, I am the +great tree, I am the strong daisies," indifferent +which it is that flourishes where once your rose-trees +grew. But you must have learned to study +the stars to some purpose before you dare to +neglect your roses, and omit to fill the air +with their cultivated fragrance. You must +know your way through the trackless air, and +from thence to the pure ether; you must be +ready to lift the bar of the Golden Gate. + +Cultivate, I say, and neglect nothing. Only +remember, all the while you tend and water, +that you are impudently usurping the tasks of +Nature herself. Having usurped her work, +you must carry it through until you have +reached a point when she has no power to +punish you, when you are not afraid of her, +but can with a bold front return her her own. +She laughs in her sleeve, the mighty mother, +watching you with covert, laughing eye, ready +relentlessly to cast the whole of your work +into the dust if you do but give her the chance, +if you turn idler and grow careless. The idler +is father of the madman in the sense that the +child is the father of the.man. Nature has +put her vast hand on him and crushed the +whole edifice. The gardener and his rose-trees +are alike broken and stricken by the great +storm which her movement has created; they +lie helpless till the sand is swept over them +and they are buried in a weary wilderness. +From this desert spot Nature herself will +re-create, and will use the ashes of the man +who dared to face her as indifferently as the +withered leaves of his plants. His body, soul, +and spirit are all alike claimed by her. + + +III + +The man who is strong, who has resolved +to find the unknown path, takes with the +utmost care every step. He utters no idle word, +he does no unconsidered action, he neglects no +duty or office however homely or however +difficult. But while his eyes and hands and +feet are thus fulfilling their tasks, new eyes +and hands and feet are being born within +him. For his passionate and unceasing desire +is to go that way on which the subtile organs +only can guide him. The physical world he has +learned, and knows how to use; gradually his +power is passing on, and he recognises the +psychic world. But he has to learn this world +and know how to use it, and he dare not lose +hold of the life he is familiar with till he has +taken hold of that with which he is unfamiliar. +When he has acquired such power +with his psychic organs as the infant has with +its physical organs when it first opens its lungs, +then is the hour for the great adventure. How +little is needed--yet how much that is! The +man does but need the psychic body to be +formed in all parts, as is an infant's; he does +but need the profound and unshakable conviction +which impels the infant, that the new +life is desirable. Once those conditions gained +and he may let himself live in the new atmosphere +and look up to the new sun. But then +his must remember to check his new experience +by the old. He is breathing still, though differently; +he draws air into his lungs, and takes +life from the sun. He has been born into the +psychic world, and depends now on the +psychic air and light. His goal is not here: this +is but a subtile repetition of physical life; he +has to pass through it according to similar +laws. He must study, learn, grow, and conquer; +never forgetting the while that his goal is that +place where there is no air nor any sun or +moon. + +Do not imagine that in this line of progress +the man himself is being moved or changing +his place. Not so. The truest illustration of the +process is that of cutting through layers of crust +or skin. The man, having learned his lesson +fully, casts off the physical life; having learned +his lesson fully, casts off the psychic life; having +learned his lesson fully, casts off the contemplative +life, or life of adoration. + +All are cast aside at last, and he enters the +great temple where any memory of self or sensation +is left outside as the shoes are cast from +the feet of the worshipper. That temple is the +place of his own pure divinity, the central flame +which, however obscured, has animated him +through all these struggles. And having found +this sublime home he is sure as the heavens +themselves. He remains still, filled with all +knowledge and power. The outer man, the +adoring, the acting, the living personification, +goes its own way hand in hand with Nature, +and shows all the superb strength of the savage +growth of the earth, lit by that instinct which +contains knowledge. For in the inmost sanctuary, +in the actual temple, the man has found +the subtile essence of Nature herself. No +longer can there be any difference between +them or any half-measures. And now comes +the hour of action and power. In that inmost +sanctuary all is to be found: God and his creatures, +the fiends who prey on them, those +among men who have been loved, those who +have been hated. Difference between them exists +no longer. Then the soul of man laughs in +its strength and fearlessness, and goes forth +into the world in which its actions are needed, +and causes these actions to take place without +apprehension, alarm, fear, regret, or joy. + +This state is possible to man while yet he +lives in the physical; for men have attained it +while living. It alone can make actions in the +physical divine and true. + +Life among objects of sense must forever +be an outer shape to the sublime soul,--it can +only become powerful life, the life of accomplishment, +when it is animated by the crowned +and indifferent god that sits in the sanctuary. + +The obtaining of this condition is so supremely +desirable because from the moment it +is entered there is no more trouble, no more +anxiety, no more doubt or hesitation. As a +great artist paints his picture fearlessly and +never committing any error which causes him +regret, so the man who has formed his inner +self deals with his life. + +But that is when the condition is entered. +That which we who look towards the mountains +hunger to know is the mode of entrance and +the way to the Gate. The Gate is that Gate of +Gold barred by a heavy bar of iron. The way +to the threshold of it turns a man giddy and +sick. It seems no path, it seems to end perpetually, +its way lies along hideous precipices, +it loses itself in deep waters. + +Once crossed and the way found it appears +wonderful that the difficulty should have looked; +so great. For the path where it disappears does +but turn abruptly, its line upon the precipice +edge is wide enough for the feet, and across +the deep waters that look so treacherous there, +is always a ford and a ferry. So it happens in +all profound experiences of human nature. +When the first grief tears the heart asunder it +seems that the path has ended and a blank +darkness taken the place of the sky. And yet by +groping the soul passes on, and that difficult +and seemingly hopeless turn in the road is +passed. + +So with many another form or human torture. +Sometimes throughout a long period or +a whole lifetime the path of existence is perpetually +checked by what seem like insurmountable +obstacles. Grief, pain, suffering, the loss +of all that is beloved or valued, rise up before +the terrified soul and check it at every turn. +Who places those obstacles there? The reason +shrinks at the childish dramatic picture which +the religionists place before it,--God permitting +the Devil to torment His creatures for their +ultimate good! When will that ultimate good +be attained? The idea involved in this picture +supposes an end, a goal. There is none. We +can any one of us safely assent to that; for as +far as human observation, reason, thought, intellect, +or instinct can reach towards grasping +the mystery of life, all data obtained show that +the path is endless and that eternity cannot be +blinked and converted by the idling soul into +a million years. + +In man, taken individually or as a whole, +there clearly exists a double constitution. I am +speaking roughly now, being well aware that +the various schools of philosophy cut him up +and subdivide him according to their several +theories. What I mean is this: that two great +tides of emotion sweep through his nature, two +great forces guide his life; the one makes him +an animal, and the other makes him a god. No +brute of the earth is so brutal as the man who +subjects his godly power to his animal power. +This is a matter of course, because the whole +force of the double nature is then used in one +direction. The animal pure and simple obeys +his instincts only and desires no more than to +gratify his love of pleasure; he pays but little +regard to the existence of other beings except +in so far as they offer him pleasure or pain; he +knows nothing of the abstract love of cruelty or +of any of those vicious tendencies of the human +being which have in themselves their own +gratification. Thus the man who becomes a +beast has a million times the grasp of life over +the natural beast, and that which in the pure +animal is sufficiently innocent enjoyment, uninterrupted +by an arbitrary moral standard, becomes +in him vice, because it is gratified on +principle. Moreover he turns all the divine +powers of his being into this channel, and degrades +his soul by making it the slave of his +senses. The god, deformed and disguised, +waits on the animal and feeds it. + +Consider then whether it is not possible to +change the situation. The man himself is king +of the country in which this strange spectacle +is seen. He allows the beast to usurp the place +of the god because for the moment the beast +pleases his capricious royal fancy the most. This +cannot last always; why let it last any longer? +So long as the animal rules there will be the +keenest sufferings in consequence of change, +of the vibration between pleasure and pain, +of the desire for prolonged and pleasant +physical life. And the god in his capacity of +servant adds a thousand-fold to all this, by +making physical life so much more filled with +keenness of pleasure,--rare, voluptuous, +aesthetic pleasure,--and by intensity of pain +so passionate that one knows not where it +ends and where pleasure commences. So +long as the god serves, so long the life of +the animal will be enriched and increasingly +valuable. But let the king resolve to change +the face of his court and forcibly evict the animal +from the chair of state, restoring the god +to the place of divinity. + +Ah, the profound peace that falls upon the +palace! All is indeed changed. No longer is +there the fever of personal longings or desires, +no longer is there any rebellion or distress, no +longer any hunger for pleasure or dread of +pain. It is like a great calm descending on a +stormy ocean; it is like the soft rain of summer +falling on parched ground; it is like the +deep pool found amidst the weary, thirsty +labyrinths of the unfriendly forest. + +But there is much more than this. Not only +is man more than an animal because there is +the god in him, but he is more than a god because +there is the animal in him. + +Once force the animal into his rightful +place, that of the inferior, and you find yourself +in possession of a great force hitherto unsuspected +and unknown. The god as servant +adds a thousand-fold to the pleasures of the +animal; the animal as servant adds a thousand-fold +to the powers of the god. And it is upon +the union, the right relation of these two forces +in himself, that man stands as a strong king, +and is enabled to raise his hand and lift the +bar of the Golden Gate. When these forces +are unfitly related, then the king is but a +crowned voluptuary, without power, and whose +dignity does but mock him; for the animals, +undivine, at least know peace and are not torn +by vice and despair. + +That is the whole secret. That is what +makes man strong, powerful, able to grasp +heaven and earth in his hands. Do not fancy +it is easily done. Do not be deluded into the +idea that the religious or the virtuous man does +it! Not so. They do no more than fix a standard, +a routine, a law, by which they hold the +animal in check. The god is compelled to +serve him in a certain way, and does so, pleasing +him with the beliefs and cherished fantasies +of the religious, with the lofty sense of personal +pride which makes the joy of the virtuous. +These special and canonized vices are +things too low and base to be possible to the +pure animal, whose only inspirer is Nature herself, +always fresh as the dawn. The god in +man, degraded, is a thing unspeakable in its infamous +power of production. + +The animal in man, elevated, is a thing unimaginable +in its great powers of service and +of strength. + +You forget, you who let your animal self +live on, merely checked and held within certain +bounds, that it is a great force, an integral +portion of the animal life of the world you +live in. With it you can sway men, and influence +the very world itself, more or less perceptibly +according to your strength. The god, +given his right place, will so inspire and guide +this extraordinary creature, so educate and +develope it, so force it into action and recognition +of its kind, that it will make you tremble +when you recognise the power that has awakened +within you. The animal in yourself will +then be a king among the animals of the world. + +This is the secret of the old-world magicians +who made Nature serve them and work +miracles every day for their convenience. This +is the secret of the coming race which Lord +Lytton foreshadowed for us. + +But this power can only be attained by giving +the god the sovereignty. Make your animal +ruler over yourself, and he will never rule +others. + + + + +EPILOGUE + + +Secreted and hidden in the heart of the +world and in the heart of man is the light +which can illumine all life, the future and the +past. Shall we not search for it? Surely some +must do so. And then perhaps those will add +what is needed to this poor fragment of +thought. + + + + +THROUGH THE GATES OF GOLD + +From _The Path_, March, 1887 + + +The most notable book for guidance in Mysticism +which has appeared since _Light on the Path_ +was written has just been published under the +significant title of _Through the Gates of Gold_. +Though the author's name is withheld, the occult +student will quickly discern that it must proceed +from a very high source. In certain respects the +book may be regarded as a commentary on _Light +on the Path_. The reader would do well to bear +this in mind. Many things in that book will be +made clear by the reading of this one, and one will +be constantly reminded of that work, which has +already become a classic in our literature. _Through +the Gates of Gold_ is a work to be kept constantly +at hand for reference and study. It will surely take +rank as one of the standard books of Theosophy. + +The "Gates of Gold" represent the entrance to +that realm of the soul unknowable through the +physical perceptions, and the purpose of this work +is to indicate some of the steps necessary to reach +their threshold. Through its extraordinary beauty +of style and the clearness of its statement it will +appeal to a wider portion of the public than most +works of a Theosophical character. It speaks to the +Western World in its own language, and in this +fact lies much of its value. + +Those of us who have been longing for something +"practical" will find it here, while it will +probably come into the hands of thousands who +know little or nothing of Theosophy, and thus meet +wants deeply felt though unexpressed. There are +also doubtless many, we fancy, who will be carried +far along in its pages by its resistless logic until +they encounter something which will give a rude +shock to some of their old conceptions, which they +have imagined as firmly based as upon a rock--a +shock which may cause them to draw back in alarm, +but from which they will not find it so easy to +recover, and which will be likely to set them +thinking seriously. + +The titles of the five chapters of the book are, +respectively, "The Search for Pleasure," "The +Mystery of Threshold," "The Initial Effort," "The +Meaning of Pain," and "The Secret of Strength." +Instead of speculating upon mysteries that lie at the +very end of man's destiny, and which cannot be +approached by any manner of conjecture, the work +very sensibly takes up that which lies next at hand, +that which constitutes the first step to be taken if +we are ever to take a second one, and teaches us its +significance. At the outset we must cope with +sensation and learn its nature and meaning. An +important teaching of _Light on the Path_ has been +misread by many. We are not enjoined to kill out +sensation, but to "kill out _desire_ for sensation," +which is something quite different. "Sensation, as +we obtain it through the physical body, affords us +all that induces us to live in that shape," says this +work. The problem is, to extract the meaning which +it holds for us. That is what existence is for. "If +men will but pause and consider what lessons they +have learned from pleasure and pain, much might +be guessed of that strange thing which causes these +effects." + +"The question concerning results seemingly +unknowable, that concerning the life beyond the +Gates," is presented as one that has been asked +throughout the ages, coming at the hour "when the +flower of civilization had blown to its full, and when +its petals are but slackly held together," the period +when man reaches the greatest physical development +of his cycle. It is then that in the distance a great +glittering is seen, before which many drop their +eyes bewildered and dazzled, though now and then +one is found brave enough to gaze fixedly on this +glittering, and to decipher something of the shape +within it. "Poets and philosophers, thinkers and +teachers, all those who are the 'elder brothers of the +race'--have beheld this sight from time to time, +and some among them have recognized in the bewildering +glitter the outlines of the Gates of Gold." + +Those Gates admit us to the sanctuary of man's +own nature, to the place whence his life-power +comes, and where he is priest of the shrine of life. +It needs but a strong hand to push them open, we +are told. "The courage to enter them is the courage +to search the recesses of one's own nature without +fear and without shame. In the fine part, the +essence, the flavor of the man, is found the key +which unlocks those great Gates." + +The necessity of killing out the sense of separateness +is profoundly emphasized as one of the most +important factors in this process. We must divest +ourselves of the illusions of the material life. "When +we desire to speak with those who have tried the +Golden Gates and pushed them open, then it is very +necessary--in fact it is essential--to discriminate, +and not bring into our life the confusions of our +sleep. If we do, we are reckoned as madmen, and +fall back into the darkness where there is no friend +but chaos. This chaos has followed every effort of +man that is written in history; after civilization has +flowered, the flower falls and dies, and winter and +darkness destroy it." In this last sentence is indicated +the purpose of civilization. It is the blossoming +of a race, with the purpose of producing a certain +spiritual fruit; this fruit having ripened, then the +degeneration of the great residuum begins, to be +worked over and over again in the grand fermenting +processes of reincarnation. Our great civilization +is now flowering and in this fact we may read the +reason for the extraordinary efforts to sow the seed +of the Mystic Teachings wherever the mind of man +may be ready to receive it. + +In the "Mystery of Threshold," we are told that +"only a man who has the potentialities in him both +of the voluptuary and the stoic has any chance of +entering the Golden Gates. He must be capable of +testing and valuing to its most delicate fraction every +joy existence has to give; and he must be capable of +denying himself all pleasure, and that without +suffering from the denial." + +The fact that the way is different for each individual +is finely set forth in "The Initial Effort," in +the words that man "may burst the shell that holds +him in darkness, tear the veil that hides him from +the eternal, at any moment where it is easiest for +him to do so; and most often this point will be +where he least expects to find it." By this we may +see the uselessness of laying down arbitrary laws +in the matter. + +The meaning of those important words, "All +steps are necessary to make up the ladder," finds a +wealth of illustration here. These sentences are particularly +pregnant: "Spirit is not a gas created by +matter, and we cannot create our future by forcibly +using one material agent and leaving out the rest. +Spirit is the great life on which matter rests, as +does the rocky world on the free and fluid ether; +whenever we can break our limitations we find ourselves +on that marvellous shore where Wordsworth +once saw the gleam of the gold." Virtue, being of +the material life, man has not the power to carry +it with him, "yet the aroma of his good deeds is a +far sweeter sacrifice than the odor of crime and +cruelty." + +"To the one who has lifted the golden latch +the spring of sweet waters, the fountain itself whence +all softness arises, is opened and becomes part of +his heritage. But before this can be reached a heavy +weight has to be lifted from the heart, an iron bar +which holds it down and prevents it from arising +in its strength." + +The author here wishes to show that there is +sweetness and light in occultism, and not merely a +wide dry level of dreadful Karma, such as some +Theosophists are prone to dwell on. And this sweetness +and light may be reached when we discover +the iron bar and raising it shall permit the heart +to be free. This iron bar is what the Hindus call +"the knot of the heart"! In their scriptures they +talk of unloosing this knot, and say that when that +is accomplished freedom is near. But what is the +iron bar and the knot? is the question we must +answer. It is the astringent power of self--of +egotism--of the idea of separateness. This idea has +many strongholds. It holds its most secret court and +deepest counsels near the far removed depths and +centre of the heart. But it manifests itself first, in +that place which is nearest to our ignorant perceptions, +where we see it first after beginning the search. +When we assault and conquer it there it disappears. +It has only retreated to the next row of outworks +where for a time it appears not to our sight, and +we imagine it killed, while it is laughing at our +imaginary conquests and security. Soon again we +find it and conquer again, only to have it again +retreat. So we must follow it up if we wish to +grasp it at last in its final stand just near the "kernel +of the heart." There it has become "an iron bar +that holds down the heart," and there only can +the fight be really won. That disciple is fortunate +who is able to sink past all the pretended outer +citadels and seize at once this _personal devil_ who +holds the bar of iron, and there wage the battle. +If won there, it is easy to return to the outermost +places and take them by capitulation. This is very +difficult, for many reasons. It is not a mere juggle of +words to speak of this trial. It is a living tangible +thing that can be met by any real student. The +great difficulty of rushing at once to the centre lies +in the unimaginable terrors which assault the soul +on its short journey there. This being so it is better +to begin the battle on the outside in just the way +pointed out in this book and _Light on the Path_, +by testing experience and learning from it. + +In the lines quoted the author attempts to direct +the eyes of a very materialistic age to the fact which +is an accepted one by all true students of occultism, +that the true heart of a man--which is visibly represented +by the muscular heart--is the focus point +for spirit, for knowledge, for power; and that from +that point the converged rays begin to spread out +fan-like, until they embrace the Universe. So it is +the Gate. And it is just at that neutral spot of +concentration that the pillars and the doors are fixed. +It is beyond it that the glorious golden light burns, +and throws up a "burnished glow." We find in +this the same teachings as in the Upanishads. The +latter speaks of "the ether which is within the +heart," and also says that we must pass across +that ether. + +"The Meaning of Pain" is considered in a way +which throws a great light on the existence of that +which for ages has puzzled many learned men. +"Pain arouses, softens, breaks, and destroys. Regarded +from a sufficiently removed standpoint, it +appears as a medicine, as a knife, as a weapon, as a +poison, in turn. It is an implement, a thing which +is used, evidently. What we desire to discover is, +who is the user; what part of ourselves is it that +demands the presence of this thing so hateful to +the rest?" + +The task is, to rise above both pain and pleasure +and unite them to our service. "Pain and pleasure +stand apart and separate, as do the two sexes; and +it is in the merging, the making the two into one, +that joy and deep sensation and profound peace are +obtained. Where there is neither male nor female, +neither pain nor pleasure, there is the god in man +dominant, and then is life real." + +The following passage can hardly fail to startle +many good people: "Destiny, the inevitable, does +indeed exist for the race and for the individual; +but who can ordain this save the man himself? +There is no clew in heaven or earth to the existence +of any ordainer other than the man who suffers or +enjoys that which is ordained." But can any earnest +student of Theosophy deny, or object to this? Is it +not a pure statement of the law of Karma? Does it +not agree perfectly with the teaching of the Bhagavat-Gita? +There is surely no power which sits apart +like a judge in court, and fines us or rewards us +for this misstep or that merit; it is we who shape, +or ordain, our own future. + +God is not denied. The seeming paradox that a +God exists within each man is made clear when we +perceive that our separate existence is an illusion; +the physical, which makes us separate individuals, +must eventually fall away, leaving each man one +with all men, and with God, who is the Infinite. + +And the passage which will surely be widely +misunderstood is that in "The Secret of Strength." +"Religion holds a man back from the path, prevents +his stepping forward, for various very plain reasons. +First, it makes the vital mistake of distinguishing +between good and evil. Nature knows no such distinctions." +Religion is always man-made. It cannot +therefore be the whole truth. It is a good thing for +the ordinary and outside man, but surely it will +never bring him to the Gates of Gold. If religion +be of God how is it that we find that same God +in his own works and acts violating the precepts +of religion? He kills each man once in life; every +day the fierce elements and strange circumstances +which he is said to be the author of, bring on +famine, cold and innumerable untimely deaths; +where then, in The True, can there be any room +for such distinctions as right and wrong? The disciple, +must as he walks on the path, abide by law +and order, but if he pins his faith on any religion +whatever he will stop at once, and it makes no +matter whether he sets up Mahatmas, Gods, Krishna, +Vedas or mysterious acts of grace, each of these +will stop him and throw him into a rut from which +even heavenly death will not release him. Religion +can only teach morals and ethics. It cannot answer +the question "what am I?" The Buddhist ascetic +holds a fan before his eyes to keep away the sight +of objects condemned by his religion. But he thereby +gains no knowledge, for that part of him which is +affected by the improper sights has to be known by +the man himself, and it is by experience alone that +the knowledge can be possessed and assimilated. + +The book closes gloriously, with some hints that +have been much needed. Too many, even of the +sincerest students of occultism, have sought to ignore +that one-half of their nature, which is here taught +to be necessary. Instead of crushing out the animal +nature, we have here the high and wise teaching +that we must learn to fully understand the animal +and subordinate it to the spiritual. "The god in +man, degraded, is a thing unspeakable in its +infamous power of production. The animal in man, +elevated, is a thing unimaginable in its great powers +of service and of strength," and we [are] told that +our animal self is a great force, the secret of the +old-world magicians, and of the coming race which +Lord Lytton foreshadowed. "But this power can +only be attained by giving the god the sovereignty. +Make your animal ruler over your self, and he will +never rule others." + +This teaching will be seen to be identical with +that of the closing words of _The Idyll of the White +Lotus_: "He will learn how to expound spiritual +truths, and to enter into the life of his highest self, +and he can learn also to hold within him the glory +of that higher self, and yet to retain life upon this +planet so long as it shall last, if need be; to retain +life in the vigor of manhood, till his entire work is +completed, and he has taught the three truths to all +who look for light." + +There are three sentences in the book which +ought to be imprinted in the reader's mind, and we +present them inversely: + +"Secreted and hidden in the heart of the world +and the heart of man is the light which can illumine +all life, the future and the past." + +"On the mental steps of a million men Buddha +passed through the Gates of Gold; and because a +great crowd pressed about the threshold he was able +to leave behind him words which prove that those +gates will open." + +"This is one of the most important factors in +the development of man, the recognition--profound +and complete recognition--of the law of +universal unity and coherence." + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Light On The Path and Through the +Gates of Gold, by Mabel Collins + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 14599 *** |