The master walked beside the river at evening-time. In the instant that his signal was recognized he walked no longer alone. By his side appeared one — as a little child clinging close to his garments. The Master said — "When you have obtained mastery over the senses then you will no longer totter in your step or falter in your flight. Realize the divine atma within you. Realize it!" he repeated, and then raising his hand slowly upward the stature of the child lengthened until a man's proportions were outlined. Only this form could hold the expanded soul. Disenthralled the soul perceived a world with every pulsation and in every faculty there was absolute harmony. This was divine. This is man's rightful condition into which only the Mahatmas have fully come; but to which every one is heir. The Mahatma teaches with the thought unexpressed, but formulated in his own mind and sent with sudden power, into yours. It strikes with resounding force against the spirit's prison house. In great agony the pupil cried out: "Master! Master! redeem me from this state with your great power." The Master answering said: "Burst by concentration of spiritual energy the bonds that bind you." No pen can describe the force of the Master's thought. For the instant it seemed possible; a moment's hesitation to make the effort through mortal fear, and the supreme moment was passed. The Master looked sadly upon his suffering disciple and then was alone again.
The latter had gone back to try again through duty — if need be through death.
THE LESSON.
The pupil goes to the Master without conditions. He goes, but not to return. The illusions of matter are dispelled for him and thenceforth he is a stranger in the world of actions, even though he should be in it again.
Fiery is the furnace of probation, and great is the danger when the neophyte has reached the "states of exaltation." About each advance step wait the enemies of the spirit — to overthrow its sovereignty and hurl it back to the plane of matter. These enemies live in matter and are persuaded that their existence is confined to it — hence their determination to keep matter from a knowledge of spirit. In darkness and sin is their safety, for they are children of these conditions and will cease to exist when the lamp that is lighted from within is turned upon the world.
Temptations are in the way of those who would demand much without deserving even a little. So soon as the student comes in contact with the occult he encounters on the threshold the demons who loiter by — the demons of worldliness, inconstancy, suspicion and faint-heartedness.
The student should find in his own intuitions all the proof needed of the existence on this earth of the Wisdom teachers. Behind the screen of the senses reposes the soul of man — an unfathomable factor in the Universe — as unknown to its possessor as to its observers. Intuition is its only avenue of communication, and the language it speaks is known only to him who understands arcane knowledge or occultism.
When the Master has initiated his pupil he puts the seal of the mysteries upon his lips and locks them even against the chance of weakness or indiscretion.
It is the sense of personal isolation that brings on death; genuine philanthropy puts the individual en rapport with the Divine Spirit and thus gives him the eternal life. The Divine Spirit being all-pervading, those who put themselves en rapport with it, necessarily put themselves en rapport with all other entities in the same rapport. Hence, the Mahatmas are necessarily in constant magnetic relation with those who succeed in extricating themselves from the lower animal nature. It is by this means that the Mahatmas must first be known.
Until the Master chooses you to come to Him be with humanity, and unselfishly work for its progress and advancement. This alone can bring true satisfaction.
What is a Mahatma? Is it His physical body? No; for that must perish sooner or later — though it can be preserved through what is to us an endless age. A Mahatma is one who lives in His higher individuality, and to know Him truly, He must be known through the individuality in which He is centered.
Knowledge increases in proportion to its use — that is, the more we teach the more we learn. Therefore, seeker after Truth, with the faith of a little child and the will of an Initiate give of your store to him who hath not wherewithal to comfort him on his journey. A whisper of the divine mystery into the ear of a weary wayfarer frees you from the stain of many evil deeds done in your migrations through matter. Philosophy can never be learned through phenomena. Try to break through the desire for it. Occult students the world over have been warned by their teachers that it is a habit which grows with gratification. It is better to abandon the study than to risk the dangers of black magic.
What is Self? Only a passing guest, whose concerns are all like a mirage of the great desert. Man is the victim of his surroundings while he lives in the atmosphere of society. The Mahatma may be willing to befriend such as he has an interest in, and yet be helpless to do so. The will of the neophyte, also, must be the magnet which alone can compel a Mahatma's notice. He follows his attractions as the needle does the poles. Will and Purity — these are the qualities which open the arcane to the presence of an adept — mere enthusiastic regard has no effect.
Feeble souls content themselves with wishes; great ones have wills.
In every man lie concealed the germs of faculties that are never unfolded on earth, and which have no reference to this state of knowledge.
No man can judge another, save by the measure of his own understanding: do not injure your own chance for growth by condemning in others the possession of faculties not known to yourself.
Thought runs swifter than the electric fluid; every bright aspiration sparkles and attracts the attention of the distant, but ever-watchful Master.
"Lay your burden upon the Lord" — that is, put your reliance in the Higher Self. Use the body as a means of strengthening the connection with the spirit and opening the road for its descents.
Slay Ambition: it is a deadly and cowardly foe, whose power over you is augmented by the approbation of others.
It is Karma that sends you into this world — to which you come alone — that leaves you alone in it and which takes you out of it alone. The law of Karma is the law of the conservation of energy on the moral and spiritual planes of nature.
The body is the mind's portrait. The artist seeing its inharmonies regrets his failure, but knows not how to improve upon it. This is the spirit's work, which, accomplished, leaves the outward a reflection of the indwelling Soul.
The manna that feeds the spirit is hidden from sight. The universal spirit supplies it.
Duty is the River that flows through life. Its tide is silvery to those who are on it, but threatening to those who approach it seldom.
Seek to recover your soul. It is the hidden treasure lost in the caverns of sense. Its recovery is redemption from many rebirths.
The vain and the arrogant demand our pity — the weak and erring our forbearance — the indifferent our sympathy — and the wise, alone, our admiration.
You have learned of Krishna that death is better than the performance of another's duty. In persevering in the erroneous idea that we were put here to do the duties of others, woes have resulted that follow one through many lives.
Your perception of the inner self is clearer than the vision of the natural eye.
Earnestly regard the plane upon which you seek truth, do not expect to secure soul knowledge through the avenues of the senses.
Karma is like the vine that gathers strength through uninterrupted years, and which fastens its tendrils so closely that it is as strong as the structure to which it adheres. There is no way to destroy its power except by the separation of the parts, these parts renew themselves in other forms of life, but the structure is freed when its root is destroyed.
Evil thoughts corrode the character. Only the spirit has power over character to purify it.
We carry the accumulated results of many lives from one to another. This is the clue to the perfect fairness of nature. The apparent injustice of all differences of well-being are explained by the fact that we have known former states of existence. Every spiritual effort now made will tell not only now, but in the next incarnation as well.
The clue to many of the great mysteries of life is to be found in reincarnation; it is the only possible solution of the enigmas of existence.
The rule of the Mahatma is to approach every one where there exists even only the slightest glimmer of the true Light within him. None are left to perish who desire to be succored.
We write in every aspiration for truth, in thought and deed by day, and in soul-struggles by night, the story of our desire for spiritual development. Upon the pages of the Book of Karma are written the minutest particulars of individual efforts: when the feeble will is strong enough to prevent further births in this world, which is the spirit's dream life, we shall find in Real existence all the chapters that we have written in all our transitions. Only then will we be able to read the whole book through and know the nature of the long journey out of spirit through matter and back again to the All.
The conflict of intuition against intellect has covered mankind in the crumbling ruin of despair. Man will never surrender himself to be the permanent vehicle of any set of ideas unless it completely satisfies the whole of his nature; the union of intellect and intuition only will end the conflict.
Take what you can of the teachings, and in developing devotion keep before you your example.