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good a judge as any other soul—better, for you, in fact. For it knows what it needs, and is continually reaching out for it. Teachers are useful—books are useful—because they suggest to you—they supply missing links—they give you loose ends of thought, which you may unwind at your leisure—they corroborate that which is lying half-awakened in your mind—they aid in the birth of new thought within your mind. But your own soul must do its own work—is the best judge of what is best for you—is the wisest counsellor—the most skilled teacher. Heed the voice of the Something Within. Trust your own soul, O student. Look within confidently, trustingly, and hopefully. Look within
—for there is the spark from the Divine Flame.
"Seek the way by retreating within." We have just spoken of this trust in the Something Within. This precept emphasizes this phase of occult teaching. Learn to retreat within the Silence, and listen to the voice of your soul—it will tell you many great things. In the Silence the Spiritual Mind will unfold and pass on to your consciousness bits of the great truths which lie buried within its recesses. It will pass on to the Intellect certain fragments of truth from its own great storehouse, and the Inte1lect will afterwards accept them, and reason from the premises thus obtained. Intellect is cold—Spiritua1 Mind is warm and alive with high feeling. The Spiritual Mind is the source of much that is called "inspiration." Poets, painters, sculptors, writers, preachers, orators, and others have received this inspiration in all times, and do so today. This is the source from which the seer obtains his vision—the prophet his foresight. By development of his Spiritual Consciousness, Man may bring himself into a high relationship and contact with this higher part of his nature, and may thus become possessed of a knowledge of which the Intellect has not dared to dream. When we learn to trust the Spirit, it responds by sending us more frequent Rashes of illumination and enlightenment. As one unfolds in Spiritual Consciousness, he relies more upon the Inner Voice, and is more readily able to distinguish it from the impulses from the lower p1anes of the mind. He learns to follow the guidance of the Spirit, and to allow it to lend him a helping hand. To he "led by the Spirit" is a living and real fact in the 1ives of all who have reached a certain stage of spiritual development. "Seek the way by advancing boldly without." Re not afraid. Nothing can harm you. You are a living, eternal soul. Therefore, be bold. Look around you and see what is going on in the world—and learn lessons thereby. See the workings of the great loom of life—watch the shuttles fly—see the cloth of various texture and colors that is being produced. See it all as Life. Be not dismayed. Lessons are lying all around you, awaiting your study and mastery. See life in all its phase—this does not mean that you should take a backward step and try to live over again phases which you have left behind you and with which you are through—but witness them all without horror of disgust. Remember that from the lowly phases, higher phases develop. From the mud of the river the beautiful lotus rears its stalk, and forcing its way through the water reaches the air, and unfolds its beautiful Rower. From the mud of the physical, the plant of life passes through the water of the mental plane, on to the air of the spiritual, and there unfolds. Look around you and see what men are doing—what they are saying—what they are thinking—it is all right, in all its phases, for those who are in it, Live your own life—on your own plane of development—but scorn not those who are still on the lower planes. See Life in all its throbbing forms, and realize that you are part of it all It is all one
—and you are part of that one. Peel the swell of the wave beneath you—yield to its motion—you will not be submerged, for you are riding on its crest, and borne on its bosom. Do not fear the outside—even whi1e you retreat within—both are good—each in its place. Let your Inner Sanctuary be your real resting place, but be not afraid to venture without. Your retreat cannot he cut off. See the outer world, knowing that home is always awaiting you. There is no contradiction between the eighteenth and nineteenth precepts. Let us repeat them, that you may grasp them as but the two sides of the same truth: "Seek the way by retreating within—seek the way by advancing boldly without." Do you not see that they are both needed to form the whole statement of truth? "Seek it not by any one road." This is a necessary caution. As the writer of the precept says: "To each temperament there is one road which seems the most desirable." But there is a subtle temptation here—the student is very apt to rest content with that one road which suits his particular temperament, and, accordingly, is likely to shut his eyes to the other roads. He becomes bigoted, narrow, and one-sided. He should explore all the lanes which seem to lead to the truth, gaining a little here and a little there—holding fast to that which appeals to his inner consciousness, and letting the rest go—hut condemning not that which he does not see fit to accept. Do not be a partisan—or a bigot—or a sectarian. Because you favor any one form of teaching, do not hastily conclude that all teachings that do not agree with yours must be false. There are many forms of presentation of truth, each suited to the understanding of certain people. Many forms of expression, which at first sight appear contradictory, are afterwards seen to have the same fundamental principle. Much of the apparent difference in teaching may be seen to be merely a matter of the use (or misuse) of words. When we understand each other's words and terms, we often find that we have much in common, and but little apart from each other.
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 taboo, by studious observation of life. None alone can take the disciple more than one step onwards. 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 life. But he is only so when he grasps his whole individuality firmly, and, by the force of his awakened spiritual will, recognizes this individuality as not himself, but that thing which he has with pain created for his own sue, and by means of which he purposes, as his growth slowly develops his intelligence, to reach the life beyond individuality. When he knows that for this 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, the light will suddenly become the infinite light.”
The twentieth precept should be read carefully by every student who wishes to live the life of the Spirit, and who desires to advance along the Path. It should be read—reread—studied. It contains within it much that will not be grasped at the first reading—nor the tenth—nor the one hundredth. Its meaning will unfold as your experiences renders you ready to receive it. It tells you that your life must not be one-sided—it must be varied. You must avail yourself of the advantages of the inner life—and yet you must not run away from the world, for it has lessons for you. You are needed by others in the world—others need you—and you must play your part. You cannot run away, even if you want to—so accept the part that is allotted to you, and use your present state as a thing upon which you may mount to greater things. You are a cog in the great machinery of 1ife, and you must do your work. "The whole nature of man must be used wisely by the one who desires to enter the way." This life may be carried into your business, profession or trade—if it cannot be taken with you everywhere something is wrong with it, or with you. You must not expect the world to understand your view of life. There is no use inflicting your views upon the unready world—milk fat babes, and meat for men, remember. The majority of the people around you are like unborn babes, spiritually—and but a very few have even drawn their first baby breath. Do not make the mistake of wearing your heart on your sleeve, for the daws to peck at. Play well your part in the game of life, in which you are forced to join. But though you see it as but the sport of child//ren, do not make yourself a nuisance to the babes—join