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 WASHINGTON, D. c. 
 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 OF THE 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA. 
 
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 GIFT OF 
 
 Class 
 
 MR. P. JOHNSON 
 
 P. O. BOX 413 
 
 POINT RICHMOND, CAL. 
 
^ ^u^c^ 
 
 s 
 
 r (J 
 
Letters from the Teacher 
 
 (Of the Order of The 15) 
 
 Transmitted by 
 
 RAH MEA 
 
 Priestess of the Flame 
 
 Edited by 
 F. HOMER CURTISS,B.S.,M.D, 
 
 Secretary of the Order 
 
 VOL. i. 
 
 Published by 
 
 THE CURTISS BOOK COMPANY 
 Denver, Colorado, U. S. A. 
 

 Y.I, 
 
ORDER OF THE 15 
 
 Copyright, 
 by 
 F. HOMER^CURTISS, M.D. 
 
 KEYSTONE 
 
 PRINTING V y COMPANY 
 CHICAGO 
 
 
Dedication 
 
 To that Great Teacher 
 who brought the Wisdom-Religion 
 to the Western World, 
 known on earth as 
 
 HELENA PETROVNA BLAVATSKY 
 
 this volume is affectionately dedicated 
 by her loving pupils and disciples, 
 
 Pyrahmos and Rahmea. 
 
preface 
 
 The Letters from the Teacher of THE ORDER OF THE 15, 
 in answer to questions from pupils, are of such universal inter- 
 est to seekers after Wisdom that we consider them far too val- 
 uable to be confined merely to the ones to whom they were ad- 
 dressed, Therefore we make available extracts from the more 
 important ones. 
 
 With a few exceptions the selection has been confined to 
 those received during the first six months of the work (Janu- 
 ary to June, 1908). But even these few cover a wide field and 
 deal with a diversity of subjects not dealt with elsewhere in 
 the same frank and common-sense way. Hence they fill a dis- 
 tinct want in occult literature. 
 
 The letters are genuine extracts from originals still in pos- 
 session of the Secretary; but in many cases the Editor has 
 taken the liberty of condensing the spirit of a letter into a 
 simple question. 
 
 The literary faults are those of the Editor. 
 
 THE EDITOR. 
 
ftable of Contents 
 
 Part I. The Masters of Wisdom and Their Work. 
 
 Part II. Concerning THE ORDER OF THE 15. 
 
 Part III. Prayer. 
 
 Part IV, The Astral Plane. 
 
 Part V. Phenomena. 
 
 Part VI. Dreams and Visions. j 
 
 Part VII. Health and Disease. 
 
 Part VITI. The Sex Problem. 
 
 Part IX. Spiritual Growth and Development. 
 
 Part X. Miscellaneous. 
 
PART I. 
 THE MASTERS OF WISDOM AND THEIR WORK. 
 
 "If there are in the Universe such beings as Angels or 
 Spirits, whose INCORPOREAL essence may constitute an in- 
 telligent Entity, notwithstanding the absence of any (to us) 
 solid organism; and if there are those who believe that a God 
 made the first man out of dust, and breathed into him a living 
 Soul and there are millions upon millions who believe both 
 what does this doctrine of ours contain that is so impossible?" 
 Blavatsky, THE SECRET DOCTRINE, Vol. II. 
 
ftable of Contents 
 
 Part I. The Masters of Wisdom and Their Work. 
 
 Part II. Concerning THE ORDER OF THE 15. 
 
 Part III. Prayer. 
 
 Part IV. The Astral Plane. 
 
 Part V. Phenomena. 
 
 Part VI. Dreams and Visions. < 
 
 Part VII. Health and Disease. 
 
 Part VIII. The Sex Problem. 
 
 Part IX. Spiritual Growth and Development. 
 
 Part X. Miscellaneous. 
 
OF THE 
 
 UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF 
 
 PART I. 
 THE MASTERS OF WISDOM AND THEIR WORK. 
 
 "If there are in the Universe such beings as Angels or 
 Spirits, whose INCORPOREAL essence may constitute an in- 
 telligent Entity, notwithstanding the absence of any (to us) 
 solid organism; and if there are those who believe that a God 
 made the first man out of dust, and breathed into him a living 
 Soul and there are millions upon millions who believe both 
 what does this doctrine of ours contain that is so impossible?" 
 Blavatsky, THE SECRET DOCTRINE, Vol. II. 
 
6 LETTERS FROM THE TEACHER. 
 
 June 1st, 1908. 
 
 "Since I was about fourteen years of age, I've been a church 
 member and worker therein, always loving it because it is God's 
 
 work I have been the recipient of a communication from 
 
 you relative to the ORDER OF THE 15. It is entirely new 
 matter to me, so I should be glad for you to write to me and 
 explain the meaning of 'Masters of Wisdom* and 'Great White 
 Lodge*." 
 
 The Masters of Wisdom are Great Souls who, through re- 
 peated experiences and determined effort through many earth 
 lives, have obtained mastery firstly over the passions, appetites 
 and desires of the personal self, and secondly over the forces of 
 Their bodies and over the life-currents of the cosmos. Hence 
 They have become one with the Fount of all Wisdom. They 
 and the Father are one. Jesus was such a Master, in fact was 
 and IS a Master of Masters. But there are many more, all 
 banded together in what is known as THE GREAT WHITE 
 LODGE ; a lodge in the sense of oneness of aim and motive ; for 
 They are all working for the upliftment of humanity. They 
 are divided into certain degrees and subdivided into orders so 
 as to systematically cover all the needs of humanity in its dif- 
 ferent stages of evolution. You will thus see that there are 
 Masters of all grades, that is, upon all steps of the ladder lead- 
 ing to the point of highest attainment where a Master of Mas- 
 ters stands. Each group and each individual has a certain 
 work to do for the betterment of humanity. These Great 
 Souls are able to function on all planes, hence They are near to 
 all who really need Their help; for humanity must reach out 
 for help ere it can be given. As long as individuals are satis- 
 fied with a purely physical existence the Masters know well 
 that they are not yet ready to be helped ; for their lessons are 
 those of the physical. So They wait patiently through the ages, 
 knowing that all is well, and that the treading of the down- 
 ward arc of the cycle, while apparently leading away from 
 Godhood, in reality is leading the Soul to a necessary point 
 where, having fed on the husks and consorted with the swine, 
 it lifts up its eyes and sees afar off its Father's home and 
 says, "I will arise and go to my father/' It is here that some 
 helping hand is always stretched out to them, and it is always 
 from the Lodge of Masters, who have been watching and wait- 
 ing in patient love for that moment, that the help comes. It 
 may seem to come from some natural and ordinary source, but 
 in reality it is from these Watchers and Elder Brothers of hu- 
 
THE MASTERS OF WISDOM AMD THEIR WORK. 7 
 
 manity who make use of natural channels to answer the cry 
 of the Soul for light and help. 
 
 As the Soul evolves upward and inward it will take many 
 decided steps; will reach points where all the old props which 
 seemed so satisfying will drop away like the straws that elude 
 the grasp of a drowning man. This simply means that the 
 Soul has entered a new Order, and that which helped in the 
 old grade or Order is now no longer sufficient. The Soul cries 
 out in dismay, "Help, Lord, or I perish !" Then it is that the 
 outward recognition comes, just as these new teachings are com- 
 ing to you. The Masters of Wisdom know who need the outer 
 help, and it never fails to present itself. It is no new teaching 
 nor a getting away from Christianity and the Savior ; it is but 
 a new step on The Path; a higher grade in the school of the 
 Soul; a drawing nearer to the only Savior, The Christ who 
 dwells forever among men aye in their very midst. One of 
 the aims of this Order is the expounding of the teachings of 
 the Master Jesus, and we trust that the above outline will help 
 you to grasp something of its significance. 
 
 May 13th, 1908. 
 
 "In the existence of Masters I joyfully believe, but that there 
 are also astral entities masquerading as Masters I believe as 
 well. How are we going to know the difference? So far, ap- 
 parently, the wisdom of the is quite unable to help us 
 
 on this point, for at present that society presents the unedifying 
 spectacle of intelligent men and women prostrate under the 
 glamor of the most morbid and unhealthy character, blindly 
 following beings who, if we are to judge them by the words 
 given to us as theirs, are thoroughly erratic and unreliable, and 
 indeed, disreputable. These are the Masters of a large portion 
 of the I" 
 
 We are not surprised at your attitude, for it is quite natu- 
 ral under the circumstances. But when you come to grasp the 
 significance of all the seeming confusion of which you com- 
 plain you will understand that it is the necessary working out 
 of the Great Law as expressed in THE VOICE OF THE SI- 
 LF.NCE, viz., " 'Great Sifter' is the name of the 'Heart Doc- 
 trine, ' Disciple. The wheel of the Good Law moves swiftly 
 on. It grinds by night and by day. The worthless husks it 
 drives out from out the golden grain, the refuse from the flour. 
 The hand of Karma guides the wheel; the revolutions mark the 
 beating of the cosmic heart/' 
 
 The , and its subsidiary the , as well as many 
 
 other bona fide movements, were started for the express pur- 
 
8 LETTERS FROM tlHE TEACHER. 
 
 pose of testing and selecting the wheat from the chaff. This 
 explains the many upheavals and troubles that have come to 
 all these movements ; they are but the threshing of the grain. 
 This has been going on for its appointed time and now the 
 winnowing process has begun. This Movement is but one more 
 stroke of the flail. Being nearer the end the strokes come 
 quicker and heavier, and all the grains must feel the blows; 
 but with them comes the skill and strength of the Great Sifter 
 who already discerns the golden grain and directs His strokes 
 with wisdom, so that no true grain will be crushed or lost. 
 'Shun ignorance, and likewise shun illusion. Avert thy face 
 from world deceptions. " Many are called, truly, but few are 
 chosen. 
 
 As you say, the leaders may have proof of the presence of 
 vhe Master, yet each student must find and prove that Presence 
 for himself. The whole aim and end of this Movement is to 
 help each individual Soul to find, not only The Christ within 
 himself, but also the guiding hand of the Master. We can- 
 not assure you that you will find Him, for many feel around in 
 a darkness created by themselves and never touch the out- 
 stretched hand. To quote again, "For mind is like a mirror; 
 it gathers dust while it reflects. It needs the gentle breezes 
 of Soul- wisdom to brush away the dust of our illusions. ' ' We 
 can only say that the Teacher and Guide stands ready, close at 
 hand, to pnide and help you through this labyrinth of darkness 
 into the light of the perfect day. 
 
 May 6th, 1908. 
 
 "I am desirous of associating with you as closely as I may 
 be permitted, so that you may teach me how to better under- 
 stand the law of our eternal Being and help humanity." 
 
 The Lodge of Masters is eagerly watching and waiting 
 for the development of every avenue through which They can 
 pour love and wisdom to enlighten the world in this its darkest 
 hour; the hour that precedes the dawn of the coming day. In 
 exact proportion to the true Soul-desire for light, and the prac- 
 tical effort toward the purification and sanctification of the 
 instrument, will you become "a center through which the 
 Lodge can work." "Blessed are they who hunger and thirst 
 after righteousness, for they SHALL be FILLED." Meditate 
 upon the PRAYER OF CONSECRATION. 1 Study it line by 
 
 1 See Appendix. 
 
THE MASTERS OF WISDOM AND THEIR WORK. 9 
 
 line and word by word until you get a realization of its 
 meaning. 
 
 May 2nd, 1908. 
 
 "Please tell me what you mean by the Shining Ones you 
 mentioned in your previous letter." 
 
 The Shining Ones are called by various names, according 
 to their seven degrees or divisions, from the Elohim and the 
 Devas down to the Nature Sprites and Element als, The lower 
 orders (elementals) are creating the forms of nature, while 
 the higher orders (Angels) are the builders of man's higher, 
 spiritual body through which he must ultimately express his 
 Higher Self. "They are 'Gods THE CREATURES/ while he 
 
 (the Supreme. Ed.) is ' God THE CREATOR. ' More 
 
 brilliant than flames, more rapid than the wind, and they live 
 in love and harmony, mutually enlightening each other, feed- 
 ing on the bread and a mystic beverage the communion wine 
 and water? surround as with A RIVER OF FIRE the throne 
 of the Lamb, and veiling their faces with their wings. This 
 throne of love and glory they leave only to carry to the stars, 
 the earth, the kingdoms and all the sons of God, their brothers 
 and pupils, in short, all creatures like themselves, the divine 
 influence. " l 
 
 The spiritual or NIRMANAKAYA body is the Fire-body 
 that is bnilded slowly and gradually, cell by cell, by each Soul 
 throughout its incarnations. It is not something attained at 
 the time of death or at the time of triumph, but all along The 
 Path. In each body informed by the Ego there are some few 
 atoms, more or less, which have been redeemed by him, and it 
 is these atoms (whether physical, mental or spiritual) that the 
 Angels the Shining Ones gather and hold and manipulate, 
 under karmic law, into the final glorified body in which there 
 is no death, because each molecule and cell has been purified in 
 the fire and redeemed forever more. This is "the Nirmana- 
 kaya's humble robe" in which the Soul clothes itself when it 
 has taken the final step. It is these redeemed atoms that the 
 Anerels gather, even at the expense of the unredeemed. 
 
 May 18th, 1908. 
 
 "I have been in search of my Higher Self or the Cosmic 
 Consciousness that I have read so much about but seen so little 
 of its manifestation by those who make such great claims of 
 
 having realized the Inner Light My last experience 
 
 has been with who claims to be an Initiate of the 
 
 1 SECRET DOCTRINE, Blavatoky, Vol. Ill, p. 207. 
 
10 LETTERS FROM THE TEACHER. 
 
 Great White Lodge, and I was under the training of a so-called 
 Master for 18 months, with the result that my wife became a 
 
 nervous and mental wreck At present I am studying 
 
 with Mr of New York but his prices are so high that 
 
 it nearly prevents me from going any farther In my 
 
 case I have paid out hundreds of dollars and given 20 years of 
 time, and have lived to the best of my understanding a pure 
 and spiritual life, yet the further and deeper I go the darker 
 seems to be the path." 
 
 You are indeed wandering round and round the endless 
 circle of existence seeking on the outer rim that which can only 
 be found within, at the very germinal point of the mundane 
 egg. You cry: "Lo! here! Lo! there !" and are seeking, seeking 
 everywhere, while all the time the Divine One stands close to 
 you and with outstretched arms cries: ''Come unto me and 
 rest thou weary and heavy laden ! ' ' 
 
 You can set it down for a positive fact that no Master of 
 Wisdom ever did, ever will or ever could advertise Himself or 
 give out spiritual teachings at so much per lesson. Nor is 
 there any such thing as an Initiate of the Great White Lodge 
 upon the physical plane acting in His physical body, and claim- 
 ing to be such. The Great White Lodge does not work that 
 way. If there were such an Initiate thus working you would 
 probably never find it out; for He would go about, like the 
 Master Jesus, among the sick and poor, and be despised of 
 men His works alone proclaiming Him. Neither can money 
 buy the gifts of God. You remember the rebuke given to 
 Simon when he offered money to the disciples for those gifts? 
 "Thy money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that 
 the gift of God can be purchased with money. Thou hast 
 neither part nor lot in this matter, for thy heart is not right in 
 the sight of God." 1 No one can claim to give spiritual devel- 
 opment. Only the Soul itself can earn it. And how dare one 
 take money for that which is not his to give? The very claim 
 of beinff able to give such gifts for money proclaims the 
 tnmostor. 
 
 * Do not confuse THE ORDER OF THE 15 with any such 
 claims. This Order is put forth by the Lodge of Masters ; but 
 we make no personal claims as to being Masters, or even Initi- 
 ates, or anything but human beings who have reached a point 
 where The Lodge can v/ork through us. This Order, being the 
 result of the normal evolution of humanity, is, of necessity, un- 
 
 1 While it is now recognized that this saying is an interpolation made by the 
 early church fathers, nevertheless it illustrates the point. Ed, 
 
THE MASTERS OF WISDOM AND THEIR WORK. 11 
 
 der the direct and special guidance of the Masters of Wisdom 
 from the higher planes. Its mission is to awaken in the minds 
 of those who are waiting and seeking for light, a desire to 
 seek within. It is proposed to give such assistance to human- 
 ity, through human agents who are willing to devote their time 
 and energy without compensation, as will help all Souls who 
 are ready to step onward, upward and inward. 
 
 All persons laying claim to being Masters of Wisdom or 
 Initiates must, of necessity, come under the law governing such 
 advanced Beings. And at the very Threshold of Initiation they 
 must be confronted with the sacrifice of all personal ambitions 
 a-nd worldly preferments; for these must be given up ere vic- 
 tory can be won. "Ye cannot serve God and mammon" was 
 spoken directly to neophytes seeking Initiation, and was not 
 given to the general run of mankind. The law is imperative 
 and inviolable; once having renouced all worldly honor as the 
 price of the power to be won, they CANNOT, if they would, 
 demand a money price for their services; for that would at 
 cnce put them outside The Lodge force, and no gifts would be 
 theirs to impart. "Freely ye have received, freely give" was 
 smother direction given by the Master Jesus to His immediate 
 disciples who were candidates for Initiation, and it applies to 
 all. The gifts of God are free, and are given only to the sincere 
 seeker, the Law of Compensation demanding as a price that he 
 shall freely give, i. e., to give (not pay) to others of his time, 
 love, sympathy, money of all he has to spread the good tid- 
 ings; never to enrich one person who claims all power. If, 
 after the solemn services and obligations of Initiation, a neo- 
 phyte should take pay for what is not his to give (for at most 
 he is but an agent a transmitter of the Gifts of God entrusted 
 to him to distribute) he becomes a deserter and a reprobate. 
 All that ANY agent dare claim is just compensation for money 
 expended, or to be the custodian of money given for the spread 
 of the work. 
 
 The sad condition of your wife is, unfortunately, a very 
 common result of this serving of Mammon the Beast spoken 
 of in Revelation under the name of The Christ; for that 
 is what it is to demand pay for spiritual gifts. While most 
 students accept the fact that the Beast is the money power, yet 
 there is a failure to realize things literally, especially the fact 
 
 1 AJtho copied almost bodily from the BOOK OF ENOCH, which in turn was 
 but a transcript from far older texts. Ed. 
 
12 LETTERS FROM THE TEACHER. 
 
 that the Revelation of St. John was a true prophecy 1 which in 
 this day is being fulfilled. If this is true, then, surely, it is well 
 to take to heart the message of the third Angel who cried with 
 a loud voice: "If any man worship the Beast and his image 
 and receive his mark in his forehead or in his hand, the same 
 shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God." To worship the 
 Beast, however, does not mean that we are not to give money 
 its proper place ; we worship it by exalting it above all else. In 
 the Dresent state of the world, i. e., during the reign of the 
 Beast, we must, of necessity, use the coin of the realm, yet we 
 especially such as claim to be the spiritual guides and teachers 
 of others must be very careful not to have the mark of the 
 Beast on our hands or foreheads. 
 
 The lesson of your wife's affliction is that all forced devel- 
 opment and all is forced that is being supposedly given at so 
 ipuch per lesson is like forcibly tearing open a rose-bud. The 
 more sensitive and highly attuned the one receiving such treat- 
 ment, the more dire the results. No growth is normal or lasting 
 except that which follows the law of natural growth "He 
 that doeth the will of the Father." We will do all that is 
 possible to help your wife ; but again we must warn you that, 
 as it has been the result of abnormal conditions, her return to 
 health must be slow and must follow the line of natural spir- 
 itual growth and development. 
 
 Feb. 12th, 1908. 
 
 "I have just finished reading a book entitled 'The Cruci- 
 fixion* which refutes the death of Christ while on the cross. 
 
 . . What do you think of it?" 
 
 The book about which you ask may, or may not, be true ; 
 but it makes very little difference, as far as the truth of His 
 teachings is concerned, whether or not such a man as Jesus 
 ever lived. As a matter of history, there was a high Initiate of 
 that name who did pass through the experiences symbolized in 
 the Bible during the pilgrimage of His Soul toward mastery, 
 just as every Soul must pass that way. But the whole story, as 
 it is told, is one grand allegory 1 designed to teach, exoterically, 
 the inner truths of the different steps on The Path. Each step 
 has its trials and sufferings, its mockery of the multitude and 
 the final crucifixion of the lower personality on the cross, 2 and 
 the glorious resurrection into life immortal; the triumph of the 
 spiritual over the temporal man. The story is woven around 
 
 1 See lesson CONCERNING THE DOCTRINE OF HELL-FIRE. 
 
 2 See lesson THE MEANING OF THE CROSS. 
 
THE MASTERS OF WISDOM AND THEIR WORK. 13 
 
 this Initiate, Jesus, and events and places are adapted or created 
 to carry out the symbology; but every name used, as well as 
 every incident, has its inner meaning when interpreted kabal- 
 isticly. This is the style after which all scriptures are written, 
 i. e., the Vedas, Upanishads, etc. It is the method always 
 adopted by Initiates in giving out the great truths so that only 
 those who have developed the qualities necessary to the true 
 understanding can see the inner meaning. The multitude see 
 the beautiful story, which always contains a sound moral lesson, 
 and each one gets from it exactly what he is ready to receive. 
 The man Jesus may never have died upon a cross, in fact He 
 may have lived to an advanced age and have lain down the 
 earth lif e when He was ready to enter the higher ; but it makes 
 IHtle difference either way, for it is His teachings that count. 
 And they remain today the most beautiful ever given to man. 
 Some day, perhaps, we will be given His actual history as a 
 man; but it is of little moment. Take the lesson intended by 
 the allegory and "live the life." 
 
 May 30th, 1908. 
 
 "I am much interested to know just why the Master of the 
 Order could not tell me more about the psychical experience 
 
 to which I referred in my last letter I confess that I 
 
 sent the question to you partly as a test and partly because I 
 would really be grateful for more information regarding the 
 experience." 
 
 Tf it were desirable to give a mediumistic "test" it could 
 easily be done, even without the overshadowing of the Mas- 
 ter. This, however, is far from the idea of this Movement. The 
 ORDER OP THE 15 is put forth to feed the heart-hunger, to 
 assist the weary Soul to enlightenment, and to help to a bet- 
 ter understanding all who are looking for love and sympathy 
 and help. The Master knows very well what the lesson was 
 that was given to you by the experience of which you speak ; 
 but no one except yourself can know the exact interpretation 
 you have given to it unless it is filched from your mind by a me- 
 diumistic trick. Until you give your version, in a heartfelt desire 
 to obtain help in understanding the lesson, the Master cannot 
 help you. In fact, if you are satisfied that you have gotten it 
 straight and that there is no more to it and only ask as a 
 "test." then there is no need to help you; you do not want it, 
 and the lesson given has failed. 
 
14 LETTERS FROM THE TEACHER. 
 
 April llth, 1908. 
 "I have a brother who disappeared about 1898 and has 
 
 never been positively heard from since then .Is it within 
 
 your power or right to help me find him if alive, and reunite 
 him to his sisters?" 
 
 As to your brother's whereabouts, this cannot be revealed 
 to you at the present time. It is not expedient for the Masters 
 to interfere with the personal Karma of any individual. Ee 
 must be permitted to work out his problems in his own way. 
 But while he is working them out he is guided and helped, and 
 advantage is taken of every opening that will aid him in learn- 
 ing his lessons. This does not mean that you are not to do 
 vour best to find and help him ; but when you have done your 
 best leave the rest in the hands of your Father in Heaven. 
 
 Feb. 21st, 1908. 
 
 "I'm in some doubt as to whether I belong to the sheep or 
 the goats, but as your circular is 'to those who truly desire to 
 
 progress* I may classify myself in that category .From 
 
 my many occult experiences the conviction was forced upon me 
 that humanity as a whole is practically under hypnotic control. 
 
 At one time I thought that those Deities who are the 
 
 most intimately related to the evolution of every ego, yet who 
 have the power to flout discovery of Themselves, did not know 
 Their business as well as I!!! I was given great truths but was 
 told that the time was not ripe for their publication. I insisted 
 nevertheless that I would tell what I had perceived. My article 
 was put in type, but in some way they neglected to let me read 
 the proof. When I saw the article in print words were mis- 
 spelled or pied and lines transposed so that it was impossible 
 for anyone to guess what I meant to say. Those Deities, Be- 
 ings. Adepts had verified my conception of Their power, and 
 at the same time effectually blocked my effort to disclose Their 
 identity." 
 
 It makes very little difference whether or not you belong 
 to the sheet) or the goats. Each has his own place and his own 
 work. One makes good mutton, while the other affords a grand 
 lesson in fortitude, contentment with whatever food comes 
 along and a maintenance of a persevering determination to 
 cMmb to the very top and surmount every difficulty. 
 
 There is much still for you to learn, and there is no one 
 nore in need of careful training and guidance than one who 
 has found entrance to the inner planes while still unable to 
 fully grasp and correlate the teachings received. Especially is 
 this true of one who, in his great desire to give out to the world 
 that whitfh fills him with ecstasy, is yet impatient of restraint, 
 and who lacks the ability to classify to such an extent that the 
 
THE MASTERS OF WISDOM AND THEIR WORK. 15 
 
 results would do more harm to humanity than good. For in- 
 stance, your surmise that humanity is under hypnotic control, 
 if given out to the world, would be a death blow to progress 
 and would stultify all effort to conquer on the part of all who 
 accepted it. When you are able to see farther you will under- 
 stand why. In the present condition of humanity, to a super- 
 ficial glance, it might look as though they were but a mass of 
 puppets moved by wires manipulated by those on other planes ; 
 but this is only the result of man's long continued refusal to 
 live up to his real possibilities and his consequent loss of cer- 
 tain powers. Behind it is the grand truth of FREE WILL. 
 But, alas, man himself has erected barriers, has subordinated 
 his powers and debased his understanding and given over con- 
 trol of both his mind and his actions to entities who must, 
 through karmic right, hold the reins until man once more 
 awakens to his Divine heritage, and once more takes the guid- 
 ance upon himself 
 
 Do you not have faith enough to believe that those Masters 
 who have devoted Their all to the advancement of humanity 
 know, better than your finite mind could possibly comprehend, 
 what will benefit humanity most? And what, by being tram- 
 pled in the mire, will but add to the karmic burden of human- 
 ity? Your attitude of desiring to rush into print with what 
 is given you personally is as foolish as if you insisted on feed- 
 ing a fever patient with a newly discovered food when the doc- 
 tors told you not to. 
 
 May 8th, 1908. 
 
 "When I said the human kingdom overlapped the animal 
 kingdom through the anthropoid ape there was no connection in 
 my mind with any of the degrees of The Lodge. Will you 
 please explain?" 
 
 The anthropoid ape, being the degenerate offspring of man 
 the result of his cohabitation with antedeluvian (Atlantean) 
 monstershas in it the spark of Manas, and hence belongs, to 
 that extent, to the human kingdom. Therefore, it must be un- 
 der the direct guidance of the 7th degree of The Lodge during 
 Us evolution; for no entity can obtain mastery and final lib- 
 eration until all the atoms for whose expression he is respon- 
 sible, have been redeemed. This includes all the atoms thrown 
 off from all his various bodies during all his incarnations, as 
 well as all the entities he has created either with his physical 
 creative force or by the creative power of thought. It is only 
 tben that he has finished his " cycle of necessity/' When a 
 
16 LETTERS FROM THE TEACHER. 
 
 Great Soul reaches the Threshold of Mastery he realizes that he 
 is mysteriously connected with and responsible for a host of 
 entities in almost every stage of development on all the lower 
 planes. Hence the septenary division of the work of The 
 Lodge into degrees and sub-degrees, each under the guidance 
 of certain Masters, so that all may be cared for and helped in 
 exact justice. It is very like a school divided into grades, and 
 each grade into classes, each under a different teacher, yet all 
 subject to the Principal, and he in turn to the Commissioner 
 of Education. 
 
 April 29th, 1908. 
 
 "I have been given some duties to perform in the way of ex- 
 ercises given out by Master , which I cannot perform 
 
 as I would owing to too much work for others. The chase for 
 bread and butter is so great that it takes nearly all my time. I 
 have to work from 10 to 14 hours a day in a saw-mill and you 
 can see that it keeps me 'goin* some'." 
 
 We note what you say about performing exercises, but 
 tMnk you must have made some mistake as to their source; for 
 no Master would ever give to a pupil exercises of a physical 
 r a tare that would be likely to overtax his capacity. You can 
 readily understand that such exercises cannot be given out in 
 a general way, but each lesson must be adapted to the per- 
 sonal development of the student, thus they would not be such 
 as to overtax his capacity for performance. The Masters of 
 Wisdom know well the physical conditions as well as the spir- 
 itual development of each pupil, and the Law of Growth is al- 
 ways followed; each pupil must learn to correlate with his 
 special environment. 
 
 Anything that would tend to retard or prevent you from 
 doing your plain duty in that condition and position in life in 
 which the great Law of Karma has placed you, would be a seri- 
 ous setback to your spiritual development and hence such direc- 
 tions would never be given by a Master of Wisdom. We can 
 never conquer a thing until we have worked it out, and to take 
 up YOGI exercises when your strength is fully taxed to per- 
 form your necessary physical labor is to crowd out something 
 which should come first something which lies nearer. People 
 often mpke the mistake of saying that some Master requires a 
 certain thing of them when, as a matter of fact, they have never 
 received any direct, personal instructions from a Master. You 
 can apply this test to instructions received from any source : 
 Are they reasonable? are they just? are they right? Direc- 
 
THE MASTERS OF WISDOM AND THEIR WORK. 17 
 
 tions for physical exercises are never given by a Master of Wis- 
 dom except in a personal way, and in such a case they would 
 be adapted to that pupil's ability and capacity, and to that 
 pupil alone. 
 
 May 19th, 1908. 
 
 "I am pleased with the titles Teachers, Guides, Elder 
 Brothers, but the title 'Masters' grates on my nerves. I long to 
 see this world without a master or a slave in it." 
 
 We understand and appreciate your attitude. You are suf- 
 fering from a very common, and a very natural, misunder- 
 standing of the term mentioned owing to the common use and 
 abuse of the word Master by many so-called followers of the 
 Wisdom-Religion. Jesus, who was the greatest Initiate 
 (Master) the world has ever known, said: "One is your master 
 even Christ : and all ye are brethren. Neither be ye called mas- 
 ters : for one is your master even Christ. ' ' When the expression 
 " Masters of Wisdom " is used, reference is had to this very 
 thing. Masters are Beings who, through much travail of Soul, 
 have attained the Christ center where The Christ has regained 
 His rightful place as Master of all the forces, molecules and 
 powers that compose mortal bodies physical, astral and men- 
 The Christ in command is the Master. 
 
 It is erroneous to use the expression "my Master" or 
 "your Master, " for, as Jesus pointed out, no MAN can be your 
 master. When you have gained mastery over the kingdom 
 given to you yourself, with its sheaths or bodies, by your 
 Father, then do you become a Master. Again, Jesus said, "Ye 
 have been faithful over a few things, (i. e. your emotions, 
 words, acts, etc.) behold I (The Christ) will make you ruler 
 (Master) over many. ' ' Think this matter over. Meditate espe- 
 ciallv upon the text given that "All ye are brethren. ' ' You have 
 recognized the point to which humanity has struggled and 
 should have faith to know that whenever such a point is reached 
 an effort is made to bring back the disobedient wanderers to 
 the true center ; to prepare at least a few who will and can rec- 
 ognize the necessity for the coming of a direct Savior or Avatar 
 a perfected Soul such as the Master Jesus. This has never 
 yet failed in the history of the world, and, as you say, condi- 
 tions are ripe at the present time for such another coming. 
 Think you that there will now be the first failure? The cry of 
 every sincere heart for light and upliftment shall be answered, 
 and at the present time the cry from many, many hearts is call- 
 
18 LETTERS FROM THE TEACHER. 
 
 ing continually, day and night: "How long Lord? How 
 long?" And the answer comes: "While they are yet speak- 
 ing, I will hear. ' ' 
 
 June 1st, 1908. 
 
 "If the Persian teacher called The Bab is a Master why 
 does he not teach reincarnation and Karma?" 
 
 The Bab is a very high Master. In fact he is an Eman- 
 ation or Personification of the coming Avatar or World Savior. 
 That is, the mortal body of a Persian youth has been over- 
 shadowed and informed by The Christos to such a degree that 
 it manifests The Christ. Such a manifestation, however, must 
 of necessity, work through a physical body sufficiently purified, 
 and a brain sufficiently trained to become an instrument through 
 which The Christ can work to an exceptional degree. The Bab 
 is a Persian, with all the national leadings and tendencies 
 that appeal to that race, who has been especially prepared to 
 be an instrument through which The Christ can come to the 
 Mohammedans. It is a case of Avesha Avatara, the overshad- 
 owing and informing of the lesser by the greater. As one 
 writer si vs ' ' In the Avesha Avatara a pure vessel is chosen, not 
 necessarily a MUKTA YOGI (a liberated man), and the Divine 
 Life utilizes the Man thus qualified, for a limited period and for 
 
 a particular purpose Generally, for a life time, the 
 
 Divine Influence continues to shine through the purified vessel 
 and, to all appearances, as in reality it is, the human nature of 
 the man is submerged by the overflowing Divine Life. ' 91 In such 
 cases nothing of the individuality is lost ; it is the personality 
 plus the higher principles of some Great Teacher, or say of The 
 Christ. Such overshadowing is by no means as rare as 
 may be supposed, the difference being in the advancement of 
 the overshadowing, or we might say, incarnating Teacher, who, 
 m all such cases, projects His higher principles (Atma, Buddhi, 
 Manas) into, or grafts them upon, the individuality of the dis- 
 ciple who, through his own choice and purity of life, has pre- 
 pared a mentality and a personality capable of expressing the 
 Great Soul who descends thus to help humanity. 
 
 As to the Bab's teaching Reincarnation and Karma, it is 
 given to every Great Teacher to use His own judgment as to 
 the amount and the method of giving out the Divine Teachings. 
 Also, being a Persian, the brain-mind of the personality or in- 
 
 1 Studies in THE BHAGAVAD GITA, III series, p. 130. 
 
THE MASTERS OF WISDOM AND THEIR WORK. 19 
 
 strument used does not respond to the truths mentioned and 
 does not make them a reality, as would be the case with a dis- 
 ciple who had been trained in that line of thought. The Teacher 
 overshadowing the Bab does not think the Persians, or rather 
 the Mohammedans in general, are ready for the teaching of Re- 
 incarnation. And when you think of the materialism of the Mo- 
 hammedans you will not wonder at this decision; for such a 
 teaching would be too great a jump from their previous race- 
 training and habits of thought and would tend to confuse in- 
 stead of to unify them. Therefore that Teacher teaches such 
 ethics of life as will prepare them to overcome their Karma and 
 be ready for Reincarnation. He teaches immortality, but does 
 not specify. Perhaps some of his followers may be led to deny 
 Reincarnation, because it is not found in his teachings ; but the 
 Bab himself does not deny it, he simply does not realize it be- 
 cause the overshadowing entity ignores it, thinking that his 
 children are not yet ready for it and that, if they follow his 
 teachings and make their lives conform to them, Reincarnation 
 will take care of itself. No one is ready to learn Reincarnation 
 to whom it does not appeal. Only those who feel an inward 
 urge to know THE WHOLE truth need have it given them. 
 The Bab is giving the Mohammedans all they can grasp and live 
 up to. 
 
 The Bab is not a direct Avatar or World Savior, but is the 
 Savior for the Mohammedans. Those of the Western world who 
 feel especially drawn to his teachings are probably reincarnated 
 Mohammedans and naturally come under his magnetic influence. 
 
 Each sub-race has a direct Avatar who embodies the high- 
 est ideals of that sub-race. The Avatar is always in advance of 
 the sub-race to which He comes, being the highest type to which 
 the sub-race, as a sub-race, can evolve. The coming Avatar for 
 the new sub-race (the sixth), now evolving in the Western hemi- 
 sphere, will represent the highest possibilities of the sixth sub- 
 race humanity, and His teachings will embrace all to which it 
 is possible for the new sub-race to evolve. Each Avatar must 
 have prepared for Him, and must overshadow, inhabit and 
 work through, a body capable of expressing all the advanced 
 truths needed by the sub-race to which He comes. The charac- 
 teristic of the new sub-race will be a desire to delve into the 
 deeDest mysteries of all truth, hence its Avatar must be capable 
 of expressing the most advanced truths given to any Race or 
 sub-race thus far. 
 
20 LETTERS FROM THE TEACHER. 
 
 The fundamental object of THE ORDER OF THE 15 is to 
 gather together and prepare those faithful Souls who are ready 
 to make conditions for His manifestation possible. 
 
 The one rule must be applied to all, namely, "By their 
 fruits ye shall know them. ' ' No one can study the pure teach- 
 ings of the Bab or observe his blameless life and his Christ-like 
 influence and not know that he has The Christ abiding in him. 
 
 "Have I reached that point where I am ready for personal 
 instruction? Am I ready to come into personal touch with the 
 
 Masters of Wisdom? What directions can you give for 
 
 forming such contact?" 
 
 The way in which a pupil is brought into personal touch 
 with the Masters of Wisdom is firstly, as we state in our circu- 
 lars, "It will be ONLY THROUGH YOUR OWN INDIVIDU- 
 AL EFFORT, your attitude of Soul, and the character of your 
 life that will enable YOU TO PLACE YOURSELF in personal, 
 conscious touch with the Masters. IT DEPENDS UPON NO 
 PERSONALITY BUT YOUR OWN." And secondly, until this 
 conscious touch has been made, you may come into personal 
 touch by correspondence with the Order. For whenever a pupil 
 writes, in singleness of purpose and with a heart-cry for help 
 and enlightenment, the letter sent him in reply is dictated by a 
 Master of Wisdom. Often the application of the letter thus 
 transmitted is not understood by the Agents, for they may not 
 understand the circumstances of the pupil, but, nevertheless, 
 the pupil can see the application of the message. Often, too, 
 the letters are beyond the full comprehension of the pupil unless 
 he studies and meditates upon them. That is, the intuition of 
 the pupil is not sufficiently awakened to perceive under the 
 words the answer to his real need. And since, as it frequently 
 happens, the pupil has his own ideas of what he needs, while the 
 Master takes quite a different view of the situation, it is, in re- 
 ality, a severe test to the pupil and he often fails to pass it, 
 being unable to recognize the Master's words. Thus the pupil 
 wonders why he has not come into personal touch, as he under- 
 stands it, and perhaps accuses the Order of misrepresentation. 
 But there is no claim made in the letters that they are dictated 
 by a Master of Wisdom. They are signed by the Secretary who 
 says that he is " directed by the Teacher of the Order to say," 
 leaving it to the pupil to accept it as from a Master or from the 
 human brain of the Secretary, as his intuition directs. 
 
 If, however, the pupil recognizes something more than mere 
 human wisdom in the letters and welcomes the Master's words, 
 
THE MASTERS OF WISDOM AND THEIR WORK. 21 
 
 it is seldom long ere he or she is in interior, personal communi- 
 cation with the Master who dictated the letter. Indeed, many 
 of the more advanced pupils receive the answers to their ques- 
 tions before they have finished writing them to the Secretary 
 and the .latter 's letter merely confirms what they had received 
 interiorly 
 
 You are ready for personal help when you can recognize 
 and accept the instruction when it comes. Such personal help 
 cannot be withheld when the demand is made; but it never 
 flatters tbe pupil. On this account the pupil often thinks that the 
 Master does not appreciate him at his true worth, that is, at his 
 own estimation of himself; for the Master gives what is most 
 reeded rather than what is most wanted 
 
 As to directions for forming such interior contact, my son, 
 there are no directions that anyone could give you unless your 
 own intuition can speak. If you have formed a conception of a 
 mysterious interview with some wonderful Being whose pres- 
 ence will send thrills down your spine and who will confer upon 
 you some mysterious power that you can carry with you hence- 
 forth and proclaim to the world "I am holier than thou, for I 
 have met the Master, ' ' then we say, most emphatically, that all 
 the force and power of the great Lodge of Masters would be set 
 in motion to prevent such a catastrophe. Such a thing has never 
 occurred, and never will occur 
 
 The whole thing, in a nut-shell, is that no pupil is left with- 
 out the help and instruction needed for his advance. At certain 
 stages, life alone can give you this; in other cases there 
 are books and earthly teachers who can give the Soul all 
 that it needs for a certain step in its growth. But when the 
 pupil has culled all the lessons to be learned in these ways; 
 when life no longer teaches, because its simpler lessons have 
 been learned and an interpreter is needed for its mysteries; 
 when books and earthly teachings seem like dry husks, and the 
 Soul cries out for more food, IT MUST BE FED ; for this is 
 The Law. Then there begins to come to him something closer, 
 generally as a still small voice, as a dream, vision or distinct 
 impression. If he listens and follows these leadings he will find 
 them confirmed and work out in his life and become steps on 
 The Path, until, finally, he finds himself confronted, not with a 
 mysterious personage, but in close, familiar communion with 
 an Intelligence whom he has learned to love and trust. Only 
 when this interior communion is established can the pupil come 
 
22 LETTERS FROM THE TEACHER. 
 
 face to face with his Guru. Of course this will take place upon 
 the inner planes, but long ere this he will be carefully in- 
 structed as to the necessary steps, the necessary cautions to be 
 observed ; will be told how to recognize and treat false teachers 
 
 and false teachings 
 
 The requisite preparation for such close, personal contact 
 is a sincere and loving heart, a child-like confidence and trust, 
 and a willingness to sit at the Master's feet and be taught, 
 rather than to afford an opportunity for the pupil to tell the 
 Secretary how much human wisdom he has obtained. That is, 
 he must be willing to listen to and study and meditate upon the 
 teaching* received, no matter how hidden the meaning may at 
 first appear and no matter how opposed to his former ideas and 
 conceptions. All must be carefully weighed and pondered and 
 such as appeal to the pupil as true and right accepted, that is, 
 those that stand the test of the Law of Love and Life . . 
 
PART II. 
 
 j 
 
 CONCERNING THE ORDER OF THE 15. 
 
 "For my part, having given the greater part of my life to 
 the study and analysis of facts, I would rather be the author of 
 the tritest homily, or the baldest poem, that inculcated that im- 
 perishable essence of the soul to which I have neither scalpel 
 nor probe, than be the founder of the subtlest school, or the 
 framer of the loftiest verse, that robbed my fellow-men of their 
 faith in a spirit that eludes the dissecting knife, in a being 
 that escapes the grave-digger." Bulwer-Lytton, A STRANGE 
 STORY. 
 
$4 LETTERS FROM THE TEACHER. 
 
 April 9th, 1908. 
 
 "I note that it is stated that the Teachers of the Order will 
 remain hidden. One would naturally wish to know on what au- 
 thority the contemplated teachings, and the predictions men- 
 tioned, are given. However, I suppose that the instruction given 
 will soon show in itself its source. On the other hand, I, in 
 common with others to whom I have shown your circulars, 
 would like, if possible, some more definite information as to the 
 organizers of this movement the physical plane organizers, 
 if the others must remain hidden." 
 
 We are truly sorry that we cannot comply with your re- 
 quest as to the personality of the organizers of this Order. All 
 we can say is that it is a direct outpouring of The Lodge force, 
 and the agents through whom it is manifesting are of no more 
 importance, from the standpoint of the teachings, than would 
 be the pipe through which a stream of pure water was led into 
 a parched and thirsty land. Those who are athirst for the 
 living waters will drink; those who are satisfied with that which 
 is at their disposal will pass it by. Only the thirsty appreciate 
 water. 
 
 If a history of the personalities were set forth, with photo- 
 graphs, names, etc. of what avail would it be? Would it make 
 the message any more satisfying? Would it make truth any 
 more true? Or would it, as has always happened heretofore, 
 tend to detract from the teachings? Those who had a personal 
 leaning toward the agent would cling to the personality, ex- 
 cusing every eccentricity and perhaps following some personal 
 bias or weakness, and would waste many words and much force 
 in defending such a personality. Such an attitude has heretofore 
 put many temptations in the path of agents, and has even made 
 them unfit instruments for The Lodge to use. On the other 
 hand, all who did not altogether admire the personality of the 
 agent would have a target at which to throw stones. To them 
 all the teachings would be tainted by the personality of the 
 agent. This, and much more, has been the sad experience of all 
 past attempts to give out The Lodge teachings. Humanity has 
 proved, most conclusively, that it is not yet ready to be trusted 
 with a knowledge of the personality of the agent. Therefore, 
 in sorrow, the Masters of Wisdom have taken away from them 
 the gift which, like children, they have shown their utter in- 
 ability to appreciate. The Karma ignorantly incurred in the 
 past by the treatment of former agents of The Lodge is to be 
 spared humanity this time. As each individual grows into touch 
 with this work on the soul plane, and displays a right appre- 
 
CONCERNING THE ORDER OF THE 15. 25 
 
 elation of the sacrifice made by such agents, and ability to 
 judge the matter impartially and apart from personality, the 
 knowledge may be given them. 
 
 You are quite right in thinking that the teachings are 
 themselves their own authority; for if they did not indicate 
 their source no amount of specious claiming on the part of the 
 agents would avail. "If this work be of men, it will come to 
 naught; but if it be of God, ye cannot overthrow it; lest haply 
 ye be found even to fight against God. ' ' 
 
 At present we can only say that this Movement is a modern 
 prophet without the walls of the city, crying, * ' Prepare ye the 
 way of the Lord, make his paths straight." It is a modern 
 "Voice of one crying in the wilderness, Repent ye: for the 
 kingdom of heaven is at hand. ' ' If that voice finds an echo in 
 your heart follow it ; if not, go your way in peace, for your time 
 is not yet come. 
 
 June 8th, 1908. 
 
 "I note what you say about organizations. I am so glad we 
 can be in the Order of the 15 without being buried within its 
 folds; that we can have its air and its vibrations yet be free. 
 O, that word free means so much to me!" 
 
 All real cosmic Orders will aid toward the individualiza- 
 tion of freedom. Anything which engulfs you and smothers 
 out all natural growth must be unnatural, hence of man. God 
 works always on broad lines leading to freedom. The true 
 lesson of universal brotherhood and freedom and the oneness 
 of all creation can never be learned except as nature demon- 
 strates the lesson, i. e. each growing thing after its own kind 
 without interference, yet each and all attaining perfection 
 through the same forces sun, air, earth and water. The oak 
 and the violet at its root, each from the selfsame soil, and in the 
 same environment, attain to an individualized perfection ; each 
 adds its ouota to the one perfect picture. And the oak does not 
 continually reproach the violet because it does not try to be an 
 oak. The Japanese, through so-called "art," can so dwarf and 
 pervert nature that the oak can grow in a pot no larger than 
 that required for the violet, and this is what many man-made 
 movements are attempting to do with the human oak. 
 
 April 27th, 1908. 
 
 "I am a Theosophist and would like further information re- 
 garding your Order." 
 
 Many sincere Theosophists have questioned our Movement 
 by asking why, since it comes direct from The Lodge, it is not 
 
26 CONCERNING THE ORDER OF THE is. 
 
 given out through the already established channels. We do not 
 desire to have it understood that the formation of this new 
 rharnel is a reflection upon or a criticism of those organiza- 
 tions ; for they all have their particular work. The work of this 
 Order, however, is something quite different, i. e., the interpret- 
 ation of the teachings of the Master Jesus and the giving of 
 the help required by each Soul after it has reached a certain 
 point of development where the teachings given out to the mass 
 of students as a whole no longer meet its needs. This cannot 
 be done by organizations that are bound by general rules; for 
 their fundamental principle is that all must fare alike and take 
 such general instructions as can be given without regard to the 
 needs of individual pupils. If you will carefully study the les- 
 son on DEGREES AND ORDERS you will understand why 
 such laws and rules are necessary for such organizations, and 
 from their standpoint, are right and proper. They must follow 
 their instructions from The Lodge ; for those are laws given to 
 all organizations working on the negative side of the cross. 
 Hence they must follow the negative law, i. e., advance can 
 only be made collectively and all must fare alike as to instruc- 
 tion. THE ORDER OF THE 15, however, as you will see from 
 that lesson, is on the positive side of the cross, and is put forth 
 to aid those who need PERSONAL instruction ; those who have 
 reached a point where they can come into personal touch with 
 the Masters of Wisdom interiorly, yet who need instruction 
 and direction in forming such contact. We do not aim to sup- 
 plant the , but should supplement their work in 
 
 greatest harmony; for their teachings are the basis upon which 
 we build and which we require from our pupils. This is the 
 Law: Only he who asks can receive, because the asking opens 
 the doors through which help can come. 
 
 May 4th, 1908. 
 
 "I very gladly ask to study with you, but in fairness I must 
 say that I am old and sick and poor, and will not consider my- 
 self aggrieved if classed as ineligible.'* 
 
 We are most happy to welcome you into our Order. We 
 welcome the " old and sick and poor/' and those who are heart- 
 hungry for love and sympathy. Hear ye not the voice of the 
 Master saying, "Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the 
 kingdom of heaven"? Yea, blessed are the sick; for they shall 
 be healed. Blessed are the old; for they have garnered the 
 wisdom of earth and are nearing the very hour when the Lord 
 
CONCERNING THE ORDER OF THE 15. 27 
 
 shall walk in the garden with them in the cool of the day. 
 Whosoever sends out a cry of heartfelt, loving desire shall be 
 heard and shall meet Him face to face. We are only too glad 
 of the privilege granted us of sending even a little love and 
 light and joy to you. 
 
 Can., Jan. 12th, 1908. 
 
 "The temperament which I have earned, and of which I am 
 at present the possessor, demands that certain things shall be 
 clearly explained to me, because in this great country of North 
 America, there are more fakes and frauds in so-called Spiritual 
 organizations than in any other country with which I am 
 acquainted. You will no doubt recognize that to those who are 
 worthy of joining your organization you must reveal as much 
 concerning it as will, with their want of knowledge concerning 
 it, satisfy them that you are what you claim to be." 
 
 No doubt if this Movement were a fake or a fraud or some 
 scheme to get money from the credulous, there would be volum- 
 inous "proofs" and attestations as to its genuineness, and loud 
 protestations of its power to stand above all other organiza- 
 tions. But as it does not belong to that class we must adhere 
 to the universal rule, the law always followed by The Lodge of 
 Masters, i. e. the one law of creation, growth and evolution: 
 "By their fruits ye shall know them." When a planet is born 
 it does not herald the advent abroad, but goes on its appointed 
 way, following the law of its being, until some earnest investi- 
 gator, who is watching and seeking, discovers and records it. 
 When a tree blossoms or bears fruit it does not blow a trumpet, 
 but waits patiently until someone finds it, and through his pre- 
 vious knowledge of trees, and through his reasoning power, 
 decides that the blossom is rare and that the fruit, even though 
 hitherto unknown, must necessarily be wholesome. This is The 
 Law: true Wisdom cannot swerve from it. 
 
 Every Soul has implanted within it, as an integral prin- 
 ciple, the power of intuition, just as every mineral, vegetable 
 and animal has the power of selection or instinct which leads it 
 to follow the lines of evolution best fitted for its growth and 
 perfection, in accord with its environment. This beneficent 
 provision was not denied man the highest point reached, so 
 far, in the scale of evolution indeed, it was given him in far 
 greater abundance than to the lower kingdoms. With it was 
 given the power of reason, and free will, that he might, if he 
 would, KNOW or he might, if he would, DOUBT and go astray 
 and waste time a privilege denied the lower kingdoms. 
 
28 LETTERS FROM THE TEACHER. 
 
 April 19th, 1908. 
 
 "What appealed to me so forcibly in THE ORDER OF 
 THE 15 was its grand, broad foundation and the loving help and 
 recognition it held out to those who were ready. In all my ask- 
 ing before in this line, I had been put off with stones, and no 
 recognition of possible individual preparation or development 
 taken into consideration." 
 
 When all candidates are placed upon the same level and 
 no spiritual insight is employed, from a merely earthly stand- 
 point all must pass through the same wearying delays. But no 
 movement can be a heart-help which stamps itself, at the out- 
 set, as incapable of discerning inward qualifications. All so- 
 called "inner" instructions coming from such a body must, of 
 necessity, be designed to help the general mass rather than 
 individuals. It is but a corroboration of the teaching given in 
 the lesson on DEGREES AND ORDERS that, while true and 
 necessary, nevertheless such teachings belong to the negative 
 side of the cross, where advance comes in a general way for 
 the mass of pupils as a whole and is not especially adapted to 
 individual needs. 
 
 March 6th, 1908. 
 
 "The question arises whether this Order would give such 
 teachings and training or discipline as would clash with that of 
 the School?" 
 
 The object of the personal instruction in this Order is to 
 help each pupil to come into personal touch with his own Guru 
 or Teacher, and thus receive his instruction in practical occult- 
 ism at first hand. There are no two persons who need exactly 
 the same help, and for that reason no Soul who had not reached 
 Mastery would dare give such instruction and assume the kar- 
 mic responsibility for the teachings given. Therefore, when a 
 student is prepared for such instruction the Guru will be ready 
 to give him personal training. But unless the student has 
 awakened his intuition sufficiently to recognize the Master's 
 presence, and has acquired sufficient knowledge of the laws 
 governing such communications, the message will be meaning- 
 less ; for he will be unable correctly to interpret it. This Move- 
 ment, then, is the fulfillment of the promise made to the stu- 
 dents of the School, as you will, perhaps, realize 
 
 later on. 
 
 April 15th, 1908. 
 
 "I want particularly to know whether membership in THE 
 ORDER OF THE 15 is incompatible with membership in the 
 School." 
 
CONCERNING THE ORDER OF THE 15. 29 
 
 As to your inquiry about joining the School, 
 
 we assure you that it can make no possible difference to us, 
 except that we hope you will not take obligations that will pre- 
 vent you from remaining in the Order. This Order, being a 
 real Order of The Lodge, is gathering its members from all 
 organizations and cannot possibly interfere with them. In fact 
 we desire to have our members remain faithful to obligations 
 already assumed and thus infuse The Lodge force into their 
 organizations. 
 
 May 15th, 1908. 
 
 "I never had any uplifting power like I have received from 
 this Order. Your first letter and lesson came direct to the soul. 
 I have learned a lot of mantrams but never one that has done me 
 as much good as the one in the lesson. (The MORNING 
 
 PRAYER. Ed.) I cannot help the Order as I would 
 
 like but will send you as much as I can as soon as I can." 
 
 We are happy to hear that you have been able to correlate 
 with the force sent you; for it is only those who have some- 
 thing within themselves that is attuned to the special note of 
 truth sounded by this Order who can feel the sympathetic vi- 
 brations of the life-force from this Center. We understand 
 your true attitude and your desire to help, and, as you know, 
 love and sympathy are far higher and more lasting helps than 
 money. Still, while humanity is bound on the wheel of the 
 almighty dollar, it is impossible to do anything practical to 
 help it, such as sending out these teachings, without the physi- 
 cal expression of interest which takes the form of financial aid. 
 We know, however, that you will do all you can, and we have 
 no fear of the failure of the work. One way in which you can 
 help is to hold strongly to the thought of financial success for 
 the Movement ; for it must place its feet upon the earth plane 
 through earthly means, and every one who recognizes this truth 
 practically, helps more than he can understand. 
 
 May 22nd, 1908. 
 
 "I am being led into new and wonderful paths as fast as I 
 am able to understand their meaning, but I must KNOW that 
 it IS the leading." 
 
 As to your just demand to KNOW if this Movement is the 
 leading you are seeking, we can only say that no embodied en- 
 tity can answer that question for another. Each Soul must de- 
 cide for itself that all-important question. If you ask sincerely, 
 in The Silence, for guidance, and if it is the real, sincere cry of 
 the heart for help and light that goes out, verily your Father- 
 
30 LETTERS FROM THE TEACHER. 
 
 in-Heaven who heareth in secret shall reward you openly. Never 
 has a sincere cry for help been sent out in The Silence where 
 God dwelleth that was not answered. Just as soon as the de- 
 mand is truly voiced and put into definite form, yea " Before 
 they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will 
 hear/' The thing to do is to recognize the answer when it 
 comes. That YOU must do for yourself. We can only assure 
 you that we are ready and willing to help you ; but our ability 
 to do this depends upon yourself. If you want what we can 
 give, it is yours : if for some reason you need other training for 
 a time, we willingly stand aside and give our time to others 
 who are hungry for the food that is given us by the Masters to 
 break and distribute. It is only five loaves and two small fishes ; 
 but to all who sit down and partake it will prove sufficient 
 and satisfying. 
 
 Jan. 5th, 1908. 
 
 "I certainly 'desire to progress* and therefore shall be glad 
 to hear further concerning that of which the circular treats." 
 
 We appreciate your attitude and know the real heart- 
 hunger for growth that is almost fearful lest the proffered food 
 prove to be a stone. Only your own intuition can help you. The 
 table is spread ; the garment is ready, and we invite you to the 
 feast. Yea, we welcome you ; for we know that hunger which 
 nothing but spiritual food can satisfy. How well we under- 
 stand the weary disappointment and the cry of your heart, 
 "How long, Lord? How long?" No longer, my son, than 
 you yourself hold back. Your Father's hand reaches out to- 
 ward you; a complete happiness and satisfaction is yours for 
 the picking up. "Ask and ye shall receive, seek and ye shall 
 find." There is no death but disappointment and lost ideals. 
 Breathe life into your ideals, new life and hope. Set them once 
 more upon the pedestal and determine that they shall be im- 
 bued with life. Nothing is lost but the mere husk of an ideal; 
 the germ is still there, only waiting for the breath of love to 
 bring it forth in new and glorious garments, fit for the wedding 
 feast of thy Soul. 
 
 Jan. 16th, 1908. 
 
 "I have not been ready to join organizations or movements 
 for fear that they might not be what I needed." 
 
 As to your fear that you are wrong 1 in entering this Order, 
 that all depends upon your attitude. There is always one way, 
 and one teacher who can best help each Soul. The Soul knows 
 
CONCERNING THE ORDER OF THE 15. 31 
 
 intuitively, or can know if it will listen, just who can help and 
 just what way is best. There is no one way for all. Each has 
 peculiar affinitizations which in past lives have laid down the 
 lines over which it is easier for helpful force to be drawn. The 
 injunction, "Know thyself " included this point, i. e. to know 
 intuitively what is helpful and to follow that leading independ- 
 ently of what any other may think or say; for what is the cor- 
 rect line for you may be all wrong for your neighbor. Your 
 letter rings true and sincere, and such an earnest call for help 
 never remains unanswered. 
 
 April 9th, 1908. 
 
 "I do not know what you mean by contributions unless it is 
 to pay for the lessons." 
 
 A thing that costs you nothing is valued at nothing. Just 
 in proportion to the real love and sacrifice will be the value to 
 your own Soul. In other words, what we love we work for, 
 sacrifice our time and money for. And out of those things, or 
 their inner force, is our character built up. If we value dress, 
 earthly gain, self-indulgence or earthly honors, we work and 
 sacrifice for them, and the inner force that creates the desire 
 grows into our character. And soon we have either a frivolous, 
 miserly, inordinately selfish or ambitious character. If we de- 
 sire the fruits of the Spirit love, joy, peace, long-suffering, 
 gentleness, patience and humility we will exert our every 
 effort for them. And the effort thus put forth will ^row into 
 character ; for only through effort can we ever gain them. 
 
 You do not PAY for the lessons, but you do all you can to 
 help on the work in whatever way you can, making sacrifices 
 of time, money and thought if you love it and really mean to 
 build into your character "the fruits of the Spirit. " 
 
 June 14th, 1908. 
 
 "I have just carefully read the paper on NARCOTICS and 
 approve of it so much that, with your permission, I will publish- 
 most of it in the magazine, and give proper credit." 
 
 We are glad the paper on NARCOTICS pleases you. None 
 of our lessons aim to be a complete or full treatment of a sub- 
 ject. This is done intentionally, because we wish not only to 
 instruct, but to stimulate the intuition of our pupils and lead 
 them to write for further explanation ; for it is the heart-cry 
 the need of the Soul that is answered, rather than the words 
 of the letter. 
 
 
32 LETTERS FROM THE TEACHER. 
 
 May 28th. 
 
 "I desire to know something of how your work is carried 
 on and what the expense of membership is." 
 
 The work of this Order is carried on by monthly lessons 
 and by personal correspondence. That is, all students are 
 privileged to write to the Teacher of the Order and ask ques- 
 tions upon points either in the lessons, in the Bible or in any 
 other teachings. They may also write for advice in regard to 
 their spiritual growth, or whenever they are in trouble and need 
 help and sympathy. Such letters form a direct line of com- 
 munication over which the helpful forces from this Center 
 can flow continually 
 
 This Movement is supported entirely by voluntary contri- 
 butions; for no true spiritual teachings can be bought for a 
 price, nor can they be withheld from any sincere seeker who 
 is ready for them. 
 
PART III. 
 PRAYER. 
 
 "Do you believe that if there really did not exist that tie 
 between Man and his Maker, that link between life here and 
 life hereafter which is found in what we call Soul, alone, that 
 wherever you look through the universe, you would behold a 
 child at prayer? Nature inculcates nothing that is superfluous. 
 Nature does not impel the leviathan or the lion, the eagle or the 
 moth, to pray; she impels only man. Why? Because man only 
 has a Soul, and Soul seeks to commune with the Everlasting, 
 as a fountain struggles up to its source." Bulwer-Lytton, in A 
 STRANGE STORY. 
 
 "Prayer is an ennobling action when it is an intense feeling, 
 an ardent desire rushing forth from our very heart for the good 
 of other people, and when entirely detached from any selfish 
 personal object; the craving for a beyond is natural and holy in 
 man, but on condition of sharing that bliss with others." 
 Blavatsky, THE SECRET DOCTRINE, Vol. III. 
 
34 LETTERS FROM THE TEACHER. 
 
 May 22nd, 1908. 
 
 "Though the daily petition for physical and spiritual sus- 
 tenance may be well adapted for those developed to no higher 
 point than the anthropomorphic idea of Deity, it seems to me 
 that, once the consciousness is reached, even if faint and imper- 
 fect, that Love and Power are our divine inheritance ; ours at the 
 mere desire and will to use them (aright) for the proper re- 
 flection upon all other life in full measure, of love and wisdom 
 received by us, is not the cultivation of purity in love and 
 desire next on the program? Thus while my own children, as 
 infants, expressed their wants or needs, so soon as a conscious- 
 ness of our relationship was established, the necessity for such 
 expression ceased. (How much sooner had I been omniscient!) 
 So too, our intercourse is one of mutual love; even though 
 mingled with discipline and obedience not one of petitions and 
 favors this is for masters and slaves." 
 
 Your idea of prayer is correct as far as it goes; but it 
 applies only to prayer as generally understood and practiced. 
 There is but one universal Law governing all manifestations of 
 life, from molecule to cosmos, and this works with mathemat- 
 ical precision through fore-ordained channels. Hence to pray 
 for (get) anything you must obey the Law and seek and expect 
 to get only in accordance with the Law through these natural 
 channels. The Infinite Spirit, manifesting as Father-Mother- 
 Love, as it correlates with matter must, of necessity, work with 
 the Law ; for Love is the fulfilling of the Lav/. Matter, being 
 inert and dense, is opposed to Spirit in that the finer vibrations 
 of Spirit find it difficult to set the comparatively inert matter 
 into harmonious vibration, and as each is at an opposite pole 
 there can be no direct contact the one with the other. Com- 
 munication between the two must follow the regular, lawful 
 channels. It is here that prayer, in its true conception, comes 
 in. True prayer or spiritual aspiration is simply a correlating 
 of the brain and physical consciousness with the spiritual, thus 
 creating a natural channel of communication through which the 
 spiritual force can flow. In other words, it is closing the cir- 
 cuit. The Will, a desire for spiritual gifts, and a constant at- 
 titude of devotion are the proper channels ; but words, medita- 
 tion and a recognition of the end to be attained, are steps 
 leading to the opening of them. 
 
 Prayer is a channel leading to the attainment of the fixed 
 purpose (desire for spiritual gifts) ; and prayer, Will and 
 spiritual desire are steps necessary for those to follow who have 
 not attained that perfect control over the whole life, mind, 
 
PRAYER. 35 
 
 emotions and purpose which they may ultimately attain. 
 Those who have attained can well dispense with prayer; but 
 not those who are still striving. Prayer is the Jacob's ladder, 
 one end resting on earth, the other reaching into heaven. If 
 you have climbed to the top of the ladder you no longer have 
 need of it; but it would be cruel to cut away the ladder by 
 which you had climbed when so many eager Souls are clinging 
 to its rungs. 
 
 When your sons and daughters were young you expected 
 them to ask for what they thought necessary, even though you 
 in your wisdom did not grant it; but when they had grown to 
 the age of discretion you were content that they should hold 
 an attitude of respectful love and obedience. Until you have 
 attained to YOUR Father's stature in spiritual growth He ex- 
 pects you to ask for what you think necessary, even though 
 He in His Wisdom does not grant it. Prayer is but the asking. 
 
 To pray for assistance is, if rightly understood, merely to 
 recognize the inflowing of Divine Love and to struggle to make 
 a place for it. To ask for guidance is but to take hold of the 
 power of Divinity as a little child grasps its father's hand. 
 The child does not say, "Father, give me bread and clothing 
 and houseroom;" for all that is its birthright; but it is quite 
 right to come to its father with its difficulties, its lessons and 
 its little tumbles and bruises and ask for sympathy and help. 
 Altho the child must fight its own way through life you would 
 be a cruel father to refuse a helpful talk if it poured into your 
 ears a tale of difficulty and discouragement, or to refuse sym- 
 pathy when it was bruised or wounded. 
 
 A most erroneous idea of Omniscience prevails. Consider 
 it as perfect Law. Omniscience is All-knowing, and expresses 
 itself perfectly in all minutia, even though we may not recog- 
 nize that they are perfect expressions of the conditions. To be- 
 come one with The Law is to have fulfilled it. Jesus came not 
 to destroy, but to fulfill it through the power of The Christ. 
 
 March 20th, 1909. 
 "Healing prayer can be used, with the sanction of the 
 
 higher nature, only as a preventive of further mistakes 
 
 To make the cure of disease the object of prayer is a degrada- 
 tion of this high power." 
 
 Prayer, meditation and YOGA are all the same thing, the 
 names differing according to the country you are in. But, my 
 son, I wish to call your attention to a grave misconception 
 
36 LETTERS FROM THE TEACHER. 
 
 which you, in company with many other students, have fallen. 
 Evil Karma is not punishment, neither is it fatality. It is the 
 result of inharmony a something wrong a law broken that 
 must be adjusted. And until such adjustment is made more or 
 less suffering must be experienced. It is like a splinter in a 
 tender spot. The spot will fester until the splinter is removed, 
 but would you think it wise to allow the spot to fester until by 
 the sloughing of the surrounding tissues the splinter was elim- 
 inated? Or would a wise physician use his higher powers (his 
 trained intelligence) to remove the splinter at once and allow 
 the spot to heal? Again, a wheel has become flattened on one 
 side and runs with great friction and jarring, throwing out of 
 gear all parts of the engine. This, no doubt, is bad Karma from 
 bad usage ; but the engineer is fully justified in using his higher 
 powers to have the defect remedied at once. Thus it is with the 
 HEALING PRAYER 1 as we give it to you. The earnest repe- 
 tition of it, with an effort to grasp its real significance, arouses 
 in the consciousness a realization of what is wrong. You recog- 
 nize the Divine Creative Force of Love The Christ Power and 
 the instant such a recognition is made the splinter is removed, 
 the defective machine repaired and atonement is made ; for The 
 Christ has spoken, ' ' Go and sin no more, ' ' 
 
 Much that is called prayer is but selfish sanctimoniousness 
 glazed over. To make the cure of a condition the object with- 
 out a recognition of The Law, or to debase the force for per- 
 sonal ends, especially to get money through the gullibility of 
 the weak and suffering, IS NOT PRAYER AT ALL, and there- 
 fore does not enter into the discussion. 
 
 April 9th, 1908. 
 
 "The prayer on HEALING sent last month and the MORN- 
 ING PRAYER 1 for this month seem to me to be two extremes 
 of thought, one making life here automatic, the other assuming 
 
 too much individual power When I was confronted 
 
 during the day with two aged women, both homeless, and I 
 absolutely had not a place to send them but the almshouse, the 
 words that I had uttered in the morning, 'I can conquer all that 
 
 comes to me today/ seemed to grin at me in mockery. 
 
 The effect of the above mentioned prayers would probably cause 
 either complete self-depreciation, or excessive self-appreciation." 
 
 All manifestations of life, from molecule to cosmos, are ex- 
 pressed in a circle. .If you will let your mind dwell on this 
 
 1 See Appendix. 
 1 Bee Appendix. 
 
f <-* THE \ 
 
 I UNIVERSITY 
 
 \ & / 
 
 X^AUFOgg^ PRAYER. 37 
 
 fact for a moment you will, in fact must, admit that a circle 
 has no beginning and no end, hence no extremes. " Extremes 
 meet, " is an aphorism of daily life, and like all such is founded 
 on a rock of spiritual truth. The two prayers you are troubled 
 about stand as examples of this underlying principle ; self de- 
 preciation from the viewpoint of the lower, personal self; self 
 appreciation from the outlook of the Real Self. Both are true 
 and the force from each flows eternally round and round the 
 circle of manifestation. When one is spending all his energy 
 in work upon the outer rim of the circle as you are, it is im- 
 possible to see all the way around. So when confronted with 
 earth misery which you are unable to alleviate, discouragement 
 and a feeling of helplessness is inevitable. Could you but for a 
 moment transfer your activities to the center of the circle you 
 would at once realize that the animating force that keeps this 
 circle of manifestation in being comes from the central point 
 and is distributed equally to all parts of the circle is the One 
 Life. Working from this central point discouragement is im- 
 possible; for at once knowledge comes to you that all is well; 
 that they too, the indigent, the helpless and homeless are in the 
 stream; that the great Heart of Love holds them within Its 
 sheltering folds, and that It does not depend upon your per- 
 sonal ability to place them; that your Father-in-Heaven (the 
 Great Creative Force of Love) has already placed them where 
 they must remain UNTIL THEY HAVE LEARNED A NEED- 
 ED LESSON. Your compassion and pity for them is but cold 
 and harsh in comparison with the yearning tenderness of the 
 Masters of Compassion of the Loving Christ, who would not 
 that any perish but that all have eternal life. They know that 
 time and place are but motes in the sunbeam, and They love 
 with enough intensity to wait patiently until the lessons are 
 learned and the sisters, now so poor and ill, can be clothed with 
 His righteousness as with a garment, and sit down with Him 
 at the marriage feast. 
 
 This does not at all decry the necessity for outer work 
 caring for the desolate ones, "For in as much as ye have done 
 it unto one of the least of these ye have done it unto me. ' ' But 
 it does mean that you are to "Work as those work who are am- 
 bitious" to lift all the world into better physical conditions, 
 yet you are to "Kill out ambition" and know that all is well. 
 If you have done your best let it rest there. Be strong enough 
 
38 LETTERS FROM THE TEACHER. 
 
 to stand aside and see the workings of the Lord (The Law) 
 and like a little child say "Thy will be done/' knowing that 
 the will is to emancipate all from sin and sorrow. But the only 
 path is the one that teaches through experience, and there is 
 more joy in heaven over ONE SINNER that repenteth who 
 has learned his lesson than over ninety and nine just persons 
 who need no repentance who are satisfied. 
 
 The Shining Ones are all the time creating and building for 
 each and every Soul the immortal habitation (spiritual body) 
 in which that Soul will find ultimate liberation, and if the ma- 
 terial out of which that body must be built can only be obtained 
 by tearing to pieces and destroying old earthly habitations 
 (physical bodies) in which the personality has become en- 
 tangled, They will not hesitate to tear down and destroy. At 
 the end of it all when the lessons are learned and the Soul sits 
 down at the Father's table do you think a residence of a few 
 short, mortal years in an almshouse will in any way detract 
 from their joy? 
 
PART IV. 
 THE ASTRAL PLANE. 
 
 "Thou canst not call that madness of which thou art proved 
 to know nothing." Tertullian, APOLOGY. 
 
 "The astral influences are invisible, but they act upon man, 
 unless he knows how to protect himself against them. Heat and 
 light are intangible and incorporeal; nevertheless, they act upon 
 man, and the same takes place with other invisible influences." 
 Paracelsus. 
 
40 LETTERS FROM THE TEACHER. 
 
 April 28th, 1908. 
 
 "What IS the astral plane? Is it a place or locality in any 
 sense at all? With all the evidence of the substan- 
 tiality of the astral plane, when we try to prove things it at once 
 becomes unsubstantial. I can find no landmarks; I cannot even 
 prove whether the beings are external to ourselves or are cre- 
 ations of our own brain, made of the same stuff as are our 
 thoughts dramatizations of our thoughts yet this solution 
 does not seem true when checked up by all the facts. What then 
 is real?" 
 
 The astral plane is not a place or locality, but a state or 
 condition. To quote from one author : "It cannot be measured 
 in three dimensions, and yet it is capable of measurement by 
 degrees in the scale of vibrations. These states or degrees of 
 vibrations interpenetrate each other without interference, in 
 which peculiarity they have correspondence or analogies in 
 physical phenomena. For instance, a dozen or more currents of 
 electricity may pass along the same wire, at the same time, 
 without interfering with each other, and may then register 
 each on its special instrument, providing that the rate of tension 
 or vibration be different in each case. ' ' 
 
 The only reality is spiritual consciousness, the One Life; 
 all else is but varying degrees of expression of the One Life. 
 These expressions are cognizable through vibrations affecting 
 organs attuned to receive them. Hence the densest matter or 
 slowest vibration is the physical expression of consciousness, 
 and we are apt to call this REALITY when in fact it is the 
 least real, because least permanent, of all. Try to realize that 
 what appears to you as real is but the greatly slowed down 
 vibrations of the One Life, matter being but retarded motion 
 and in truth ever changing, transitory and evanescent. This is 
 easily proven, for if the experience of merely holding a little 
 paper of a certain drug to your head, as you describe, could so 
 change the rate of vibration of the molecules of your sense or- 
 gans that they not longer responded to the vibrations of physi- 
 cal matter (for you it no longer existed), but quickened their 
 rate until you were responding to the vibrations of a different 
 world just as real to you then as the physical was, you have 
 proved the matter in your own experience. If you will think 
 this simple example over we feel sure you will understand, in a 
 way that no number of words could tell you, just where the 
 astral world is, and also who and what are its denizens. It is 
 simply the next higher note in the scale of vibration, and its 
 
THE ASTRAL PLANE. 41 
 
 entities are those whose bodies vibrate in harmony with that 
 note. Their senses respond to those rates as readily as yours 
 do to those of this plane, and hence it is just as real to them as 
 this is to you. Therefore, the astral world is around and within 
 you, interpenetrating the physical. The different parts of you 
 astral, mental, spiritual bodies etc. each function upon its 
 own plane. That is, your astral body is now and all the time 
 functioning upon the astral plane, while the higher principles, 
 which connect you with the key-note of your existence and vi- 
 brate to its rate, are in the spiritual realm. Your experiences 
 vary with the plane or state of consciousness in which the Ego 
 is functioning. The dense particles of your physical brain vi- 
 brate to the rates of the physical and ordinarily confine your 
 consciousness to that plane. But you, yourself, have proven 
 how easy it is to transfer your consciousness and respond to 
 the vibrations of other planes. The path is not a public high- 
 way, but is, nevertheless, a well trodden one and easily found 
 by those who know. 
 
 All that exists is substance, but in different rates of vibra- 
 tion. One is no more real than the other; for with whatever 
 rate your consciousness is vibrating that rate is real as long as 
 the consciousness functions there. Persons who function con- 
 sciously in the astral such functioning being possible because 
 they have dropped their denser instruments taken off their 
 overcoats, as it were are just men and women using bodies 
 and senses attuned to that state of matter instead of to the 
 slower, denser, physical matter. Hence, since their range of 
 response to vibration is wider, their limitations are less binding 
 and less hampering. This accounts, too, for their limited 
 knowledge, altho to those still on the earth plane it may seem 
 great. It is unlawful to pass the barrier because the Law of 
 Vibration forbids. Even those upon the astral reach a point 
 where they cannot respond to a still higher rate of vibration 
 and they are limited unless they can receive teachings from 
 those who have reached into still more spiritual vibrations and 
 have gained deeper knowledge. All this, however, can lawfully 
 be accomplished by the true disciple, even while still upon the 
 earth plane. The astral is but the Hall of Learning. Being the 
 nearest to the earth it is the easiest to reach; but man, being 
 essentially a Divine Being, has the power, by uniting his lower 
 mind to his spiritual consciousness becoming one with his 
 
42 LETTERS FROM THE TEACHER. 
 
 Father-in-Heaven to raise his lower vibrations until they are 
 attuned to those of the One Mind or God, and bring back His 
 wisdom through all the realms. This is what we are here to 
 learn, i. e. the powers and possibilities of vibration. "Man 
 know thyself. ' ' 
 
 All states are real and exist as long as the consciousness 
 holds you there. The Soul, as we have already said, being an 
 expression of the one Great Reality, is always real, and through 
 the real vibrations of mind-substance creates a reality out of 
 whatever it believes, i. e. heaven, hell, etc. That is what your 
 Soul is doing now. in regard to the physical plane. From the 
 standpoint of any higher plane physical existence is the most 
 stupid kind of sleep, trance or stupor, i. e. limitation of your 
 Divine powers. 
 
 The adjustment of Karma is brought about consciously 
 through spiritual attainment. The Soul in some one life reaches 
 the outermost rim of the Spiral of Life and meets the Saturn 
 force immobility, stability and conquers it. Then, in full 
 willingness, desires to go back and pay up all its debts, even 
 those which have remained over from many lives. But while 
 such an one is reaping all sorts of things belonging to his old 
 karmic conditions he, nevertheless, has with him the power of 
 the Conqueror. That is, he KNOWS that these things cannot 
 overcome him ; he is above them ; he is in them but is not over- 
 come by them; he has become a philosopher and can, like 
 Epictetus, be dragged through the streets in chains and still 
 maintain his peaceful calm. 
 
 It is always wrong to force any growth. All steps are 
 necessary. Until you have found the spiritual perfection of 
 each step you cannot pass it; and if you skip one you must come 
 back and take it up later. 
 
 March 5th, 1908. 
 
 "Does the soul remain in the same state after death or does 
 it pass through various conditions?" 
 
 The astral plane is divided into seven degrees or states, 
 called "spheres" by the Spiritualists (most of whom know very 
 little of anything beyond these seven degrees), the lowest of 
 which is very close to the earth. It is in this astral plane 
 with its seven degrees each divided into seven orders and each 
 order into seven sub-orders that the Soul works out, or real- 
 izes all its earthly desires. If the desires were evil, the experi- 
 ences will be evil; if the desires were good, the experiences will 
 
THE ASTRAL PLANE. 43 
 
 be good, and the Soul will finally realize just how futile are the 
 merely earthly desires. Some remain on the astral for long 
 periods of time, five hundred years and more, and finally enter 
 the psychic plane (Soul-plane) by dropping the astral body 
 just as the one of flesh was dropped, but generally without the 
 same terror. There they pass through its degrees and orders 
 until they have realized the very highest that they have ever 
 conceived of. That is, every spiritual aspiration has its realiza- 
 tion and there is a garnering of the experiences of the earth 
 life. Then there comes a time when the Soul realizes that it has 
 experienced all it knows of spiritual happiness and that there 
 are still heights beyond. It realizes that it must get more ex- 
 perience so that it can gain higher comprehension and higher 
 aspiration. Then its desire for further experience causes it to 
 die to that plane and reincarnate on the earth plane; but not to 
 obtain happiness on earth, for it has realized that spiritual 
 happiness must be born of earthly experience; must be the 
 aroma of self-sacrifice and sorrow. Its only desire is to gain 
 more experience that it may learn higher lessons and so assimi- 
 late or gain more spiritual growth and draw nearer to the All 
 through the spiritualizing and redeeming of the atoms compos- 
 ing its various bodies. When this point is reached it chooses 
 its own earth life according to its needs. And from that lofty 
 point the Soul chooses just the conditions which will teach it 
 the lessons it has found itself lacking in. However, it soon for- 
 gets this when incarnated in the physical body and forced to 
 express itself through an untrained physical brain, and it has 
 to learn the lessons through sorrow and suffaring. Indeed, 
 they would not be lessons if the personality could remember. 
 But the Higher Self (the Soul) always hovers over the person- 
 ality trying to impress upon it these great truths. We would 
 advise you, if possible, to obtain some Theosophical primers and 
 read as much as you can along the fundamental lines. 
 
 June 27th, 1908. / 
 
 "Why cannot the Agent of this Order communicate with 
 
 and bring me a message from. who has recently passed 
 
 out, and tell me if he is satisfied with the condition in which he 
 left his affairs?" 
 
 Your letter shows that you have no very cloar understand- 
 ing of the law governing communication with higher planes. 
 The difference between spiritual communication and subjective 
 mediumship is a difference of vibration. The only right way to 
 
44 LETTERS FROM THE TEACHER. 
 
 contact the higher planes is to raise the vibrations of your phys- 
 ical body and its centers until they vibrate in harmony with the 
 key-note of the higher planes, at which pitch "no evil thing can 
 come near thy dwelling." On the one hand spiritual commu- 
 nication the psychic, through spiritual living, loving thoughts 
 and helpful actions in many lives, has built into his or her char- 
 acter enough of the Divine Principle of Compassion for all 
 humanity, to raise the vibrations of the physical body, either 
 temporarily or continuously, to the note of spiritual love to 
 which the Masters of Compassion naturally vibrate. As we can 
 only become aware of a thing when some part of our organism 
 responds to its vibrations, the psychic must have the proper de- 
 velopment to come into harmony with the spiritual plane ere he 
 can contact the Masters or respond to things which touch upon 
 or vibrate within the octave of Their key-note. And such a 
 psychic would be unable to respond to the vibrations of the 
 lower astral plane except under special conditions which we 
 will explain later. 
 
 On the other hand subjective mediumship the psychic, 
 through various means, either mentally by stilling the thoughts, 
 or physically by various YOGI practices such as gazing at a 
 crystal, a black spot, or sitting in a constrained position; 
 through breathing exercises and many other still more objec- 
 tionable practices, has gained the power of stilling the phys- 
 ical vibrations and becoming negative. In such a state the 
 physical atoms, not being held together by the vibratory 
 rhythm to which they naturally respond, slow down and fly off 
 to such an extent that any discarnate entity clothed in atoms of, 
 and vibrating to the note of, the astral plane which is next to, 
 and in its lower degrees overlaps the earth plane can gather 
 up and clothe himself in sufficient of the physical atoms thus 
 thrown off to temporarily vibrate to the key-note of the phys- 
 ical plane and become temporarily recognizable on that plane. 
 
 In the first instance the whole desire of the psychic is to 
 uplift humanity; he is filled with compassion for the Race and 
 desires to give himself as a willing sacrifice to bring enlighten- 
 ment to the world. . The Teachers and Masters whom he con- 
 tacts do not see the little individual difficulties, or, if They de, 
 They understand The Law and know that all is working out for 
 the best; that the only Wisdom can really help. Given Wisdom, 
 Love and sustaining help, the disciples can, and indeed must, 
 
THE ASTRAL PLANE. 45 
 
 work out their own personal problems, as Paul says: "Work 
 out your own salvation with fear and trembling. ' ' All spirit- 
 ual communication is uplifting, and the spiritual atoms which 
 the psychic has contacted and draw^i into his body will rejuve- 
 nate and strengthen the physical, uplift the mental and advance 
 him on The Path of Spiritual Attainment. 
 
 In the second instance, by giving up the command over the 
 life forces and throwing open the doors of the sacred centers, 
 the vitality is drawn upon and the atoms thrown off are used 
 to bring to the physical plane the denizens of the astral. These 
 may be pure or vile, and are attracted to the medium in exact 
 ratio to the state of the atoms which he or she gives off during 
 the negative "sitting/' If you understand this, and the fact 
 that most of the entities contacted upon the astral plane ARE 
 NOT SPIRITUAL BEINGS, but merely men and women with 
 their most dense and outer garment (the physical body) re- 
 moved, you will understand the danger of giving yourself up 
 to their use. Since they are using astral senses they can see 
 farther ahead than those on the earth plane, but such advice as 
 they have to give should be taken just as you would take the 
 advice of any earthly friend subject to your own good judg- 
 ment and common sense. Usually such entities are interested 
 in the daily life of the sitters, but, if evilly disposed, they can 
 and do often deceive. In no case unless they are Masters, in 
 which case they will manifest quite differently, as we will ex- 
 plain later are they any different from the people on earth, 
 except that they are functioning in a body composed of finer 
 matter. They can only come to earth as they left it, i. e. clothed 
 in physical atoms ; and the fact that to manifest on the physical 
 plane they must steal physical atoms from the medium and sit- 
 ters, is proof positive of this. Often their desire is to help al- 
 leviate earthly conditions ; but their advice, while valuable in 
 many cases, is still in accord with worldly standards. They de- 
 sire to help their friends out of difficulties, over hard places, 
 and often give advice which helps to make money out of the 
 credulity of their fellow men. This, as you can see, but helps 
 to sink the Race deeper into the mire of earthly affairs. The 
 first is the CONSTRUCTIVE, the second the DESTRUCTIVE 
 method of communication. 
 
 You cannot always tell which of the above mentioned 
 methods has been used by the teachings received; for even in 
 subjective mediumship the teaching may be of a highly moral 
 
46 LETTERS FROM THE TEACHER. 
 
 character just as some friend might give you a highly moral 
 address. But no matter who the entity CLAIMS to be, he will 
 NOT be a Master of Wisdom; for no Master of the Right Hand 
 Path ever uses that method. In this case it is not a question of 
 WHAT teachings are given, but HOW they are given. 
 
 One absolute test as to which method a psychic is using, 
 and from whence the messages come, is the effect on his phys- 
 ical body. In spiritual communication the psychic is clothed 
 upon by spiritual atoms which self effacement and compassion 
 have drawn to him, and he grows more spiritual. If after the 
 experience his vitality is augmented and a peaceful, happy and 
 vigorous feeling remains, even for days afterward; if life seems 
 fuller, trials easier to bear and love more abundant, you can 
 rest assured that he has risen above earthly things and has been 
 clothed upon by the Spirit, and has brought back lessons for the 
 benefit of humanity. This is the form of communion with the 
 higher planes that should be desired. But do not strive for it; 
 let it come as a natural growth resulting from a life filled with 
 loving, unselfish thoughts and deeds. 
 
 In subjective mediumship, however, owing to the loss of 
 physical atoms and vitality, the psychic is depleted and weak- 
 ened, and soon shows it, not only in bodily health, but also in 
 mental power. His nervous system is enervated, his mentality 
 is dulled and a great stumbling block has been placed in his 
 path. If after communicating, the psychic is exhausted, tired, 
 nervous, cross, fretful and uneasy, even for days, you can rest 
 assured that he has allowed some astral entity to absorb his 
 vitality and contact him by the second and DESTRUCTIVE 
 method. 
 
 The exception we mentioned was that there are on the 
 higher planes regular schools of learning, presided over by the 
 Masters of Wisdom. Many persons who pass on with but a 
 slight knowledge of the Wisdom-Religion, but with an intense 
 desire to work for the upliftment of humanity (quite different 
 from helping their friends in temporal affairs), are brought 
 into such schools and are taught to work consciously on those 
 planes, both gathering together and helping any who, when 
 they pass on, n3ed help of that kind. By the permission of the 
 Masters, and under Their direction, such workers can come 
 into touch with the selected workers of the Masters on the earth 
 plane. They can enter the aura of THE ORDER OF THE 15 
 
THE ASTRAL PLANE. 47 
 
 on earth because both they and the physical plane Agents re- 
 spond to the same spiritual vibrations from the Masters of the 
 Order. An earthly Agent does not communicate with the astral 
 plane, but is clothed with spiritual atoms, and hence can com- 
 municate only with one who responds to the same vibrations, 
 not with any ordinary person who has just passed out. A 
 psychic who has been chosen by the Masters and especially 
 trained to do Their work on earth is carefully guarded. An 
 auric veil is thrown over him which deters discarnate entities 
 from approaching, except by the normal route, i. e. they can 
 be permitted, if it is thought necessary, to transmit a message 
 through one of the before-mentioned trained workers on the 
 astral plane, but in no other way. They cannot come into direct 
 touch unless the Agent is disobedient and perversely throws 
 open the door and scatters physical atoms in sufficient quantity 
 for the disembodied one to create a temporary covering and 
 contact them. In such a case even the Masters cannot protect 
 such an Agent from the consequent evil results. 
 
 April llth, 1908. 
 
 "Have often tried to follow the advice of entities on the 
 astral plane who seemed friendly and desirous of helping me, 
 but have generally been misled or they have been unable to ful- 
 fill their promises. The mediums themselves have frequently 
 been misled. Why is this?" 
 
 In your case we wish to advise you most seriously to keep 
 away from mediums. You, yourself, have all the psychic quali- 
 fications necessary, and your centers are already dangerously 
 unguarded to the denizens of the astral plane. Even when such 
 entities are friendly and wish to help you, they are still under 
 the bondage of Karma and are not permitted to do anything for 
 you that would interfere with your working out your lessons. 
 They mean to help you, but are purposely prevented; for if 
 they fulfilled their promises you would once more be enchained 
 in the astral meshes through which it is your present great task 
 to break. That is, YOU must be the Ruler, and must open and 
 shut the doors of your inner centers at your own will. Then 
 such entities will prove themselves your obedient servants and 
 helpers ; but they are not for one moment to be permitted to be 
 your guides. 
 
 April llth, 1908. 
 
 "That which I have received from you answers all doubts I 
 had. And after re-reading your letter of the 4th instant I could 
 not help exclaiming, 'How wonderful it is that such teachings 
 
48 LETTERS FROM THE TEACHER. 
 
 arc offered me.' My occult record and experience con- 
 tains points that I cannot definitely determine in my own mind 
 as being actual or imaginative. Apparently I have conversed 
 with elementals, with kama-rupas, and with the shells of the 
 multitude and of high statesmen, with Adepts and with the gods 
 of ancient Greece and Rome. Speaking of those I have met 
 from the other side, one day a man asked me to help him out of 
 hades. I said, 'In the name of God arise and pass into a happier 
 world.' And as I watched, the man looked up, his face bright- 
 ened as he saw a gateway, and with glorified countenance he 
 passed through it. The next day two others applied to me for 
 release. In a few days there was a row of 6 to 12 waiting for 
 me every time I approached the astral plane. Did I do right in 
 helping them?" 
 
 Your whole trouble is that you are the reincarnation of an 
 old Atlantean, and are now working out the culminating ex- 
 periences of all your past incarnations finishing up odds and 
 ends as it were. If the Soul were obliged to reap all the Karma 
 in one life that it had generated in the last preceding life there 
 would be neither time nor opportunity for progress. Therefore, 
 the Lords of Light hold back a certain percentage from each 
 life, and manipulate the currents of force so that a chance is 
 given the Soul to learn the main lesson of the last earth life and 
 at the same time have an opportunity to gain entirely new ex- 
 periences. But, before final liberation can come, each Soul 
 must, of its own choice, take up all the accumulated odds and 
 ends of Karma and work them out or redeem them. That is, it 
 must find the germ of good in each experience and discard the 
 husks so that they in their turn may be cast into the great fur- 
 nace of transmutation (the- 8th Sphere) and be purified and 
 evolve into the materials, or world-stuff, from which future 
 globes will be formed. 
 
 The earth life you are now living is such a culminating one. 
 Your psychic experiences are due to the Karma made during 
 your Atlantean incarnation. At that time, in common with 
 most of the Race, you abused your psychic power and began to 
 destroy the coverings or oily sheaths that protect the vital 
 centers of the body (see lesson on NARCOTICS), and you have 
 not yet regained complete mastery over them. This is the great 
 task which you must now accomplish. We realize your great 
 need for help, and so are glad that you have frankly told us 
 your exact condition and enabled us to give you exact 
 directions. 
 
 Regarding your experience in releasing entities from 
 
THE ASTRAL PLANE. 49 
 
 hades, all such states are a mere matter of consciousness. From 
 the long continued teachings as to hell and damnation there are 
 many departed Souls who have died in the firm belief that hell 
 was their portion. When they awoke upon the other side they 
 experienced hell ; but a hell of their own creation ; created by 
 the thought-forms of a lifetime. You, in allowing their belief to 
 influence you, yet desiring to help them, substituted a belief in 
 heaven and found it easy to impose this belief upon them. But 
 it was not in any sense freeing them. It was rather substitut- 
 ing one illusion for another by hypnotic suggestion. Moreover, 
 you attached to your Karma the necessity of final true relief 
 for all whom you thus deluded. The only real way to help such 
 discarnate entities whom you find in bondage to their thought- 
 forms, is to tell them calmly and impressively that hell is only 
 a delusion ; that no matter how greatly they have sinned it will 
 all be straightened out later on, as they are able to bear it, BY 
 RESTITUTION ON THE PLANE WHERE THE SIN WAS 
 COMMITTED ; that now, while they are excarnate, is the time 
 to rest and gather strength to go on ; that they must recognize 
 this and at once seek out the Teachers who are waiting to help 
 them, and from Them learn how to repent and make restitution. 
 Teach them that repentance is turning around and doing the 
 square thing by those whom they have wronged; that no 
 amount of suffering in their self-created hell can do anything 
 but retard their making restitution, and hence their upward 
 journey. 
 
 Feb. 5th, 1908. 
 
 "What, if anything, of comfort can you offer for the losses 
 to the living of the dead? I am so weary of not KNOWING 
 that it is better with those who are gone beyond. What can 
 you say of it?" 
 
 This short period of limitation, mis-called life, is but a veil 
 hiding the Real Life from you. It is as though you tied a band- 
 age over your eyes during a journey and then denied the sun- 
 light and the beautiful landscape. Life is continuous ; the con- 
 sciousness only recedes within. Periodically the outer covering 
 (the physical body) is slipped off just as you would slip off an 
 old garment. The Soul, the Immortal Ego, is the Real Self 
 which clothes itself with various garments suitable to contact 
 the different spheres and states of consciousness. It does this 
 just as you would don different garments for different occa- 
 sions ; a fur coat for winter, a thin one for summer. Slipping 
 
50 LETTERS FROM THE TEACHER. 
 
 off the fur coat does not in any way alter your individuality, 
 even though it does reveal your true appearance more per- 
 fectly. You are the same woman whether dressed in a single 
 garment or wrapped in many. So it is with the Real Self. At 
 the time of the so-called death the grossest and most hampering 
 garment, comparable to the fur coat, is slipped off and the con- 
 sciousness is expanded and freer just as you are freer with 
 your fur coat off. You, when wrapped in your fleshly garments, 
 are perhaps blind to the more etheric and radiant garment, be- 
 cause of the thickness of the outer ; but your loved ones know 
 you as you are. Every effort you make to advance spiritually 
 helps them more than it does you, and they in turn help you. 
 For instance, a truth that might be very hard for you to grasp 
 would be quickly grasped by one who was near you yet un- 
 hampered by a fleshly body. He in turn would bring all his 
 loving force to bear to help you to understand. 
 
 When persons pass from the earth life their character is in 
 no way different. They know just as much as they did before 
 and no more. The chief difference is that they are in a differ- 
 ent environment where their faculties of perception are keener. 
 For instance, they can sense thought, while those on earth have 
 to wait for words. They can see within as well as without, and 
 can transport theifoselves from place to place by the power of 
 thought. Therefore you can well understand that, passing into 
 this new phase of life with all the love of their hearts concen- 
 trated on a loved one still on earth, they would not desire to 
 pass farther on into higher spheres, but would stay close to the 
 one they loved. And on the astral plane there are Masters 
 whose pleasure it is to teach all who desire to learn, just as 
 They teach those who still remain on earth. 
 
 April llth, 1908. 
 
 "I used to have explosions in my brain, some very violent, 
 but know of no damage from them. Very heavy tremors have, 
 and still occasionally run through my body, shaking it subject- 
 ively just as a heavy earthquake would shake the physical body. 
 Have had an exudation of vapor or smoke from a point at the 
 end of my spine, that blackened the chairs I sat on. Vapor or 
 mist exuded from my eyes so much as to moisten a sheet of 
 paper held an inch away. At times the vapor exuded from my 
 wrists. Can you explain it?" 
 
 The mist proceeding from the centers of your body is a 
 danger signal, quite as dangerous as smoke coming from a 
 rapidly revolving axle. The tremors you mention are merely 
 
THE ASTRAL PLANE. 51 
 
 contacts with the denizens of the astral. Always challenge 
 them. Ask them what they want. Say, "If you come for help 
 I wish you well, but at present I must guard and protect my 
 own body, hence Begone ! Work out your own salvation. ' ' If 
 a Master should come to you you will at once know it by the 
 wave of love and joy that surrounds you. But remember that 
 insanity stands very close to undue or abnormal development, 
 and that it is the Masters who are holding you back. They de- 
 sire that you should go slow until you can gain mastery over 
 your centers; for it is just such tangled ends of mis-applied 
 psychicism that you have now to untangle. It means victory or 
 death, or say instead of death, another long, long cycle of re- 
 habiliment extending into the next manvantara. Your Father- 
 in-heaven hath need of you NOW. The time of times is at 
 hand, and you are chosen to be a Light Bearer. Hold high your 
 light and be diligent. Clear away the rubbish that the light 
 may shine unimpeded. 
 
 March 4th, 1908. 
 "I rejoice that admission and instruction in the Order 
 
 is a possibility for me It is a matter of joy 
 
 to me to come in touch with an organization which is conducted 
 on purely impersonal lines. The necessity for this has been im- 
 pressing itself upon me for many years. How can we 
 
 protect ourselves on the astral plane?" 
 
 You must now understand, thoroughly and practically, 
 that nothing can enter your aura, either asleep or awake, with- 
 out your consent. Therefore, impress it firmly upon your sub- 
 conscious mind that whenever ANY entity, on any plane, comes 
 to you you are ALWAYS to challenge it. Ask, Who are you? 
 Are you black or white? What do you want with me? If you 
 are not here for my good I will have nothing to do with you. 
 If they hesitate or do not reply to any of your questions IN- 
 SIST that they do. Demand reply ' 'In the name of The Christ. ' ' 
 It is a law on the astral that all such fearless questions must be 
 answered truthfully; but you must DEMAND the truth. Any- 
 one connected with The Great White Lodge will be glad to re- 
 spond to such challenges and you will feel a thrill of joy and 
 confidence at the reply. Any others must show their real 
 natures or disappear. 
 
 April llth, 1908. 
 
 "It appears to me that I have an accumulated inheritance 
 of secret devils/ among which stand out prominently a hasty 
 temper, a sharp tongue, intellectual pride, and last but not least, 
 lascivious thoughts/' 
 
52 LETTERS FROM THE TEACHER. 
 
 Hold the thought persistently in mind that the d-evils you 
 speak of are the children of your own creation; not mere 
 characteristics, but really created entities upon the mental and 
 astral planes, entities which you through many lives have 
 created. Being your very own you must master them. But 
 mastery does not mean annihilation ; for all that is has within it 
 a germ of good as well as evil, and this germ is expressed ac- 
 cording to the use that is made of it. In fact evil is but the 
 shadow of good. It is the work, and the first step, of every earn- 
 est seeker after freedom to take stock, as you have done, of just 
 what he has created out of the God-power of creative force 
 given him "in the beginning*' as his most precious possession, 
 
 When you have taken such stock, realize that these things 
 are yours to use, the weapons with which you must fight, the 
 forces and materials out of which you must build up your im- 
 mortal habitation. Realize that nothing once created can ever 
 thereafter cease to be ; also that the redemption of all through 
 the power of The Christ must be accomplished. It is this that 
 gives true individuality to each one ; for while all are one, yet 
 each makes an individual expression of the One Life by creat- 
 ing through the power of his life-force. Since all your creations 
 must be redeemed by their creator all sorts of experiences are 
 garnered and stored up for the One Life. 
 
 A hasty temper is like a fire ; put it in a furnace and it will 
 generate steam or force that will run machinery and accom- 
 plish a great work for the world. A sharp tongue, controlled, 
 will be a weapon that can fearlessly cut the evil from the good ; 
 its ruler is love. Intellectual pride is a dangerous master, but 
 a wonderfully efficient servant. Wed it to humility and let love 
 bless the union. Lascivious thoughts are astral lust-bodies 
 created by the mis-application of the physical creative fluid; 
 for remember that that fluid always creates, if not upon the 
 physical plane (physical bodies) then upon the astral, following 
 out the desires and lusts of the creator. (See lesson on 
 PURITY.) Learn the holiness and the sacredness of the sex 
 forces, and send out thoughts of love and purity that will con- 
 quer and transmute these creatures of lust, and take their place 
 as helpers rather than hinderers. 
 
 Keep on praying; but consciously assert your power, 
 through your divine heritage, to hold all your d-evils subject to 
 you. Chain them and put them to work under the lash of your 
 
THE ASTRAL PLANE. 53 
 
 purified Will until they can be transmuted and redeemed by 
 
 you, through the power of The Christ. 
 
 May 15th, 1908. 
 
 "My psychic experiences lately have been quite frequent. 
 My father-in-law who has been called out of the body seems to 
 come back and he and I always seem to have a lot of trouble. 
 He seems bound to push his way into my presence causing 
 trouble. This happens at night and my brother-in-law that was 
 called to pass on in February last comes and plays the same kind 
 of pranks to scare children that he did when on earth. What 
 shall I do?" 
 
 You must learn to protect yourself on the astral plane. 
 This is quite as necessary, or more so, than on the earth plane. 
 Think of yourself as one with a glorious Father-in-heaven who is 
 constantly shedding over you a radiant light. This light is a 
 force or flame coming from above, or rather from within your 
 own heart (the lamp). But there must be the oil of love and 
 the wick of truth and confidence and trust, so the light may 
 shine forth in the darkness and make a ring of light and force 
 around you. As far as the light can send forth its rays you are 
 surrounded by a protective aura, and no entity can penetrate 
 within this ring unless you open a door. Keep your doors dili- 
 gently; open them only to go forth carrying blessing and help 
 to all who need, but shut them tight against any who would 
 enter to desecrate the Holy Temple. Hold fast to the idea that 
 you desire nothing but Divine Wisdom and will admit nothing 
 but Spiritual Light. Study carefully the lesson on NAR- 
 COTICS, ALCOHOL AND PSYCHISM which we are sending 
 you. 
 
 April llth, 1908. 
 
 "Something attacked me in three different houses, here and 
 in Would feel a weight on my chest as of a large ani- 
 mal. With a sense of distrust I tried to mentally oppose it, only 
 to find that my brain power was clogged, nor could I open my 
 eyes. After a struggle lasting apparently several minutes I was 
 able to clearly formulate my thought. Then the ill presence 
 would disappear. This had happened a number of times, when 
 
 one morning 1 had barely closed my eyes when the 
 
 animal pounced upon me. I decided instead of resisting to lie 
 still and see what it would do. According to its feel I judged 
 it to be a cross between a Newfoundland, a bear and a wolf. It 
 wriggled its paws under my back and lifted me clear off the bed. 
 I thought it was then time to resist, and a terrific mental en- 
 counter followed. Finally it uttered a horrible growl of dis- 
 appointment, USING MY VOCAL ORGANS, relaxed its hold 
 and I dropped to the bed with a heavy thud Before 
 
54 LETTERS FROM THE TEACHER. 
 
 that I several times woke to find my body and arms covered 
 with cuts and scratches which would soon scab over and scale 
 off. What is the explanation of these attacks?" 
 
 The beast you mention is directly connected with your old 
 Atlantean incarnation. In those days the Race, having their 
 psychic faculties fully developed (these faculties came first and 
 only later, through misuse, hardened into the present limited 
 physical faculties), used them to enslave all forms of life below 
 them. They had beasts larger and quite different from any 
 now known on the earth plane. These beasts were controlled 
 by hypnotic power and were forced to act as servants and 
 slaves. As the mind of the human being was imposed upon the 
 animal consciousness, the animal became an anomaly, neither 
 beast nor man. On this account they could not proceed nor- 
 mally with their evolution through the animal kingdom, but 
 must wait, outside as it were, attached to the person who was 
 responsible for their unnatural state until, through the power 
 of awakened Will on the part of their sponsor, such beasts are 
 released. 
 
 Such astral beasts from time to time send out emanations 
 as it were, which incarnate on the physical plane as animals. 
 These animals would, of course, be of extraordinary sagacity; 
 for, unlike normal animals, they would have something akin to 
 a Higher Self in the astral beast from which they emanated, 
 and they would naturally attach themselves to the human being 
 who was responsible for the astral beast. That is, through these 
 animal expressions the astral beast is able to gain the evolu- 
 tion of its purely animal instincts ; but it must remain in the 
 astral and wait for the man to evolve its more than animal wis- 
 dom. Much depends upon the treatment you give such animal 
 emanations. No doubt you have had many attach themselves 
 closely to you on earth. 
 
 The beasts upon the astral are either ferocious and vin- 
 dictive or loving and protecting according to the manner in 
 which they were treated in the past. One of the sins for which 
 the ancient Atlantean Race was destroyed was cohabiting with 
 beasts and denying and preventing their normal evolution. 
 
 June 16th, 1908. 
 
 "While experiencing no 'recoveries' I have seen in part 
 what I have called 'I.' And O the horror of it! I had but a 
 glimpse or two for although knowing that it was possible to 
 see all, I realized that it was dangerous, in my nervous condi- 
 tion, to try to bear the strain of a full revelation Since 
 
THE ASTRAL PLANE. 55 
 
 that awful experience my whole outlook and inlook have 
 changed. I see mankind myself included through different 
 eye-perceptions." 
 
 The experience which was so appalling to you was a mo- 
 mentary glimpse of "The Dweller on the Threshold/' This is 
 the condensed essence as it were of all the old personalities that 
 you have used in other lives and have not yet conquered, a sort 
 of a composite of all the left-overs from each life. At the time 
 of laying aside the old garment (pihysical body) there is always 
 a great deal of evil that has not been spiritualized, and this is 
 entitized and remains upon the kama-lokic plane until the Ego 
 who gave it birth grows strong enough to conquer it once for 
 all. It attaches itself to the Ego at each new incarnation and 
 becomes the tempter of the personality a personal devil to a 
 certain extent, but only because it is something that you have 
 created which is seeking expression through you. It is a per- 
 sonal devil just as the Higher Self may be said to be a per- 
 sonal God. 
 
 Before final liberation this monster must be consciously 
 met and conquered, i. e. the evil that is entitized must be re- 
 deemed and spiritualized by seeing in oneself the faults that 
 live in this Dweller and overcoming them one by one. It is 
 called "The Dweller on the Threshold" because when one is 
 determined to live a spiritual life this thing stands at the 
 threshold to be redeemed before the neophyte can go on. Very 
 often just before taking an advanced step upward and inward, 
 or passing an inner initiation, this Dweller becomes visible to 
 the disciple. It is dreadful because, being created by yourself, 
 there is an inner conviction that you, like Frankenstein, are 
 looking into the face of a monster of your own creation and you 
 are appalled at the sight of your handiwork. It is only the 
 brave and the steadfast who can look in the face and defy this 
 Dweller, in full consciousness of their power of The Christ to 
 conquer and redeem it. Until redeemed it is ever with you, 
 seen or unseen. If you have ever read Bulwer Lytton's 
 "ZANONI" you will remember that the Dweller was more 
 dangerous when not seen. It is a good thing to see it, for then 
 your courage is stimulated to conquer it. Do not be discour- 
 aged; for not only have you a Dweller, but you also have a 
 ' ' Guardian of the Threshold. ' ' This is built up or created by 
 you out of all your aspirations and struggles to overcome. Every 
 time you turn your thoughts toward spiritual things you 
 
56 LETTERS FfeOM TkE TEACHER. 
 
 strengthen this Guardian and withdraw life from the Dweller. 
 This is why it fights against your spiritual growth ; it is fight- 
 ing for its life. Every fault faced and overcome adds an arrow 
 to the quiver of your Guardian. This is the meaning of the 
 passage in ' ' LIGHT ON THE PATH ' ' which says : ' ' Stand aside 
 in the coming battle, and though thou fightest be not thou the 
 warrior. Look for the warrior and let him fight in thee. 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. ' ' The warrior is your higher principles together with 
 the sum total of your aspirations etc. which fights for you. 
 Recognize that the evil is but transitory; that it lives only until 
 you arise in your might, accept it as your own and determine 
 to redeem and transmute the foul dross into pure gold. Re- 
 member, nothing is to be killed. "Thou shalt not kill" means 
 more than the surface interpretation generally given to it ; for 
 within every evil thing there is the germ of good. Find then 
 that germ, and water it with love and patience until it grows 
 and transforms the evil into good. 
 
 You are quite right not to expect or count upon psychic 
 experiences ; but when they come meet them boldly and find the 
 lesson in them. Remember always that you have the power of 
 The Christ to conquer everything that comes to you. Use that 
 power and fear not. 
 
 March 3rd, 1908. 
 "Mediums claim to see and talk with those who have been 
 
 gone as long as 40 years. They are not happy claim 
 
 to be 'learning.' Why do not THEY incarnate again?" 
 
 Those whom mediums contact who say they have been on 
 the astral plane for a period of forty earth years (a very short 
 period of astral existence) are persons who passed out with no 
 knowledge of the astral plane and with great fear or intense 
 regret at having to leave the earth plane. Moreover, their 
 earth life was probably such that there is now nothing in them 
 to attract them to the Teachers of the astral plane, hence, like 
 so many on the earth plane, they go on and on in ignorance, in 
 spite of the many sources of enlightenment all around them, 
 just as they passed by similar sources while on the earth plane. 
 They are generally those who have centered all their interests 
 on the petty things of earth and who had no realization of a 
 future life. Hence when they find themselves minus a physical 
 
*THE ASTRAL PLAti& 7 
 
 body, their interests being wrapped up in earthly concerns, they 
 cannot separate themselves from earth conditions or find inter- 
 est in anything higher. They hover around their old earth 
 friends and interest themselves in their old earth pursuits. 
 Being able to perceive their earth friends, they are deeply 
 grieved and unhappy because their earth friends do not recog- 
 nize them, and because their place on earth seems to have been 
 filled and themselves forgotten. 
 
 They do not reincarnate because ere they can do so they 
 have a considerable period to pass on the astral and higher 
 planes assimilating the results of the last earth life, and then a 
 period of rest analogous to sleep before they are ready to rein- 
 carnate. The best way to help such persons is to impress them 
 with the reality of the plane on which they find themselves and 
 to urge them to seek out those Teachers and Guides who can 
 teach them how to make the best use of their time while there 
 and thus prepare for still higher planes. There are some who 
 refuse to go on until they die to that plane as they did to the 
 earth plane, because there is nothing in them that attracts them 
 toward higher things. 
 
PART V. 
 PHENOMENA. 
 
 "If anyone think these things incredible, let him keep his 
 opinions to himself, and not contradict those who, by such 
 events, are incited to the study of virtue." Josephus. 
 
PHENOMENA. 59 
 
 June 7th, 1908. , 
 
 "One evening about nine o'clock I was driving a very 
 gentle team hitched to a good buggy with a good harness. Had 
 been driving most of the day and was near home going up an 
 easy grade in the road at a slow walk, with the traces barely 
 stretched, till I reached the top of the grade, when like a flash of 
 lightning all four traces dropped to the ground, frightened the 
 team which ran away and left me sitting in the buggy surprised. 
 I got the team and found nothing wrong or broken about the 
 harness or buggy. I know that it was utterly impossible for any 
 of the traces to have come unhooked of their own accord. It 
 was a very calm, beautiful moonlight night with not a breath of 
 air stirring. It has always been a mystery to me how this could 
 have occurred without the intervention of some mysterious 
 power from the other world. Can you explain it?" 
 
 Your experience with the falling of the traces is what some 
 would call remarkable, but in reality it was only the work of 
 elementals irresponsible beings in the process of becoming. 
 They can be very mischievous at times, and being without 
 mind of their own, swarm around anyone who gives off enough 
 psychic force for them to appropriate. They are the elements 
 from which human bodies will be built. They have human sub- 
 consciousness, but not self-consciousness, and they therefore 
 obey the thought of humanity as a whole. In the case of their 
 attaching themselves to a human being they obey his thought, 
 even when unexpressed, and are a strong factor in thought 
 power. In your case you were, no doubt, unconsciously or sub- 
 consciously thinking of getting home and unharnessing, and, 
 having very strong mental power, the elemental force of your 
 thought took physical expression and unharnessed then and 
 there. This is the general explanation in most such cases ; for 
 if it were the work of any self-conscious entity upon the higher 
 planes it would have had some meaning or reason, either as a 
 warning or to prevent an imminent danger. With you this was 
 not the case ; in fact it created danger, since the team ran away. 
 
 It is well to be acquainted with the laws of the unseen uni- 
 verse, for man should be the master of ALL conditions. One 
 capable of sending out this force powerfully enough to create 
 a response such as you experienced would, if the power were 
 studied and turned to good, be able to master and command 
 these elemental forces and make them his servants to help him 
 attain betterment for the human race, rather than mischief 
 for himself. 
 
60 LETTERS FROM THE TEACHER. 
 
 July 21st, 1908. 
 
 "On a number of occasions, after deep meditation on re- 
 ligious subjects, I have found myself surrounded by a luminous 
 ether which palpitates with a strange energy unlike anything I 
 have observed in any manifestation of nature." 
 
 The luminous ether you speak of is often the astral light. 
 At other times it is the thought-force from the Teachers who are 
 sending into your aura the Light of Wisdom in an effort to 
 awaken in you a responsive vibration that shall make you con- 
 sciously realize Their presence and grasp Their teachings 
 
 The Masters know what lessons They have been trying to im- 
 part, but They cannot tell how the lesson has been interpreted 
 by your physical consciousness unless you report what concep- 
 tion you brought back on waking. 
 
 March 18th, 1908. 
 
 "Yesterday in meditation I challenged a persistent influence 
 within my consciousness, when suddenly with my eyes closed, I 
 saw at quite a distance a figure appear wrapped in a dark mantle 
 with what looked like rays of light extending in all directions 
 around his head. It did not advance or make any movement, 
 
 and gradually faded away What you write of the 'ring 
 
 of force,' the 'Ring-Pass-Not,' is very clear and helpful to me. 
 I have studied it carefully and feel that it is a sure protection of 
 
 which I gladly avail myself *. I shall faithfully apply 
 
 your instructions in regard to it." 
 
 One thing to keep in mind is that no Master will ever enter 
 within the " Ring-Pass-Not" unless especially invited. He may 
 send force to help you, may knock at the door, but He will not 
 enter without your express desire. The law is much like that 
 of the physical plane ; for no right minded person will enter the 
 closed door of a private apartment without invitation or per- 
 mission. In this case no evilly disposed entity can enter the 
 ' ' ring" any more than a thief can enter a securely locked 
 apartment. If this rule were not rigidly followed there would 
 be no privacy on the higher planes. This is the reason for the 
 saying found in the Bible that no busybodies can enter the 
 Kingdom ; for while there is the slightest curiosity or desire to 
 pry into another's business one is debarred from functioning on 
 the higher planes. The entity who approached you was not in- 
 vited to enter, therefore he retired. 
 
 May 7th, 1908. 
 
 "Why should I be sensitive to elemental forces that may or 
 may not be aware of my existence? Why should I fear them? 
 I am always most uncomfortably sensitive to atmospheric con- 
 ditions before a storm, but when snow is falling I have a feel- 
 
PHENOMENA. 61 
 
 ing of calmness. Why? Also please tell me about color vision. 
 To me it is divided into color KNOWING and color SEEING, 
 the first being a much higher faculty than the second. The only 
 colors I ever see are those that come in the night just before 
 sleeping. Great soft clouds of beautiful light, mainly blue. 
 Why on earth blue? When as an earth color it does not attract 
 me much." 
 
 Sensitive persons are always more or less oppressed with 
 vague fears during a wind storm because the elementals of the 
 air (Sylphs), of all the elementals, act with the greatest malig- 
 nity toward mankind. While they are on the rampage a sensi- 
 tive feels their malignant force. The elementals imprisoned in 
 the snow crystals, on the contrary, are kind and benign. 
 
 Blue being the color of the mental plane, naturally, when 
 functioning on that plane you see blue a very intense, beauti- 
 ful, indigo blue unlike any shade on the physical plane. The 
 "color knowing" of which you speak is commonly classed as 
 the "sixth sense, " but it is merely the functioning of one of the 
 five senses on the higher planes, not a new sense. It is by no 
 means spiritual, but simply a faculty developed a little in ad- 
 vance of the general run of human senses. It will be the herit- 
 age of the sixth sub-race, and is now beginning to make itself 
 known. That is, we have now reached the point where the fifth 
 and sixth sub-races blend and overlap ; for you know there are 
 no hard and fast lines, but, like the colors of the rainbow, one 
 blends into the other. 
 
 As to your various psychic sensations, they are quite easily 
 understood. If you could enter into the consciousness of a 
 newly born babe you would find that its physical experiences 
 were very similar. It would be conscious of a bright light, but 
 would not be able to grasp the meaning of it. Forms would 
 come and go like phantoms, and scraps of conversation, prob- 
 ably not understood altho not necessarily so would be heard. 
 Colors would be sensed and would have a decided effect upon 
 both feeling and seeing. A babe spends most of its time sleep- 
 ing, during which it is on the astral plane, with only fleeting 
 periods of physical consciousness its waking moments. It finds 
 its brain quite unable to grasp the meaning of what goes on 
 around it, and the effort to fix its mind upon anything sends it 
 off to sleep back to the astral consciousness. You are a babe 
 upon the astral, that is all quite a precocious one in fact. If 
 you wish to know how to grow up, follow the example of the 
 
62 LETTERS FROM THE TEACHER. 
 
 infant in its various steps toward comprehension of earthly 
 objects. 
 
 May 18th, 1908. 
 
 "I want to know all I can be given about color. Color has 
 always played a most vital part in my conscious thought life. 
 From earliest childhood everything, words, persons, days, num- 
 bers and events have all had their corresponding color by which 
 I knew them better than by any other way." 
 
 The innate meaning of everything is expressed in color, 
 tone and form. The form we observe with our physical eyes, 
 the color with the psychic senses. Tone belongs to the creative 
 hierarchy, hence a strong reason for modulating and harmoniz- 
 ing even the tones of the voice. While all color is the natural 
 result or effect of tone, from another point of view it is the 
 result or effect of form. Hence nothing can have a form with- 
 out a color, nor tone without color, nor either without the 
 other. If you would follow this inspiring line of study, one for 
 which your natural development fits you, you would find all 
 creation an open book. Its alphabet is written in four letters, 
 i. e. form, color, tone and number. Not an herb that grows 
 but proclaims aloud, in unmistakable language, its exact use, 
 power and potency. This is as true of the stars in heaven, in 
 fact of everything in humanity and in the cosmos. Verily, to the 
 eye that can behold and to the ear that can hear there is 
 nothing hid that shall not be revealed. 
 
 June 2nd, 1908. 
 
 "In my visions landscapes always look perfectly natural; 
 even when everything is in the lights and shadows of flaming 
 yellow, everything is bathed in a glow of yellow light." 
 
 Yellow pertains to the soul plane, and a vision tinged with 
 this color should be interpreted as pertaining to the Soul or 
 Ego. Violet is the plane of the spiritual auric envelope, it be- 
 ing blue on the physical plane. It is the highest color and means 
 suffering only when degraded and debased and forced to reflect 
 itself in physical matter. It varies all the way from deep violet 
 described above to pure white, indicating pure, untrammeled 
 Spirit. Orange is the color of the life-force, and according to 
 the degree of its lightening up into golden radiance does it in- 
 dicate spiritual life, or physical life if there is an interblending 
 of colors. 
 
PHENOMENA. 63 
 
 March 8th, 1908. 
 
 . "One day not long ago I was walking down Walnut Street 
 when I appeared to be preceded by a purple patch of light. I 
 thought at first it must be an optical illusion, but closing and 
 opening my eyes at intervals and still seeing the light, even 
 with my eyes shut, it made me think it might have some occult 
 significance, hence my mentioning it to you." 
 
 The light which you saw was the light of the astral plane, 
 violet being its most prominent color. If it was dark in hue it 
 might have proceeded from a passional element in your own 
 aura; but if it was dark and clear and rich, and a true shade, 
 it would probably represent passion made as holy as earth love 
 could make it. For you know purple is a mixture of red and 
 blue, and it is only by a perfect blending of these two, in purity 
 and love, that gives the highest color of the spectrum violet, 
 at which point the highest attainment of man is reached. Man 
 must follow the path of the pure spectrum colors and create a 
 pure, rich, perfect purple before he can enter into a higher 
 state where violet which is red purified and enlightened 
 will prevail. 
 
 May 30th, 1908. 
 
 "I want to ask for the explanation of much of the elec- 
 tricity that I see It shows itself as an intense bright- 
 ness or even sudden contact with a physical object gives me a 
 flash all over/" 
 
 Jt may be the result of several causes. The most 
 probable is that you are developing the sense of touch on the 
 astral. If this sense were understood and trained it would make 
 you aware of forces within as well as without. Contact with 
 the aura of an object carelessly touched would be just as tan- 
 gible as the striking of your body against a hard physical sub- 
 stance is to your physical senses. 
 
PART VI. 
 DREAMS AND VISIONS. 
 
 "And they said unto him, we have dreamed a dream, and 
 there is no interpreter of it. And Joseph said unto them, Do 
 not interpretations belong to God? tell me them, I pray you." 
 Genesis XL, 8. 
 
 "And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, I have dreamed a dream, 
 
 and there is none that can interpret it: And Joseph 
 
 answered Pharaoh, saying, It is not in me; God shall give 
 Pharaoh an answer of peace." Genesis XLI, 14-15. 
 
DREAMS AND VISIONS. 65 
 
 May 30th, 1908. 
 
 "Will the Teacher of the Order help me to a fuller under- 
 standing of the very definite psychical experience that has come 
 to me during the last few years?" 
 
 "We will most gladly help you to an understanding of the 
 psychic experiences you mention; but in order to do this it is 
 necessary that you tell us just what the experiences were. The 
 Masters know just what lessons your Higher Self has been 
 making an effort to impress upon your brain consciousness, but, 
 as in all such cases, the transmission of the higher teaching de- 
 pends upon how much the lower brain-mind is capable of re- 
 ceiving and translating into physical consciousness. A study 
 of psychology will teach you that the brain-mind can grasp 
 nothing of which the picture, or at least some idea, has not been 
 registered within it by stimuli reaching it through some ave- 
 nue of perception. Hence, since the language of the spiritual 
 plane is incomprehensible to the mortal mind, the Higher Self 
 has to make use of symbology in other words, has to make use 
 of pictures of every day events with which the brain-mind is 
 stored to convey the desired lesson. The consciousness of 
 each Soul is a private book open only to the Higher Self who 
 is giving the instructions. Therefore, while the general char- 
 acter of the lessons may be known, we do not know the particu- 
 lar one given at a particular time. Hence if you will tell us 
 exactly what you were able to remember of any lesson, we will 
 gladly interpret it for you. 
 
 This is the explanation of all coherent dreams, as well as 
 signs and omens. Simply some common thing which the brain- 
 mind will understand is pictured to you that, by analogy, "As 
 above, so below, ' ' you may grasp the underlying divine truth. 
 
 Jan. 27th, 1908. 
 
 "Sometimes during sleep I seem to comprehend that a mes- 
 sage is sent me by another, and at times I feel that I am send- 
 ing myself a message " 
 
 It would seem that you have brought back with you, in a 
 fragmentary way, impressions from the spiritual plane clothed 
 in physical symbology. However, your impression of having 
 received messages from higher sources is quite correct. You 
 have also given yourself messages ; for, during sleep the Higher 
 Self, who is one with the Supreme, is the Captain in Command 
 as it were, and is always trying to impress upon you the teach- 
 ings that are your birthright. The best way to remember these 
 lessons is to try to identify your lower consciousness with the 
 
66 LETTERS FROM THE TEACHER. 
 
 Divine in you. Determine that you will become what you really 
 are on the higher planes a Divine Emanation, of which your 
 lower self is but the instrument, but one which must be tuned 
 up to the key-note of the Divine in order that the necessary 
 lessons may be impressed upon your physical brain. It is very 
 much like wireless telegraphy. The force is sent out, but unless 
 the receiver is attuned to the key-note of the sender, the vibra- 
 tions cannot be received. The physical must register the Divine, 
 and in doing so it has to make use of the pictures that it finds 
 in the physical brain. This is why you can come into conscious 
 touch with the Masters, or with your Higher Self, only when 
 you have attuned your mind and life to Their plane and can 
 understand Their language ; for there must be something upon 
 which to register and a language or means of communication 
 whose meaning you can grasp. 
 
 June 17th, 1908. 
 "Two dreams made a great impression on me. The first 
 
 one when I was in my native country happened when 
 
 I was about 18 years old. I dreamed that I was traveling, trav- 
 eling on foot through fields and solitary deserted countries 
 through snow and ice. I was tired and footsore and hungry, on 
 each step I stumbled and fell. I was discouraged and despond- 
 ent yet I tried to keep on moving, going, going without end. 
 
 "The second dream I had about 13 years ago when I began 
 to investigate spiritualism. I dreamed that I was introduced, i. e. 
 brought to, Jesus, who sat in a small room bare of any furni- 
 ture except a plain wooden judge's chair with a straight back, 
 on which He sat all clad in a white robe of ancient style. He 
 was there alone. A man with a flowing beard, bareheaded, clad 
 in ancient apostolic dress, carrying a long staff, brought me be- 
 fore Jesus. But Jesus looked very sternly and would not accept 
 
 me The purpose I was brought to Jesus I understood 
 
 was to be initiated into a secret lodge." 
 
 Your first dream was an out-picturing of the very attitude 
 and experiences that you are now passing through. The cold, 
 ice-bound country over which you stumbled so foot-sore and 
 weary, yet with the determination to keep on going, is your 
 present condition. You have stuck doggedly to it in spite of 
 discouragement and it has now brought you to a house of rest 
 where we bid you stay and consider the way you have come, 
 and henceforth walk without stumbling over the hillocks of ice, 
 and draw near to the streams of love that will manifest to you 
 the moment you open your heart to receive them. 
 
 Your second dream was also most significant, and in an- 
 other way warned you of the stumbling blocks which you 
 
DfcEAMS AND VISIONS. 67 
 
 should avoid. Once more are you brought, by the same guide, 
 into the presence of The Christ for judgment. But this time 
 it is not a mere prefiguring, but an actual working out of the 
 dream. You stand today in that empty Hall of Initiation, 
 empty of everything but your own Soul and your Judge. No 
 failure of another can excuse you. The Judge asks, "Brother, 
 are you ready to stand alone and naked for judgment? What 
 has your own Soul to answer?" .The answer is breathlessly 
 awaited. 
 
 This Order is the outward manifestation of the secret 
 Lodge into whose outer courts you will enter if you pass your 
 initiation. When the main question is answered all will come 
 about well. You are not forgotten or lost in the icy world, but 
 a hand strong and warm is reaching out to you. Will you 
 take it? 
 
 Feb. 27th, 1908. 
 
 "I was shown a full moon in the heavens, then three sunrises 
 in succession, but the sun did not fully rise." 
 
 Your vision of the full moon and the sunrises was very sig- 
 nificant of the teachings that are promulgated through this 
 Order. The moon symbolizes intuition, also the feminine prin- 
 ciple. In order to enter the real ORDER OF THE 15, up to 
 which these lessons lead, you will have to cultivate those prin- 
 ciples ; for this Order represents the full status of true woman- 
 hood. The sun, the orb of day, the Prometheus' Fire, was 
 rising and filling the world with glory, yet the moon (Luna, 
 Queen of Night, the occult or unmanifested side of life) was 
 full and was shining undimmed. The three sunrises while Luna 
 still shown have a deep meaning and refer to a period of time. 
 This, however, is a purely personal matter which you will, no 
 doubt, understand. The whole dream was an effort of your 
 Higher Self to impress upon your brain consciousness some con- 
 ception of the important era that is now about to dawn for you. 
 
 June 18th, 1908. 
 
 "One day last summer while resting with eyes closed I had 
 a vision. A bunch of sunflowers encircled by beautiful hands 
 was held out to me. This picture gradually dissolved and vio- 
 lets appeared, surrounded with green leaves." 
 
 Sunflowers bring to you the force of the sun. They are 
 also symbolic of faith and trust and steadfastness ; for they are 
 always turning a smiling face to the burning sun, no matter 
 
68 LETTERS FROM 1HE TEACHER. 
 
 how fierce its rays. They exemplify the words of Job, "Though 
 he slay me, yet will I trust him." The violets bring sweet peace 
 and rest and modest content, and a willingness to do the duty 
 that lies nearest at hand in love and patience. 
 
PART VII. 
 HEALTH AND DISEASE. 
 
 "All diseases, except such as come from mechanical causes, 
 have an invisible origin, and of such sources popular medicine 
 
 knows very little. There is a great difference between 
 
 the power that removes the invisible causes of disease, and which 
 is Magic, and that which causes merely external effects to dis- 
 appear, and which is Psychic, Sorcery, and Quackery." Paracelsus. 
 
70 LETTERS PROM THE TEACHER. 
 
 April 27th, 1908. 
 
 "Have arrived at a stage of development where I need the 
 guidance and help of one who knows, and can tell me what to 
 do to correct the suffering. Can neither sit, stand nor lie down, 
 but what I am conscious of pain along the whole length of 
 the spinal cord." 
 
 We sympathize with you in your suffering, and desire to 
 help you. Take the HEALING PRAYER 1 as your daily com- 
 panion. That is, do not merely repeat it ; but take it with you 
 in your heart and repeat it word by word, and meditate upon 
 each word until the real meaning and the strength becomes a 
 part of you. Dwell upon it until even the sub-consciousness of 
 the cells of your body begin to take up the wonderful vibra- 
 tions of the healing force, and the Divine Power of Omnipotent 
 Life finds a channel through which it can flow unimpeded in 
 healing streams through all your bodies. First, picture to your- 
 self for at least a day, or longer if you cannot make it a reality 
 in that time, the Master Jesus. Think of Him as a man Who 
 has obtained mastery over physical forces and who especially 
 understands the manipulation of and correlation with the One 
 Life. Think of Him as standing at the head of the great Hie- 
 rarchy of Healing, all-powerful and full of Wisdom, knowing 
 the lessons of suffering and the necessity of having the body 
 adjust itself to the higher vibrations; knowing that suffering 
 is the result of ignorance as to just how to bring about the re- 
 adjustment. This readjustment is often learned only after 
 many lives of suffering; but it is a lesson that all must learn. 
 Then think of Him as a loving, tender, helpful Master whose 
 high office and loving desire it is to help His children in making 
 their readjustment ; Who is waiting and watching in patience, 
 and in love that passeth understanding, to stretch out His 
 hands to all who cry unto Him aright. THE MERE DESIRE 
 FOR PHYSICAL RELIEF IS NOT ENOUGH. There must be 
 a realization of what pain is and why you suffer. If you cannot 
 find such a realization, then a cry for light, and understanding 
 will bring it to you. The cry should not be to take away the 
 pain; but to teach you the lessons of pain. Ask with all your 
 heart and KNOW FULL WELL that the love which suffers 
 with you, knowing that you must conquer through knowledge, 
 is only too eager to help you. Believe that your Father sees 
 you while you are yet a great way off, and goes forth to meet 
 
 1 See Appendix. 
 
HEALTH AND DISEASE. 71 
 
 you. The new robe of health and purity is awaiting you, and 
 the feast is spread. 
 
 In this way, sentence by sentence, go over the Prayer 
 taking a new sentence each day, and verily, verily when you 
 have grasped the meaning of it all the new life will be yours. 
 But remember that all spiritual force must enter the physical 
 body from the spiritual, and after thoroughly refreshing and 
 rejuvenating the astral body it will find expression in the phys- 
 ical. Hence no real healing of physical ills can be effectual un- 
 til a correlation is made with the One Life. By correlation is 
 meant free and unimpeded communication with and circulation 
 of spiritual life through all your bodies, so that the will of the 
 Father is done on earth even as it is in heaven. 
 
 May llth, 1908. 
 
 "I am now entering a fast which by the intuitions at its finish 
 brings to me or brings me into those Christ powers, to attain 
 which each Neophyte enters the Path." 
 
 We would warn you against any process of forcing your 
 psychic development, such as fasting and the like, with the 
 expectation of thus securing so-called "Christ-powers." The 
 only way to really secure The Christ-power is to live The Christ 
 life and let the powers develop themselves in a natural way as 
 the result of duty well done, love and supreme devotion and at- 
 tention to your daily duties. Any abnormal growth which would 
 apparently result from fasting (except under very exceptional 
 circumstances, which are not present in your case) would be 
 but a mushroom growth, the result of weakness and hysteria, 
 not strength. Especially would this be true if at such a time 
 the duties of your life called for all your physical strength to 
 fulfill them properly, and while your husband and family were 
 making just demands upon your physical powers. 
 
 The real Christ-power comes as a conqueror of all experi- 
 ences. It is a perfect atom given into your keeping; and there 
 must be a sound, strong body. The physical must be conquered 
 and controlled, not killed out; and it must be taught through 
 the power of The Christ and not through fasting. Everything 
 that you crush out and weaken must be taken up again and 
 again until you do your full duty by it. If you develop your 
 mental or psychic or spiritual faculties at the expense of the 
 physical, you must incarnate again, but with a poor weak 
 physical body which will tie you down to earth while the 
 strong mental, psychic or spiritual powers developed prema- 
 
n LETTERS FROM THE TEACHER. 
 
 turely long to be free to follow their higher dictates. This is 
 The Law my child, and in love I must warn you. There is no 
 step too common to take; for each has its lesson or it would 
 not be given you. To neglect one step means to come back 
 later and take it up, perhaps all alone. If you break down or 
 lessen your physical health and thus fail in your full duty to 
 your husband and child, when you return to go over the lesson 
 again you may have not only a weak, miserable body, but you 
 may be deprived of a husband's love and a child's care; for 
 that which we fail to fully appreciate the Great Law removes 
 from us. This is the kindest way, and the only way, to teach 
 us. The Great Law works on, and it matters not whether you 
 fail because you believed the Christ-powers could be gained by 
 fasting or not. Your duty is to walk side by side with your 
 husband in strength and love; to be a help-mate to him on all 
 planes, physical as well as mental and spiritual. You have 
 already found The Christ within, then remember that The 
 , Christ follower is faithful in everything, the little daily tasks 
 as well as the great ones. 
 
 At all times live and eat abstemiously; but so that the 
 physical body is properly nourished, and give as little thought 
 to it as possible. By this means you will find it much easier to 
 dwell in the higher realms. The animal nature, to be the servant 
 of the Real Self, must be well taken care of; well fed, well 
 groomed and comfortable, but not over-fed or indulged. Thus 
 taken care of the animal will do far better work and make far 
 fewer demands than one that is starved or ill-treated. You 
 need the animal for your servant, and you need all its powers 
 in their best possible condition, therefore, treat it as you would 
 any other finely bred animal of which you expected great 
 intelligence and great service. 
 
 Those who spend much thought on what they shall NOT 
 eat are dwelling in the stable with the animal just as surely as 
 those who spend great thought upon what they shall eat. The 
 Great Master Jesus said: "Take no thought what ye shall eat, 
 nor wherewithall ye shall be clothed ; for your heavenly Father 
 knoweth ye have need of all these things." This means literally 
 to get along with as little thought on these matters as is con- 
 sistent with keeping the animal in good working condition. 
 Make yourself pleasant to the eye, neat and comfortable, then 
 waste no more time about it or in worrying over it. One who 
 dresses in sack-cloth and ashes and lives on bread and water, 
 
HEALTH AND DISEASE. 73 
 
 often thinks more of that eating and drinking and dressing 
 than a comfortable liver. Such things engender spiritual pride, 
 and of all vices spiritual pride is the worst. It is the most 
 detrimental to the Soul's advance because the hardest to cure. 
 
 May 19th, 1908. 
 "I have been quite ill again, and I should like to know just 
 
 what is the cause of it and what to do to avoid these 
 
 spells in the future." 
 
 We will try to give you an understanding of the conditions 
 in your case. You have taken a decided step upward and are 
 feeling the change of vibrations. All life is due to vibrations 
 emanating from the great, pulsating Heart of the Unmani- 
 fested. Conceive of the pulsations as coming from the center 
 of a circle and radiating outward to the circumference. Draw 
 seven concentric circles and each one will represent a step in- 
 ward toward the center ; and in each the vibrations will become 
 faster and faster, finer and finer ; for naturally they slow down 
 as they get farther and farther away from their source, being 
 slowest on the outer rim the physical plane. Therefore, a 
 body attuned to the vibrations of the physical plane would be 
 subjected to great strain when indrawn to where the vibrations 
 were more rapid. This is so true that if a sudden jump were 
 possible instant disintegration would result. At every step 
 taken by the Soul there must be a readjustment of the par- 
 ticles of the various bodies until they all harmonize with the 
 vibratory unit of the step. This often results in physical illness 
 and, if not understood, the neophyte is apt to grow discour- 
 aged and think he is growing worse rather than better. But 
 when understood it is no more alarming or unreasonable than 
 that an eruptive disease should first have to reach its crisis be- 
 fore a cure could be effected ; it is all a part of the cure. You 
 have asked that the Lord of Health shall lay His hands upon 
 you, and you must understand that your request is being lit- 
 erally fulfilled. But all that is evil must be cleansed; all our 
 sins, omissions and misapplications of the Law of Health must 
 first be readjusted ere we can be filled with ' 'Life and Love and 
 Purity." This is the only rationale of healing and is recog- 
 nized by all regular schools of medicine. We so often forget 
 that there is but one law, "As above, so below. M You must 
 recognize and realize that the Divine Healer, represented by 
 the Master Jesus, is present with you and has, at your request, 
 laid His hands (powers) upon you. So be still, and patiently 
 
74 LETTERS FROM THE TEACHER. 
 
 trust and love and believe that every step all the way through 
 is but a step toward the great, pulsating Heart of Love which 
 is Life and Health and Immortality. You can retard or accel- 
 erate this readjustment by your attitude of mind exactly as a 
 patient can help or hinder a physician in his physical cure. 
 
 Jan. 23rd, 1908. 
 
 "I have made little progress in occult studies. In one sense 
 I have made a complete failure; am unable to concentrate; am 
 physically weak; have never had the power of concentration, 
 at least so far back as my remembrance goes. My mind seems 
 to be going to pieces. Sometimes I think that I, as an entity, 
 am being disintegrated. Sometimes I think I have acquired all 
 there is for me in this incarnation that I must pass on, rest 
 
 and assimilate what I have already learned I desire 
 
 the help you offer if so you CAN help me, for I realize that life 
 is a matter of the growth of the soul." 
 
 Your cry for help has reached our ears and we understand 
 your difficulty. While your Soul is learning its various lessons 
 the one GREAT LESSON the key-note of your present incar- 
 nation is only slowly impressing itself upon your brain con- 
 sciousness, namely, the necessity for a sound mind in a sound 
 body. You lose hold of the steps gained because, through the 
 weakness of the body, your mind grows morbid and the con- 
 tinuity of the three-fold chain spirit-mind-body is broken. 
 Bodily weakness should not be looked upon either as a failure 
 or as a karmic debt, altho in some cases it might be either or 
 both. However, no matter what its immediate cause, it is a 
 lesson. Often it is a needed lesson in patience and sympathy 
 for suffering that locks the Soul in such a body ; but more often 
 it is a lesson that only a great Soul is ready to learn. But it is 
 one that all Souls must master before passing on, i. e. to so 
 dominate the body of flesh that has been given them to gain 
 experience through that the Soul-impress may be indelibly 
 fixed in its matter. 
 
 The first step in this direction awakens within the phys- 
 ical aura an extreme sensitiveness, even physical weakness. If 
 this is correctly understood and lifted up and correlated with 
 the true Source of Life and Strength, it is a help rather than a 
 hindrance. If it is looked upon as an hindrance, and the door is 
 flung open to all the devils of dis-ease, the last state of that 
 man or woman is worse than the first. The thought to hold, in 
 your case, is that your very physical sensitiveness brings you 
 into closer touch with the Great Souls of Compassions (the 
 
HEALTH AND DISEASE. 75 
 
 Masters of Wisdom) and makes the physical envelope more 
 ethereal. It thus becomes a blessing rather than a curse. 
 
 March 17th, 1908. 
 
 "My daughter has been very ill, and lately from overwork 
 I have been confined to my room. " 
 
 We sympathize with you in your recent illness and are 
 sorry that the HEALING PRAYER did not reach you in time 
 to be used. While we do not take the position that all illness 
 can be cured by prayer, yet, most of the ills from which 
 humanity suffers are not so much the karmic effects of the past 
 as of inharmony in the present life. In the rush and scramble 
 for existence you get out of harmony with Divine Love and at 
 dis-ease with yourself. Hence a period of forced, and gener- 
 ally painful, readjusting and quiet becomes necessary. In all 
 such cases the HEALING PRAYER, if repeated either mentally 
 or aloud, will at once change the vibrations and bring rest and 
 peace, and ultimately health ease instead of dis-ease. 
 
 April 28th, 1908. 
 
 "I have few personal sorrows, but the world's sorrows wear 
 my heart away and injure my health, yet I realize that sorrow 
 is the only purifying fount at which the thirsting soul may 
 drink of eternal life and happiness." 
 
 We feel that you need a tonic which will clear up the 
 morbid sensitiveness that is literally sapping your life-force. 
 It is a mistake that is often made, and one that is fostered by 
 the teachings of all the orthodox churches, as well as by many 
 other organizations, that sorrow is the only road to purifi- 
 cation; that to be miserable is meritorious, and that only 
 through scourging and suffering can we hope for salvation. 
 The truth is that, when we realize how much sorrow there is in 
 the world, and know of a certainty that THOUGHTS ARE 
 THINGS, and that either joy or sadness has the power to 
 spread over a large area, it becomes our duty to be joyful and 
 happy. In fact the very reason for seeking Wisdom and draw- 
 ing near to God is that our finite eyes may be opened to some 
 of the glory and love "that would not that any perish, but 
 that all have everlasting life. ' ' Indeed, all must and shall be 
 saved ; and joy is a most potent factor in this salvation. 
 
 As to the world's sorrow, while we must sympathize with 
 it and do all in our power to help, yet Wisdom teaches that 
 ALL are God's children; that they work out their salvation in 
 fear and trembling and sorrow only because they refuse to 
 
76 LETTERS FROM THE TEACHER. 
 
 learn the lesson of salvation in any other way. They suffer 
 BECAUSE THEY CHOOSE TO SUFFER, yet God would not 
 have it so. If the world's sorrow oppresses you, remember that 
 the very best you can do toward lifting that heavy load is to 
 make a center of joy and gladness in your own heart. " Re- 
 joice in the Lord; and again I say unto you rejoice." I wish 
 I could impress this word REJOICE upon your mind so that in 
 turn, by the power of your Will, you could impress it upon the 
 consciousness of every atom of your body, which consciousness 
 in the aggregate is your subconscious mind. If you could 
 register this idea of rejoicing within your subconscious mind 
 you would literally breathe health into your body. Try to re- 
 alize what health really means. It means doing the will of the 
 Father on earth, in your physical body, as it is done in Heaven 
 in your spiritual body by your Higher Self, who is one with 
 the Father; in which body there is no sickness, nor sorrow, 
 nor death. Take up this thought and meditate upon it while 
 constantly repeating the HEALING PRAYER. Also repeat the 
 Lord's Prayer and at the same time feel that you are creating 
 a circle of life and health and joy that is filled with a bright 
 light which sends its beams far out into the darkness to lead 
 many an one to joy and peace. 
 
 "I have been ill. I went to Christian Science for relief. 
 Three weeks ago I felt that I was well. Today the outward 
 sign of ill-health is as conspicuous as ever. The healer says I 
 am cured of the original trouble. If so why should the mani- 
 festation reappear? Either their teachings in many 
 
 cases do not agree with this Order or I am unable to see the 
 resemblance Can you help me to see my way?" 
 
 We will try to point out to you where we differ from the 
 Christian Scientists ; for, while we know that they have gotten 
 hold of a mighty truth, we also know that, like all experiment- 
 ers in any field, they have not yet had time to grasp all its 
 workings. 
 
 Christian Science is a new and modern cult, and the re- 
 sults of their supposed discovery have not been observed long 
 enough for them to mark the ultimate results. Only those who 
 can watch through the ages and can follow the Soul through 
 many incarnations and note the resulting effect of such experi- 
 ments through many lives, can fully understand the action of 
 the great Law of Healing. 
 
 The way that we advise you to help toward bettering earth 
 conditions such as health, poverty etc., is to hold a strong 
 
HEALTH AND DISEASE. 77 
 
 thought that absolute JUSTICE shall prevail, even though it 
 bring suffering. Hold that the patient shall be spiritually en- 
 lightened so that whatever the lesson which the sickness, pov- 
 erty or other unhappiness is intended to teach will be quickly 
 grasped. Understand, the patient must cure himself. No one 
 can do more than aid in the readjustment. The most that a 
 true healer is permitted to do, aside from the use of physical 
 aids, is to send loving, helpful thoughts of an uplifting charac- 
 ter, never to use his personal magnetism or impress his Will 
 upon the patient's subconscious mind. 
 
 Often by pouring his personal magnetism (prana) into the 
 aura of a patient or by sheer force of Will, one may so influ- 
 ence another as to temporarily drive away sickness or trouble, 
 but if the real lesson which the sickness or trouble was meant 
 to teach has not been learned by the patient the moment the 
 Will-power is withdrawn the trouble will return. Or, if the 
 Will-power has been strong enough, the trouble may be driven 
 back from off the physical plane to appear upon some higher 
 plane, perhaps in a different form such as some form of nervous 
 disorder or mental trouble. If the Will-power of the healer is 
 exerted to accomplish this then the healer has interfered with 
 The Law, and he or she will find him or herself drawn into the 
 next wave of inharmony that sweeps over the one they tried 
 to help. * 
 
 Understand clearly, whatever sicknesses, troubles or trials 
 come to a person are either the result of broken law or are con- 
 ditions given by the Higher Self of the patient to teach certain 
 necessary lessons and thus gain the experience needed to take 
 the Soul a step onward. To throw the troubles off or to push 
 them back by the life-force (prana) or by the Will-power of 
 another and refuse to learn the lessons intended is only to post- 
 pone them. The forces of nature give unquestioning obedience 
 to The Law and The Law is that perfect harmony shall prevail 
 upon all planes. All broken contracts and all disobedience to 
 The Law produce inharmony on all planes at the same time. 
 And the persons bringing into action the particular inharmoni- 
 ous note must THEMSELVES readjust every wave of inhar- 
 mony that has been produced by their acts before harmony 
 can be restored in their lives. 
 
 It is not denial of inharmony that settles the score ; but a 
 recognition of it and the correction of its cause. If through 
 Will-power you push it aside and apparently gain either health, 
 
78 LETTERS FROM THE TEACHER. 
 
 wealth or some earthly comfort ere the readjustment is made, 
 the inharmony will gather force by the very pushing back and 
 will sweep over you again and again until it is recognized and 
 adjusted. As the great Master Jesus said: "For verily I say 
 unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall 
 in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. ' ' This is a 
 benign and beneficent law; for it is only by reaping what we 
 have sown, and eating the fruits thereof, that we can ever learn 
 to plant wheat instead of tares. 
 
 Therefore, you can see that for a mental healer to control 
 the forces operating against a patient he must first be fully 
 cognizant of (a) just what the forces are, (b) what old karmic 
 conditions they are working out, (c) what important lesson the 
 Higher Self is trying to teach by means of the action of the 
 forces and (d) whether or not the patient has learned the les- 
 son and benefited by the experience. Thus you can see that 
 to fully and intelligently understand all these factors would 
 require almost super-human wisdom and descretion. And to 
 undertake, as so many do, to control or to interfere with those 
 forces, without any conception of the possibilities in which they 
 may be involved, is as foolish as for a child to play with dynam- 
 ite. You can do it ; but only at a terrible risk. 
 
 But never cease to help anyone in distress or cease to use 
 all ordinary means to benefit them for fear of interfering with 
 their Karma ; for this you cannot do if you devote your energy 
 to the betterment of their spiritual welfare rather than to their 
 physical desires. It is right to do all in your power at all times 
 to help those in distress, and if you bear in mind these facts 
 failure will not discourage you nor will seeming success unduly 
 elate you ; for you will understand that at most you have been 
 but a channel through which the Divine Force should flow. 
 
 Understand that it is not that we disapprove of individual 
 Christian Scientists, for there are many beautiful Souls among 
 them who are devoting their lives to serve humanity according 
 to their highest conception of right ; but we do realize that the 
 cult is but a one-sided glimpse of Truth, and it is therefore far 
 from complete. We do not object, however, to any path pro- 
 vided you remember the main fact that to be whole you must 
 find out why you are sick, and what lesson it was meant to 
 teach. For the moment you do this in that moment the trouble 
 or sickness will fall from you like a garment cast off. 
 
 We ask you to repeat the HEALING PRAYER over and 
 
HEALTH AND DISEASE. 79 
 
 over again, especially morning and evening, and study the 
 lesson and try to grasp the meaning of Divine Healing. Every 
 time you repeat the Prayer let your mind turn to this Center 
 with a full knowledge that here is a Center from which there 
 radiates Love and the healing Christ-force to all. Each one 
 who puts himself into touch with this force must be helped. It 
 is like the Brazen Serpent lifted up by Moses in the wilderne s, 
 all who look or come mentally, with child-like love and faith, 
 will be healed in Soul and body. 
 
 * "I am suffering from an old wound on my right leg just 
 above the knee joint. Fifteen years ago a surgeon cut a hole 
 through the bone and it does not heal, continually discharges 
 pus. I dread another operation as I am 56 years old, otherwise 
 healthy and do not use tobacco or liquor. Have been advised 
 to try Christian Science. Can you give me any advice?" 
 
 We do not advise Christian Science for your leg. Altho 
 the only real help and cure for all ills is what we call Divine 
 Healing as explained in the lesson on THE HEALING 
 PRAYER, i. e. the subordinating of the flesh to the Higher or 
 Divine Self and the harmonizing of all atoms to the key-note 
 of Divinity, still this is an advanced step and there are many 
 intermediate ones before it can be made practical in the case of 
 organic disease. Therefore, when there is a physical, anatom- 
 ical lesion it should be corrected upon its own plane and re- 
 adjusted by physical means that it may the quicker be in a con 
 dition to permit the Divine "Life and Love and Purity" to 
 flow through it unimpeded and thus complete the cure. 
 
 We differentiate between cure and mere readjustment. 
 That which has gone awry from purely physical causes must be 
 put into a perfect physical condition ere the Divine Life can 
 fill it and harmonize it with the Divine. It is useless to waste 
 force of Will or expend mental activity in endeavoring to re- 
 adjust what can quite as well be corrected and put in condition 
 for nature to finish, by physical means, thus leaving the Will 
 to be expended upon the higher planes in bringing about the 
 At-one-ment with the Higher Self which will manifest as per- 
 fect health on all planes. 
 
 Since you say your wound has been discharging pus for 
 years we would judge that there is some chronic necrotic proc- 
 ess at work in the bone and that this has become infected, 
 and where pus is present we can only say, Get it out as quickly 
 as possible. Our best advice to you is for you to go to the best 
 
80 LETTERS FROM THE TEACHER. 
 
 surgeon or to the best hospital you know of and have the 
 necrotic tissue removed, for nature has been unable to slough 
 it out after years of her best endeavors and she needs a little 
 help. 
 
 If, as you say, you are otherwise healthy and do not use 
 tobacco or liquor you should not dread an operation ; for if you 
 had a bad heart or other vital organs you would not be given 
 a general anesthetic. Then, too, the danger of an anesthetic 
 nowadays is very slight; only about one in 16,000 cases taking 
 them as they come, good and bad condition alike. There is a 
 vast difference in the ground for dread of a surgical operation 
 between the conditions under which operations were done 
 fifteen years ago and today; more than the difference between 
 travel in a stage-coach and in a modern limited express. The 
 danger from surgical operations is largely because patients 
 wait until they are about to die and have given up hope of re- 
 covery before having the operation performed, even the sur- 
 geon consenting only as a last resort. If taken early there is 
 almost no danger, certainly nothing compared to allowing the 
 condition to continue unrelieved. 
 
 "My husband's health is not good, and I have been having 
 
 a very anxious time He has just commenced to take a 
 
 remedy that a psychic healer has prescribed and we hope he 
 will be improved." 
 
 As to trusting your husband's health to a psychic healer 
 we would say, and say so emphatically that you cannot mis- 
 understand our words, that, in the case of physical diseases, all 
 psychic treatment must be supplementary to the best physical 
 treatment obtainable from the best physician you know of. If 
 a psychic gives a diagnosis, before acting upon that diagnosis 
 go to the best physician or hospital you can reach and have a 
 thorough physical examination. If the doctor's diagnosis agrees 
 in the main with that of the psychic it may be followed under 
 the doctor's direction. In case the psychic gives more subtle 
 symptoms not discovered by the physician, tell him frankly 
 what you suspect, but without letting him know where you got 
 your suspicion. If he fails to find any evidence of such symp- 
 toms after several thorough examinations it is well to disre- 
 gard them. There is so much room for self-deception in the 
 transmission of psychic information that the only safe course 
 to pursue is to prove it. It should always be verified by the 
 conditions found or else should commend itself to your good 
 
HEALTH AND DISEASE. 81 
 
 judgment and common sense and be judged just as the advice 
 given by any friend who was not a trained physician would 
 be judged. 
 
 Above all, never take any kind of drug or medicine except 
 upon the prescription of a physician in whose professional skill 
 and moral qualities you have confidence. Magnetic and other 
 psychic treatments and massage are admirable to supplement 
 the other forms of therapeutics, but we warn you against trust- 
 ing the case in the hands of anyone but a first class physician. 
 
 We recommend the HEALING PRAYER to our pupils not 
 to take the place of proper medical treatment, but to bring 
 about that harmony of mind and body which every physician 
 now recognizes as an essential element in the treatment of dis- 
 ease. We give it to bring our pupils into touch with the vibra- 
 tions of the One Life which are health ; for only when a patient 
 is in harmony with the Well-spring of all Life (the Divine) can 
 even the best medical treatment be more than palliative or push 
 back the manifestation of the disease for the time being or into 
 another channel. Divine Healing should go hand in hand with 
 the best treatment science can oifer; for, until humanity has 
 entered the psychic world and can function in the psychic body 
 and use the psychic faculties, it must treat physical ills with 
 physical remedies as a basis. All psychic treatment can be 
 depended upon to do is to harmonize the psychic currents and 
 influence the circulation. Hence diseased conditions arising 
 from mental or psychic states or from temporary and func- 
 tional disorders of the circulation can be cured by psychic 
 means, and psychic treatment can even be an important factor 
 in the cure of organic disease. 
 
 Divine Healing or the coming into harmony with the cur- 
 rent of the One Life can and wilkcure in time, but ere it can 
 bring about a cure it must first, as the HEALING PRAYER ex- 
 presses it, " drive out the atoms of inharmony and disease." 
 To do this they must first be driven from the mental body, the 
 astral body and then out of the physical body, and during this 
 process there will necessarily be a manifestation of the condi- 
 tions in the physical body until the well known " healing crisis" 
 is reached and the elimination is ended. Psychic currents can 
 cure psychic diseases and greatly influence physical diseases, 
 but the physical remedies should by no means be overlooked 
 or neglected; for the physical states react upon the psychic 
 quite as much as the psychic do upon the physical. Therefore 
 
82 LETTERS FROM THE TEACHER. 
 
 true healing combines all physical agencies with the psychic 
 and the Divine, for these three are one. Divine Healing applied 
 to physical diseases will work out a cure in time, but it may 
 cause a worse condition before it can cause a better. 
 
 Our best advice is that your husband should use the same 
 common sense that he would employ if one of his tools was out 
 of order. He would not wait until it was injured beyond re- 
 pair or until there was not enough left to be worth repairing, 
 but he would have the first break remedied before it got be- 
 yond control. Do the same with the bodily machine. 
 
PART VIII. 
 THE SEX PROBLEM. 
 
 "Have ye not read, that he which made them at the begin- 
 ning made them male and female, and they twain shall 
 
 be one flesh? Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. 
 What therefore God hath joined together, let no man put 
 
 asunder. All men cannot receive this saying, save they 
 
 to whom it is given." Matthew XIX, 4-11. 
 
84 LETTERS FROM THE TEACHER. 
 
 June 15th, 1908. 
 
 "The union of two Souls on the highest plane will uplift 
 humanity as little else can. In truth, until we love another 
 
 absorbingly, how can we know the Love of Loves? 
 
 Tell me what you think is it true that there is for each of 
 us a mate? Or is celibacy the ideal? " 
 
 You ask what we think of each Soul having a mate. This 
 doctrine, if it can be called such, has indeed been misconstrued 
 and used as an excuse for all sorts of loose and perverted con- 
 duct, yet, like all things that are good, but evil when perverted, 
 it holds a divine germ of spiritual truth. This truth is so sacred, 
 and so easily misunderstood and perverted, that the Masters of 
 Wisdom have ever drawn a veil over it. Only the few who 
 evolve to the point where their own hands can draw aside the 
 veil can hope to understand it. The teachings on this subject 
 are generally given direct from teacher to pupil when the pupil 
 is ready. 
 
 The great trouble about celibacy has always been that those 
 who were able to perceive something of the results to be at- 
 tained are apt to forget or overlook all the intermediate steps. 
 It is like standing on a plain and looking up at a mountain. The 
 snow upon the peak shines out white and clear in the light of 
 the sun and is so beautiful that the gazer feels that it is only a 
 little beyond his grasp, and that all he has to do is to keep his 
 eye upon those shining heights and travel on and on. But in 
 reality those heights kiss the sky; their climatic conditions are 
 different ; their air is unfitted for the lungs of the dweller of the 
 plain, and the road up the mountain is beset with dangers and 
 pitfalls. The path that seems to lead straight up to the highest 
 pinnacle may in reality skirt a number of deep crevasses, and to 
 safely reach the heights one must make long detours and pass 
 through many dangerous defiles and be subject to many un- 
 known conditions. The conditions at the top may be absolutely 
 harmful to the aspiring climber unless, by long training and 
 with a competent guide, he learns how to avoid the dark and 
 noisome caverns and safely tread The Path to the heights. 
 
 Jan. 26th, 1908. 
 
 "I long to transmute all the inner forces, 'The animal- 
 sensual/ and all that holds man down to the lower planes, into 
 
 spiritual energy... All sensual desire upon my wife's 
 
 part has disappeared, and with me great improvement. I realize 
 all things of that nature must be conquered " 
 
 Your difficulty is known to us and we will try to impart to 
 
THE SEX PROBLEM. 85 
 
 you the remedy. The trouble is that your mind and heart have 
 outrun your physical development. You are trying to tear open 
 the bud of personality instead of allowing it to unfold in the 
 sunlight of the god of Love. A most important lesson to re- 
 member is that the sex powers are the expression of the Divine 
 Creative Force in matter. It is the same force which created 
 the world and all that is therein. Its misuse and debasement 
 is the cause of all the misery and disease and death. It is the 
 Serpent of Wisdom, 1 the Old Serpent, which, when crawling 
 upon the ground fulfills the curse, "Upon thy belly shalt thou 
 go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life : and I will 
 put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed 
 and her seed." But this Serpent is not evil in itself, only when 
 allowed to crawl upon the ground. Its other aspect is divine, 
 and when lifted up upon the Tree of Life it will literally fulfill 
 the other prophecy of the Serpent, "In the day ye eat thereof, 
 then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, know- 
 ing good and evil." Through the power of the Serpent man 
 has eaten of this Tree of Knowledge; but only from its lower 
 branches. So the "Flaming Sword (the Divine Creative Fire) 
 which turned every way" has barred him from Eden. What he 
 has eaten has given him the power of the gods to know the evil, 
 sinking lower than the beasts, and it is only when he turns and 
 looks at the same Fiery Serpent, and lifts it up upon the cross 
 in the wilderness of life, that he shall once more become whole 
 and find the power of the gods to know the good, even as he 
 has had to know the evil. 
 
 Remember that every act which evokes the creative power 
 of the Serpent in the flesh creates after the manner of the 
 thoughts held at the time. From the abuse of this power man- 
 kind has peopled the astral with sensual monsters which are 
 ever waiting to incarnate and express themselves through man, 
 and which have the power to create after their kind. It is the 
 thought that determines what you create. 
 
 May 10th, 1908. 
 
 "My opinion emphatically is that the functions of bodily 
 life, nutritive and reproductive, MUST be held sacred to the 
 purposes for which they are intended." 
 
 Your idea of the sacredness of the sex forces is quite right. 
 The sex force is the greatest force that is sent into manif esta- 
 
 1 See lesson THE SYMBOL OF THE SERPENT. 
 
86 LETTERS FROM THE TEACHER, 
 
 tion. In fact, it is THE force of manifestation. It is the Great 
 Creative Force by which everything that is is created. But we 
 go still farther and teach that this force CAN create and DOES 
 create, when directed by the Will-power, just what the desires 
 have formulated. If this were understood there would be fewer 
 temptations to pervert this force during youth. It should be 
 used to carry out mental creations instead of being wasted, to 
 the great detriment of both body and Soul. 
 
 If the desire is to create a physical body into which a Soul 
 may come into manifestation, then all the power of the Will 
 should be used to produce just the kind of body wanted. On 
 the other hand, should the desire be to re-create your own phys- 
 ical, astral or mental bodies the same force is used, for it cre- 
 ates after the pattern formed by the desires. And, alas! it is 
 this same force which, under the direction of lascivious 
 thoughts and impure and vile imagination, has been expended 
 in creating the entities that prey upon man in the form of sick- 
 ness, deformity, disease and death. Then, too, when this force 
 is denied a normal physical embodiment it must create upon 
 the mental and astral planes, and there it has created monsters 
 of unspeakable horror (corresponding to, or rather being the 
 embodiment of man's lust) which must, of necessity, attach 
 themselves to their creator and look to him for their redemp- 
 iton: true Frankenstein monsters that cannot be mastered ex- 
 cept through a strong, determined effort to create their oppo- 
 sites and to withold the life-force from them. 
 
 As you must clearly understand, since every expenditure 
 of this force, for whatever purpose, creates something some- 
 where, can you wonder at the misery of the world? Or can you 
 fail to see where the entering wedge must be placed for the re- 
 demption of the world? In reality this is the work which this 
 Movement was established to perform, namely, to go down into 
 the mire of the sex question and rescue the precious pearls that 
 have been cast before the swine, i. e. to teach the right use of 
 the sex function throughout all creation. The mineral, the 
 vegetable, the animal each have the power, through the use of 
 the creative force of the One Life, to create after their kind; 
 but man has an added power and the consequent added re- 
 sponsibility to create not merely after his kind to which 
 creation the lower kingdoms are limited but, through the 
 power of his Will, to create anything he desires. Thus far the 
 will has been to create for himself, and for the Race, only evil 
 
THE SEX PROBLEM. S7 
 
 or d-evils; for "By man came death into the world and by man 
 must also come the resurrection from the dead. ' ' He has eaten 
 of the Tree of Knowledge and has become "as the gods" to 
 know the evil and now he must become "as the gods" to know 
 the good. These are the truths concerning the sex functions 
 for which this Order stands. 
 
 March 4th, 1908. 
 
 "Why is it that we find such a dearth of children in the 
 so-called 'well bred people* or good class families? About 40% 
 perhaps are without children, the rest with one or two. The 
 ordinary answer is, of course, that it is due to the use of pre- 
 ventives, etc In the vegetable world, where my real 
 
 question lies, some types and forms are already in trouble giv- 
 ing but few seeds, the sweet pea for instance. The largest and 
 
 best in every way gives but few seeds Is it because 
 
 ordinary methods of crossing are like human intermarriage 
 between relatives?" 
 
 The reason that fewer monads are incarnating in the so- 
 called cultured class is chiefly because the culture of the world 
 is in no way an advantage to the perfection of vigor of the 
 body, nor its environments such as to materially help the Soul 
 onward in its appointed task. The Soul chooses its own en- 
 vironments in accordance with the conditions best suited to 
 help it along in its chosen path. Physical obstacles such as 
 poverty, the necessity for mingling with humanity en masse and 
 in the pushing and crowding generally found in the so-called 
 lower ranks of society, are not only great helps to the attain- 
 ment of perfection if conquered, but if the incarnating Soul is 
 at all advanced and has a realizing sense of the great love of 
 Brotherhood, its most overwhelming desire is to incarnate 
 where it can help on in the work of the redemption of the Race. 
 This can be done more effectively by one who has mingled with 
 the lower strata and has felt its deep heart-throbs of misery, 
 and even of crime. Such an one grows nearer to his brother 
 man, and by his very struggle to get above the conditions is cap- 
 able of a deeper realization, through his own suffering, of the 
 suffering of humanity and gains more sympathy with its needs. 
 
 Those born into affluence have no such chance. The temp- 
 tations of idleness and the deadening effects of selfishness are 
 harder to conquer, hence only such Souls as have either not ad- 
 vanced to the point of at-one-ment with humanity and desire 
 only personal ease, or advanced Souls who know the danger 
 yet, having conquered the temptations of the lower levels in 
 
88 LETTERS FROM THE TEACHER. 
 
 former lives, deliberately choose such an incarnation that they 
 may have the means to help humanity on a larger scale. Neces- 
 sarily these are few ; one here and there. 
 
 As to the same thing taking place in plant life, the cause 
 is more apt to be that, this being an experimental age in that 
 line, man has not yet learned how to increase vigor in the plant. 
 That is to say, a plant has only a certain amount of life-force 
 and this, man, by his Will, has directed we will say into the line 
 of a perfect blossom ; but at the expense of the power of propa- 
 gation. The lesson to learn is how to draw more life into the 
 plant and balance it so that there will be enough for both 
 activities. 
 
 March 3rd, 1908. 
 
 "Can you explain why my wife and I seem to be gradually 
 growing apart? There is no quarrel between us at all, only 
 distress that we cannot have more than a friendly, chummy 
 relation " 
 
 As to the general proposition, the mere fact that a man 
 and woman do not belong together is all-sufficient. The Law 
 back of this is the fact that the general plan of all humanity 
 was laid down at the beginning of this manvantara according 
 to strict geometrical lines. Since the time of the separation of 
 the sexes (at the end of the Third Root-Race) these lines have 
 been mixed up more and more, until now they are in the great- 
 est confusion. But the time has come when the straightening 
 out process has begun in earnest. The real meaning of redemp- 
 tion is that The Christ (the living force of the Divine Creative 
 Fire the Law of God) must redeem from this intricate con- 
 fusion all the various geometrical lines (Souls) and put each in 
 its proper place again in the grand plan. Sin is inharmony, the 
 separation of the positive and negative parts of a line, or a 
 snarling of the strands like that seen in a tangled skein of 
 yarn. Redemption means redeeming, a bringing back to the 
 original condition ; for you cannot redeem a thing that you have 
 not once had and lost. Therefore the very first step toward 
 growth is to work toward the straightening out of the tangled 
 lines. But in accomplishing this you must place yourself un- 
 resentfully in the hands of the Lords of Karma, which means 
 holding the attitude of "Thy will be done." When this is 
 done you at once find that in exact accord with your sincerity 
 The Law will begin to work out. At first it will precipitate 
 
THE SEX PROBLEM, 89 
 
 upon you all your old Karma. That must be accepted and 
 worked out cheerfully. 
 
 March 3rd, 1908. 
 
 "You must decide for me if I am ready for the probationer's 
 course, and if my husband is ready also; for I will not begin 
 till he, too, is ready. We have come thus far together and I 
 will wait many years if need be until he is ready." 
 
 Your attitude of desiring to go hand in hand with your 
 husband is the right one ; for no other way is possible. When 
 two persons are really joined in a true marriage of the Soul, as 
 in your case, it is impossible for one to advance without the 
 other. Sometimes the forward impulse seems to come from one 
 and sometimes from the other, but in reality all true spiritual 
 growth is flowing to them jointly. They have reached a point 
 where, from the soul plane or plane of causes, from which the 
 Masters see them and on which they come into contact with the 
 Great White Lodge, THEY ARE REALLY ONE, and all spirit- 
 ual impulses are given to them AS ONE. This is the universal 
 but sadly neglected meaning of the words of the marriage cere- 
 mony ' ' Whom God hath joined let no man put asunder. ' ' Alas, 
 it is but a very few couples whom God hath joined. When man 
 only hath joined them it is only the bodies that are joined, not 
 the Souls. In such cases all real spiritual advance must neces- 
 sarily push them asunder, because their Souls, not being one, 
 cannot follow the same upward Path ; each must ultimately find 
 its own. 
 
 "In an occult pamphlet I note the statement that for the 
 birth of an advanced Soul, an Avatar for instance, it is not 
 essential that he be born of what the world calls a sexually 
 pure woman. Is this correct?" Inquirer, Spokane, Wash. 
 
 Most emphatically no. The conception of such a Divine 
 Emanation in human form can only take place between specially 
 prepared and absolutely pure parents. Moreover, they must 
 be perfectly affinitized or harmonized upon all planes, physical, 
 mental and spiritual. They must be set apart and sanctified 
 long ere such a conception could be a possibility. They must 
 be lawfully wedded in the sight of men, according to the laws 
 of the land, and must be blameless in the sight of God and man. 
 This, however, does not mean that they must never have sinned 
 in the past ; but it does mean that long before such a conception 
 could take place they must have washed their garments 
 
90 LETTERS FROM THE TEACHER. 
 
 (bodies) pure and white in the blood 1 of the Lamb, i. e. the 
 spiritual life-force poured out for humanity by the sacrificial 
 Lamb or The Christ power the Word made flesh and sacrificed 
 that humanity might be redeemed. Through this force such 
 parents must have gained purity of body, purity of mind and 
 purity of heart, the attainment of which will necessarily ex- 
 press itself in purity of life. Any exception to this is un- 
 thinkable. 
 
 (Published in THE HOUSE OF THE INTERPRETER.) 
 
 "Wrote you a day or so ago, a large portion of my letter 
 being devoted to the sex question; and yesterday had a discus- 
 sion with trying to find out what the position of the 
 
 Fifteen is on that subject It is rather curious that 
 
 are morbidly inclined to regard the union of the sexes 
 
 as improper under all conditions even within marriage except 
 
 for the sake of procreation They then brought up the 
 
 charges against as published in the , and his 
 
 admission of the facts charged. I quite agreed with them in 
 
 their objection to I think that was the substance of 
 
 that line of discussion." 
 
 We would warn you that it is not well to allow your mind 
 to dwell upon the sex problem or to talk of it unnecessarily, 
 not because it is evil to do so, but because it is one of the most 
 sacred of mysteries, and is not to be handled with unclean 
 or profane hands. Like many other precious things, it changes 
 its whole aspect when ruthlessly dragged forth for inspection. 
 Then it becomes dead and putrified. It should be guarded 
 most sacredly. Remember that which everyone condemns gen- 
 erally has some inherent reason in it for such condemnation, 
 and this question as a topic for conversation is no exception. 
 You cannot allow your mortal mind to dwell upon it for any 
 length of time without arousing lust, and to make it the subject 
 of social conversation awakens lustful thoughts in others. 
 Therefore we ask you, as a member of the Order, to use all 
 your influence toward avoiding any such discussions and to 
 communicate this request to others of the Order with whom you 
 come in touch. 
 
 It is neither necessary nor advisable to analyze this force. 
 Just hold to the idea of PURITY. Think how to be pure in 
 mind and body, and leave the rest. But, once for all, if it will 
 help you to turn your mind away from this subject, we will say 
 
 1 See lesson on A BRIEF OUTLINE OF EVOLUTION. 
 
THE SEX PROBLEM. 91 
 
 that we approve of sex relations ONLY between those who are 
 united in true spiritual love, and in the LEGITIMATE, LEGAL 
 
 MARRIAGE relation It should be used for purposes 
 
 of creation, but the creation need not be a physical body; for 
 they can consciously create an immortal body for themselves, 
 or can create any other great work. If one should be so situ- 
 ated that he finds the one to whom he feels he belongs outside 
 the legitimate marriage relation, let him understand that this 
 is the result of Karma and shows that for some reason they 
 have been separated to learn certain lessons independently. 
 Any attempt to break through or over-leap the barriers that 
 separate them would but build up fresh karmic suffering. Un- 
 derstand this point clearly, THEY CANNOT BELONG TO 
 EACH OTHER SEXUALLY UNTIL THE BARRIERS HAVE 
 BEEN REMOVED so that they can be UNITED BY THE 
 LAWS OF THE LAND and stand before the world in perfect 
 purity. THERE IS NO EXCEPTION. Those who belong to- 
 gether will always be together on the higher planes, and be- 
 tween incarnations ; but if separated upon the earth plane they 
 must patiently learn their lessons and work out the Karma that 
 holds them apart. If they do not do so it entails another life 
 under similar conditions. They will be sure to incarnate to- 
 gether when each is ready to learn the lessons which they can 
 only learn together. 
 
 If your spiritual Will is not strong enough to create the 
 qualities you need in your character, then create upon the men- 
 tal plane. When you feel the force moving within you say, "I 
 must create, what shall it be?" Then look around you and see 
 what new thing you can turn your attention to. If you can 
 write, start some little article, and if it is not worth publishing 
 at least you can make a start and go over and over it improving 
 it each time. Take up some new task or duty. Do some kind, 
 unselfish act that will require some time and thought and effort 
 to accomplish. In this way you will divert the current of the 
 Divine Creative Force into a normal channel of expression. 
 SO-CALLED "PHYSICAL RELIEF" IS NEVER NECES- 
 SARY, and to teach that it is permissible is but to cloak animal 
 desire in words that make it seem respectable. 
 
 Do not say that you cannot thus divert your creative force 
 into accomplishments for good, for it has been successfully done 
 by hundreds of pupils, and has brought peace and joy and hap- 
 piness and purity of mind and spiritual advancement to all who 
 
92 LETTERS FROM THE TEACHER. 
 
 have learned it. The teachings of this Order are not for some su- 
 perhuman life, but for the average, decent, clean-minded person 
 on the physical plane. They are not vague theories, but prac- 
 tical instructions for daily life. They are not impossible specu- 
 lations as to what we can do in some future manvantara, but 
 plain statements of what hundreds have proved and are show- 
 ing forth in their lives RIGHT HERE AND NOW. Further 
 more, we teach that under no circumstances can an evil or im- 
 pure thing upon the earth plane ever become anything but evil 
 and impure on the higher planes; for all planes are one, and 
 what is impure on one is impure on all. UNDER NO CIRCUM- 
 STANCES CAN EVIL OR IMPURE ACTS ON THE PHYS- 
 ICAL PLANE CAUSE SPIRITUAL GROWTH; for the acts 
 themselves are creating exactly the opposite conditions. Those 
 who are teaching such abominable doctrines under the name of 
 Esoteric Theosophy, or under the guise of obtaining some sort 
 of spiritual development, will have a terrible Karma to answer 
 for in the future. We cannot emphasize too strongly the fact 
 that there can be no spiritual teachings, either esoteric or exo- 
 teric, that are not spotless in their purity ON ALL PLANES; 
 for The Christ can dwell only with the pure in heart. 
 
 We not only denounce such vile doctrines, but we are try- 
 ing to lead humanity back into paths of natural purity. Hence, 
 as our lesson on CELIBACY plainly states, we believe that all 
 teachings that prohibit true and legal marriage under any pre- 
 text, and which foster unnatural suppression of the life forces 
 ere humanity, even in a small decree, has learned the lessons of 
 pure love and the possibility of real spiritual marriage, any 
 such teachings, we repeat, are a menace to society and but cause 
 abnormal expression of the forces thus repressed. As we say 
 in PURITY: "When confined to the physical plane man is apt 
 to lose control of it" etc., and all forms of abnormality and all 
 efforts to separate this force from the spiritual plane is confin- 
 ing it to the animal. And if we give it over to the animal and 
 then deny that animal a normal way of expressing it, just so 
 sure will some vile and abnormal way of gratification be im- 
 agined. This alone should be proof to a thinking mind that such 
 teachings are abnormal. Our students must learn that this 
 force does not belong to the animal plane alone. And they must 
 grasp the higher and deeper truth that marriage does not be- 
 long merely to the animal plane, but has its correspondence on 
 
THE SEX PROBLEM. 93 
 
 all planes. Hence the great and crying need of love and purity 
 in the marriage relation. 
 
 While we know that the sinner is in reality but an outward 
 expression of the combined thought of the whole community, 
 and that not one is without sin or capable of casting the first 
 stone, still it is our duty to set our faces, in no uncertain man- 
 ner, against all such crimes against the Holy Temple of the 
 Living Christ as those to which you refer. This is the attitude 
 of THE ORDER OP THE 15. We have come into manifesta- 
 tion as a protest against the befouling of all mankind and of 
 everything sacred with the slime of the serpent ; and above all 
 in the name of Theosophy! and for "spiritual advancement "! 
 We must and shall use all our influence unceasingly against 
 such teachings and proclaim PURITY. But we also go deeper 
 and show some of the causes that have produced this abomina- 
 tion that is paraded boldly before the children of men, being 
 
 defended even by the chosen ones of the Society in 
 
 their official publications ! 
 
 The teaching that all sex relations are inherently impure 
 and evil, and that they should be killed out and marriage dis- 
 couraged and discountenanced, IS A WRONG AND PERNI- 
 CIOUS DOCTRINE. And as long as such teachings find cre- 
 dence, human nature, like a flowing river which is dammed up, 
 will find an outlet in some abnormal manner. And if the bar- 
 riers of false teachings are not speedily removed and the true 
 and normal channel purified and cleared from obstructions, it 
 will inundate the entire Race. 
 
 "I note that you emphasize 'legal marriage* as the sole 
 condition of intimate relationship between lovers. This seems 
 to me an arbitrary dictum. Social and economic conditions are 
 such that many legally married couples who do not love each 
 other in purity, who in fact repel each other, cannot separate 
 without pain and distress to those dependent upon them and 
 to whom they owe conformity to public standards. Should one 
 in this legal situation refuse to express love through that divine 
 and ineffable relation, even though that love is pure? In other 
 words: Does the legal contract entered into during years of 
 ignorance bar one from what would otherwise be a sacred, 
 beautiful, vital love?" 
 
 Legal marriage by no means insures purity ; but even if it 
 fails in this respect that failure does not mean that marriage 
 was not intended to fulfill the Law of Opposites in perfect 
 purity. Impurity arises because the contracting parties have 
 
94 LETTERS FROM THE TEACHER. 
 
 broken The Law, and the Master Jesus said: "Till heaven and 
 earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the 
 law, until all be fulfilled. " While there is but one Great Law 
 governing the universe, yet it has seven manifestations, and the 
 words "jot and tittle," altho now obsolete, were used to indi- 
 cate these seven manifestations. 
 
 The Great Law first manifests as (a) Order. This means 
 that everything is tending toward perfection in its proper place. 
 The only reason why one particular jot or tittle is not fulfilled 
 is that there are six other related jots or tittles which must 
 also be fulfilled. 
 
 The second manifestation is as (b) Compensation. In every 
 event there is a compensation. You can learn it by comparison, 
 "As above, so below." 
 
 The Great Law works as (c) Cause and Effect or Karma. 
 "Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap." 
 
 The Law also expresses as (d) Vibration, (e) as Balance, in 
 (f) Cycles and (g) as Polarity. It thus begins with Orderly 
 Sequence and ends or is completed by Polarity. Karma is by 
 no means all The Law ; it is but one of its phases. 
 
 The above, when applied to the marriage relation, means 
 that only true marriage that which is made in Heaven can 
 fulfill The Law in all its manifestations. If the union does not 
 fulfill the laws of man it is not fulfilling The Law as Order. If 
 it is not a marriage of love and purity then it is not fulfilling 
 The Law as Vibration and as Polarity (opposites). It may, 
 however, be fulfilling other manifestations of The Law. An un- 
 happy marriage may be fulfilling The Law as Karma. That is, 
 it may be the result of causes set up and not worked out in a 
 past life. This result must be worked out through fulfillment 
 ere The Law can work in its fulness in the other manifestations 
 and bring you to your true polar center to be one with your 
 true complement, who alone can fulfill The Law with you. 
 
 Such an unhappy marriage, be it ever so irksome, must be 
 in accord with some manifestation of The Law, and hence is not 
 to be set aside or terminated except through fulfillment. Were 
 it not in accord with The Law there would be nothing to hold 
 you to it and it would pass out of your life and release you 
 with scarcely a ripple. If no other manifestation can be found 
 The Law works as Compensation, i. e. the situation will bring 
 you something to be gained either as experience, as duty to per- 
 form or as the joy of parenthood etc. Indeed, many marriages 
 
THE SEX PROBLEM. 95 
 
 are brought about and consummated by The Law working as 
 Compensation alone. 
 
 From the above you will see that marriage, even if only an 
 earthly bond, is, nevertheless, a part of The Law and is not to 
 be set aside until "all be fulfilled.'* If another love obtrudes 
 itself upon you, which it is pretty sure to do if you are not 
 married to your true polar opposite, the marriage becomes your 
 GREAT TEST. Your new love may be pure, in fact IF IT IS 
 LOVE IT WILL BE PURE, but you have no right to it until 
 you have fulfilled the manifestation of The Law under which 
 you find yourself. And it cannot be consummated upon the 
 physical plane without breaking The Law and defiling its 
 purity. To seize it before you have fulfilled the old bond ne- 
 cessitates another long experience of separateness until the old 
 bond is fulfilled and the two can become one on earth in perfect 
 purity, even as they are one in heaven. 
 
 If you believed in only one life-period your attitude would, 
 perhaps, be reasonable; but you know that each earth life is 
 but one day at school, and that you can never graduate until 
 you have completed and mastered the course of training laid 
 down. Understanding this, however, you grow patient; for, 
 like the boy at school, if you play truant and run away to go 
 fishing with the girl of your heart, you know that the few 
 stolen hours of joy in her company have robbed you of the 
 opportunity of enjoying her society in much greater complete- 
 ness after school is over. 
 
 Know, absolutely, that The Law IS and that it MUST 
 work out. If one jot or tittle of The Law could go wrong in 
 your personal affairs, all creation would be thrown out of har- 
 mony. Hence, sooner or later, you must fulfill The Law in love. 
 And to repudiate any present duty or obligation to apparently 
 hasten that fulfillment is but to stay the longer after school 
 and put the time of fulfillment farther away. You cannot fulfill 
 The Law unless you are pure, and you cannot be pure while 
 you violate any manifestation of The Law. 
 
 If you are only held by the law of man you must fulfill 
 that law in purity and learn its lessons until the end. If you 
 have made the vow to "love her, comfort her, honor, and keep 
 her in sickness and in health; and, forsaking all others, keep 
 thee only unto her, so long as ye both shall live, ' ' rest assured 
 that The Law will require that vow of you unto the last jot and 
 
96 LETTERS FROM THE TEACHER. 
 
 tittle. But that vow once fulfilled, you will not be bound in a 
 future day at school. 
 
 However, if all parties to the vow agree to dissolve it, and 
 if there are no circumstances or duties that prevent its disso- 
 lution, the vow no longer holds, or rather it has been fulfilled. 
 But as long as one of the parties to the vow, either the man, 
 the woman or the law of man, holds to it the vow is binding 
 until fulfilled. Understand this point clearly, only by the con- 
 sent of All the parties, the man, the woman and the law of 
 the land, can the vow be fulfilled and the bond dissolved. But 
 in the event of either party wilfully breaking the vow, and if 
 because of this the injured party is willing to waive his or her 
 claims to the fulfillment of the vow, then he or she is free in 
 the eyes of the law of God ; for a vow that is broken is annulled, 
 and the law of the land will grant the injured one legal freedom. 
 
 July llth, 1908. 
 
 "I must tell you frankly that I cannot agree with some of 
 your teachings The celibacy, for instance, of the Brah- 
 mins in the east and those desiring spiritual development, after 
 fulfilling all the requirements of the marriage states, by mutual 
 consent, in a spiritual sense, as Jesus said 'making themselves 
 eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake. He that is able to 
 
 receive it, let him receive it.' Jesus, John, Paul, the 
 
 Adepts, the Masters and Mystics of all ages have neither mar- 
 ried nor advocated it." 
 
 You make very sweeping statements as to Jesus, John, 
 Paul, the Adepts, etc., for which you have no authentic data. 
 In fact, if you were able to read between the lines and within 
 the letter of all authentic teachings handed down from the 
 Great Teachers, you would soon change your mind. In seek- 
 ing for these truths is it necessary to take the teachings of 
 the Great Ones direct as they fall from Their lips, or as little 
 adulterated by human explanations as it is possible to obtain 
 them. The ones you mention may or may not have married 
 on the physical plane, History cannot always be relied upon 
 in such cases, as it is generally made to conform to the ideas 
 of the followers several hundred years afterward as to what 
 the Teacher should have done. 
 
 As society is now constituted and with so many crass fail- 
 ures and quarrels and vile slanders among so-called leaders, 
 all of which are so many stumbling-blocks in the way of God's 
 children, it is most necessary that all things are done so that 
 even the children of this world may have no excuse for mis- 
 
THE SEX PROBLEM. 97 
 
 understanding, and so that no moral law be violated, but that 
 "Ye shall render unto Caesar the things that be Caesar's and 
 unto God the things that be God's." The time has come, and 
 this is primarily the Movement, for uplifting the masses and 
 preparing the whole race to take a higher step in evolution. 
 The Lodge of Masters, who always work with the cosmic cur- 
 rents, understand this. This is not a period of individual ad- 
 vance or of the helping of all by picking out the few and lead- 
 ing them on to perfection. That was a necessary way to work 
 in other periods of the world's history and that was the way 
 chosen, the reason being that when the period now at hand 
 should come there would be those who would be ready to take 
 up the work for the masses. Now all work is along entirely 
 different lines. The disciples chosen to prepare for the coming 
 Avatar must be able and willing to give up self, even self- 
 advancement, and live among men exemplifying in all things 
 purity, honesty and all the virtues approved of by the world, 
 that the world may see and understand. They must be care- 
 ful to make no wide separation, no gulf, over which the flocks 
 (the sheep) cannot easily leap ; for the whole flock must be led 
 into green pastures and beside still waters. 
 
 If you teach the masses that to gain Heaven they must 
 give up normal living and become celibates, the result must 
 inevitably be, as it has always proved in the past, absolutely 
 abortive in so far as the masses are concerned. Cast your eye 
 backward over history and honestly ask yourself if celibacy 
 has proved an effective way of saving or helping the world? 
 Has it not rather made a wide gulf or separation? the monks 
 and celibates on the one hand, swollen with spiritual pride, "I 
 am holier than thou" written all over them, or at the best, hid- 
 den in caves, forgotten of mankind, their very lives unlived 
 through austerity, making very little impression upon the com- 
 munity in which they lived. On the other hand the masses, 
 God's little ones, the sheep of His fold, hopelessly wallowing 
 in the mire of sensuality, a prey to the wolves of desire and 
 passion, relegating, in a sort of hopeless despair, all personal 
 salvation and religious observances to those who, in the eyes of 
 the masses, are set apart to attend to it. 
 
 Under all the seeming perversity and evil of humanity 
 there runs a strong current of common-sense and justice. A 
 close student of sociology must admit that underlying all the 
 rules of conventionality and so-called worldly wisdom, in fact 
 
98 LETTERS FROM THE TEACHER. 
 
 the root from which these have sprung, there exists some vital 
 truth that cannot safely be ignored. The world knows that 
 the instincts implanted in the human heart are of God and are 
 necessary for the development and advancement of the race; 
 that the married state is holy and that it embraces and brings 
 forth and makes possible all that is most uplifting and sacred 
 in human life. Therefore, when taught that the normal func- 
 tioning of these natural instincts are of the Devil, their sense 
 of justice is outraged and they choose the Devil for a master. 
 Since they are taught that there is no hope of reaching per- 
 fection in a natural way, they turn their backs upon an unjust 
 God, leaving that conception of God to those who, either from 
 spiritual pride or because all normal instincts are burned out 
 owing to abuse in past lives, or who have never cultivated to 
 heart center, are self-elected to stand as the advocates of those 
 whom THEY consider lost sheep. 
 
 This whole plan must now be changed. The first ones to 
 walk the new path must expect stones, mud and gibes from 
 those of the old regimen. Many will say of them, as was said 
 of the Master Jesus, that they consort with sinners and eat 
 bread (symbolic of spiritual food) with them. In fact, this 
 taunt alone, if rightly taken and understood in its real mean- 
 ing, would be a positive refutation of the assertion you make 
 about Jesus. But there are many more refutations. We will 
 take the chapter from which you quote, remembering always 
 that the Bible, instead of being a history of necessarily physical 
 events, is a gathering together of parables and teachings. 
 Taking this view one of the greatest objections to it is re- 
 moved, namely that the events following consecutively have 
 no bearing on each other ; for it has been proved that they oc- 
 curred at widely separated times and places. They follow each 
 other consecutively because that order is necessary to bear out 
 the lesson being taught. In other words, a series of narratives 
 is related which may or may not have happened; but it does 
 not matter, as they are merely tales to illustrate the point at 
 issue. They are placed together because they emphasize dif- 
 fering phases of the one lesson. Let us take the chapter from 
 which you quote. 
 
 First it is recorded that: "The Pharisees came unto him, 
 tempting him, and saying unto him, Is it lawful for a man to 
 put away his wife for every cause? And he answered and said 
 unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the 
 
THE SEX PROBLEM. 99 
 
 beginning made them male and female, Wherefore 
 
 they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God 
 hath joined together, let not man put asunder/' The Phari- 
 sees then went on to ask about divorce. Jesus answered: 
 " Moses because of the hardness of your hearts suffered you to 
 put away your wives : but from the beginning it was not so. ' ' 
 This plainly means that it is possible, because of dense physical 
 vibrations of passion alone, to be joined by man with no spir- 
 itual marriage by God. In such a case it is not only lawful, 
 but necessary for the advancement of each for them to sep- 
 arate. Then His disciples, who evidently were imbued with 
 the same teachings that are now puzzling you, said, "If the 
 case of the man be so with his wife, it is not good to marry. ' ' 
 But the significant answer of Jesus plainly shows that He was 
 not, as generally interpreted, apologizing for saying so posi- 
 tively that God did join twain into one flesh, for this would 
 put Him in a most vacillating position. His answer was to 
 show why there were instances when the exception proved the 
 rule. This is so plain that it is remarkable that people of 
 common-sense can so twist it as to make it apparently mean 
 exactly the opposite, following as it does the reasons for sep- 
 aration and being a direct answer to the statement, "It is not 
 good to marry/' "All men cannot receive this saying, save 
 they to whom it is given." "This saying" was manifestly 
 "Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What 
 therefore God hath joined together, let no man put asunder." 
 Then He goes on to say what you quote above about eunuchs. 
 This, if read as a continuation of the same remark, shows plain- 
 ly that Jesus did not mean to commend or approve of eunuchs 
 for in another place the making of eunuchs is expressly for- 
 bidden but meant to show why man could not understand 
 "this saying." It was in substance the same teaching that I 
 am now giving you. 
 
 Immediately a new parable is introduced, namely, ' ' Suffer 
 little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me. ' ' This is 
 a strong confirmation that those who will enter the Kingdom are 
 not those who have made eunuchs of themselves for the king- 
 dom of heaven's sake (a eunuch being a mutilation of the di- 
 vine form, an abnormal and imperfect man), but those who 
 have become as little children. This is then followed by the 
 story of the rich young man, rich in psychic gifts, an earnest 
 follower of YOGI practices etc. "All these things have I kept 
 
100 LETTERS FROM THE TEACHER. 
 
 from my youth up," i. e. the commandments, the austerities 
 and practices and observances of the law. But Jesus told him, 
 "Sell that thou hast and give to the poor, and thou shalt have 
 treasure in heaven : and come and follow me, ' ' i. e. The Christ. 
 After this follows the so much misunderstood saying, "It is 
 easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for 
 a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God." This means 
 that there is a wider separation between a mere animal's de- 
 veloping its psychic faculties for only by functioning in the 
 fourth dimension could a camel pass through the eye of a 
 needle than for a man rich in psychic development, who at 
 the same time set himself apart from others and was puffed up 
 with spiritual pride and in danger of resting on his own supe- 
 rior knowledge, to enter the kingdom of heaven. The last par- 
 agraph of that chapter positively confirms the idea that all 
 these parables were dealing with one and the same lesson. 
 "But many that are first shall be last; and the last shall 
 be first." 
 
 Another passage so frequently quoted in this connection 
 is, "But they which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that 
 world, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry, nor 
 
 are given in marriage ; neither can they die any more 
 
 being the children of the resurrection. ' ' The explanation is that 
 spiritual marriage once made can never be unmade the one 
 flesh can never again become twain. Naturally those who at- 
 tain the resurrection will neither marry nor be given in mar- 
 riage because they are married for all eternity; they have 
 learned their earthly lesson. We might as well say that it is 
 wrong to die because perfected Souls will die no more. ' 'Whoso 
 hath ears to hear and heart to comprehend, let him hear. ' ' 
 
 May 23rd, 1908. 
 
 ''What is your advice to one who is troubled with impure 
 thoughts and dreams on the sex question?" 
 
 Recognize that the sex force is the Great Creative Force; 
 that it is given to man as his crowning glory. It is also man's 
 greatest test, the test being not that he must kill it out, as so 
 many teach, but that he use it aright. As soon as you recog- 
 nize this grand truth you at once ask, What am I expected to 
 create? You know that it can only occasionally be used to cre- 
 ate a tabernacle in which an immortal Soul can dwell, and 
 this of course only in the legitimate marriage relation. And 
 even on these occasions it must be taken up seriously, earn- 
 
SEX PROBLEM. 101 
 
 estly, in perfect purity and with spiritual aspirations, and then 
 only under the most favorable circumstances. But, you ask, 
 what about its use at all other times? Bear in mind that pro- 
 creation is not the only use of this power ; for when guided by 
 the Will it creates whatever man desires. In the lower animals 
 it is but a function for perpetuating the species, hence its call 
 ceases to be persistent when the proper season is past, unless, 
 through association with mankind, the animal has become ab- 
 normal in this respect; but with man there are no seasons, there 
 are no seasons or times when it is more persistent than at 
 others. This shows that man is expected to use his faculty of 
 creative thought to harness this great river of creative force 
 and make it create for him according to his Will. 
 
 Our advice then is to give this matter no more attention 
 than any other normal function receives. That is, see that it 
 is put to its proper use ; see that it does not become your mas- 
 ter and take up an undue amount of your thought, but that it 
 is kept an obedient servant ready to do your will when called 
 upon. If you feel its call persistently, or if you find yourself 
 growing irritable with no apparent reason, say to yourself, "I 
 am a creator, what shall I create?" Then turn your mind at 
 once to something you desire to accomplish, knowing that this 
 force is the power that will create for you the objects of your 
 desires. It will create within you such desirable qualities as 
 you find you lack. If you have a fault you wish to correct, 
 create its opposite. Think no more about the fault, but put all 
 your thought on its opposite. For instance, if you are given to 
 evil imaginings on this subject, when you feel the creative 
 power coming upon you at once begin to create lofty ideals 
 and thoughts of purity. Understand that nothing can come to 
 you that you yourself do not admit within your aura. The im- 
 pure thought-forms are your own creations, created by the im- 
 pure use of the creative force. Strive, then, with all your might 
 to send out thought-forms of purity in such numbers and with 
 such power that they will transmute and redeem the im- 
 pure ones. 
 
 Remember that thoughts are things and must express 
 through their creator. Man is under absolute bondage to 
 thought. Thought-forms surround him and draw their life from 
 him. If evil, they tempt him to pour out fresh force in evil 
 channels that they may gain more life ; for thoughts similar to 
 themselves supply them with energy, while thoughts of purity 
 
102 LETTERS FROM THE TEACHER. 
 
 withhold life from them. The VOICE OF THE SILENCE says, 
 "If thou wouldst not be slain by them, then must thou harm- 
 less make thy own creations, the children of thy thoughts, un- 
 seen, impalpable, that swarm round humankind, the progeny 
 and heirs to man and his terrestrial spoils." Create thoughts 
 of purity, chastity, control, etc. and divert the physical force 
 by at once beginning some definite line of work; if not in build- 
 ing up your character, then in some kind of mental work, real- 
 izing that you are consciously using your creative force. Sit 
 down and write an article embodying just what you desire to 
 create within yourself or your idea of what perfect purity 
 means. If this is not convenient, begin some task with your 
 hands, something that will involve manual labor and require 
 thought and energy for its execution. Do some kind un- 
 selfish act for another that will necessitate thought and care- 
 ful planning not to wound; something that would remain un- 
 done but for your efforts. Take a tramp out in the open to 
 some objective point, observing the harmony and beauty of 
 nature, and realize how everything in nature has its normal 
 place and its normal and natural use until perverted by man. 
 Realize that you are asserting your prerogative as a creator 
 and that the sex force is the motive power which you are 
 using. If you do any of these things you will not have to puz- 
 zle yourself about how the force is transmuted into mental 
 energy or with finding out the particular path by which it 
 reaches the brain, and yet you will divert its expression from 
 the physical organs to the mental plane in a perfectly normal 
 way. If you furnish the thought-forms and the Will to create 
 purity, the forces will follow out your directions without your 
 having to go into particulars. Above all, you will divert your 
 attention from the physical expression of this force. 
 
 If you should have a failure in following this plan, waste 
 no thought upon it, but pick yourself up and with more deter- 
 mination than ever strive to create around you thought-forms 
 of purity, and of helpfulness to others ; for these must express 
 through you and will strengthen you for the future. 
 
 Each night before retiring repeat the HEALING 
 PRAYER and say repeatedly, until you have impressed it upon 
 your subconscious mind, "I refuse to create! I refuse to create 
 this night!" Then when impure dreams come to you you will 
 be able to conquer even before you awake and realize what has 
 happened. Put your failures behind you. Give them no more 
 
THE SEX P&OBLEM. 103 
 
 force by thinking of them or worrying about them. Live each 
 day and each night for itself; for if you can conquer one day 
 at a time you conquer all. 
 
 Hundreds of students have followed this plan and have 
 found it practical. You can do the same. But do not expect 
 to master the question in a day. This force is like any other, 
 it sweeps you off your feet only when you place yourself under 
 it. Harness it by your Will-power and you are its master and 
 it a most wonderful servant. 
 
PART IX. 
 SPIRITUAL GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT. 
 
 "Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the 
 spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are 
 freely given to us of God. Which things we also speak, not in 
 the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy 
 Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But 
 the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: 
 for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, 
 because they are spiritually discerned." I Corinthians, II, 12-14. 
 
 "Men who are devoid of the power of spiritual perception 
 are unable to recognize the existence of anything that cannot 
 be seen externally." Paracelsus. 
 
SPIRITUAL GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT. 10$ 
 
 July 6th, 1908. 
 
 "For a period of several weeks I was able to know how to 
 help my fellows in many ways, not of my own power but by a 
 wonderful love of the Creator. Much of this capacity has now 
 left me, owing I believe to my spiritual pride, but this world 
 is now a different place. This exaltation of spirit was looked 
 upon by those nearest and dearest as a sign of brain trouble, 
 
 but if it is I am happier with it than without Now I 
 
 want help to develop the powers I possess, as I hope it may 
 be given to me to help others. If your teachings are such as 
 will show me how to grow without appearing abnormal in my 
 
 actions I will thankfully and patiently learn 
 
 But duties to those nearest and dearest hold me back." 
 
 The experience of which you speak was a momentary open- 
 ing of the Third Eye the pineal gland. This sometimes hap- 
 pens before the disciple has learned to function consciously on 
 the soul plane and is a foretaste of what you can look forward 
 to in the future. As you say, spiritual pride would quickly 
 cause you to fall backward on The Path. If you are conscious 
 of the temptation and are making earnest efforts to conquer 
 and are sincerely working from the standpoint of love for your 
 fellow men, the mere fact of the discontinuance of the soul- 
 faculty of reaching up into the higher realms and drawing 
 direct from the Fount of all Wisdom should not discourage 
 you. The Third Eye sometimes opens in moments of great 
 spiritual exaltation or in deep meditation, and then closes 
 again; but if you retained the faculty of knowing for some 
 weeks, it is surely the result of conscious effort and is an index 
 of soul development, either in this or past lives. 
 
 Since all phenomena, either familiar or the so-called super- 
 natural, is subject to the law of "the pairs of opposites, M it fol- 
 lows the rhythmic Law of Activity and Passivity, out-breath- 
 ing and in-breathing, day and night. After a period of mani- 
 festation there would naturally follow a period of indrawing, 
 a night period. Instead of this being a loss it is just as neces- 
 sary as is the night. It is a period in which to rest and recuperate 
 your faculties. It is only in these periods of indrawing and 
 rest that, if we understand the Law and make a mental effort 
 through study and meditation, we can digest what has been 
 given to us, so that when the day-period again dawns we will 
 be ready to use the power wisely, understandingly and under 
 full control of the Will. Do not waste time lamenting the fact 
 that the night has come, but use the time to renew your strength 
 so that when the morning dawns you will be able to go forth in 
 
106 LETTERS FROM THE TEACHER. 
 
 the power and might of the Living Christ to uplift the fallen, 
 comfort the feeble and the weak and work for the good of all. 
 
 A word of caution, Brother, when the exaltation cometh. 
 Try to hold it subject to the Will. Be not unduly elated; for 
 ' ' He that ruleth himself is greater than he who taketh a city. ' ' 
 It takes a stronger man to rule himself when under the power- 
 ful exaltation of Divine Wisdom than it does to rule the lower 
 appetites. Just as far as the pendulum swings to one side must 
 it swing back again. If we exhaust ourselves in one day, the 
 night must be long and spent in sleep ; but if we conquer Self 
 and remain calm and dispassionate, the days and nights will 
 be equal, or even with only a short period of rest between, so 
 that one may work steadily on without being depressed dur- 
 ing each night-period. 
 
 To develop your powers study Nature. Grow as the flower 
 grows. You love the sun (The Christ) because through it you 
 must unfold whatever is good within you and give it out for 
 the good of mankind. Pay no more attention to the manner 
 of your unfolding than does the rose. Open your heart to The 
 Christ and grow. Jesus said, "If ye have faith as a grain of 
 mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence 
 to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be im- 
 possible unto you. ' ' That is the kind of faith you must have 
 faith that within you is the germ of The Christ power, and that 
 through it you can fulfill all the law of your being. The tiny 
 grain of mustard seed never doubts but that it has the power 
 to grow into a tree in which the birds of the air shall lodge, 
 apparently impossible though this may seem while a seed. It 
 obeys the law of its being and just grows on in perfect faith 
 that it has the power to fulfill its destiny. If you bask in the 
 Sun of Righteousness, to keep from growing normally would 
 be impossible. Learn to love, and forget. Become so inter- 
 ested in works of mercy and helpfulness that you will know 
 that you are growing only by the perfume of good that sur- 
 rounds you, and by your increased ability to help others. 
 
 Leave no duty, no matter how humble, undone. The near- 
 est and dearest would not be the nearest and dearest if your 
 first duty were not to them. The mustard tree and the rose 
 take to themselves and assimilate only the pollen of their kind, 
 and must do so ere they can bring forth and grow to perfec- 
 tion. But this does not deter them from spreading their 
 branches to the sun and making a nesting place for the birds 
 
SPIRITUAL GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT. 107 
 
 and giving out nectar (which when transmuted into honey by 
 the bees, becomes food for man) ; shelter for cattle and grate- 
 ful shade and comfort for all created things. All this by just 
 growing naturally in their place. Take the little duties as they 
 come, for not one step can be missed. The man who is always 
 looking at the top of the mountain stumbles over the jagged 
 rocks at its base ; but the man who is so busy helping others to 
 climb that he has no time to stand gazing at the heights is the 
 one who gets to the top almost before he knows it 
 
 There will be no abnormality in your growth if you follow 
 this advice. Any concentration upon the vital centers, or even 
 upon the development of certain powers, is injurious and is apt 
 to lead to spiritual pride and black magic. If you seek to grow 
 in Nature's way for there is but one Law of Growth what- 
 ever is within you will develop normally. Whatever you have 
 earned as your own and have assimilated is yours by karmic 
 right, hence growth means bringing this out, i. e. what you 
 have really assimilated. The mustard seed grows into a mus- 
 tard tree, with all its healing and medicinal qualities ; the rose 
 develops into the queen of all flowers, giving out its refresh- 
 ing perfume the symbol of love to all. The spiritual lesson 
 is that both grow and unfold by merely DOING THE DUTY 
 THAT LIES NEAREST, that which is next at hand. They 
 assimilate the earth-forces, the water, the air and the sun go 
 thou and do likewise. 
 
 Concentrate each day upon The Christ within. Hold fast 
 to this main idea, tha,t through the power of The Christ you can 
 meet and conquer all that comes to you. Above all, learn to 
 keep silent. "Dare, Do, Keep Silent " is the motto of this Or- 
 der. The Master Jesus never talked of what He could do, but 
 when the time came He simply did. Much force is wasted in 
 words. The disciple needs to learn to concentrate his power in 
 acts. If he talks he dissipates the power so that the act is 
 feeble. Never say that you can do so and so, just GO AHEAD 
 AND DO IT. 
 
 March 13th, 1908. 
 
 "I see myself in hell struggling for escape. It seems hope- 
 less sometimes." 
 
 Your condition and the struggle you are making, is under 
 our watchful care. But, dear Brother, try to realize that when 
 bound on the Wheel of Karma, to struggle but makes the cords 
 cut deeper into your quivering flesh. Stop struggling. Lo ! I 
 
108 LETTERS FROM THE TEACHER. 
 
 say unto you : Peace, be still. All is well. Learn the lesson of 
 saying, "Thy will be done," knowing that the will of the Fa- 
 ther is victory, and that it will and must come. To think so 
 much about your shortcomings and limitations is but to give 
 them life and force ; for thoughts are things and create after 
 their kind. 'Determine to think strength, love and confidence 
 until you draw them to you and build them into your life. If 
 the evil does not at once fly away then persistently refuse to 
 give it life. Do not recognize it. Repeat the little MORNING 
 PRAYER each day and make it a living factor in your life. 
 Rest in the positive belief that the love and help that you reach 
 out for is yours for the taking. "Ask and ye shall receive." 
 
 July 6th, 1908. 
 
 "I have said much more than I intended to write, but if 
 you know my motive and my desire you will understand why 
 the words kept coming." 
 
 As to saying more than is wise in your letters to us, fear 
 not to talk plainly to your Teacher ; for only thus can you come 
 into close touch. Words are sacred thinsrs though few there 
 be who realize it. Words should be to thought what steam is 
 to the engine; if directed to the cylinder and flywheel the en- 
 gine does perfect work, but if the steam escapes through many 
 tiny holes and cracks the power available for real work is di- 
 minished: and wasted steam, like idle words, is an indication of 
 dissipated power. Man alone has the power to formulate 
 thought into words. A parrot can imitate the sounds of words, 
 but onlv man has reached the point of development where be 
 is capable of rightly using this gift. It is a great responsibil- 
 ity. Every word we utter has not only its vibrations, but, 
 together with the form, color and number of the letters com- 
 posing it, possesses a potency that will never die. but go on and 
 on through the ages until we, their creator, bv the power of The 
 Christ within, shall have redeemed them. Be their power for 
 good or ill it forms one of the very considerable forces that go 
 to make up the Law of Karma. It is one of those crops the 
 sowing of which we are told we shall surely reap. Learn to 
 value words as an index of thought. Make them your obedi- 
 ent servants. Do not waste them. Make every one count for 
 something; for "For every idle word must thou give an ac- 
 count. " Do not consider them idle, however, even if apparently 
 trifling and foolish, provided they bring cheer and comfort 
 
SPIRITUAL GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT. 109 
 
 into the life of some other. They are only idle when wasted in 
 mere talking instead of doing. 
 
 Try to be as natural as possible in your dealing with your 
 fellows. Never seem to claim for yourself any distinction 
 above others, but hold fast within to the thought that the power 
 of The Christ that worketh through you will never disappoint 
 you or fail you. 
 
 May 23rd, 1908. 
 
 "I have not the constant capacity to see the Father in each 
 experience in daily life. I am growing, however, and am deter- 
 mined to persevere, to make a living sacrifice of the self and 
 
 learn how to transmute its forces I say sometimes I 
 
 think like this, then am drawn back again into sense life and 
 sink like a sodden leaf." 
 
 You have caught the idea and have clothed it and have cre- 
 ated out of it an ideal. This is half the battle. You know that 
 when a man tries to invent a thing or put into shape something 
 which for a long time has lain dormant in his mind, an import- 
 ant step has been taken when he finds that he is able to think 
 it all out in a practical way, and perhaps even make a sketch. 
 After that the making of the model is not half so difficult. 
 Therefore, make your ideal coherent and hold it fast. Build 
 upon it, step by step, the Immortal Being which you know ex- 
 ists within yourself. 
 
 As to what you say about your lack of mental ability being 
 an obstacle, we reply that, naturally, while the lower mind can 
 never evolve into the spiritual mind, yet the lower mind has 
 an important work to do in moulding and shaping the brain 
 particles for the use of the Higher Self. In gaining the ability 
 to grasp the highest vibrations the lower mind becomes a well 
 trained servant to the Higher Self. It is therefore necessary to 
 learn how to control and train the mind and cultivate the in- 
 tellect ; but it is well to bear in mind that the intellect is but 
 the servant or tool for the mind to use. Moreover, intellectu- 
 ality is not tested, as is generally supposed, by the amount of 
 education one has had; for, while education does its work in 
 training the lower mind, yet the mind once trained, and the 
 brain built up into a fitting instrument for the use of the Higher 
 Mind, it must then pass through an incarnation in which edu- 
 cation so-called book-learning will be denied it, and condi- 
 tions in life will make it impossible. The man or woman will 
 be born into conditions where they will be forced by circum- 
 
110 LETTERS FROM THE TEACHER. 
 
 stances to forego what seems to be their rightful heritage. You 
 often see this and remark, "So-and-so is so capable, yet he has 
 never had more than a common-school education. ' ' Such an one 
 would naturally look upon this as a great loss ; but the fact is 
 that, having had all opportunities for education in past lives, 
 he has reached a point where the physical brain is to be moulded 
 into an instrument to use along other lines, and therefore the 
 old lines of thought are withheld. They are no longer needed 
 by the Soul and it would be senseless to go on training the 
 lower mind along them. If it is persisted in the man will become 
 an intellectual machine, lacking in heart. Therefore, if the 
 brain development has not gone hand in hand with the desire 
 for spiritual advance, the incarnating Ego will select a vehicle 
 and an environment in which everything, perhaps poverty, 
 squalid surroundings, even sin, will tend to force the overcom- 
 ing of obstacles, and in which the heart must be cultivated and 
 the brain comparatively neglected. Such an incarnation suc- 
 cessfully passed and conquered, the brain will be capable of 
 being used by the Higher Self to a greater degree in accord 
 with the capacity it has developed. 
 
 It is a fact that the Higher Self must have a perfect in- 
 strument if it is perfectly to record the Spiritual or Divine 
 Mind upon the physical plane ; for the Higher Self can only 
 express itself through the instrument it possesses. Through an 
 imperfect instrument the Higher Self can only register imper- 
 fectly, but this does not mean that a brain capable of less than 
 perfect use is any great drawback ; for many cultivate the love 
 centers first. This, on the whole, is best ; but before final liber- 
 ation both must be coordinated. 
 
 Do not use the simile "like a sodden leaf," for no living 
 Soul can ever become sodden, i. e. saturated with water (illu- 
 sion) . Such a condition could only come about in the most de- 
 praved, and only after the Higher Self had been forced to 
 leave the personality to death and disintegration after it no 
 longer contained a living Soul. Only after eons of purification 
 could its particles again be given expression 
 
 The use of metaphors should be carefully chosen ; for their 
 meaning may be more far reaching than appears on the sur- 
 face. You are never dead or sodden while containing one 
 thought of love (life). You are but conscious of the ebb and 
 flow of the spiritual force, and your feeling of depression is a 
 perfectly natural result. It is but a consciousness of the out- 
 
SPIRITUAL GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT. Ill 
 
 breathing and the in-breathing of the Great Breath. At the 
 out-breathing all is activity, while the in-drawing is a period of 
 rest comparable to the night-time. Instead of allowing your- 
 self to sink to the bottom of the stream, if you will hold the 
 thought that it is but the night-time, and that you are calmly 
 sleeping to recruit your strength and assimilate the spiritual 
 force so that when the new day dawns you will be ready for 
 new tasks, you will be strong and happy. In your study of the 
 conditions of life and the trials that beset you, remember that 
 the Soul must pass through, or be made to face, the depths of 
 human degradation and emerge from them pure and unspotted. 
 That is, after having gained a certain point in development the 
 Soul must contact such conditions and prove itself capable of 
 living in them without being of them, thus gaining mastery 
 over them. 
 
 May 25th, 1908. 
 
 "I have an 85-year-old father, and bad men have got their 
 hands on his property and mine, and I struggle to get into 
 such condition that he will have a home and plenty. I pray, hope 
 and battle and toil almost night and day; for father is one of 
 earth's angels who has labored all his life in doing good. My 
 work to keep the home nice, to care for him and to attend to 
 business leaves me not a moment I can call my own." 
 
 No matter what the burden laid upon you, it is not laid 
 there merely that you may suffer, nor does any God wish you 
 to bear it. It is yours because somehow, somewhere, sometime 
 you missed a lesson in life that only this heavy burden could 
 teach you. Therefore, conditions worked together and you 
 were brought face to face with your lesson. Try to realize this. 
 Then, if you can admit that what you are forced to bear is 
 merely meant as a lesson to point out some shortcoming or 
 absolute fault, know well that the moment you LEARN THE 
 LESSON or correct the fault the experience will no longer be 
 needed and it will pass away. Perhaps you lack faith or pa- 
 tience or love, or you are given to the love of money; for we 
 do not have to be rich to love money, there are many more poor 
 than rich who love it. No one but yourself can put a finger on 
 the sore spot ; but when once you have found it go to work dili- 
 gently, with all your heart, to correct the fault. 
 
 Rest sure in the love of your Father-in-heaven who has 
 said that "Not one of these little ones shall perish," No mat- 
 ter how little you are in your own mind, after you have scraped 
 off the barnacles that are sinking you beneath the waters, no 
 
112 LETTERS FROM THE TEACHER. 
 
 matter how heavy your burden, your Heavenly Father (who is 
 your own Higher Self) will not let you perish. He will take 
 away the lesson as soon as it is learned and will give you an- 
 other which may require better physical conditions. 
 
 May 17th, 1908. 
 
 "I am sure that I am growing, yet have experienced much 
 darkness. I try to believe, I do believe, that the darkness is 
 
 just as natural as the light to the growing plant This 
 
 self, the Watcher of the Threshold, I find a terrible monster, 
 and seemingly, all but impossible to overcome. Yet while the 
 fight goes on am slowly learning to say and live the words, 
 'Thy will be done'." 
 
 You should not think of the darkness even as a night, or 
 as a trial, but as a necessary condition for growth. The seed 
 will never take root unless it is buried in the darkness of the 
 earth. If you could penetrate the consciousness of a growing 
 plant you would find that, while it spends a time blindly search- 
 ing for light, sending out strong, firm roots hunting here and 
 there in the dark earth, there will come a time later on when it 
 will have gathered the consciousness necessary to send up its 
 sprout into the light. It will then recognize that the period of 
 darkness was the most important step; for without good, firm 
 roots it would be withered by the sunshine; yet the sunshine 
 was what it was seeking all the time. While the seed was still 
 down in the darkness of the earth it was the same sun that was 
 giving it life and power and drawing its sprout upward to the 
 light while it was still mercifully shielded by the earth from 
 the too strong beams of the light itself. 
 
 You are often told to live close to Nature, yet very few 
 understand the significance of that injunction. It does not 
 necessarily mean living in a tent or sleeping on the ground; 
 but it does mean correlating your consciousness with Nature, 
 trying through meditation to enter into the phases of natural 
 growth and development, recognizing the similarity and the 
 oneness of all growth. In Nature you will find an explanation of 
 every experience through which you pass. The man who has 
 learned the great lesson of resting on the bosom of the Great 
 Mother, Nature, and breathing in unison with her, pulsating 
 with her heart-beats, is the one who lives close to Nature, no 
 matter whether he is in the midst of the whirling business life 
 of a great city or dwells, as Cowper puts it, in "A lodge in 
 some vast wilderness, far from the evil haunts of men. ' ' 
 
SPIRITUAL GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT. 113 
 
 Learn the lesson of living close to Nature and you will 
 find that the Dweller, whom you have confused with the Watch- 
 er or Guardian the Guardian being something entirely differ- 
 ent will be no more to you than are the cold winter blasts and 
 other material enemies of growth that are conquered not by 
 fighting them, but by a persistent drawing to yourself of the 
 Life Eternal out of the very elements of discord. Nothing in 
 the nature of man is inherently evil; it is only evil through its 
 misuse, and the evils that are attached to it. Determine to de- 
 liver it from evil, and to find The Christ force within EVERY 
 temptation and everything that assails you, knowing full well 
 that these things are the portion of goods that have been given 
 you by your Father at your request your just belongings that 
 you have deserved and out of which you must create your im- 
 mortal habitation. Not one thing must be lost or wasted or 
 destroyed ; but each must be transmuted and its golden potency 
 indrawn and built into the immortal Temple of the Living 
 Christ. This is the meaning of the sentence in the Lord's 
 Prayer, " deliver us from evil.' 1 
 
 May 30th, 1908. 
 
 "Am surprised to find myself in the 4th Degree. Was it 
 due to my number of evolution, and if so how was it deter- 
 mined? So many writers assert 'I am God. I am That I am.' 
 I cannot grasp their meaning." 
 
 You are in the 4th Degree because you have reached that 
 point in evolution. That is, you have reached the point where 
 you have the conscious desire to seek for Wisdom and are feel- 
 ing around for some guiding hand to point out The Path. In 
 this you have fulfilled the first requirement of the Law, "Seek 
 and ye shall find; knock and it shall be opened unto you." 
 Therefore do not be surprised that the cry of your heart has 
 found listening ears, or that the hand you sought is touch- 
 ing yours. 
 
 The "I" is the Higher Self, the overshadowing Father-in- 
 heaven. It is the True Self in that it is the Ego a Spark of 
 the Infinite incarnating again and again in an animal body 
 for the purpose of gaining experience in matter and, through 
 its informing physical atoms in an earthly body, to help redeem 
 (spiritualize) matter. The whole body and its organs is but 
 an ephemeral, transitory conglomeration of atoms, created and 
 gathered together by the Beal Self to use as a vehicle very 
 much as a man might make or create a garment to wear for a 
 
114 LETTERS FROM THE TEACHER. 
 
 certain purpose and for a certain time. The body wears out 
 and is cast aside just as the garment is, and a new one put on ; 
 but the Self never changes. It gains more experience and 
 needs a better garment from time to time until, finally, it 
 masters the matter which makes up its physical garments and 
 immortalizes it so that the personality is swallowed up in 
 the Individuality; the mortal puts on immortality and be- 
 comes one with its Father-in-heaven. The animal body, how- 
 ever, has a consciousness of its own which is always striv- 
 ing to rule the organism instead of the Higher Self. Until 
 the Higher Self has gained full control it is often trampled 
 under foot and The Christ force crucified. When passion 
 and desire, with the bit in their teeth, dash the personality 
 recklessly down the hill of sensual pleasures, disease and 
 death naturally result; but the moment the Real Self as- 
 serts its prerogatives and grasps the reins the personality 
 will become the useful servant, and passion and desire, not 
 killed out but controlled, will trot quietly along in the har- 
 ness of service, obedient to the Master's will. 
 
 The Ego may be looked upon as the Soul, while the Spirit 
 is the overshadowing Divinity. As we have said before, the 
 Soul is a Spark from the Infinite, while the Spirit is the Flame. 
 The Spirit is the Breath of the Absolute ; it has no individual- 
 ity. Just as you might light a thousand candles with the same 
 flame without detracting from it, yet each new flame would be 
 individualized, so with Souls. Souls are all Sparks of the 
 One Flame. 
 
 May 12th, 1908. 
 
 "I am a member of the Society and it is no doubt 
 
 very presumptious in me to feel dissatisfied so soon. I have 
 been a member only about a year and a half but I feel restless 
 yet I am devoted to the teachings." 
 
 All teachings that bring to humanity a knowledge of the 
 higher truths and that awaken an interest in spiritual develop- 
 ment are useful ; but individual Souls need special lines of in- 
 struction. Some find help under one teacher, some under an- 
 other, and if your Higher Self knows that the one from whom 
 you are striving to learn is not the most helpful one for you, 
 you will be impressed with a feeling of dissatisfaction. Yet 
 this does not mean that the teachings you have been receiving 
 are not excellent for a certain stage of growth and just what 
 you needed at one time. The great lesson to learn is to follow 
 
SPIRITUAL GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT. 115 
 
 the leadings of your Higher Self and take for yourself what 
 appeals to you and helps you. But be just as ready to concede 
 to others the right to choose for themselves. Try to realize 
 that they too have the guidance of their Higher Self, and if 
 they are receiving help from any source that is the step needed 
 by them at that time. 
 
 If at any time you feel dissatisfied with the teachings re- 
 ceived from this source you must apply the same rule. That 
 which you need will appeal to you. One thing may appeal to 
 you today and in a month or a year you may grow away from 
 it. If you are sincere and earnest, this merely indicates that 
 you have learned one lesson and must look elsewhere for the 
 next. For this reason no lasting vows should ever be given or 
 required. The only vow that a Neophyte can give is one to 
 his Higher Self to follow unfalteringly wherever the Star of 
 Initiation leads. No earthly teacher can ever take him more 
 than a step along The Path; but his own Higher Self will guide 
 him all the way if he only listens to the Still Small Voice. 
 
 May 7th, 1908. 
 "You spoke of certain stages where the neophyte could not 
 
 be helped by teachers, etc. Will you please explain? 
 
 The thought of a student class is undoubtedly most laudable 
 but I must meet its leaders and know more of their personnel 
 and that of the members before feeling assured that affiliation 
 is the right step for me. I want to study with those who pos- 
 sess a clear insight and through whom my growth may be accel- 
 erated, not impeded." 
 
 A student is never left to stumble along alone; for the 
 unseen Helpers are always near to guide and direct. But 
 there are times when certain characters need to be left alone, 
 not to themselves, but to their unseen Teachers. They need to 
 seek and find in The Silence the Truth. Only when they have 
 done this are they ready to accept it when presented outwardly. 
 If they are over-fed with outer help, so-called; told to do this 
 or that, it only upsets them and retards their progress. Gen- 
 erally the rough and thorny way of struggle and sorrow is due 
 to a lack of realization that within each earnest heart there is 
 The Christ center, and that "I (the Christ within) am the Way, 
 the Truth and the Life : no man cometh unto the Father, but by 
 me, " i. e. through the revealed Christ-power within. 
 
 Having found within your own heart a well-spring of love 
 and faith and life, it is not of much moment who or what your 
 co-laborers in the class are ; for YOU come to bring the Light 
 
116 LETTERS FROM THE TEACHER. 
 
 that YOU have found within to share with them. Once found 
 nothing can dim that Light, and it does not matter if the per- 
 sonalities of the members do not meet your expectations per- 
 haps you do not meet theirs for YOU know that you are not 
 dealing with the outer personalities, but that YOU can see 
 beyond into the heart of each. If you go with this attitude the 
 divine Light of The Christos will spread from heart to heart, 
 and all will be benefited by your presence. Remember that you 
 do not go merely to acquire knowledge for yourself alone and 
 
 give nothing in return If you cannot put your thoughts 
 
 into words and enter into the discussion of the lesson, you can 
 nevertheless fill the room with loving and helpful thoughts and 
 give encouragement and help to the faithful ones who are 
 trying to help you, even though, like yourself, they feel that 
 they have much to learn. 
 
 "During the past two years have been passing through a 
 condition of darkness, sorrow and pain, as though much of the 
 past were being forced upon me. Why is this?" 
 
 Your condition of spiritual darkness is the result of a 
 natural law pertaining to spiritual development. When the 
 neophyte starts out in earnest to become a disciple the first 
 thing that happens is that, by the very effort to separate from 
 the world, he becomes more sensitive and the world's conditions 
 press more heavily upon him. Also, the Karma that might 
 under the old conditions, be spread out over many years, or 
 even lives, is willingly taken up by the Soul; for it has deter- 
 mined to overcome. Whether the personality is aware of it 
 or not, the Soul or Higher Self has consciously taken upon 
 itself the redeeming of all the old mistakes NOW, AT ONCE. 
 Nearly always the first effect of any decided step along The 
 Path is depressing. A recognition of the world's misery weighs 
 upon the sensitive consciousness and a great loneliness and 
 helplessness surrounds the disciple, because he has separated 
 from the old and has not yet made conscious correlation with 
 the new. He has answered the call "Come ye out, and be ye 
 separate/' yet he has not realized the inner peace or felt the 
 loving compassion of his Guide and Savior, his True Self. 
 
 It is this experience which is symbolized by the death and 
 burial and the lying in the grave for three days. The three 
 days do not refer to any period of time ; for you lie in the grave 
 until the completion of three periods which, for convenience, 
 we will call sunrises. The Sun of Righteousness must rise for 
 
SPIRITUAL GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT. 11? 
 
 you upon three days or conditions. First, it must illumine your 
 understanding. It must penetrate into the grave of despond- 
 ency and loss of hope and show you why you are dead and 
 buried. Second, it must illumine your consciousness so that 
 the realization of your Father's nearness and guidance shall 
 become a reality. Then the grave, with all its horrors will 
 become endurable; for you know that you must pass through 
 this experience ere the new life can begin. As St. John puts it 
 (XII-24) : " Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and 
 die, it abideth alone : but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. ' ' 
 You realize that you must lie there without struggling or com- 
 plaining, just as the grain does, until the Spirit working in you 
 can bring you forth anew. Third, the Sun of Righteousness must 
 illumine your heart. That is, the love that passeth understand- 
 ing must dawn within you so that you can love all things, all 
 men, and all conditions, and be able to cry out, "0 death, 
 where is thy sting? grave, where is thy victory?" On the 
 third day, very early in the morning, ye shall rise from the 
 grave and become a Child of the Resurrection. Remember that 
 the days, like the days of creation, each have their morning, 
 their noon- tide and their evening; and it was very early in the 
 morning of the THIRD day, ere it was yet light, that The Christ 
 arose from the tomb. 
 
 There is a wonderful significance in the expression "very 
 early in the morning" that will be referred to in our lesson on 
 EARTH'S FINER FORCES. Until you receive that lesson we 
 trust this short explanation of why you are passing through 
 such darkness will give you strength to lie quietly in the grave, 
 in loving trust, until the morning of the THIRD day dawns for 
 you and the Spirit brings you forth anew. 
 
 In your case you have been learning some very deep lessons 
 and must have time to digest them and correlate them with 
 your life. For until you have been tried and have proven your 
 strength you cannot bring forth the harvest. The greater the 
 work laid out for a neophyte, the greater the necessity for thor- 
 ough testing. This is a merciful law, for the suffering and evil 
 Karma would be much worse to bear if you were given a great 
 opportunity and failed for lack of proper training; for, of ne- 
 cessity, you would draw others down with you. One by one the 
 things that hold you back are being taken from you, and your 
 
118 LETTERS FROM THE TEACHER. 
 
 whole character is being tested and tried. Fight on, brave 
 Soul. You have our love, our help and our encouragement. 
 
 May 19th, 1908. 
 
 "I have been exceedingly busy as I am employed in a hard- 
 ware store and it keeps me busy so that when night 
 
 comes I am worn out so that it is very difficult to concentrate 
 
 and gather my thoughts I long to know, but at present 
 
 I cannot as I am under this strain, but I am hoping that I shall 
 soon be in a position where all is peaceful and quiet." 
 
 So many students are in a position similar to yours, so 
 busy that everything but bread-and-butter winning seems 
 crowded out. This is partly the result of the false standards of 
 business and the methods which give no chance for the poor 
 man to get ahead, because the man with money is king. But 
 behind it all there is a Karma working itself out collectively in 
 the masses of humanity, and individually in its units. No man 
 is in the wrong place. This does not mean that the man who 
 finds himself in the position of under-dog should not try to 
 better himself. There is only one way to effectually bring 
 about a better condition, and that is for him to recognize that 
 he is where he is because the Soul, or Higher Self, realizes that 
 there is some important lesson to learn which those conditions 
 can teach better than any other, and set to work to learn that 
 lesson. No mental or faith-cure for poverty can in reality lift 
 him out of his condition. It can, if applied to the exclusion of 
 all other desires, bring him riches for a time ; that is, if he is 
 willing to give up learning the lesson which his Higher Self has 
 set for him to learn and for which the path of his present in- 
 carnation was especially mapped out, and devotes his whole de- 
 sire to obtaining wealth. He will get it, but he will have to 
 come back and learn the lesson, perhaps at a time when the 
 learning will be far harder. 
 
 You are beginning to realize that conditions do not really 
 retard, but are intended to make you THINK and take account 
 of stock. First, try to determine what lesson you must learn, 
 then take it determinedly to heart until you have conquered. 
 The world's Karma limits individual Karma; but within those 
 limits individual Karma places you either high or low. We de- 
 sire to help each student to live the best he can in his karmic 
 position, and to help him understand himself so that he can use 
 this earth life as a stepping-stone to something higher. We do 
 not desire impossibilities. We know that no man has conditions 
 
SPIRITUAL GROWTH AND DEVfiLOPMEKfT. 119 
 
 given to him that he does not need, and that the moment he gets 
 out of a condition its highest good he is rid of it forever. We 
 aim to help all to find the Jewel of Truth in the mire of their 
 existence, and to make their lives more tolerable because less 
 mysterious and crushing. Nothing that we understand can 
 crush or terrify us ; for we can set out to overcome it without 
 fear. You may remember the story of the great naturalist who, 
 while watching a butterfly emerge from its chrysalis, was 
 moved to cut some of the confining sheath by pity at its violent 
 struggles to free itself. But when the butterfly emerged he 
 found it but a poor, weak, crippled thing unable to fly. He was 
 forced to see that the very violence of the struggle for freedom 
 was necessary for the perfection of its strength and self-reli- 
 ance. It is just so with each human Soul in its struggle to free 
 itself from the chrysalis of the physical. The greater the 
 struggle, if persisted in to victory, the stronger and more self- 
 reliant will be the new-born Soul. 
 
 March 6th, 1908. 
 
 "But in the existence of free will can you show me that it 
 exists to any considerable degree? I know that it is the teach- 
 ing of both secularists and occultists, but in its application to 
 life I have yet to learn its range of action. I do not, and cannot, 
 philosophically, believe in the final loss of a single spark of 
 divinity yet if free-will existed such a loss follows as a matter 
 of course. Is it free, or free within limits?" 
 
 As to free-will, each and every Soul is but a separated part 
 of the One Life, and as such its highest aspect has but the Will 
 of the Father, i. e. to do His will on earth in a separated body 
 as it is done in the bosom of the Father. As it gets more and 
 more immersed in matter the True Self sets up many side issues 
 as it were (see lesson on REINCARNATION) ; makes many 
 new karmic debts. And while the True Self never changes in 
 its desire and will to be reunited to the Father, yet the lower 
 or animal consciousness (the sum of the consciousness of the 
 atoms composing the various bodies through which the Soul 
 has garnered experience) has set up a will of its own. This 
 has crystallized into an entity with a will opposed to the Will of 
 the Real Self. This lower will is not free, for it can, and in- 
 deed must, ultimately, be subservient to the Will of the Real 
 Self. 
 
 But perhaps this does not answer your question ; for prob- 
 ably what you mean by free-will is freedom of choice as to the 
 
ISO LETTERS FROM THE TEACHER. 
 
 guidance of the environments and experiences of life. But, 
 my son, in this case as in the former, there is absolute free-will 
 for the Real Self. For, as I have said, being a separated part 
 of the whole, the desire is to gain such experiences as shall fit 
 it to fill the place which is its own in the Temple of Truth. At 
 each incarnation the Soul chooses such an expression in the 
 earth life as shall give the best opportunity to gain the needed 
 knowledge. The Soul will not that the perishable mortal body 
 of flesh shall skim gaily through its allotted time ; for only too 
 well does the Soul know the dangers of such care-free lives and 
 the depressing lines of Karma that result, and which must be 
 worked out ere it can go on with other needed experiences ; it 
 wills to suffer and conquer and learn. After the result of each 
 petty life-period is garnered the Soul creates a new path in 
 which to walk, perhaps even more strenuous than those already 
 traversed. The Soul sees what is needed to impress the most 
 important lessons upon the true consciousness; for the Soul 
 never has experiences that are not needed. It wills to learn, 
 and when the lesson is learned and the experience assimilated, 
 it wills to experience something else ; and so on and on, until a 
 consciousness of ALL conditions on the earth plane is garnered 
 into the storehouse of the Real Self. 
 
 April 13th, 1908. 
 
 "I find myself so much out of touch with the community 
 here who are thoroughly saturated with church dogmas re- 
 garding forgiveness of sins and reducing Deity to physical plane 
 dimensions that it would be very selfish in me to wish the gap 
 made wider. I am doing what little I can to assist some to a 
 larger conception without producing chaos in their minds." 
 
 All manifestations of life, from atom to cosmos, are in a 
 circle. This is as true of the spiritual life-wave of a community 
 as of any of the lower forms of life. You feel that because you 
 have some conception of truth in advance of your neighbors 
 that you are separated from them, and you fear to take another 
 step lest the separation grow wider. I know your difficulty is 
 a real one, and that from your standpoint you do not see that 
 there is extreme egotism in the supposition that you are so far 
 in advance that in kindness and condescension you will not 
 make the gap wider. Just for a moment try to grasp the idea 
 of a circle with you and your neighbors disposed in various 
 positions on its outer rim. Naturally, as you cannot see around 
 the circle, the man at the opposite pole seems hopelessly sepa- 
 rated from you. But if you will consider the manifestations of 
 
SPIRITUAL GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT. 121 
 
 life you will find that within the circle of manifestation there 
 is a germinal point or nucleus, and that from this central point 
 all growth proceeds; that the radiating lines of force spread 
 out and touch all points of the circumference at the same time. 
 Therefore, any nutriment or knowledge no matter of what 
 type applied to one point would be gradually absorbed by the 
 germinal point, and from thence would radiate to all parts of 
 the circle. A community is just such a circle. Its thought and 
 spiritual ideas have crystallized and have poured their force 
 into the germinal point, and that point can give out only such 
 food as corresponds with the stimulus from the outer rim de- 
 manding a certain kind of response. If any point on the circle 
 should open its consciousness to a higher rate of vibration or 
 correlate with more advanced truth, i. e. should live The Christ 
 life, the absolute Law of Harmony must advance all the rest, 
 even without a word being spoken, that is, IF THE TRUTH 
 RECEIVED IS ASSIMILATED AND EXPRESSED IN THE 
 LIFE as vital growth. You must "live the life." 
 
 The very truth of the conditions you so much deplore 
 shows that there is a hunger, a reaching out for light. All true 
 growth proceeds from the center. What comes from the heart 
 touches the heart. No one can give spiritual force to another 
 until he has made it a part of himself; for as long as the "great 
 heresy of separateness" holds sway over your mind you are in 
 bondage to the lower self. Find the center within your own 
 heart and you will soon find that you are closer to all humanity, 
 rather than more separate. If your object is merely to be con- 
 sidered a saint, then failure and sorrow is your inevitable 
 portion. 
 
 June 1st, 1908. 
 
 "Your communication of nearly a month ago has been very 
 carefully considered, and I have waited for the out- 
 come and believe that the leading of the Higher Self has 
 prompted me to take up the work of the Order. Upon my 
 suggestion wrote you and we may find oth- 
 ers to join us, but until then we would like to think of our- 
 selves as a little nucleus, a little attracting center, working for 
 the development of the best within ourselves and humanity." 
 
 We appreciate your attitude of devotion to the Higher 
 Life, and we are glad that you have realized the only way 
 really to help humanity is to take hold of that morsel of hu- 
 manity over which you have been given command, (your vari- 
 ous bodies and all pertaining to them, the portion of goods 
 
UJ LETTERS F&OM THE TEACHER. 
 
 belonging to you given to you by your Father ere you took 
 your journey into this far country of earth life) and begin by 
 redeeming it. That is the only way to make an impression and 
 help accomplish the work. If we try to lift up the whole mass 
 we are crushed under its weight and become hopelessly dis- 
 couraged by the vastness of the task. It is like trying to break 
 a great bundle of twigs all at once. But, to find, as a Soul 
 reality, that the "I and my brother are one" and then set to 
 work within the Self to seek and to save that which is lost, is 
 to create a center or home in which The Christ can manifest a 
 fit Temple for the Living God (your Higher Self) to dwell in 
 among men. 
 
 This is the sure, in fact the only true, way to become an 
 agent of the Masters. We are apt to speak lightly, or at least 
 without understanding, of the body as the Temple of the Living 
 God, but a few moments meditation on the subject each day 
 will open up wonderous vistas of The Path to Mastery. A Holy 
 Temple must not only have its sacred shrine wherein The Pres- 
 ence dwelleth ; but it must also have its attendant High Priest 
 and High Priestess, its daily sacrifice, its feasts and its fasts of 
 purification; and over and above all, it must make its impres- 
 sion upon the community. Think back over the ages and see 
 how the rise and fall of civilizations has followed the purity or 
 the pollution of the Temples and the worship. Enumerate them 
 and you will find an exact analogy to the effect on a com- 
 munity of one purified human temple with its worship of the 
 Living God, be it in apparently ever so humble an human body. 
 When two or three such are gathered together the promise 
 must fulfill itself: "Behold, there am I (The Christos) in the 
 midst. " 
 
 Jan. 21st, 1908. 
 
 "Will you kindly tell me whether this philosophy will re- 
 veal to me why there seems to be so much demand for self- 
 sacrifice with apparently so little return?" 
 
 This philosophy will at least show you what the Real Self 
 is. And once you become acquainted with, or even begin to 
 realize, your Real Self you will know that there can be no self- 
 sacrifice. All lower forms of self are but expressions of the 
 One Self, and must be indrawn into the One Self. The lower 
 selves are like the outer husks of the seed which are dissolved 
 and their substance indrawn to form nourishment for the seed, 
 to enrich it and enable it to grow and blossom. If you choose 
 
SPIRITUAL GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT. 123 
 
 to call promoting the growth and blossoming in that way self- 
 sacrifice, it must remain that for you for the present. But if 
 you call it growth and unf oldment, the return is happiness and 
 a greater fulness of life. 
 
 May 5th, 1908. 
 
 "I hesitate to take a step which may place me in the light 
 of an example, lest I fail in some way that would bring re- 
 proach upon the work." 
 
 As to failings, we all have them. The greatest example the 
 world can have is to see a brave Soul struggling to do right. 
 A perfect man perfect in his own estimation if such an one 
 could be found, perfect and immaculately moral and correct in 
 every outward seeming, would help the world very little. It is 
 those who are honest with themselves; who know their own 
 weaknesses yet are striving to conquer ; who recognize that 
 they are not above their fellow men ; who are capable of feeling 
 a sympathetic thrill with every failing and can grasp a 
 brother's hand and from the heart encourage him to struggle 
 onward, because they themselves are still struggling; they are 
 the ones who are the real examples. Apply this test to any 
 earthly contest and you will see that it is not the one who is 
 perfect, who knows it all, who helps ; but it is the one who is 
 struggling with all his strength for supremacy who awakens 
 the spirit of endeavor in his comrades. 
 
 June 15th, 1908. 
 
 "I am becoming unpleasantly sensitive to all conditions; 
 today I am on the heights and tomorrow in the depths of de- 
 spair and misery. Can you tell me how to gain more poise?" 
 
 Poise is not the stoical indifference to pain and pleasure ; 
 but rather rising above it. We never reach a point where the 
 waves of force generated by the opposite poles, pain and pleas- 
 ure, cannot reach us ; but we can rise above them so they cannot 
 sweep us from one extreme to another. It is like riding on a 
 see-saw: those on the ends are lifted now high in the air and 
 now are bumped on the ground ; but a person standing in the 
 middle and balancing it has absolute control of both extremi- 
 ties without being moved to any appreciable extent in either 
 direction. To enjoy intensely carries with it, as the opposite 
 swing of the pendulum, the power to suffer to a corresponding 
 degree. Poise is the ability to remain calm at the center, and, 
 while recognizing and understanding both the greatest joy and 
 the greatest sorrow, not be carried to either extreme. 
 
 Ere a disciple can conquer he must become more than ordi- 
 
124 LETTERS FROM THE TEACHER. 
 
 narily sensitive; must be capable of vibrating more intensely 
 than his imagination can picture at lower stages of develop- 
 ment. No Soul can enter into the joy of the Lord, i. e. have an 
 illuminating sense of the glory of The Christos, until that Soul 
 has become like a quivering bundle of nerves, capable of regis- 
 tering the extremes of sensation. But with this extreme sen- 
 sitiveness must come the power to control it ; the ability to hold 
 still and not be moved ; in fact, to master sensation. To control 
 sensation is the first step toward Mastery. Until this step 
 has been taken all others are barred by the very laws of 
 Nature ; for the seat of sensation is in the astral body which is 
 the path of communication between the physical and the spir- 
 itual. Hence, until the Soul can consciously walk this path 
 without fear and without reproach, steady and calm, the dis- 
 ciple can never reach into the spiritual realms. 
 
 You can gain a good idea of what we mean if you will 
 study the needle of a compass that is badly poised (centered). 
 Such a needle is called "sluggish," that is, it is not easily set 
 in motion ; but when it is it rushes madly around the circle and 
 probably gets wedged or stuck. At most it will fail to settle 
 on the N point. A highly sensitized needle, on the contrary, 
 will register every magnetic wave and will be in almost a con- 
 stant quiver; but no matter how rapid the vibration caused 
 by adverse conditions, it will scarcely move from the N point. 
 If it should be displaced it will always come back and settle 
 exactly true to the North. This, in a nut-shell, is the whole 
 lesson of poise. 
 
 April 21st, 1908. 
 
 "I have never been able to see how 'a ray from the infinite* 
 can in its essence be separated from the all-pervading whole 
 and require any working out of its own redemption. To me 
 the working out of a personal salvation partakes of the nature 
 of selfishness which is the principal cause of present world 
 troubles." 
 
 In answer to your query let me give you a parable. Two 
 men were ship-wrecked in the night while they slept, and were 
 cast upon a desert island. One, upon gaining consciousness, 
 was very much concerned as to how he got there, so he spent 
 his time sitting around trying to solve the problem. The other 
 man was just as much puzzled ; but instead of sitting down to 
 think it out, he started at once to find out what kind of an 
 island he had landed upon and how he was going to live there 
 most comfortably. He was so busy with this that he had very 
 
SPIRITUAL GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT. 125 
 
 little time to worry about how he got there. He built a- hut, 
 found food and water, and finally discovered a mine of pure 
 gold. He also found a means of signalling and making 
 his distress known. In the fulness of time a ship saw his sig- 
 nals and took him home to civilization. There he found out all 
 about how he got on the island where he had learned so many 
 valuable lessons; and, moreover, he was very rich. He then 
 realized that his experience on the island was for his best good 
 after all, even though he could not see it at the time. 
 
 The other man pined away and died in hunger and misery 
 because he could not solve the problem of how he got on the 
 island. Which of these men think you, was the wiser? He who 
 made the best of things, using all the powers and intelligence 
 he had and waiting until he got to a point where knowledge of 
 the "why" was possible, or he who made himself miserable be- 
 cause he wanted knowledge that could not be given him until 
 he himself had found a way to reach the necessary point? 
 
 Thus must it be with mankind. Solve the problems that 
 confront you here and now and the higher problems that be- 
 long to the Infinite leave until your finite mind becomes ab- 
 sorbed into the Infinite, when all things will be made plain. 
 
 When it is once grasped that the working out of a personal 
 salvation is the only way really to help the world, the man who 
 neglects it is a retarder of the public good. No one can be a 
 savior until he has redeemed every atom of all the bodies, 
 (physical, mental and spiritual) committed to his care. These 
 are the portion of goods belonging to him given to him at his 
 own request by his Father-in-heaven ere he took his long 
 journey into this "far country" of physical embodiment. If 
 one fails to see the necessity for caring for and redeeming his 
 goods, he must eat husks with the swine until he is ready to 
 say : ' ' I will arise and go to my Father. ' ' 
 
 You say you are willing to take light from any source; 
 then look for the light of The Christ that shines within your 
 own heart. Dig among the refuse and uncover the Flame and 
 set it upon a candlestick that the light may shine before men. 
 
 Jan. 9th, 1908. 
 
 "I feel the need of guidance and protection in treading the 
 narrow path between subjective mediumship on the one hand 
 and 'quenching of the spirit' on the other. I have had dreams 
 and visions of a marked character, some of which seem like ini- 
 
126 LETTERS FROM THE TEACHER. 
 
 tiations. Also some psychic experiences I have never 
 
 had from anyone an explanation of them, or personal instruc- 
 tion in these matters." 
 
 I would like you to write down carefully just what your 
 brain mind was able to register of the initiations through which 
 you seem to have passed. You have realized the truth that it 
 is, indeed, a narrow path between subjective mediumship and 
 the ' ' quenching of the spirit. ' ' This is the ' ' Bridge of Swords ' ' 
 over which Mahomet crossed the abyss ere he entered paradise. 
 Every true disciple of the Masters of Wisdom must walk this 
 path. There is no other bridge across that terrible abyss ; but 
 each of the Masters has crossed it and They are waiting with 
 loving encouragement on the other side. They have fastened a 
 three-fold cord all the way across. Hold fast to it and your 
 feet will not slip in the darkness, nor will the monsters of the 
 deep have power to frighten you. This three-fold cord is Love, 
 Trust and Obedience. Your loving Father waits patiently for 
 you on the brink and sends out His voice to you through the 
 darkness ; a still small voice, yet it sounds in your heart like the 
 sound of many waters. If you listen it will swallow up all 
 other sounds and will say to you, "Lo! I am with thee, even 
 unto the end. Fear thou not!" But, dear child, full well do 
 we know the way is lonely and your human heart cries out for 
 companionship. You have reached a point where you shall 
 meet and know your fellow travelers on The Path. Therefore 
 I say unto thee : Open thine understanding and heed the words 
 I have spoken. Follow the dictates of your intuition; for no 
 matter if your earthly brain does forget, your Soul KNOWS 
 and can make no mistake. 
 
 In the early days of the Theosophical movement it was 
 necessary to warn disciples against psychicism because of the 
 many dangers that beset the way, knowing full well that THE 
 REAL MYSTIC could not be quenched. Unfortunately, how- 
 ever, these well meant warnings were so embellished by the 
 
 later followers of H. P. B by those who knew least 
 
 about such experiences and who became most rabid and bitter 
 against anyone who apparently took a step beyond their own 
 
 dense, materialistic ideas that there was great danger 
 
 of " quenching of the spirit/' This is one of the reasons for 
 this Movement, namely, that all who are able to perceive spir- 
 itually may have the personal help necessary in treading the 
 1 'Bridge of Swords/' 
 
SPIRITUAL GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT. 127 
 
 March 3rd, 1908. 
 
 "How can I increase my love for my 'fellow man?' when 
 the very sight of some of them gives me the 'creeps'? Now I 
 do not mean the unfortunates. I do seem to love the outcast, 
 the tramp, the generally unlovely! But people of refinement, 
 even one member of my own family, I just dread to hear her 
 footstep and dislike her personality so that I could almost 
 scream when I hear her coming. Many a time I go out of 
 the house and stay out as long as I can just to avoid looking 
 at her. I feel condemned." 
 
 As to what you say about increasing your love for your 
 fellow man, the best way is to forget all about those who upset 
 you and think only of The Christ love and draw near to that. 
 Keep away from those who are absolutely repugnant to you if 
 possible ; for there is always a good reason. If you think con- 
 tinually of those who only arouse the evil side of your nature 
 you retard your growth, and most likely increase their natural 
 antagonism. If you cannot do this, determine that you will 
 create a wall of force around yourself that nothing inharmoni- 
 ous or unlovely can pierce ; that you will not speak an unkind 
 word; that you are too well balanced and surrounded with im- 
 mortal love to allow anything that is outside to affect you. 
 Repeat tke HEALING PRAYER and realize that you ARE 
 filled with "Life and Love and Purity/ 1 and that you will give 
 out nothing but those forces to anyone with whom you come 
 in contact. 
 
 If anything inharmonious arises, be sure that it is some- 
 thing outside yourself, then calmly ignore it. Generally there 
 is some condition brought over from a past life that must be 
 worked out in your present environment. If you realize that 
 you will have to endure until you learn the lesson of equanim- 
 ity and grow above their power to disquiet, you will at once 
 find an improvement. It has been said that people are neither 
 our friends nor our enemies, only our teachers; and we may 
 make things worse by trying to force conditions instead of 
 learning the lesson they have to teach. Hold the attitude of 
 always being ready to help whenever your help is needed. 
 
 July 25th. 
 "I am a member of a New Thought Church and the classes 
 
 and teachings of the same I have done some teaching 
 
 along New Thought lines and am considered very advanced and 
 
 strong by my associates there During the last year 
 
 I seem to have no vitality or enthusiasm over any- 
 thing. I first thought it was a physical condition, but physical 
 
128 LETTERS FROM THE TEACHER. 
 
 remedies do not abolish it. Besides, for many years now my 
 mind has been able to make me forget and overcome my body. 
 My mind seems to be unable to give me the stimulus it used 
 to. I have to constantly fight depression. There are no mate- 
 rial causes for this mental heaviness Perhaps you may 
 
 think it is a case of mental indigestion, but I have tried rest 
 for my mind, but it only makes these attacks of numbness more 
 pronounced. Is there any knowledge which can help me?" 
 
 You ask for help and the Law is that all who ask must re- 
 ceive ; but we feel that we cannot help you much without up- 
 setting some of your preconceived ideas, and we know from 
 sad experience that this is not a pleasant task. But when one 
 asks we can but give the food the Master has given us to dis- 
 tribute. It is but two loaves of bread and five small fishes, and 
 those who cannot eat bread and fish may have to go away 
 hungry; but for those who can eat and be filled with such food 
 they are more than welcome. 
 
 You complain of a lack of vitality and enthusiasm ; let us 
 look for the cause. The whole trend of the so-called New 
 Thought is to deify mind, to make mind supreme. As you put it, 
 the mind has been trained to forget and overcome the body. 
 That is all very well, BUT what if the mind itself grows ex- 
 hausted? What if it reaches a point of development where it 
 has emptied itself? Where constant affirmations and strenuous 
 thought forces have ceased to satisfy? where the mind refuses 
 longer to sit upon the throne it has usurped? where the mind 
 has awakened to a knowledge that it is but a vehicle, a servant, 
 and cries out for help and guidance? This is the point that you 
 have reached, and nothing can help you but a recognition of 
 this truth. 
 
 Instead of bowing down to mind, listen for the Still Small 
 Voice that speaks in the " Soundless sound. " What was it that 
 led you to come to us for help? Whatever it was listen to it 
 again and ask it if this advice is good. You are hungry for 
 Divine Love and the guidance of your Father-in-heaven. You 
 have reached the parting of the ways and must choose the table 
 from which you will eat henceforth. If the morsel of food you 
 receive herewith is acceptable to you we would be pleased to 
 hear the reply you receive from the Voice. 
 
 July 28th. 
 "Do you not regard mind as God's greatest gift to man, 
 
 and the desire to cultivate it a divine instinct? ,1 feel 
 
 like a chrysalis in a state of development so reach out to 
 the light wherever I see a glimpse." 
 
SPIRITUAL GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT. 129 
 
 As to mind being God's greatest gift, we would say that 
 mind is, indeed, man's crowning gift, or, to put it differently, 
 mind is the highest step attainable for mere man. But mind or 
 Manas, the fifth principle, is dual and is called in Eastern phil- 
 osophy the higher and lower Manas. It can be attached to the 
 lower principles (Sthula Sharira or gross physical body; 
 Linga Sharira or astral body or body of sensation; Prana or 
 life-force, and Kama or animal soul) and make man an intellect- 
 ual animal, or it can be drawn upward and merged into and 
 become one with the higher principles (Buddhi, the Soul and 
 Atma, the Spirit) and form the Divine triangle something 
 more than mere human mind. Mind alone is but an instrument, 
 a tool; but mind merged into Soul and Spiritual essence be- 
 comes the Divine Indweller, the Father-in-heaven, the Higher 
 Self. In the majority of mankind mind is vacillating, occasion- 
 ally reaching up to the Divine, but again falling to earth. 
 
 To devote all one's effort to the cultivation of mind (the 
 instrument) and to set mind upon the throne of Spirit, is 
 eventually to become a mere intellectual machine ; and sooner 
 or later the mind itself rebels and forces rest and recuperation. 
 To quote Bulwer Lytton: "The soul has need of pauses of re- 
 pose, intervals of escape, not only from the fiesh, but even 
 from the mind. A man of loftiest intellect will experience times 
 when mere intellect not only fatigues him, but amidst its most 
 original conceptions, amidst its proudest triumphs, has a some- 
 thing trite and commonplace compared with one of those vague 
 intimations of a spiritual destiny which are not within the ordi- 
 nary domain of reason. ' ' We strongly recommend you to read 
 Bulwer Lytton 's A STRANGE STORY. Read it carefully, 
 recognizing that the character, Dr. Fenwick, represents mind 
 or pure intellect and reason alone ; Margrave animal man alone, 
 and Lillian the Soul, and we think you will get a new concep- 
 tion of the relative position and value of the three. 
 
 What you are pleased to term " instinct" as prompting 
 you to write to us we would give the higher name of intuition. 
 Instinct is that which guides the lower kingdoms alone, not 
 man. Instinct is that unseen guiding force of the universal 
 Life-essence that urges inanimate nature to seek for the best 
 conditions for growth, and to overcome obstacles and adapt it- 
 self to conditions until it reaches the end for which it was cre- 
 ated. It also acts in all creatures, animal man included, with 
 an incessant urge toward an end, the end for which they are 
 
130 LETTERS FROM THE TEACHER. 
 
 destined. Intuition, on the contrary, is the Voice of the Soul 
 speaking to man, who alone of all creation has reached a point 
 in evolution where mind has become dual; for many brutes 
 have mind, and a highly developed mind, but it is not dual. 
 That is, the brutes have only what we call lower Manas and 
 are guided through instinct by the Universal Mind, while man, 
 who has reached the point of development where the lower 
 mind has been overshadowed by and attached to Soul and 
 Spirit, has the guidance put into his own hands. Hence, the 
 brute thinks ; but only along lines which lead to its own well- 
 being. Man can listen to the dictates of a higher Will and can 
 fashion his mind after the Divine, or we might put it that the 
 brute is guided by an Universal Mind outside of itself while 
 man has his source of guidance within himself and is individu- 
 ally responsible for the result. 
 
 The chrysalis which you feel enfolding you is the effort of 
 the mind to draw away from the lower fields of mere intellect- 
 ual activity, and the struggling into the Divine Light where 
 the mind shall take its true place at the base of the triangle 
 whose apex is Divinity. Just as a grub, when it has fulfilled 
 its life as a grub and has garnered all the experience to be 
 gained from that state, wraps itself round with a cocoon and 
 becomes a chrysalis and drops into a lethargic sleep only to 
 awaken as a butterfly, a thing with wings capable of reach- 
 ing up into and exploring a higher element (the air), so the 
 mind shall find its wings and shall soar upward into spiritual 
 realms. The grub and the butterfly are the same creature, but 
 how different! The butterfly has not left the earth, but it is no 
 linger confined to it. So it is with the mind when wedded to 
 Soul and guided by intuition. 
 
 To laboriously cultivate the mind is well, for knowledge 
 is power; but there is a better way, the way indicated by the 
 great Master Jesus when, in speaking of The Christ principle 
 within, He said: "I am the way, the truth and the life." For 
 Christ-life is Wisdom, and Wisdom includes all knowledge. 
 When The Christ within is enthroned the Still Small Voice will 
 never desert or fail us, and ONLY THEN are all things ours, 
 all knowledge and all needed help; for your Father knoweth 
 that he have need of them be they what they may. The at- 
 tempt to avoid living The Christ-life by worshiping mind is 
 futile. "Seek ye first the kingdom of heaven and all these 
 
SPIRITUAL GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT. 131 
 
 things shall be added unto you" is not a mere platitude, but 
 the most practical of all occult directions. 
 
 Feb. 2nd, 1908. 
 
 "I should be glad if you could give me a clear explanation 
 of how I should approach the 'entering into the silence.' I 
 have been attempting this but the result so far has only been 
 to disturb my usual sound sleep and bringing into my waking 
 consciousness broken remnants of life during sleep, many of 
 which I can only associate with the working of the lower mind. 
 Also what will the remembering consist of and when is the 
 best time to make the effort? So far it has been made imme- 
 diately before going to sleep." 
 
 All that is desirable at the time of falling to sleep is to 
 compose the mind and give an upward trend to the thoughts 
 by a heart-felt prayer such as we sent you with the last lesson, 
 (the MORNING PRAYER. Ed.). Sink off to sleep as nearly 
 as possible like a little child, with a calm faith in the Father's 
 care and a feeling of brotherhood to all humanity. Should 
 there be anyone with whom you find it hard to get along, or 
 who has deeply wronged you, do not harass yourself in a vain 
 effort to think lovingly of them. Just say: "I forgive. If I 
 cannot forgive now I pray the Father to give me a forgiving 
 spirit/' In the meantime put the unforgiven one out of your 
 mind entirely; for man cannot think of wrongs without stir- 
 ring up unkind feelings, and this must never be allowed, es- 
 pecially upon going to sleep. 
 
 The time to enter into The Silence is any convenient time 
 when you can have at least ten minutes alone. If possible, 
 have the same time, the same room and the same chair; for 
 thought impresses itself upon so-called inanimate things and in 
 this way no effort is lost. Sit down comfortably, close your 
 eyes and, after repeating the PRAYER OF CONSECRATION 1 
 and adding any personal petition that your Soul dictates, 
 quietly determine that the mind shall remain blank. Then BE- 
 LIEVE that your Real Self can and will draw near and will 
 guide you if you can succeed in stilling the physical vibrations. 
 This may take time and practice, and you may fall asleep ; but 
 do not let anything discourage or worry you. If your mind 
 wanders or becomes active, bring it back and mentally repeat: 
 Silence! Silence! You will soon find that you will come from 
 this period of silence refreshed in body and mind, and that you 
 have strong impressions and a comprehension of truths that 
 
 1 Bee Appendix. 
 

 13ij LETTERS FROM THE 
 
 previously were vague. Never argue with yourself about a 
 truth heard for the first time; but mentally take it with you 
 and, before going into The Silence, lay the puzzle before your 
 Higher Self. You may not get immediate enlightenment, but 
 sooner or later you will see that the matter has cleared up and 
 apparently you have " thought it out" for yourself. You may 
 get your answer most unexpectedly from a book, a letter, a 
 lecture or a chance remark of a friend; but somehow you will 
 get your answer. Finally you will gain the power of coming 
 personally and CONSCIOUSLY into union with your Higher 
 Self, who is one with God. You will then hear the spoken 
 words that will answer every question. Do not expect this at 
 first; but hunt for the answer and be ready to recognize it 
 when given. 
 
 "I have had many psychic experiences and am 
 
 now sitting in a circle to develop into a spiritual medium. Will 
 you please help me to become a medium?" 
 
 As to your experiences, you are evidently developing the 
 ability to leave the physical body and come into contact with 
 higher planes. And right here there is a great need for caution ; 
 for the denizens of the astral plane are of many sorts, just as 
 there are entities upon the physical plane of many sorts. Un- 
 less you keep faithful watch over your " doors " some very 
 undesirable visitors may enter your aura and your conscious- 
 ness. To be what is known as a "medium" is far from desir- 
 able ; for as the term is generally used it means one who allows 
 himself to become negative and hands over his body to some 
 discarnate entity to do with as it pleases. Remember, each 
 person is held accountable and absolutely responsible both for 
 his mentality and individuality. It makes no difference 
 whether, through your negligence or ignorance, you vacate the 
 premises and another enters who misuses your organism and 
 faculties, YOU ARE STILL RESPONSIBLE. And if respons- 
 ible, it is desirable that you remain in full command and able 
 to open the "doors" to those whom you desire to enter and 
 close them to all others. The lesson on NARCOTICS, ALCO- 
 HOL AND PSYCHICISM will give you the reasons. 
 
 Every gift unfolded, however, is yours to use. But as each 
 one adds to your responsibility you must be careful to learn all 
 
SPIRITUAL GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT. 133 
 
 about the laws governing such gifts that you may use them only 
 for the glory of God. The only right way to contact the higher 
 planes is to raise the vibrations of your physical body and its 
 centers through a spiritual life, loving thoughts and helpful 
 actions, until they vibrate in harmony with the key-note of the 
 higher planes and at such a pitch that "no evil thing shall come 
 nigh thy dwelling. ' ' 
 
 There are two ways to come into touch with the higher 
 planes. The first is by vibrating to the spiritual note of love. 
 To do this you must be clothed with spiritual atoms. You thus 
 come into harmony with the spiritual plane and become aware 
 of spiritual Beings whom you are temporarily able to contact 
 because you vibrate in harmony with Them. 
 
 The second method is to make yourself negative and allow 
 your physical vibrations to be so stilled that many physical 
 atoms are easily loosened and detached and your vitality is 
 drawn upon by ANY astral NOT SPIRITUAL entity who 
 may wish to gather them and clothe himself in them and thus, 
 temporarily, vibrate to the key-note of the physical plane and 
 become temporarily recognizable on that plane. 
 
 In the first instance the whole experience will be uplifting 
 and the spiritual atoms which you have contacted and drawn 
 into your body will rejuvenate and strengthen it and will ele- 
 vate your mind and advance you on the Path of Attainment. 
 The second method will deplete and weaken your physical 
 body, enervate your nervous system, dull your mentality and 
 place a great stumbling block in your path if it does not lead 
 to insanity or moral degeneration. This can easily be verified 
 by following the history of the majority of subjective " medi- 
 ums. " They almost invariably end by becoming physical or 
 moral wrecks and find it necessary to resort to stimulants ; and 
 the stimulants, by opening still wider the "doors" and weak- 
 ening still more the control over the centers, but shortens the 
 time ere the person is ruined. 
 
 The first method is a spiritually CONSTRUCTIVE process, 
 the other a spiritually DESTRUCTIVE one. If you understand 
 these facts and the fact that most entities upon the astral plane 
 are not spiritual beings, but merely your friends with their 
 dense and outer covering or garment (the physical body) re- 
 moved, you will understand the danger of giving yourself up 
 to their use. 
 
 You would hesitate to lend your body to any of your 
 
134 LETTERS FROM THE TEACHER. 
 
 friends on earth to do with as they pleased, and the mere pass- 
 ing over makes no difference whatever; they are able to use 
 their astral faculties, which are a little finer than the physical; 
 but that is all. They are just as spiritually advanced as when 
 on earth; know just as much of the laws of life, but no more. 
 Never give them any form of worship. Simply take such advice 
 as they have to give as you would take their advice when upon 
 earth, i. e. subject to your own good judgment and common- 
 sense. 
 
 You can always be sure which of these two methods has 
 been used by the effect on the psychics' physical body. If after 
 the experience they are exhausted, tired, cross, fretful, nerv- 
 ous and uneasy, sometimes as long as a day or two, you can 
 rest assured that they have allowed some entity to absorb their 
 vital atoms and have allowed their physical vitality to clothe 
 that entity according to the DESTRUCTIVE method. If, on 
 the other hand, you find that their physical vitality is aug- 
 mented ; that a peaceful, happy and vigorous feeling remains, 
 even for days after the experience; that life seems fuller, trials 
 easier to bear and love more abundant, you can rest assured 
 that they have risen above earthly things and have been 
 clothed upon by the Spirit and have been enwrapped in spirit- 
 ual atoms, and have descended into the astral only to cull its 
 lessons for their own good and for the help of humanity. 
 
 You cannot always tell which of the above methods is be- 
 ing used from the teachings received at such a time ; for in 
 both cases the teachings may be helpful ; but the fact remains 
 that the first method is harmful to both the medium and to the 
 entity who communicates. It is more a question of HOW the 
 teachings are given than WHAT is given. No master of Wis- 
 dom, or anyone connected with The Great White Lodge, will 
 ever give out teachings or even communicate, by the second and 
 destructive method. No matter who the communicating entity 
 may CLAIM to be, it will not be a Master of Wisdom. 
 
 The first or constructive method is the form of spiritual 
 communion to be desired, not "mediumship." But do not 
 strive even for this. Let it be a NATURAL GROWTH result- 
 ing from a life filled with loving thoughts and deeds. 
 
 "I would like the House of the. Interpreter to give me con- 
 clusive evidence that man is composed of different and inde- 
 pendent entities called respectively: body, life, mind, soul, spirit. 
 It has always been my opinion that these terms designate only 
 different attributes of the organism." O. C. 
 
SPIRITUAL GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT. 135 
 
 You ask for "conclusive evidence," but you must bear in 
 mind that, even in science, what is " conclusive" to one group 
 of scientists is not to another. If by " conclusive evidence" 
 you mean that you wish us to dissect the human body before 
 your eyes and pull out life and mind and Soul as a nest of 
 Chinese boxes might be pulled one from the other, we frankly 
 admit that we cannot do it. If, however, you accept as con- 
 clusive the sort of evidence that science accepts in regard to 
 imponderable things, we can give you conclusive evidence. For 
 instance, no doubt you admit that you have a brain, altho you 
 have never seen, weighed or measured it, nor can you find any- 
 one who has ever seen, weighed or measured it. You may be- 
 lieve that you have a mind, but your own materialistic psychol- 
 ogy says that you have nothing but automatic reactions to ex- 
 ternal and internal stimuli. Science says that you cannot 
 PROVE that you exist, or that anything exists ; that all things 
 present themselves to your consciousness by their effect on 
 your sense organs, the things themselves, possibly, being quite 
 different from the report of them given by your senses. The 
 evidence that man is a complex being made up of different en- 
 tities must be judged by the manner in which your conscious- 
 ness is affected, and hence can be conclusive only to yourself. 
 No materialistic "proof" can be given. There are those, how- 
 ever, who are willing to take the word of Those who have 
 passed beyond the human stage and KNOW. This, of course, 
 is not proof to you unless certain of your sense organs can re- 
 spond to Their message. 
 
 We would not attempt to prove to you that "man is com- 
 posed of different and independent entities"; for, as body, life, 
 mind, Soul and Spirit manifest on the physical plane they are 
 not wholly independent, but closely interrelated. When the 
 life leaves the body you still have that you call "the human 
 organism," but its so-called "attributes" have disappeared; 
 the mind may depart and yet leave the organism and the life 
 functioning apparently as well as before, as seen in idiots and 
 the insane ; the Soul and the Spirit may also be absent, yet the 
 mind and the life may continue to function through the intact 
 "human organism." If man were merely an automatic organ- 
 ism with "attributes," wherever you found the organism you 
 would find the attributes. But, as v/e have seen above, any one 
 or all of the attributes may be absent. 
 
 Our teaching is that the Soul is the immortal, reincar- 
 
136 LETTERS FROM THE TEACHER. 
 
 nating Ego, while the Spirit is the universal Breath of Divinity 
 which animates the Soul or Ego just as the Breath of Life ani- 
 mates the physical body. The mind is a dual expression of the 
 Soul, consisting of a Higher (spiritual) and a lower (brain) 
 mind, the lower being but a reflection in physical matter of the 
 Real Mind which is Spiritual Self-consciousness. Thus the 
 REAL I is an immortal Soul having finite Spiritual Self-con- 
 sciousness, overshadowed and animated by or filled with Infi- 
 nite Spirit. This Real Self is spoken of as the Higher Self or 
 the Father-in-heaven of the different religions, and manifest 
 on earth through a vehicle composed of a physical body and its 
 astral counterpart, and a reflection of the Spiritual Mind act- 
 ing as Desire, all animated by Prana or life-force. 
 
 A good way to distinguish the Real Self is to eliminate 
 everything that can be considered as a possession, i. e. my body, 
 my mind, my life etc. You cannot say "my Spirit " any more 
 than a sponge resting on the bed of the ocean can say "my 
 water 1 '; for it is said that, could the sponge last long enough, 
 every drop of water in the ocean would pass through it, as well 
 as through every other sponge. To say "my Spirit" is to limit 
 Spirit which is Infinite. The Spirit moved upon the face of the 
 waters in the beginning and must ever move in and through and 
 over all creations. It is the Breath of Life of the Real Self. 
 (Published in THE HOUSE OP THE INTERPRETER). 
 
 "Tell me, brother, how best to cultivate and make strong 
 the Spiritual Will." An Aspirant, Ohio. 
 
 You can strengthen your Spiritual Will by not trying. 
 Just endeavor to interest yourself in spiritual matters, think 
 pure thoughts and do kind deeds. Read books of an uplift- 
 ing character. Study them not only with your head (intellect), 
 but strive to enter into their deeper meaning with your heart 
 (intuition). Know well that no matter how lofty a philosophy 
 or how good a lesson, unless it brings to your individual Soul 
 some practical application, something that you can work into 
 your daily life, that philosophy or lesson is of no account to 
 you. You cannot force yourself to will what you do not desire; 
 but you can cultivate a desire for spirituality. And desire, 
 being a lower note of the same octave, will of necessity awaken 
 Will. (Published in THE HOUSE OF THE INTERPRETER). 
 
SPIRITUAL GROWTH AND jbEvfeLOPkENf . 137 
 
 "If a psychic receives a message given in the first person, 
 i. e., if he is told to do certain things, perhaps a great work for 
 humanity, and if with the message there comes a wonderful 
 promise, I have been told that he only overheard a message 
 given to humanity at large, and that only his poor, weak, human 
 egotism makes him apply the message and the promise to him- 
 self. What is your teaching on this point?" Occult Student, 
 Los Angeles, Cal. 
 
 The Elder Brothers of humanity, the great Masters of Wis- 
 dom, into whose hands the evolution of the Race is entrusted, 
 are continually sending forth the cry for helpers. "The harvest 
 truly is great, but the laborers are few ; * ' for They can work on 
 the earth plane only through human agencies. With the cry 
 goes the promise of sure reward for all who hear and obey. 
 The answer to your question is plainly given in Revelation 
 XXII 17: "And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And him 
 that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And 
 whosoever will, let him take of the water of life freely/' 
 
 None can hear unless their vibrations are keyed to the note 
 of the call. When this takes place they hear the cry because 
 it comes to them and enters their heart and understanding. 
 What is everyone's business is seldom attended to; but he who 
 hears, and understands his duty, to him does the message apply 
 personally. Many reform movements appeal to the sympathy 
 of all, but the Pharisees and Sadducees pass by on the other 
 side. The one who hears the cry to help humanity and heeds it, 
 even if he be only one of the humblest of the Samaritans, will 
 stop and bind up the wounds of the helpless and accept the 
 work as his own. To every one who thus hears, the promise is 
 given. When the cry, "Come" is heard, instead of waiting for 
 some one more worthy to answer first, the reply should be, 
 "Here am I. Speak, Lord, for thy servant heareth." 
 
 If the Samaritan has done the work in a grandiose manner 
 to be seen of men, or had he refused to allow anyone else to 
 participate in that work for fear of losing the worldly honor 
 for the deed, he would have been acting from "human ego- 
 tism." And, no matter how faithfully he did the work, it would 
 bring only bitterness and sorrow, and he could not claim the 
 promised reward. He could not take of the water of life freely, 
 because by the manner of doing the work he would prove that 
 he had not yet overcome human egotism; and the promise is 
 "unto him that overcometh." 
 
138 LETTERS FROM THE TEACHER. 
 
 When a psychic hears such a call let him or her at once de- 
 termine to set about preparing himself or herself to obey the 
 call in true humility and without false modesty, which is the 
 outgrowth of egotism. (See lesson on MEMORY OF PAST 
 LIVES.) (Published in THE HOUSE OF THE INTER- 
 PRETER). 
 
PART X. 
 MISCELLANEOUS. 
 
 "Never utter these words: 'I do not know this therefore 
 it is false.' One must study to know, know to understand, un- 
 derstand to judge." Narada. 
 
140 LETTERS FROM THE TEACHER. 
 
 April 27th, 1908. 
 
 "I have regarded the human beings of today as the de- 
 scendants of a species of human animals, if one may call them 
 so Am I correct?" 
 
 Your query as to the descent of man from an human ani- 
 mal can only be touched upon here. For fuller information on 
 this point we refer you to THE SECRET DOCTRINE, Vol. I, 
 where you will find all about the different stages of man and 
 about the apes etc. If you do not have access to the un- 
 abridged work in your public library, we would advise you to 
 get the abridged edition. 
 
 The subject is too long for a letter, but, briefly stated, man 
 descended from the gods who breathed into evolved animal 
 forms the Divine Breath of Life (GENESIS II-7), that through 
 these animal bodies he might gain experience on the lowest or 
 earth plane. The task given to each Soul therefore, is to re- 
 deem the physical atoms with which it clothes itself and, 
 through the experience thus gained, evolve back to the starting 
 point plus the experience and knowledge gained. Redemption 
 means the redemption of all the atoms of all the various bodies 
 that the Fathers (Pitris the "gods" or the Fathers-in-heaven) 
 have given in your keeping. By redeeming your own body 
 that much of the earth is uplifted and spiritualized. And that 
 is the only way the earth can be redeemed; for, every vibration 
 of spiritual force to which the human monad responds, sends an 
 answering wave of force through the whole cosmos. Thus, by 
 man and through man, shall the earth be redeemed. 
 
 Therefore you are quite right in saying that circumstances 
 neither make nor mar the spiritual growth of man. For the 
 moment he identifies himself, even imperfectly, with his 
 Father-in-heaven his very personal and individual god he 
 becomes master of his conditions, ruler over circumstance and 
 Savior of his bodies and his animal nature in a word, is Lord 
 of his Kingdom. Then he literally sits down at the right hand 
 of his Father, and his enemies (his desires and animal appe- 
 tites) are his foot-stool and are the servants of his will. 
 
 Reincarnation is the only logical unravelling of the mys- 
 tery of life, and a person is blind and wandering in the dark 
 until he finds this life-line. Then at once all begins to shape it- 
 self, and in the fulness of time all the crooked places are made 
 straight and life unfolds like the pages of a beautiful book. 
 We never mind bearing trials when we know that they are 
 
MISCELLANEOUS. 141 
 
 merely correcting mistakes made in a past life, or else learning 
 needed lessons in this. Trials are not given as punishments; 
 but as the only means of making us learn the lessons that will 
 fit us to take our real places at the right hand of God-the- 
 Father, and to gain a greater realization of His nearness and 
 help while here below. You have the correct attitude of wait- 
 ing for more light instead of denouncing what, for the time, is 
 beyond your comprehension. 
 
 June 17th, 1908. 
 
 "I was delighted with some of the teachings of 
 
 and was therefore very glad that I was going to meet her 
 personally. But no sooner did I lay my eyes upon her and hear 
 
 her speak, than I felt sorely disappointed Finally she 
 
 repelled me to such an extent that I actually felt aversion to 
 
 her Her lectures about appear to me simply 
 
 ridiculous, it simply seems absurd, nay, childish non- 
 sense. Some of the articles in the for June, espe- 
 cially one by Mr seem to me ridiculous and rather sad. 
 
 Owing to these circumstances I am sometimes beset with doubts 
 as to the truthfulness of the teachings." 
 
 There is a strong tendency on your part, which it will be 
 well for you to look in the face and recognize for what it is, to 
 judge with human judgment the acts and teachings of others. 
 The Christ, through Jesus, the man, said: " Judge not that ye 
 be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be 
 judged ; M meaning that if you bring your sister or brother up 
 before the judgment-seat of the wisdom of the mere worldly 
 conception of what is "nonsense, ridiculous,'* etc., you yourself 
 must be content with and must expect to be judged from no 
 higher standpoint. You must make your life, your physical 
 appearance and your words conform absolutely to the outer 
 letter of the law failure must mean condemnation to you. Try 
 to realize that you have nothing to do with the failure or suc- 
 cess of anyone but your own personality, and that one lesson 
 alone stands out plainly and distinctly so that "He who runs 
 may read" i. e. "Be ye not conformed to this world, but be ye 
 transformed by the renewal of your minds. ' ' This means that 
 we must renew our minds by changing our ways of thinking. 
 Instead of looking for the mote in the eye of your sister or 
 brother, seek diligently for the beam that is in your own eye. 
 
 You will never find Truth in any teachings if Truth, to 
 you, depends upon the perfection of the instrument through 
 which that Truth is expressed. Truth confronts you on every 
 
142 LETTERS FROM THE TEACHER. 
 
 side. Therefore, dear brother, learn to seek Truth for Truth's 
 sake. Look for it among the stubble and muck of life and in 
 the dark places where humanity crawls in filth; look for it hid- 
 den under the mountains of selfishness and self-sufficiency of 
 teachers; seek for it as a Jewel of Great Price that has been 
 lost; for you may find the Jewel where you least expect it. 
 But first rise up and sweep your own house diligently. 
 
 No Master, or even a Savior, can dispel your doubts; for 
 they are the natural result of your attitude. Until you learn the 
 lesson of separating Truth from personality your doubts will 
 never be set at rest. Consider carefully the saying found in 
 I Cor. II 14: "But the natural receiveth not the things of the 
 Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can 
 he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." All 
 this means, dear brother, that you must cultivate the power of 
 spiritual discernment and not allow anything to turn you aside 
 from Truth. Truth often comes in most repulsive disguises, 
 and it is a test to the Soul to recognize it and separate the 
 grain from the husks, not swallowing them to get the grain. 
 You might as well swallow a walnut whole because the kernel 
 is sweet and wholesome. Do as you would with any material 
 thing presented to you : crack the nut, no matter how black and 
 repellant the shell, and extract the Kernel. 
 
 April 2nd, 1908. 
 
 "Where does imagination spring from? Does it entirely 
 belong to the subconscious, or to a sort of central point be- 
 tween the soul and the subconscious? Why does it attack me 
 and carry me away into the future tense, offering pessimism? 
 Is the reason why it affects me so strongly due to my being 
 under a deep earthy sign? it belonging to the moon?" 
 
 Imagination is a function of the Soul. It is the power de- 
 rived from the Higher Self for the purpose, through deliber- 
 ately willing it, of creating upon the mental plane. Pessimism 
 has nothing in common with it, nor does the subconscious con- 
 trol it. But happy is the man who has the subconscious under 
 the control of the imagination; for it is by this power that the 
 true image of the Real Self is created, and by it is the link be- 
 tween the personality and the individuality made strong. 
 
 Beware of confusing imagination with fancy or idle dream- 
 ing. Fancy is born of the rhythm of the vibrations of the sub- 
 conscious, and is either pessimistic, fearful or egotistical or any 
 other thing which, by being long indulged in, has been able to 
 
MISCELLANEOUS. 143 
 
 set up a vibratory center in the subconscious. Such a center 
 win continue to vibrate in the same key until the Higher Will 
 comes in and, through the power of imagination, changes the 
 rate of its vibration. The sign of your nativity cannot affect 
 this power ; but the tendency to pessimism is no doubt strength- 
 ened by the planetary influence. Do not get confused it is 
 fancy that tends to pessimism. By proper use of imagination 
 you must impart a new vibration to the subconscious. Deter- 
 mine to create new images of happiness and success ; and with 
 all the power of Will, MAKE the subconscious respond. Never 
 give in to the old vibrations. This is one of the most important 
 lessons for you to learn in this incarnation. 
 
 April 20th, 1908. 
 
 "Without being impatient for advanced work or intellectual 
 diversions I should be greatly interested to learn the occult 
 significance and place of music and geometry. 'God geome- 
 trizes' has always been a dark saying to me, the only sense 
 in which I can comprehend it being that certain numbers play 
 an important part in the manifested universe, like 3 in the 
 fundamental constituents of the universe, and in the modes of 
 intellect, the dimensions of space, etc. Or like the number 7 
 in the tones of the octave, or in the colors of the spectrum, etc." 
 
 You have a correct idea of the saying, "God geometrizes, " 
 and study along that line will open vistas of unexpected inter- 
 est. Take geometry to include not only form but number, 
 color and sound as well. This makes the square the symbol 
 of all manifestation that pertains to earth. Man is composed 
 of seven principles, four lower the square and three higher 
 the triangle. (See THE SECRET DOCTRINE, Vol. II, p 625 
 et seq.) Study the formation of crystals, even snow or frost 
 crystals, and you will at once see the geometrical forms that 
 vapor takes upon crystallizing. Also look up the common ex- 
 periment in physics of covering a metal plate with fine sand 
 and then vibrating the plate with a bow, and note how every 
 different note or tone produces a characteristic geometrical 
 figure in the sand on the plate. All forces (vibrations) when 
 expressing in (i. e. condensed into) matter act along geomet- 
 rical lines. The designs produced are not haphazard forma- 
 tions but are the mathematical expressions of certain thought- 
 forms (vibrations) from the higher planes. Every material 
 form, from crystal to man, is the mathematical, and indeed the 
 only possible, expression of certain combinations of vibrations 
 (ideas) upon the higher planes, the universe as a whole being 
 
144 LETTERS FROM THE TEACHER. 
 
 an expressed thought-form of the Absolute. Thoughts, being 
 forces, must express along geometrical lines that are mathe- 
 matically exact. 
 
 A deep study of plant life will convince you that the form, 
 number and color of every leaf and flower expresses itself also 
 in sound and, were your ears attuned to Nature's voice, you 
 would find each perfect flower a symphony expressing the char- 
 acteristics of the particular plant to which it belonged. More- 
 over, for those who can read, Nature is an open book and there 
 are "Tongues in trees, books in running brooks, sermons in 
 stones M ; for the form, color and number of everything that 
 grows tells man the inner meaning of the plant together with 
 its uses for man. For those who study her Nature speaks with 
 no uncertain voice. "Who hath ears to hear let him hear." 
 
 June 21st, 1908. 
 
 "I will say that by studying the papers you have sent me 
 I find myself comprehending truths that I did not realize before. 
 I find myself getting nearer, and realize enough to feel confi- 
 dence in the teachings given and to have no doubts as to their 
 source. They attract me as a magnet, and are drawing me 
 nearer all the while. In connection with this I wish to ask if 
 it is right and proper to look forward to, and bend my efforts 
 in that direction, and try to attain to, the conditions that will 
 make an immediate return possible after passing out of this 
 body?" 
 
 We are happy to hear that your brain consciousness is 
 registering the nearness of your Teachers ; for it is a living re- 
 ality. But, until you could sense it, it would be mere words to 
 you. If you were stone blind and deaf, you might be in the 
 midst of ravishing beauty and close to strains of heavenly 
 music; but until your eyes were opened and your ears un- 
 stopped you could not well perceive the beauty and harmony 
 that surrounded you. 
 
 As to your question about immediate reincarnation, that is 
 a matter which is under your own control if there is a reason 
 great enough to make the sacrifice necessary. It may be that 
 your Higher Self is impressing upon you the fact that such a 
 return will take place, as a warning to you to make every 
 preparation. Remember that there is always a Karma that 
 must, of necessity, be worked out on the physical plane ; but as 
 the time of ex-carnation is a time of assimilation and growth 
 a time for digesting the experience gained the preparation for 
 the loss of this period by immediate reincarnation should be a 
 
MISCELLANEOUS. 145 
 
 careful assimilation while here. That is, make a great effort to 
 go slow and digest and assimilate all experiences. Learn to 
 seek in every event its inner meaning and bearing on life. Seek 
 its why and wherefore. Try to chew slowly and digest as you 
 go along. The danger in an immediate reincarnation (which is 
 by no means as rare as some suppose) is that the astral body 
 does not have time to separate from the body of desire, and, 
 being full of vigor, it attaches itself to the newly formed astral 
 body and becomes a " Dweller on the Threshold" much more 
 tangible, that is more dense and earthly, than the ordinary 
 ' 'Dweller" which all must face. In such exceptional cases 
 this dense "Dweller" is so close to the reincarnating Ego that 
 it becomes a haunting presence throughout life, and any old, 
 unconnected faults and tendencies of the past are apt to be in- 
 tensified rather than corrected in the new incarnation. Unless 
 all this is understood in a practical way and prepared for, very 
 little advance can be made in such an incarnation, the two life- 
 periods becoming like one physical expression without time for 
 rest and assimilation between. It would be much like eating 
 your breakfast and immediately eating your dinner to save 
 time at noon. 
 
 There is a way, however, FOR THOSE WHO KNOW a 
 way which the wise and determined can find that will pro- 
 long one life-period over the period usually occupied by two or 
 more, if there is work of such importance that it demands con- 
 tinued presence on the physical plane. Eugene Sue's fictitious 
 tale of THE WANDERING JEW, and many other tales of sim- 
 ilar character, is founded upon a physiological and psycholog- 
 ical possibility that has been demonstrated more than once. 
 But it is well to consider the suffering and loneliness entailed, 
 unless you have gained Wisdom and Mastery ere experiment- 
 ing. It might be of advantage to your spiritual growth IF the 
 effort made you more diligent and better prepared to gain such 
 mastery over the desire-body while in the flesh as to leave it 
 with very little strength to haunt a new life, or to gain Mastery 
 NOW so that even passing out would be unnecessary. As you 
 say, you are no coward and no drone. Therefore, we say, if 
 you are strongly impressed to take this path, go forward in the 
 power and might of the Spirit. DARE DO KEEP SILENT. 
 
 June 22nd, 1908. 
 
 "I cannot report much progress, I am disgusted with my- 
 self I have sold hares to medical school! and 
 
146 LETTERS FROM THE TEACHER. 
 
 pets at that!! I always keep them on my place for eating, but 
 to sell them TO BE TORTURED! for a very little money! I 
 simply feel degraded in my own eyes. And you see I am almost 
 a hopeless case, for anyone who would do that surely is not 
 fit for the Kingdom. They tell me they are etherized but I 
 do not believe it, as that would defeat their own ends. They 
 tell me it is for 'the benefit of science,' but that is not what I 
 sell them for!" 
 
 We have received your letter of self-depreciation and we 
 must tell you, dear sister, that self-depreciation, without a 
 determined effort to overcome the faults you depreciate, will 
 soon degenerate into morbid self-pity rather than self-respect 
 and proper assertiveness. When you know a thing is wrong 
 never give yourself a chance to make an excuse, but hold the 
 whip-hand and keep the reins steady until the obstreperous 
 self goes along the path marked out. 
 
 The Master Jesus said: "It must be that these things 
 come into the world, but woe unto him by whom they come, ' ' 
 and this is true of all suffering. The poor animals which suffer 
 that humanity may be benefited are not given a chance to make 
 the suffering a vicarious atonement altho the suffering pushes 
 them forward in their evolution. Yet, since it is forced upon 
 them and, from their point of view, is the result of cruelty, it 
 leaves its imprint upon the matter of their subconsciousness. 
 As this matter is taken up again and again until it is finally 
 redeemed at the end of its evolution by coming under the self- 
 conscious dominion of an human Ego, this cruelty will mani- 
 fest after its kind all along the path of evolution. No matter 
 what sort of a body such atoms may be incorporated in, the 
 sense of cruelty and suffering unjustly. caused will endeavor 
 to work out in an effort to adjust the balance, and will prey 
 upon humanity in some way and give back suffering for suf- 
 fering. This is one of the chief ways in which the law of 
 Karma works. There must be an adjustment. If the pendulum 
 swings too violently to the left it must swing correspondingly 
 to the right until from the very force of extremes, a balance 
 is attained. It makes little difference as far as the Law of 
 Retribution works out, if the doctors do think they are justi- 
 fied and that a corresponding good will result to the human 
 race. There is but one law, namely, all things reproduce after 
 their kind. 
 
 There are always two effects to every cause or impulse 
 set up; the out-going vibration of the initial impulse and the 
 
MISCELLANEOUS. 147 
 
 return wave which comes back to the point of departure. You 
 can easily prove this by casting a small stone into a still, 
 smooth pond; for there is but one Law of Vibration. The vi- 
 brations (ripples) will go out from the point where the stone 
 was cast in ever widening circles; but when they reach the 
 boundary of the pond they will return to the exact spot from 
 which they started. This is an illustration of the absolute 
 and IMPERSONAL action of the Law of Karma. Through the 
 suffering of the animals the doctors may find certain appar- 
 ently successful ways of helping humanity; but the return 
 wave will bring to humanity more widespread suffering, cru- 
 elty and inhumanity, and will react especially upon those who 
 had anything, either directly or indirectly, to do with the ini- 
 tial cruelty. In the epidemics of disease that sweep over the 
 country some escape, some recover and some succumb; but all 
 must bear the Karma of the diseased conditions in the earth's 
 aura: it is the world's Karma. The ones who succumb are 
 the ones who have brought to themselves a personal Karma 
 by being instrumental in sowing, in past lives, conditions that 
 result in disease; those who escape probably did nothing to- 
 ward creating such conditions. Some have the disease in a 
 mild form and some have it severely; but all in exact propor- 
 tion to the sowing. " Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall 
 he also reap." The harvest may not ripen for ages; but it 
 will be exact and just when it comes. 
 
 Animals, altho drugged motionless, suffer far more than 
 human beings under the same conditions, because an human 
 being when under an anesthetic at once leaves the earth plane 
 and, necessarily, the suffering, and, unless exceedingly earthly, 
 is taken care of on the higher planes, often receiving most 
 wonderful lessons and experiencing the greatest happiness. 
 But the poor animal, not having a Higher Self and working 
 out its evolution entirely on the physical and lower astral 
 planes, has nothing to compensate it for the cruel loss of its 
 birthright, i. e. a normal, healthy existence on the earth plane. 
 Hence its whole evolution is retarded. As the animal can go 
 no higher, the anesthetic merely removes its consciousness 
 from the physical to the lower astral the astral body as you 
 know being the seat of sensation where it is fully conscious 
 of all that is going on and where it experiences all the suffer- 
 ing altho unable to express it through its paralyzed body. The 
 
148 LETTERS FROM THE TEACHER. 
 
 doctors are no doubt sincere in thinking that the anesthetized 
 animals do not suffer; but it is only because they are ignorant 
 of what is taking place upon the astral plane. 
 
 July 13th, 1908. 
 "Your kind letter concerning hares was read eagerly. Am 
 
 following your advice and have tonight written the 
 
 laboratory that I cannot supply them any more. My husband 
 takes it easier than I thought he would. I am very much 
 happier. Thank you many, many times for telling me the 
 TRUTH." 
 
 "I am not at all conversant with Theosophy, and am puz- 
 zled by the reference to 'the incoming Sixth Sub-race.' Perhaps 
 you will kindly explain." 
 
 The subject is too vast to be more than hinted at in this 
 column, but, briefly, the Secret Doctrine teaches that the hu- 
 manity of this globe manifests in seven Great Races called 
 Root-Races. Each Root-Race is composed of seven successive 
 sub-races, and the sub-races of nations, tribes, etc. All white 
 and red peoples belong to the Aryan or Fifth Root-Race, and 
 most of the Western peoples belong to the fifth sub-race of the 
 Aryan. The yellow races of the East are the remnants of the 
 last sub-races of the Atlantean or Fourth Root-Race which 
 perished as a Race with the sinking of the continent of Atlan- 
 tis. The sixth sub-race of the Aryan will evolve upon the 
 American continent, and even now has begun. (See lesson 
 on THE SIXTH ANGEL.) (This letter was published in " The 
 House of the Interpreter.") 
 
 March 3rd, 1908. 
 "If people choose their next environment why do they 
 
 dislike it so? What can one do to prevent having to 
 
 come back again?" 
 
 The Soul does not choose incarnation from the standpoint 
 of what will give the most pleasure, but from the standpoint 
 of what environment will give the Soul the best discipline and 
 which will best teach it the lessons most needed to bring it 
 into at-one-ment with the Father-in-heaven. Generally the 
 discipline the Soul most needs is that which is irksome to the 
 personality, and it is difficult for the Soul to make the per- 
 sonality understand that the incarnation is for the purpose 
 of overcoming some particular trait and conquering the condi- 
 tions in which it was made. 
 
 The only way to prevent coming back again is to learn 
 
MISCELLANEOUS. 149 
 
 all the lessons, gain all the experience of the earth life, so 
 that when the Soul has completed its earthly evolution there 
 is nothing left for it to experience. Even then one would 
 have to be very sure that, having gained all experience, he 
 had also stilled all compassion for humanity so that he would 
 riot be tempted to come back to help those who were still 
 struggling with sin and ignorance. 
 
 April 14th. 
 
 "In your lesson on Purity you say, 'The lower animals 
 having no spark of the Divine dwelling within them/ etc. As 
 I hold that they are in every way as Divine as myself, I am 
 somewhat in a quandary." 
 
 The exception you take to our statement that "the lower 
 animals having no spark of the Divine dwelling in them" can 
 be readily understood by a knowledge of the Law. While this 
 subject is too great to be properly treated in a letter we will 
 try to give you an outline, altho some of the statements are 
 more in the nature of hints and without further explanation 
 are bound to be more or less misleading. 
 
 In brief, the Spark of Divinity or the reincarnating Ego 
 clothes itself in atoms belonging to each kingdom successively, 
 mineral, vegetable and animal. It is always the same Divine 
 Spark, but when manifesting in the lower kingdoms it is so 
 disseminated through them that it is not individualized in 
 any one expression; for no one vehicle is capable of expressing 
 it. In passing through the degrees of the animal kingdom from 
 the lowest forms to the highest, say from an earth worm (you 
 could, of course, go much lower) to a horse or dog, its mani- 
 festation gradually condenses or tends to become individual- 
 ized. That is, while the One Life animates the earth worm it 
 takes a great mass of such worms to express even rudimentary 
 animal consciousness, and no one worm can be said to have even 
 an animal soul. The lower animal kingdom is animated by an 
 animal soul, of course, but it would take about all the earth 
 worms there are to express an animal soul. 
 
 As animal life advances in the scale the animal soul ex- 
 presses itself more and more completely, because it has better 
 instruments for its use and thus requires fewer individuals to 
 express it. Thus the functions and attributes of the animal 
 soul are expressed in an ascending scale until instinct is 
 reached. When instinct in its fullness is expressed instinct 
 being the highest vibration the animal soul is capable of ex- 
 
150 LETTERS FROM THE TEACHER. 
 
 pressing the Divine Spark begins to overshadow the animal. 
 In this way instinct gradually melts into and is overlapped by 
 intelligence and reason which, in turn, reach their highest note 
 in intuition. Animals which function in the higher animal 
 kingdoms have the animal soul expressed in its fullness and 
 in addition have the overshadowing of the Divine Spark. This 
 overshadowing, however, is not individualized, many animals 
 being overshadowed by the one Ego. For this reason they 
 may, and often do, exhibit traits that make them more lovable 
 than many human beings. This is because they are perfect 
 animals, overshadowed and willingly led and guided by a 
 Divine Ego, still they have not as yet been given the portion 
 of goods that will come to them from their Father. In short 
 animals are our younger brothers. They are in the kinder- 
 garten of life, acting in accordance with the overshadowing 
 Law of Evolution without free-will to disobey. If they develop 
 vicious traits, as some few do, still they are not responsible, 
 for such traits are imparted to or taught them by man through 
 cruel treatment or through man's evil thought emanations. 
 Of themselves they cannot sin, for they are but following the 
 Law of Evolution and, like the flowers, are expressing the 
 fullness of their being. 
 
 At the time of death the overshadowing Ego gathers to- 
 gether all the animal atoms composing all the individuals that 
 came under its particular ray and builds a more perfect animal 
 structure which will possess, as inherent faculties, all the ex- 
 perience which it has gained in previous animal lives. This has 
 been demonstrated by the experiments of certain scientific bot- 
 anists who have found that new species do not develop or 
 evolve gradually from already existing types, but spring into 
 being suddenly and without warning in one generation. 
 
 This assimilation and advanced expression goes on until 
 the Ego has built up an organism capable of expressing the 
 Divine, i. e. is made in the image of God and capable of contain- 
 ing a Spark of the Divine the Human. At this point the guid- 
 ing reins are given into the hands of the animal-man. He now 
 has free-will and a mind capable of reasoning and thinking as 
 an individual. He can choose to walk in the light, guided by 
 his Father-in-heaven, or he can refuse and pay the penalty. 
 The choice is his and he is also responsible for his choice. He 
 has become a creator and from hence forth he is Lord over the 
 lower kingdoms; by his thoughts he can lift them up or debase 
 
MISCELLANEOUS. 151 
 
 them. Because of this power and the fact that ALL EVIL IS 
 THE RESULT OF MAN'S DISOBEDIENCE not disobedi- 
 ence to the commands of any higher Being, but to The Law he 
 must suffer from evil conditions until he has learned con- 
 sciously to follow and obey The Law of his being just as, while 
 an animal, he obeyed it blindly and instinctively. But it is well 
 to remember that there are no sudden jumps from one kingdom 
 to another. The individualization of the animal-man takes 
 place gradually; many of the lower types of savages having not 
 yet reached complete individualization they are more indi- 
 vidualized than the higher animals, but are not entirely person- 
 alized. Since the animals take their savagery from man, when 
 he is just entering the human kingdom animal-man must ex- 
 press that savagery in human form and work through it to 
 higher things. 
 
 As to the immortality of animals, nothing that lives can 
 die. The higher animal, such as the horse, dog and elephant, is 
 gradually merged into a human animal (does not BECOME 
 one). All perfected consciousness, with its overshadowing 
 Divinity, must go on evolving until a better vehicle of expres- 
 sion is obtained. All life is immortal, but conscious immor- 
 tality can only be obtained by merging the human into the Di- 
 vine as the animal is merged into the human. As man is ani- 
 mal, but more than animal, so is the Divine man, but more than 
 man. A good illustration of this law of individualization is 
 found in the rose. In its wild state a rose has but a single row 
 of petals, five in number. It grows and blossoms in great pro- 
 fusion, often covering a whole hill-side, yet, while the whole 
 mass will perfume the air all around, a single rose, when 
 plucked, will seemingly be devoid of perfume and have little 
 beauty, its few petals dropping almost immediately. As the 
 rose is cultivated, however, it gains more petals, gives out more 
 perfume and requires fewer bushes to grow on until, in the 
 American Beauty rose, the perfection of its culture is reached, 
 it requiring a whole bush to produce one perfect flower. But 
 this one flower can give out as much perfume as the whole hill- 
 side of wild roses gave out. It has as many petals, all securely 
 fastened together, and will last many times longer than its 
 wild sister after being plucked. In short, it has evolved the 
 Soul of the Rose the Rose being the highest type of flower. 
 You will find this law illustrated in all Nature, from grass, 
 
152 LETTERS FfcOM THE TEACHER. 
 
 which grows in many blades, up to the oak. Also from the 
 baser minerals up to gold. 
 
 Understanding this Law of Evolution you can learn many 
 lessons from the animals, especially those of love, fidelity, faith- 
 fulness and forgiveness of injury and ill-treatment. Bear in 
 mind that they are doing instinctively what man must learn to 
 do consciously and of his own free-will. They are really ex- 
 amples for man to follow ; for Nature has already worked out 
 and placed before his eyes every problem that confronts him. 
 
 A horse or dog may have many incarnations as a horse or 
 dog so you may have been associated with them as horses or 
 dogs in past lives. This is frequently illustrated by a dog sud- 
 denly seeing a man and persistently following him thereafter ; 
 he has simply recognized a former master and refuses to be 
 driven away by the fact that the recognition is not mutual. A 
 look into the speaking eyes of such a dog will convince you that 
 he really does recognize you and cannot understand why you 
 fail to give him the accustomed welcome. The sorrow expressed 
 is most pathetic if you persist in driving such a dog away. 
 
 One more point. It is possible for such animals to be over- 
 shadowed by the same Divine Spark that overshadows you, and 
 in such cases you will never lose your animal companions, for 
 when they are more than animal you will be more than man. 
 
 Your difficulty arises from the fact that what you refer to 
 as the Divine Spark is in reality but Divine Essence or Divine 
 Creative Force evolving through the kingdoms. The Divine 
 Spark is this force not universally disseminated throughout 
 the universe, but personalized. 
 
 June 1st, 1908. 
 
 "Why is it that in the Teachings of THE ORDER OF 
 THE 15 we hear nothing about 'loyalty to leaders' when that 
 is such a prominent feature of many occult societies? Is it 
 not true that loyalty to leaders is the first and most important 
 duty of the Neophyte?" 
 
 You are quite right in your idea that loyalty is the first 
 step and, we might say, the most important TO YOUR OWN 
 SOUL were there any degrees of importance when every step 
 must be faithfully taken. 
 
 Loyalty, however, must not be a blind following, but must 
 be tempered with Wisdom and must be the result of an in- 
 tuitive understanding of the guidance given by the Higher 
 
MISCELLANEOUS. 153 
 
 Self. Many a leader has passed out of the physical body leav- 
 ing his or her work to be wrecked in the quicksands of mis- 
 taken zeal by a misunderstanding of this law. 
 
 A leader is one who goes ahead. Necessarily such an one 
 is subjected to dangers and pitfalls which those who follow 
 may have the power to see. We think a little thought will con- 
 vince you that loyalty demands that the followers, at least the 
 more intuittional, must guard the leader by watching out for 
 ambushed enemies and warn the leader of danger when signs 
 of ambition, selfishness, self -righteousness, or any compromise 
 with truth or purity begin to show themselves. And thus, by 
 the power of their developed intuition and by their true love 
 and sympathy, prove a body-guard in the real sense of the 
 word, while the main body of followers should have the person- 
 ality of the leader thrust upon them as little as possible. 
 
 Followers should be faithful and loyal to the teachings 
 rather than to the personality of the leader; for the Great Law 
 will take care of all, and no matter how much loyalty is de- 
 manded by a leader, he or she will receive just as much as he 
 or she deserves. The Law says, "Give and it shall be given 
 unto you," and this will be in exact justice, not only in what 
 measure, but also in what kind. If a leader gives his or her 
 followers love, sympathy and devotion, forgetting self and 
 striving only to lead the way and make straight the Path for 
 those who follow, he or she will receive back again from the 
 main body of followers true loyalty and love, and the few who 
 repay with selfishness and criticism the love-force will drop 
 from the ranks with scarcely a ripple. 
 
154 APPENDIX. 
 
 MORNING PRAYER. 
 
 I have within me the power of The Christ. 
 I can conquer all that comes to me today. 
 I am strong enough to bear every trial and 
 
 accept every joy, and say, 
 "Thy will be done." 
 
 PRAYER OF CONSECRATION. 
 
 We, recognizing the omnipotent power of the Great Cre- 
 ative Force, do make most solemn covenant to present our 
 whole selves, our bodies, our minds, our Souls, a living sacrifice 
 to Thee. 
 
 We yield all personal desires unto the one Great Desire, to 
 be used as instruments to create a center through which The 
 Lodge can work. 
 
 Recognizing the oneness of Thine All-pervading Force, we 
 give back to Thee, for Thy use, all that we possess, and by the 
 power of The Living Christ, demand that all obstacles be re- 
 moved, and Thy work be speedily established in perfect justice. 
 
 HEALING PRAYER. 
 
 thou loving and helpful Master Jesus ! Thou who gavest 
 to Thy disciples power to heal the sick ! 
 
 We, recognizing Thee, and realizing Thy divine presence 
 with us, ask Thee to lay Thy hands upon us in healing love. 
 
 Cleanse us from all our sins, and by the divine power of 
 Omnipotent Life, drive out the atoms of inharmony and dis- 
 ease, and fill our bodies full to overflowing with Life, and Love, 
 and Purity. 
 
APPENDIX. 155 
 
 ANNOUNCEMENT 
 
 "BEHOLD, I BRING UNTO YOU GOOD TIDINGS OF 
 GREAT JOY." 
 
 To all students of the higher life who truly desire to progress, 
 and who wish the opportunity of coming into closer personal touch 
 with those Masters of Wisdom who through all ages have been the 
 Teachers, Guides and Elder Brothers of humanity, there comes the 
 following message: 
 
 In accordance with the geometrical design of the universe, a point 
 is now reached when an advanced Order from the Great White Lodge 
 can be established upon the earth plane. This Order is not an organi- 
 zation in the general acceptation of the term, NOR IS IT CON- 
 NECTED EITHER WITH THE OUTER OR INNER WORK 
 OF ANY OCCULT ORGANIZATION NOW IN EXISTENCE ON 
 THE PHYSICAL PLANE. IT IS A NEW AND DIRECT OUT- 
 PUT FROM THE GREAT WHITE LODGE. According to its 
 fundamental principles, only such earnest students can be admitted 
 to it as have proven their devotion to the Masters, and have sent 
 out their cry to Them for enlightenment and help. All such persons 
 are welcomed into this Order, and such probationary lessons will be 
 sent them, from time to time, as will afford them an opportunity of 
 coming into close fellowship and conscious communication with the 
 Masters of Wisdom. Understand this point clearly. It will be ONLY 
 THROUGH YOUR OWN INDIVIDUAL EFFORT, your attitude 
 of soul, and the character of your life that will enable YOU TO 
 PLACE YOURSELF in personal, conscious touch with the Masters. 
 IT DEPENDS UPON NO PERSONALITY BUT YOUR OWN. 
 
 No vows, or pledges, are asked of you, for only those are eligible 
 to this Order who have voluntarily given up their lives to the higher 
 law, and have already vowed allegiance to their own Higher Self. 
 Therefore, this Order offers the opportunity of fulfilling past vows 
 and no new ones are required. Membership in this Order will not 
 conflict with any duties of life, or with membership in other organi- 
 zations, or membership in any religious denomination. 
 
 In such an Order dues, as such, would be impossible, but as the 
 lessons must be printed and mailed, it is expected that all who desire 
 the help will voluntarily aid the work by contributions in accordance 
 with their ability and the law of exact justice. It is a primal law 
 
156 APPENDIX. 
 
 of occultism that, no matter how much is set before you, you are 
 able to assimilate (get) in exact ratio with the spirit of helping others 
 that you display. "Give and it shall be given unto you; good measure, 
 pressed down and shaken together, and running over for with the 
 same measure that ye mete withal, it shall be measured to you again." 
 Only by such co-operation can the work be carried on. 
 
 If you are interested in this matter and would like to hear further 
 concerning it, we would be glad to have you address the Secretary, 
 who will refer your letter for reply, and forward the same to you 
 as soon as received. In your letter we would be pleased to have you 
 tell something of your spiritual life, and your desires as to further 
 study, together with a brief description of any remarkable visions, 
 dreams or psychic experiences that you may have had recently. 
 
 Address replies to 
 P. O. Box 607, F, HOMER CURTISS, M. D., 
 
 Denver, Colo., U. S. A. 
 
APPENDIX. 157 
 
 CIRCULAR OF INFORMATION 
 
 In response to many requests for information concerning this 
 new Order, we announce that it is a continuation of the work started 
 by the Masters of the Great White Lodge, through Madame Blavatsky, 
 in 1875, under the name of the Theosophical Society. But as no 
 organization can contain the wisdom of The Lodge that Society 
 was but a phase of the work, and a means of propagating the seed 
 that has now been sown broadcast over the world. Many students 
 have outgrown organizations, having found them too narrow and 
 their necessary limitations too binding. This is but a natural feature 
 of growth and again proves the great law "As above, so below;" just 
 as the seed, when first planted, is confined in a protective sheath 
 from which, in the process of growth, it will burst forth. 
 
 One of the chief objects of this Movement is to correlate advanced 
 theosophical teachings with the orthodox Christian teachings; to form 
 a neutral ground where both can meet and recognize Truth. On this 
 account we may disappoint many intellectual theosophists, for our 
 language will purposely be made simple, and the great truths which 
 we set forth will be so stated as to appeal to minds schooled in 
 Western religious thought. Our great object is to enable all sections 
 of spiritual seekers, New Thought, Spiritualism, Theosophy, Christian- 
 ity, in fact all lovers of Truth, to draw together at the heart centre. 
 THIS IS A NECESSARY PREPARATION FOR THE NEAR 
 ADVENT OF THE AVATAR; for the good news of His quick 
 coming must be given "unto all people," not to a few intellectual 
 thinkers. All schools of spiritual thought need this preparation. 
 
 In this present age the Masters must work through human 
 agencies, and the moment that you determine to give of yourself and 
 your worldly substance, you become a recognized agent of The Lodge. 
 
 All organizations and movements which receive help from The 
 Lodge, have their own particular work to do. Whether they have 
 succeeded in the task set before them, or whether they have failed, 
 is clearly shown by their results. They all receive help in exact pro- 
 portion to the degree that they accomplish their task and make 
 themselves pure channels through which the force can be poured. 
 We criticise no one, and we make no all-inclusive claims. Results 
 alone will show who are back of us. 
 
 As we explain in our first lesson this is an Order into which 
 certain Souls will be drawn, but not necessarily all who ask for help, 
 although all will be helped to grow toward that point. When ad- 
 
158 APPENDIX. 
 
 mission into the Order occurs there will be an outward recognition, 
 and obligations, but no obligations, except the privacy of papers, are 
 required before that time. 
 
 To each one who expresses a desire to become one of us we 
 plan to send a lesson each month. These lessons will be private, 
 and in many cases personal, therefore we will request that, when 
 marked "private," they be not revealed to others. All papers will 
 be private, but those not specially marked "private" may be shown 
 to interested friends at your discretion. They are not, however, to 
 be shown promiscuously or left lying around to be seen by everyone. 
 
 A SIMPLE ANNOUNCEMENT OF YOUR DESIRE TO 
 STUDY WITH US and a realization of your obligation to help us 
 in return is all that is necessary. The help we ask is just what your 
 conscience tells you is the right and proper thing to do in accordance 
 with your worldly means. Many will be unable to give financial aid 
 and from those we ask love and helpful thoughts. If we DEMAND- 
 ED financial aid we would at once put ourselves outside the radius 
 of The Lodge force, therefore we simply trust and believe that the 
 means to print and distribute these lessons, and carry on the work, 
 will be forthcoming. All who hear the call in their hearts will be 
 ready and willing to help. In this connection we may state that 
 there are no persons to be supported and no salaries to officers to 
 be paid out of the funds. 
 
 All contributions, both large and small, will be gratefully received 
 and promptly acknowledged. The ones who give ten cents because 
 they love the Master's work may bring to themselves a greater bless- 
 ing than those who might give dollars without any thought or sac- 
 rifice. No matter what amount given, the real offering is the loving 
 desire to help. "Let every man do according as he is disposed in 
 his heart, not grudgingly, or of necessity, for God loveth a cheerful 
 giver." 
 
 PLEASE STUDY THIS CIRCULAR CAREFULLY, AS IT 
 WILL SAVE YOU ASKING MANY USELESS QUESTIONS 
 ABOUT MATTERS ALREADY DISTINCTLY STATED. YOU 
 WILL THUS SAVE US MUCH VALUABLE TIME AND UN- 
 NECESSARY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
APPENDIX. 159 
 
 ORGANIZATIONS. 
 
 Altho we emphasized our relation to organizations in our first 
 circular by placing the statement in italics, yet it seems to have been 
 overlooked by many. Therefore we will restate our position more 
 fully herewith, so that in the future there may be no question as to 
 the significance of this Movement and its relation to all others. 
 
 This Movement is not an organization because it has no consti- 
 tution or by-laws, no officers (except the Secretary), requires no 
 pledges and no dues, and does not restrict a member's activity in 
 any society or organization. Therefore it is not antagonistic to any 
 existing organization that is helping humanity, but permits perfect 
 freedom. All that is necessary for membership is to express a sin- 
 cere desire for help in your efforts for spiritual growth. 
 
 Since the treatment accorded to all former agents selected by 
 The Lodge has proved conclusively that humanity is not yet ready 
 to be entrusted with the knowledge of the personalities of the agents 
 through whom these teachings are given, it has been considered best 
 that, on this occasion, they remain incognito; for the agents are of 
 no more importance, from the standpoint of the work, than would 
 be a pipe through which a stream of pure water is conveyed into a 
 parched and thirsty land. Those who are athirst for the Living 
 Waters will drink from the stream, those who are not will pass it by. 
 
 AS TO OTHER MOVEMENTS. 
 
 We can but reiterate that while WE ARE NOT CONNECTED, 
 IN ANY WAY, WITH THE OUTER AND INNER WORK OF 
 ANY ORGANIZATION NOW ON THE EARTH PLANE, never- 
 theless we stand for Truth wherever found, our motto being, "By 
 their fruits ye shall know them." 
 
 Under no circumstance do we criticize any. If an organization, 
 society or movement has helped one Soul to take one step upon The 
 Path to Mastery it has not wrought in vain. The fact that a teaching 
 attracts and helps you is evidence that it contains the lesson needed 
 by you for the step you are taking. The fact that a movement no 
 longer appeals to you, no matter how helpful it may be to others, 
 is evidence either that your Soul has learned the lessons that move- 
 ment had for you even though not mastered intellectually or that 
 the movement, no matter how beautifully conceived and launched, 
 has become tainted with something that is not helpful, or perhaps 
 is distinctly injurious, to your physical, mental, moral or spiritual 
 growth ............................ ' ....... ............... 
 
 Each movement that aims to help humanity has its own place 
 and its own work. Colored blocks are necessary in the kindergarten, 
 primers for children, text-books for the training of the mind in school 
 and college; but when the mind has been trained it must then put 
 that training to use in a practical way; in business, under the head 
 
 Our correspondence is so large that we cannot answer letters immediately, but 
 will always endeavor to do so within one week after their receipt. 
 
160 APPENDIX. 
 
 of the firm or manager; in art, under a great teacher; in spiritual 
 things, under a Master of Wisdom. But remember that, because you 
 ,are no longer interested in the colored blocks or primers you once 
 thought so beautiful, you are not to despise the children who still 
 cling to them, or find fault with the teachers of the a b c's.. All have 
 their place, and the children will grow away from the blocks when 
 they have learned their lessons just as you have grown. Every up- 
 lifting movement or teaching has its place and has for followers 
 those who need its lessons. The Master Jesus said, "Whosoever 
 shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water 
 only in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall in no 
 wise lose his reward! * * * Inasmuch as ye have done it 
 unto one of the least of these, my brethren, ye have done it unto me." 
 
 AIMS OF THIS MOVEMENT. 
 
 The great wave of psychicism now sweeping over the land has 
 brought many students to the point where their inner faculties are 
 unfolding. This is a point of great danger, for here the two paths 
 the Right Hand and the Left Hand diverge. This Order may be 
 called a wayside House of Rest, placed at the point of divergence 
 of the paths, at whose door every pilgrim who knocks finds welcome, 
 and within rest, sympathy, understanding and encouragement, and 
 also a guide to lead him safely past the many dangers and pitfalls 
 that surround the entrance to the Right Hand Path. This is a per- 
 sonal work which cannot be accomplished by any organization bound 
 by set rules. 
 
 Although the Christian Bible is the greatest occult book ever 
 given to humanity for it contains not only the wisdom of all prior 
 scriptures, but also a prophecy of the future, yet it is the least under- 
 stood of any scripture, because heretofore all efforts to explain it 
 have been upon a literal, intellectual, material and historical basis 
 and not from the standpoint of its spiritual symbology and esoteric 
 meaning. The Christian religion is universally acknowledged to be 
 the greatest factor in modern civilization, and the time has come for 
 it to take an advanced step through an understanding of the esoteric 
 meaning of its sacred mysteries 1 , and by a relization that its teach- 
 ings symbolize the same vital truths common to all religions, thus 
 taking the first step on the return journey to the one Wisdom- 
 Religion. 
 
 As all religions, sects and creeds contain at least a germ of 
 Truth, our aim is to help each one to find that germ IN THEIR 
 OWN TEACHINGS, and purify and develop it into the Tree of 
 Life in their own garden. 
 
 The Christian missionaries are censured by many for forcing 
 what, to their minds, is a superior form of truth, upon people who 
 already have a religion, the inner teachings of which the mission- 
 aries have not the faintest idea. At the same time, those who are 
 
 Uesus said to his initiated disciples: "Unto you it is given to know the 
 mystery of the kingdom of God, but unto them that are without (i. e., 
 not initiated) all these things are done in parables." -Mark IV, 11. 
 
APPENDIX. 161 
 
 thus criticizing the missionaries are, in their turn, insisting that all 
 Christian people shall accept certain spiritual teachings couched in 
 terms that belong to another language and another mode of thought. 
 If you really wish to help a people use their language, and the ideas 
 and modes of thought to which they are accustomed. You will thus 
 help them to purify their conception of Truth as expressed in their 
 own religion. THIS IS ONE OF THE AIMS OF THIS ORDER; 
 TO BRING TO THE ATTENTION OF THE AMERICAN PEO- 
 PLE, AS SIMPLY AS POSSIBLE, THE PEARLS OF WISDOM 
 IN THE TEACHINGS OF THE MASTER JESUS; PEARLS 
 THAT HAVE BEEN OVERLAID WITH WORDY MISCON- 
 CEPTIONS SO LONG AS TO BE ALMOST UNRECOGNIZABLE. 
 
 There is a real necessity for the various presentations of Truth 
 as given to the world; for just as the climate, flora and fauna of a 
 country, and the language and customs of its people, vary in different 
 parts of the world, so must Truth garb itself in habiliments suited 
 to the modes of thought of the people to whom it is given. There 
 is a deep occult reason underlying this law, and St. Paul recognized 
 it when he said, "Be ye all things unto all men." There comes a 
 time, however, in all organized bodies giving out spiritual teachings 
 when some students will advance as far or farther than the leaders 
 of the organization. And since it is only natural for such leaders 
 to assume that they are more advanced than any of their students, 
 inharmony and dissatisfaction or even secession result. In the devel- 
 opment of all students a point is reached where they need the ad- 
 vanced, PERSONAL instruction not of any leaders who are them- 
 selves but students but of one who has at his command all knowl- 
 edge and all wisdom, i. e., a Master of Wisdom. 1 It is in answer 
 to this personal need that the Lodge of Masters has put forth 
 THE ORDER OF THE 15 at this time. It comes as a direct 
 response to the prayers of many, many hearts for more light, love, 
 sympathy and personal guidance. 
 
 As this continent is to be the home of a new race which will 
 ultimately perfect itself by the survival and interblending of the fittest 
 of all races now existing, so must its religious thought be blended 
 and purified so that it may emerge as a pure ray which has gathered 
 unto itself the force from all its sub-rays. 
 
 THE ORDER OF THE 15 is put forth in an effort to awaken 
 The Christ Love in the hearts of men, rather than to cater to the in- 
 tellect or the desire for psychic powers; for only those who can cor- 
 relate with The Christ power can be gathered together to form a 
 nucleus in which this Power can manifest on earth. The aim of this 
 Movement is especially to help all Christian people to find the deep, 
 underlying, vital truths common to all religions in their own, and 
 thus truly, and in the only way possible, prepare for an Universal 
 Brotherhood on earth in which each Soul shall find the same vital 
 
 1 It is understood, of course, that the Secretary does not answer the letters or 
 compose the teachings. He is merely the Secretary in the ordinary 
 sense of the word. 
 
162 APPENDIX. 
 
 truths spoken in his own language, i. e., couched and taught in terms 
 or the religion in which he was born. V 
 
 FINANCIAL OBLIGATIONS. 
 
 Of course this Movement cannot be carried on without financial 
 support, for the Law of Justice permits humanity to be helped only 
 to the extent that, through its own efforts, it makes it possible for 
 the help to reach it. If you feel an inner urge to study with us, and 
 if you find that the lessons help you, you will naturally desire to help 
 make it possible for other Souls to receive the same help. Therefore 
 out of pure love and a desire to help others you will give as much 
 as you can afford. Let all give according to their ability. 2 
 
 1 See Acts II, 6. 
 
 2 See "Circular of Information" and "Special Notice." 
 
 Extra copies of this circular may be had by applying: to the Secretary, 
 Box 607, Denver, Colo., IT. S. A. 
 
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