Vernon Howard - Mystic Masters Speak

A Treasury of Cosm ic Wisdom
, $7
THE MYSTIC MfrSTERS SPEAK!

VERNON HOWARD
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THE MYSTIC MASTERS SPEAK!
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By the same author
ESOTERIC ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ETERNAL KNOWLEDGE
THE POWER OF PSYCHO-PICTOGRAPHY
PATHWAYS TO PERFECT LIVING
THE MYSTIC PATH TO COSMIC POWER
THE POWER OF YOUR SUPERMIND
THE MYSTIC
MASTERS SPEAK!
A Treasury of Cosmic Wisdom
by
VERNON HOWARD
For list of books & tapes

by Vernon Howard write:
BOX 684
BOULDER CITY, NEVADA 89005
First published 1974
Second Impression 1976
DISTRIBUTED IN U.S. BY:

NEW LIFE BOOKS
BOX 684
BOULDER CITY, NEVADA 89005
This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by

way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out, or
otherwise circulated without the publisher's prior consent in any
form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published
and without a similar condition including this condition being
imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
ISBN 7225 0340 7
Typeset by
Specialised Offset Services Ltd., Liverpool.
Made and Printed in Great Britain by
Redwood Burn Limited, Trowbridge & Esher
Contents
Page
Five Programmes for a Rich Use of this Book 7
1. The Practical Power of Mystic Principles 9
2. Your Towards a Richer Life
First Steps 23
3. How Win New Control in Human Relations
to 38
4. Let Your Mind Work Wonders for You 53
5. The Way to Lasting Peace and Happiness 68
6. How to Gain More Strength and Confidence 83
7. You Can Make Problems Disappear for Ever 97
8.
9.
Secrets of Self-freedom and Self-command
Here Is the Cure for Pain and Suffering
m
126
10. How Surrounding Conditions
to Brighten 141
11. How Avoid Mistakes and Banish Obstacles
to 156
12. The Path to Easy and Natural Living 171
13. Solve These Mysteries and Enrich Yourself 186
14. You Can Start a New Life as a New Person 201
15. How to Swiftly Awaken Your Hidden Powers 216
16. You Can Now Conquer Fear and Depression 230
17. Cosmic Principles for Help and Guidance 245
18. Mystic Good News for Your Daily Success 260
A Special Message for You 275

Author and Source Index 279
About Vernon Howard 285
Five Programmes for a Rich Use of fhis
Book
This book is for anyone who wants to escape from the trap.
There is way out. And you can find it. I assure you of this.
a
This book contains the concentrated wisdom of the ages.
In this power-packed volume are all the answers you need for
winning a New Life. Its solutions are simple, accurate,
helpful. Here are the authentic answers to questions which
have haunted man throughout the ages. It shows you how to
abolish fear and loneliness, what to do about painful
problems with other people, how to achieve ease, confidence,
and a self-independence beyond your fondest dreams.
As you read, remember that the mystic path is unique,
different. It is precisely this difference that makes it work for
you. Have your old and usual ways uplifted you? If not, you
can see the pleasant necessity of this totally fresh method.
You see, the mystics whom you will meet are the most
practical men on earth. They have no interest in fancy words;
they simply and directly invite, 'Come, let me show you how
to be an entirely new person.'
So be cheerfully willing to explore this fascinating world
of the unknown. Let go of the past completely — it has done
nothing for you. Desire to rise above your present self.
Explore with an interested and alert mind, for that is what
turns everything into gold.
As an extra value, you will find that some of these sets of
questions and answers form a continued conversation for a
while, just as if you were speaking back and forth with these
great teachers.
Here are your five self-enriching programmes:
Programme 1: After your first reading of this book, practise
random reading. The advantage of this volume is the ease
with which you can pick it up and start reading anywhere. So
8 THE MYSTIC MASTERS SPEAK!
open it when you have
a few minutes at lunch, or between
home These short refreshments keep you inspired.
projects. .
Programme 2: Join or form a study group. Great gain can

be made when a number of earnest people come together for
self-development. Large or small groups can meet in home,
office, or church. The leader can read a page or two, then
direct the discussion.
Programme Write down the numbers of your favourite
3:
answers. There is a healthy reason why you received special
impressions from them. Write them out on separate slips of

paper and carry them with you. Now, fully mine their gold
by memorizing and reflecting upon them.
Programme 4: Note all the answers which cover a topic of
special interest to you, or which cover a specific problem, for
example, you may wish to know all about freedom from
anxiety. Then, read all the answers to your topic in one
reading session. This brightens your understanding, just as a
tourist understands a French castle better by viewing it from
all sides.
Programme 5: This is the most important programme of your

life! Work at seeing something much higher in these truths
than appears to you at first glance. Let them tell you their
secret story. The power of these lofty truths wishes to
contact you, and it can succeed as you make it welcome. And
then, at last, you will know.
Perhaps you have asked, 'Can I really know the truth that
sets me free?' The answer is, of course you can. And you can
start right now. You see, when the mystic masters speak,
they know what they are talking about. So join them, and
you hear and understand the secret story; you will know
will
what life is all about, and you will be the commander of your
own life.
VERNON HOWARD
VERNON HOWARD LIVES AND TEACHES

IN BOULDER CITY. WRITE:
NEW LIFE, BOX 68*4, BOULDER CITY
NEVADA 89005-068*4
1. The Practical Power of Mystic Principles
1. Q: May I come right to the point? What are mystical

studies all about? Are they practical? What will they do for
us?
A: If you devote your time to study, you will avoid all

the irksome things of life, and you
not long for the
will
approach of night, being tired of the day, and you will not be
a burden to yourself, and your company will be acceptable to
others. (Seneca)
2. Q: But do these lofty mystical principles help us in

daily matters, such as the solving of problems and in the
making of necessary decisions? Heavenly ideas have their
place, but we need down-to-earth assistance.
A The contemplation of celestial things will make a

:
man both speak and think more sublimely and magnificently

when he descends to human affairs. (Cicero)
3. Q: What about the control of personal habits? Can

these principles give us a new and a complete command over
ourselves, including the removal of unwanted habits?
A Even the food and drink necessary for restoration

:
will lie outside the soul's attention, and not less the sexual
appetite ... it will turn upon the actual needs of nature and
be entirely under control. (Plotinus)
4. Q: I don't have any large personal problems, but am

puzzled by life in general. For example, why are we here on
earth, and what am I supposed to be doing with myself?
A: We are surrounded by a rich and fertile mystery.

May we not probe it, pry into it, employ ourselves about it, a
little? (Thoreau)
5. Q: Then there is a definite answer regarding the

purpose of life?
A : To be what we are, and to become what we are

capable of becoming, is the only aim of life. (Spinoza)
6. Q: I have always yearned to simply be myself, but tell
me, how does it contribute to personal happiness?
A : Resolve to be thyself; and know, that he who finds

himself, loses his misery. (Arnold)
7. Q: What will be the signs that we are solving these

mysteries of life for ourselves?
A: To be happy, to possess eternal life, to be in God,

to be saved — all these are the same. All alike
the mean
solution of the problem, the aim of existence. happiness And
is cumulative, as misery may be. An eternal growth is an
unchangeable peace, an ever more profound depth of

understanding, a possession constantly more intense and
more spiritual with the joy of heaven — this is happiness.
Happiness has no limits. (Amiel)
8. Q: I want to work at self-transformation, but I have no

confidence in my mental abilities to understand what I must
do.
A We can be men without being sages. Without

:
spending our days in the study of morality, we possess at a

cheaper rate a more certain guide through the immense and
perplexing labyrinth of human opinions. It is not enough,
however, that such a guide exists — it is necessary to know
and follow her. (Rousseau)
9. Q: What is this authentic guide?
A Be: a lamp unto yourself. (Buddha)

1
THE PRACTICAL POWER OF MYSTIC PRINCIPLES 1
You are wiser than you think!
10. Q: I would my fate is not

give anything to be sure that
forever fixed, that can really break completely away from
I
my present negative patterns and enter a new way.
A A strict belief in fate is the worst of slavery,

:
imposing upon our necks an everlasting lord and tyrant, who

we stand in awe of night and day. (Epicuras)
11. Q: Then change and elevation of both self and

circumstance is truly possible?
A Man is
: man, and master of his fate. (Tennyson)
12. Q: In world of rapid changes, all of us seem to be

this
seeking something more secure and permanent. Will you
please comment on this?
A One truth discovered is immortal, and entitles its

:
author to be so: for, like a new substance in nature, it cannot

be destroyed. (Hazlitt)
13. Q: But maybe only certain types of people are able to

set offon the mystic path. Or maybe we can take it up only
when we have enough money or leisure; when we are free of
the demands of everyday life.
A: You think it is because I have an income which

exempts me from your day-labour, that I waste (as you call
it) my time in sun-gazing and star-gazing. You do not know
me. If my debts, as they threaten, should consume what

money I have, I should live just as I do now: I should eat
worse food, and wear a coarser coat, and should wander in a
potato patch instead of in the wood — but it is I, and not my
twelve hundred dollars a year, that love God. (Emerson)
14. Q: I am aware that we must make personal efforts, but

I am not sure as to what they are.
A: Ask, and be given you; seek, and ye shall

it shall
find; knock, and it be opened unto you: for every one
shall
that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him
that knocketh it shall be opened. (Jesus)
2

15. Q: Feelings of inferiority have always prevented me
from attempting to climb the mountain. I often think that I
lack the necessary inner qualities.
A On : the other hand, we we fancy

are often wiser than
ourselves to be ... In the great of life, when a man
moments
decides upon an important step, his action is directed not so
much by any clear knowledge of the right thing to do, as by an
inner impulse — you may almost call it intuition — proceeding
from the deepest foundations of his being. (Schopenhauer)
16. Q: But what if we have limited time for attending to

the inner life?
A: One day, with life and heart, is more than time

enough to find a world. (Lowell)
Your path to lasting delight
1 7. Q: Sometimes I find myself letting go of the mad rush

of daily duties to wonder about myself and my activities.
Surely there is something higher for us than the usual
pursuits of making money and raising families. Do other
people also have this feeling of wonder?
A : But often in the world's most crowded streets, but

often, in the din of strife, there rises an unspeakable desire
after the knowledge of our buried life, a thirst to spend our
fire and restless force in tracking out our true, original
course; a longing to inquire into the mystery of this heart
that beats so wild, so deep in us, to know whence our
thoughts come and where they go. (Arnold)
18. Q: Will you please supply an example of a practical

esoteric truth which needs our sincere study in order to make
its value our own value?
A: Without going out of doors, one may know the

whole world; without looking out of the window, one may
see the way "i heaven. The further one travels, the less one
may know. Thus it is thai without moving you may know;
without looking you shall sec; without doing you shall
succeed. (Lao-tse)
THE PRACTICAL POWER OF MYSTIC PRINCIPLES 1 9
19. Q: I often fed enslaved by compulsive duties. I do

them because feel I must or should do them. Because of
I
this, am a whirlpool of resentment and guilt. Is it wrong to

I
want to break out of this nightmare and to start living my

own life?
A : I would have nobody to control me; I would be

absolute . . . Now, he that is absolute can do what he likes; he
that can do what he likes can take his pleasure; he that can
take his pleasure can be content; and he that can be content
has no more to desire. So the matter is over, and come what
will come, I am satisfied. (Cervantes)
20. Q: I have always had a timid and apologetic attitude

towards other people, which dislike. I am encouraged by 1
everything you say, but 1 am still what I am.
A : I do not trouble my spirit to vindicate itself or be

understood; I sec that the elementary laws never apologize.
(Whitman)
21. Q: So how can 1 set myself 1Y<
A: Who has bound you? (/en)
22. Q: I sense something very right and very reassuring

about everything we have covered so far. Will you please
explain this feeling?
A: These are not fictions of a visionary imagination,

but sober truths, spoken by the word of God in scripture,
and written and engraven in the book of every man's own
nature. (Law)
23. Q: Most of us have false values of one kind or another.

We need guidance in exchanging shallow activities for more
profitable ones. Please suggest a method.
A: There is nothing so delightful as the hearing or the

speaking of truth. For this reason, there is no conversation so
agreeable as that oJ a man of integrity, who hears without an\
intention to betray, and speaks without any intention to
deceive. (Plato)
4

24. Q: Will authentic values become clearer to us as we
watchfully proceed?
A : Evident as the sun at noon. (Carlyle)
The interesting discoveries you will make
25. Q: Suppose we reach this state of inner unity. Does

this mean that the people and circumstances that now disturb
us can have no more influence on our peace of mind?
A : No matter where you place it, gold is gold.

(Ramakrishna)
26. Q: What
results have been obtained by those people
who have dived deeply into esoteric waters? I mean, have
they found special rewards in this inner world?
A It was my conviction that I could not do better

:
than continue in that in which I was engaged,. in making . .
the greatest progress was able I in the knowledge of

truth . . . This method, from the time I began to apply it, has
been to me the source of satisfaction so intense as to make
me believe that a more perfect or more innocent occupation
could not be enjoyed in this life. By its means, I daily
discovered truths that appeared to me of great importance,
and of which other men were generally ignorant. The arising
satisfaction so occupied my mind that I was wholly indif-
ferent to every other object. (Descartes)
27. Q: What discovered truth would open the door to

lasting self-contentment?
A He: is happy as well as great who needs neither to

obey nor to command in order to be something. (Goethe)
28. Q: Does the absorption of mystic principles provide a

man with the endurance needed for going on to new
successes?
A No man: could ever make him face about. (Bunyan)
29. Q: To summarize at this point, why is it necessary for

us to study these mystical and esoteric teachings?
5
A The : true sovereign of the world, who moulds the

world like soft wax,
according to his pleasure, is he who
lovingly sees into the world. (Carlyle)
30. Q: I am by unexpected events which force

easily upset
me to change my is more annoying than tragic,
plans. It
still, it is no way to go through the day. May I have your

comment?
A
The man of inner life is easily aware of himself,
:
since he is never totally absorbed in outward affairs.

Therefore, his exterior occupations and necessary activities
do not distract him, and he adjusts himself to things as they
come. The man whose inner life is well-ordered, is not
bothered by strange and troublesome ways of others. A man
is blocked and distracted by such things only as he permits
himself to be. (Kempis)
31. Q: Why are these great principles not known and

practised by mankind as a whole?
A: The secrets of life are not shown except to

sympathy and likeness. (Emerson)
32. Q: In other words, each person must eagerly want

them for himself?
A: Dare to be wise! (Horace)
How your natural forces help you
33. Q: Everything seems to depend upon the source we

look to for help. What rule can we follow?
A : Set your affection on things above, not on things

on the earth. (New Testament)
34. Q: Why
do we fail so often in our attempts to win
what we want? Why do results so often turn out contrary to
our desires?
A We, ignorant of ourselves, beg often our own harms,

:
which the wise powers deny us for our good; so find we

profit by losing of our prayers. (Shakespeare)
35. Q: Please explain what you mean by human ignorance.
A By
: and slumbering, and consenting
closing the eyes
to be deceived by shows, men establish and confirm their
daily life of routine and habit everywhere, which still is built
on purely illusory foundations. Children, who play life,
discern its true law. (Thoreau)
36. Q: How can we awaken our natural powers and turn

them to practical use?
A: The mason employed on the building of a house

may be quite ignorant of its general design, or, at any rate, he
may not keep it constantly in mind. So it is with man: in
working through the days and hours of his life, he takes little
thought of its character as a whole ... It is only when we
come to view our life as a connected whole that our character
and capacities show themselves in their true light; that we see
how, in particular instances, some happy inspiration, as it
were, led us to choose the only true path out of a thousand
which might have brought us to ruin. (Schopenhauer)
37. Q: Then it is correct to say that all wisdom is really

self-wisdom?
A The kingdom
: of heaven is within. (Jesus)
38. Q: I believe I understand this, but let me review. If we

work and solve the mysteries of ourselves, we solve all other
mysteries?
A As
: a man-of-war that sails through the sea, so this
earth that sails through the air. We mortals are on board a
all
fast-sailing, never-sinking world-frigate, of which God was the

ship-wright . . . Thus with sealed orders, we ourselves are
sailing
the repositories of the packet, whose mysterious
secret
contents we long to learn. There are no mysteries out of
ourselves. (Melville)
39. Q: No matter howit off, a deep

hard I try to shake
feeling of loneliness clings to me.
was told that mysticism I
has a new and workable solution to this problem, but I

wonder whether I will be able to grasp it.
A : An heir finds the title-deeds of his house. Will he

say, 'Perhaps they are forged?', and neglect to examine them?
(Pascal)
40. Q: How can we aid our own self-work?
A : Patience is powerful. (Longfellow)
A technique for pleasant living
41. Q: What healthy changes will come to us as a result of

acquiring information of a mystical nature?
A : From this kind of knowledge arises the most

perfect satisfaction and contentment. (Spinoza)
42. Q: I would like to use my mind for the specific

purpose of avoiding hurt feelings when dealing with other
people. How can I do this, for example, when I am criticized
or slandered by someone?
A Say nothing more to yourself than what the first
:
appearances report. Suppose that it has been reported to you

that a certain person speaks ill of you. This has been
reported, but that you have been injured has not been
reported Thus then always abide by the first appearances,
. . .
and add nothing yourself from within, and then nothing

hurtful happens to you. (Aurelius)
43. Q: What if we make foolish mistakes along the spiritual

path?
A : I will go a thousand leagues in falsehood, that one

step of the journey may be true. (Sufism)
44. Q: Why do we fail to learn from our mistakes?

A: The fox condemns the trap, not himself. (Blake)
45. Q: Speaking of mistakes and illusions, Shakespeare said

that nothing is what it seems. Does this apply to human
friendships?
A : What men have given the name of friendship to is

nothing but an alliance, a reciprocal accommodation of
interests, an exchange of good offices; in fact, it is nothing
but a system of traffic, in which self-love always proposes to
itself some advantage. (La Rochefoucauld)
46. Q: What simple rule can we rely upon for right

behaviour at all times under all circumstances?
A What
: is rational is real, and what is real is rational.
(Hegel)
47. Q: I am attracted to esoteric teachings because they

point the way back to the simple and natural life. Will you
please supply a technique for recovering naturalness?
A Be neither the slave of your impulses and sensations

:
of the moment, nor of an abstract and general plan; be open

to what life brings from within and without, and welcome
the unforeseen, and give to your life unity, and bring the
unforeseen within the lines of your plan. Let what is natural
in you raise itself to the level of the spiritual, and let the
spiritual become once more natural. Thus will your develop-
ment be harmonious. (Amiel)
48. Q: People chatter so much about inner freedom, but

few seem to really possess it. How can we start to understand
the true meaning of self-liberty?
A: The wish to untie, through understanding of their

true nature, the chains of selfishness and sensuality — this is
the yearning for freedom. (Shankara)
49. Q: I sense how practical all this really is, but hope it is
a sunny path as well.
A: Cheerful, and yet profound, like an October

afternoon. (Nietzsche)
50. Q: No longer do Iwhat human beings

believe in
carelessly label as love, however, authentic love must have a
part in mystical wisdom. What is an elementary lesson?
A: Love is ever the beginning of knowledge, as fire is

of light. (Carlyle)
9
Your stream of power and wisdom
51. Q: I am frustrated by my failure to attain my financial

goals. What particular knowledge do I need?
A : Condition, circumstance, is not the thing; bliss is

the same in subject or in king. (Pope)
52. Q: I have a strong wish to live in this kind of calm

happiness, so could you be more specific about its attain-
ment? How is it possible to banish strain and pressure in
business matters?
A A : little consideration of what takes place around us

every day would show us
that a higher law than that of our
our painful labours are unnecessary
will regulates events; that
and fruitless; that only in our easy, simple, spontaneous
action are we strong Place yourself in the middle of the
. . .
stream of power and wisdom which animates all whom it

floats, and you are without effort impelled to truth, to right,
and a perfect contentment. (Emerson)
53. Q: If a man floated in the very centre of this stream of

truth he would be a king!
A: Let him regain his Kingdom! (Bhagavad-Gita)
54. Q: We now have the facts, but need a method for

making them part of our lives.
A : Let us put the ideas of our mind, just as we put

things of the laboratory, to the test of experience. (Locke)
55. Q: Several of us in town have formed a study group for

weekly exploration of mystic and esoteric principles. May we
have a helpful idea for our first discussion?
A : True religion is the establishment by man of such a

relationship to the Infinite Life around him, which, while
connecting his life with Infinite Life, and directing his
actions, is also in agreement with his reason and with human
knowledge. (Tolstoy)
56. Q: I want to be a winner in life, but I don't really
understand what it means to win.
A : Self-conquest is the greatest of victories. (Plato)
57. Q: What if we find difficulty in understanding what we

must do?
A : Truth makes all things plain. (Shakespeare)
58. Q: I am curious about a particular point about the

various schools of mysticism, such as Taoism, Zen, and
Sufism. They were founded in different places and ages, yet
all teach the same basic principles.
A There
: is one river of truth, which receives tribu-
taries from every side. (Clement)
59. Q: May we have some general rules for psychic

success?
A These are the stages through which we have to pass,

:
and all those who persevere will succeed. Give up all

argumentation and other distractions. Is there anything in
this dry intellectual jargon? It only throws the mind off its
balance and disturbs it. These things have to be realized. Will
talking do that? So give up all vain talk. Read only those books
which have been written by persons who have had realization.
(Vivekananda)
60. Q: How does this procedure bring good results?
A : People, generally, are not aware of the ease of mind

there is in knowing where they are, and where they are going.
The sensation of being lost is a keen distress. (Wallace)
How to maintain perfect poise
61. Q: I believe you teach the existence of something

which is totally different from the thousands of competing
and contradictory opinions about life.
A
There are not different truths in the world, for
:
truth one and the same at all times and in every place.
is
(Buddhism)
62. Q: Are right and constructive thoughts always available

to us?
A As you grow
: ready for it, somewhere or other you
will find needful for you in a book or a friend, or,
what is
best of all, in your own thoughts — the eternal thought

speaking in your thought. (MacDonald)
63. Q: What is the mystical definition of greatness?
A He : that is slow to anger is better than the mighty;

and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city. (Old
Testament)
64. Q: Why do unhappy people fail to profit by listening

to those who have superior spiritual insight?
A We : think few people sensible except those who are

of our own opinion. (La Rochefoucauld)
65. Q: In order to act, man needs some sort of motivation.

What can light a fire under us to make us move towards the
true life?
A I appeal to nothing but the state of your own hearts

:
and consciences, to prove the necessity of your embracing

this mystery of divine love. (Law)
66. Q: After searching for the answers to life for a long

time, have at least one solid conviction — organized society
I
knows nothing. For example, I recently attended a meeting

for the promotion of world peace — and the people spent
most of their time fighting among themselves!
A Take
: another example — a roomful of guests in full
dress, being received with great ceremony. You could almost
believe that this is a noble and distinguished company; but, as
a matter of fact, it is compulsion, pain and boredom who are
the guests.
real For where many are invited, it is a
rabble —
even if they all wear stars. Really good society is
everywhere of necessity very small. In brilliant festivals and
noisy entertainments, there is always, at bottom, a sense of
emptiness prevalent. A false tone is there. (Schopenhauer)
67. Q: How can we retain our integrity and our poise when
surrounded by such social falseness?
A To live in the presence of great truths and eternal

:
laws — that is what keeps a man patient when the world

ignores him, and calm and unspoiled when the world praises
him. (Balzac)
68. Q: I am attracted by the idea of discovering new

cosmic worlds which are now beyond my inner sight. How
can I best apply myself?
A Thinkers are as scarce as gold, but he whose

:
thoughts embrace all his subject, pursues it persistently and is

fearless of consequences, is a diamond of enormous size.
(Lavater)
69. Q: As all the great philosophers and religious teachers

point out, most men live in an artificial happiness. I don't
want to go along with it any longer.
A Freedom has a thousand charms to show, that

:
slaves, however contented, never know. (Cowper)
70. Q: That is the message I have wanted to hear for many

years.
A Why not,
: then, take steps to be free? (Plautus)
A helpful summary of Chapter 1
a. Mystic principles are practical powers for daily use.

b. If you wish to change your life, you can succeed at it.
c. Make up your mind to live your own life!
d. The mystic way is one of delightful discoveries.

e. Receive these higher viewpoints as your own viewpoints.
/. Your natural forces are ready to assist you.
g. Work patiently with yourself every day.
h. You can dissolve all forms of frustration.
i. Permit these ideas to prove their value to you.
j. Here are the messages you have yearned to hear.
2. Your First Steps Towards a Richer Life
71. Q: I am no longer satisfied with the shallow answers to

life,which society offers so freely. The disasters we see all
around us are evidence enough of society's failure. If it takes
an independent search to break out of the desert, I am willing
to make it. What must I know at the start?
A If men would steadily observe realities only, and

:
not allow themselves to be deluded, life, to compare it with

such things as we know, would be like a fairy tale and the
Arabian Nights' Entertainments. If we respected only what is
inevitable and has a right to be, music and poetry would
resound along the streets. (Thoreau)
72. Q: So the chief cause of the human problem is human

delusion?
A : Human life is thus only an endless illusion. Men

deceive and flatter each other. No one speaks of us in our
presence as he does when we are gone. Society is based on
mutual hypocrisy. (Pascal)
73. Q: And the solution?
A : If the doors of perception were cleansed, everything

would appear to man as it is — infinite. (Blake)
74. Q: How can we find proof of the Tightness of this?
A By: far the best proof is experience. (Bacon)
75. Q: But this seems to call for immense wisdom. The

only thing I know is that I do not know!
A The : journey of a thousand miles begins with one
step. (Lao-tse)
76. Q: We have so many clamouring voices inside us which

command us to do this or that. It is difficult to decide which
ones speak for our true benefit.
A Whenever conscience speaks with a divided, un-

:
certain, and disputed voice, it is not yet the voice of God.

Descend still deeper into yourself, until you hear nothing but a
clear and undivided voice, a voice which does away with doubt
and brings with it persuasion, light, and serenity. Happy, says
the Apostle, are they who are at peace with themselves, and
whose heart condemns them not in the part they take. (Amiel)
77. Q: There was a time when I used to view life more

clearly thanI do at present. I don't know what happened,
but somewhere along the way I must have fallen asleep.
A : To recover your life is in your power. Look at

things again as you used to look at them, for in this consists
the recovery of your life. (Aurelius)
78. Q: What good results can be expected from self-

awakening?
A You: shall know the truth, and the truth shall make
you free. (Jesus)
79. Q: What kind of truth will supply inner liberty?
A You have not known what you are, you have

:
slumbered upon yourself all your life Whoever you are! . . .
Claim your own. (Whitman)
80. Q: How do I start?
A Know thyself.
: (Socrates)
81. Q: Why do we fail to see ourselves as we really are?
A We become
: so accustomed to disguise ourselves to
others that at last we are disguised to ourselves. (La
Rochefoucauld)
YOUR FIRST STEPS TOWARDS A RICHER LIFE 25
How self-study provides a sure cure
82. Q: No
doubt self-knowledge has its place, but doesn't
it we want to escape? Shouldn't
glue us to the very faulty self
we keep our minds on more heavenly themes?
A Know then thyself, presume not
: God to scan, the
proper study of mankind is man. (Pope)
83. Q: But what if we see negative and unpleasant things in

ourselves? Won't this self-honesty discourage us from going
on?
A We: think this state is terrible. We are wrong. It is
there that we find peace and liberty. (Fenelon)
84. Q: Because it leads to the cure?
A : Dare to be true. Nothing can need a lie. (Herbert)
85. Q: I am afraid that most of us will have a lot of

admitting to do!
A A man
: should never be ashamed to own he has been
in the wrong, which is but saying, in other words, that he is
wiser today than he was yesterday. (Pope)
86. Q: It has been said that knowledge is not the same

thing as wisdom. Will you please explain the difference?
A Knowledge
: and wisdom, far from being one, have
oft-times no connection. Knowledge dwells in heads replete
with thoughts of other men; wisdom in minds attentive to
their own. (Cowper)
87. Q: So our aim must be to go beyond mere head-

knowledge?
A : He who learns the rules of wisdom, without
conforming to them in his life, is like a man who labours in
his field, but did not sow. (Saadi)
88. Q: How can we build our desire for valuable self-
knowledge?
A: Once you have tasted the secrets, you will have a
strong desire to understand them. (Sufism)
89. Q: I would like to understand the necessity of

exploring these new principles. Perhaps all we need is a
greater effort to make our established ideas work more
efficiently.
A What
: is the use of going right over the old track
again? . . . You must make tracks unto the unknown.
(Thoreau)
90. Q: Are there frightening hazards in this exploration of

the unknown?
A : There is always safety in valour. (Emerson)
91. Q: 1 have followed many systems and have tried to

have faith, but nothing changes. In what can I believe?
A : Dare to believe only in yourselves. (Nietzsche)
92. Q: But we hear so much about the need for faith and
trust and belief.
A: There is no need of words; believe in facts. (Ovid)
The intelligent course to self-success
93. Q: What about those who claim to have the one and
only way to man's deliverance?
A Who: dares to say that he alone has found the truth?

(Longfellow)
94. Q: Public leaders keep telling us that man will be

happy just as soonas we devise and obey the right laws. What
contribution can human laws make towards human
happiness?
A: This legality therefore is not able to set thee free

from thy burden. No man was as yet ever rid of his burden
by him; no, nor ever is like to be Believe me, there is . . .
nothing in all this noise. (Bunyan)

95. Q: But human laws and rules do make changes in the

way we live. Perhaps the answer is that they merely change
our exterior behaviour, not our inner levels of happiness.
A To: imagine that five hundred men, drawn from

every corner of the kingdom, will make a good law! Is it not
a dreary joke, for which the people will sooner or later have
to pay? They have a change of masters, that is all. (Balzac)
96. I can understand why

Q: a thorough knowledge of
human nature and human ways is a necessary first step to
self-freedom, but I do have a question. What will happen to
us if we are left without the strength of organized society?
What other way is there?
A : It is this, let me tell you . . . the strongest man in
the world is he who stands most alone. (Ibsen)
97. Q: It is interesting how we always come back to the

basic fact that we must rely upon ourselves only, not upon
those who claim to have the answers.
A The eagle never lost so much time

: as when he
submitted to learn of the crow. (Blake)
98. It is a relief to have my suspicions about deceitful

Q:
human nature confirmed by those who see deeply into it.
What practical procedure should we now follow?
A : You that, in dealing with fools and
will see
blockheads, only one way of showing your
there is
intelligence — by having nothing to do with them. That

means, of course, that when you go into society, you may
now and then feel like a good dancer who gets an invitation
to a ball, and on arriving, finds that everyone is lame — with
whom is he to dance? (Schopenhauer)
99. Q: So what is the right and intelligent course of action
for us when it comes to our own self-deliverance?

A When you
: travel to the Celestial City, carry no
letters of introduction. When you knock, ask to see God —
none of the servants. (Thoreau)
Here is your pearl of great price
100. Q: Where can we find evidence that we are on the right

track at last?
A The
: spiritual life is as much its own proof as the
natural and needs no outward or foreign thing to bear
life,
witness to it. (Law)
101. Q: Mysticism teaches that obstacles to our self-renewal

exist only in our misunderstanding mind. Will you please
discuss this?
A: If you wish to maintain a will conformable to

nature, you have every security, every facility, you have no
troubles. If you wish to maintain what is in your own power
and is naturally free, and if you are content with these, what
else do you care for? For who is the master of such things? Who
can take them away? If you choose to be modest and faithful,
who shall not allow you to be so? (Epictetus)
102. Q: What specific instruction will help us to win the

kind of a self with whom we can live in peace?
A : Practise right view, right aim, right speech, right

action, right living, right effort, right mindfulness, right
meditation. (Buddha)
103. Q: What about the time factor? Is the search a long

one?
A: Every day to a wise man is a new life. (Seneca)
104. Q: What is the nature of this new life towards which

we are heading?
A: Do not require a description of the countries

towards which you sail. The description does not describe
them to you, and tomorrow you will arrive there and know
them by inhabiting them. (Emerson)
105. Q: I am unacquainted with other people who are also

interested in esoteric self-development. Is it possible to make
progress by working alone?
A Had: I been born on a desert

had never island, or
seen a human creature beside myself; had
never been I
informed of what had formerly happened in a certain corner

of the world, I might yet have learned, by the exercise and
cultivation of my reason, and by the proper use of the
faculties God has given me, to know and to love Him and . . .
to have properly discharged my duty here on earth. What can

the knowledge of the learned man teach me more?
(Rousseau)
106. Q: How can we increase our talents in spiritual

matters?
A: The heights of ability consists in a thorough

knowledge of the real value of things. (La Rochefoucauld)
107. Q: I am aware that we can receive these great truths

only to the degree that we value them, so please supply a
thought to remind us to value them above all else.
A The kingdom
: of heaven is like unto a merchantman,
seeking goodly pearls: who, when he had found one pearl of
great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it.
(Jesus)
How to build genuine enthusiam
108. Q: am quite enthusiastic about these mystical

I
teachings, and wish to work on them as efficiently as

possible. What can you suggest?
A Always run in the short way, and the short way is
:
the natural; accordingly, say and do every thing in conformity

with the soundest reason. For such a purpose frees a man
from trouble and warfare and all artificiality. (Aurelius)
109. Q: And I can work at this in my own way?

A Each mind has
: its own method. (Emerson)
110. Q: What is a good method for ending wasteful

artificiality in ourselves?
A: He who would distinguish the true from the false
must have a clear idea of what is true and false. (Spinoza)
111. Q: My conclusions are often faulty. What I assume is
right often turns out wrong. I would like to hear of a first

step for self-correction.
A: The best way come to truth being to examine

to
things as really they are,and not to conclude they are, as we
fancy of ourselves, or have been taught by others to imagine.
(Locke)
112. Q: Isn't it valuable to observe the falseness of people

we meet, I mean, as long as we avoid self-righteousness?
A: There are false heroes and false devotees; and as

true heroes never are the ones who make much noise about
their deeds of honour, just so true devotees, whom we should
follow, are not the ones who make so much vain show. What!
Will you find no difference between hypocrisy and genuine
devotion? (Moliere)
113. Q: I want to walk towards inner newness, but it all
seems so mysterious and difficult!
A : It is not far, it is within reach. Perhaps you have

been on it since you were born and did not know. (Whitman)
114. Q: But perhaps this inner adventure may call for

sacrifices we are hesitant to make.
A : Where Nature is sovereign, there is no need for
austerity and self-denial. (Froude)
115. Q: The saddest word in my vocabulary is confusion.

Sometimes I play the role of a man who knows exactly what
he is doing, but I can't fool my own self. Will you please

provide a first step for banishing confusion in general?
A: What comfort, what strength, what economy there

is in order — material order, intellectual order, moral order.
To know where one is going and what one wishes — this is
order; to keep one's word and one's engagements — again
order; to have everything ready under one's hand, to be able

to dispose of all one's forces, and to have all one's means of
whatever kind under command — still order; to discipline
one's habits, one's efforts, one's wishes; to organize one's life,
to distribute one's time ... belongs to and is included

all this
in the word order. Order means light and peace, inward

liberty and free command over oneself; order is power.
(Amiel)
116. Q: Weurged to meditate upon these lofty

are
principles, have never been able to determine the nature
but I
of authentic meditation.
A The
: intentness of the soul on the pure Eternal —
that is right meditation. It is not the indulgence in fanciful
thinking. (Shankara)
Why a new nature is necessary
117. Q: What is the connection between our spiritual level

and the level of our happiness?
A : The most certain sign of wisdom is continual

cheerfulness; her state is like that of things in the regions
above the moon, always clear and serene. (Montaigne)
118. Q: I have noticed that all of the great teachers

emphasize the need for honestly observing and then abandon-
ing our negative traits. I wonder why they give so much
attention to the losing of negative features, instead of
showing us how to acquire positive traits.
A: We lop away that bearing boughs may live.
(Shakespeare)
119. Q: It is strange how we resist the loss of those very

things that harm us.
A : So Nature deals with us, and takes away our

playthings one by one, and by the hand leads us to rest.
(Longfellow)
120. Q: Lately I have been thinking about the difference

between a surface reform of our character and the acquisition
of a totally transformed nature. Why do esoteric teachings
insist upon a completely new nature?
A Of what
: use to make heroic vows of amendment, if
the same old law-breaker is to keep them? (Emerson)
121. Q: By what method is this new nature acquired?
A: The realization of Truth is brought about by

perception, and not in the least by ten millions of acts.
(Shankara)
122. Q: And this new nature sets us free of old problems?
A : Free as an eagle. (Keats)
123. Q: This inner transformation makes perfect sense, but

where does our duty towards others come in? Some may
think it is self-centred to work on ourselves, instead of with
and for others.
A: He who reforms himself has done more towards
reforming the public than a crowd of noisy, impotent
patriots. (Lavater)
124. Q: So this is why esotericism calls for personal change,

rather than for social rearrangement?
A For the outward world is but a glass, a represent-

:
ation of the inward; and everything, and variety of things in

temporal nature, must have its root or hidden cause in
something that is more inward. (Law)
125. Q: May we have a first step towards building persist-

ence along the mystic path?
A: Be not disgusted, nor discouraged, nor dissatisfied,

if you do not succeed in doing everything according to right
principles, but when you fail, return back again, and be
content if the greater part of what you do is consistent with
man's nature. Love this to which you return, and do not
return to philosophy as if she were a master, but act like
those who have tired eyes and apply a drenching with water.
Then you will not fail to obey reason, and you will repose in
it. (Aurelius)
126. Q: I feel that I could advance much faster if I were free

of certain people who are harmful to me. Is there some
counsel to cover this problem?
A Consider what your bondage is in the world. What

:
do you not have to suffer to keep the esteem of those men

whom you scorn? (Fenelon)
Where lasting happiness is found
127. Q: My main problem is my own contradictory

attitudes. At the same time that I want to please myself, I
also want to please others, so I often submit to their wishes.
A : Nearly all men are slaves for the same reason that
the Spartans assigned for the servitude of the Persians — the
inability to pronounce the word 'No'. To be able to speak
that word and to live alone, are the only two means to
preserve one's freedom and one's character. (Chamfort)
128. Q: So happiness can be found only in self-independ-

ence?
A : Even in the common affairs of life, in love,

friendship, and marriage, how little security have we when we
trust our happiness in the hands of others! (Hazlitt)
129. Q: It is getting clearer to me why self-understanding

and spiritual knowledge must be highly valued by us.
A : Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the

man She is more precious than
that getteth understanding . . .
rubies:and all things thou canst desire are not to be

compared unto her. (Old Testament)
130. Q: What part does curiosity play in self-advancement?
A: There are different kinds of curiosity; one springs

from which makes us desire to know everything that
interest,
may be profitable to us; another from pride, which springs
)

from a desire to know what others do not know. (La
Rochefoucauld |
131. Q: 1 amchange my mind if it becomes

willing to
evident that Ibut how can we guard against
am wrong,
trading one wrong notion for a worse one?
A: A man should always have these two rules in

readiness: the one, to do only whatever the reason of the
ruling and legislating faculty may suggest . . . the other, to
change his opinion, if some other person
right, and sets him
moves him from an opinion. But this change of opinion must
proceed only from a certain persuasion, as of what is just or
of common advantage, and the like, not because it appears
pleasant or brings reputation. (Aurelius)
132. Q: I feel that I am standing in my own way. Might that

be a correct analysis?
A: What is man's chief enemy? Each man is his own.

(Anacharsis)
133. Q: This seems to knock out the complaints we have

towards others.
A: The violence that others do to us is often less

painful than violence we do to ourselves. (La Rochefoucauld)
134. Q: How can I strengthen both my interest and my

effort in remaking my life with these practical programmes?
A To : love truth for truth's sake is the principal part of

human perfection in this world, and the seed of all other
virtues. (Locke)
135. Q: We now have some idea of what we must do to

enrich ourselves, but what must we avoid doing?
A : Everything which compromises the future or
destroys my inner liberty, which enslaves me to things or
obliges me to be other than I could and ought to be . . . hurts
me. (Amiel
136. Q: We are so unaware of ourselves! We need something

to correct us when we stray from the right path.
A: Nature brings us back to absolute truth whenever

we wander. (Agassiz)
137. Q: 1 appreciate the encouragement offered by these

principles, for there is certainly nothing encouraging in the
offerings of the exterior world.
A A
few golden apples are rolled, and the world
:
scrambles after them. You were never bound by laws, Nature

never had a bond for you We have placed ourselves in this
. . .
net, and will have to get out Never forget this is only a . . .
momentary state, and that we have to pass through it.

(Vivekananda)
Take this leap to safety!
138. Q: How can we acquire the deep understanding which

provides both inner and outer harmony?
- 1 : Learn to distinguish between Self and Truth. Self is
the cause of selfishness and the source of evil; Truth cleaves

to no self; it is universal and leads to justice and righteous-
ness. (Buddhism)
139. Q: How can I answer someone who says he wants

freedom from his negative thoughts, but refuses to face and
admit them?
A : No one can conquer an enemy without coming in

sight of him. (Swedenborg)
140. Q: I am getting more conscious of how we carelessly

permit other people to drain our psychic strength. Since we
need to conserve our energies, will you please comment and
advise?
A : If a man stands high in Nature's lists it is natural

and inevitable that he should be an feel solitary. It will
advantage to him if his surroundings do not interfere with this
feeling; for if he has to see many other people who are
not of like character with himself,
they will exercise a
disturbing influence upon him, adverse
to his peace of mind;
they will rob him, in fact, of himself, and give him nothing to
compensate for the loss. (Schopenhauer)
141. Q: Sometimes an interesting challenge can arouse us to

great effort. Please give us a challenge.
A: We are very near to greatness: one step and we are

safe: can we not take the leap? (Emerson)
142. Q: The idea of returning to natural living has always

had a great appeal to me. Also, I believe it is a basic teaching
of Zen. What is the secret appeal of naturalness?
A : Nature never says one thing and wisdom another.

(Juvenal)
143. Q: How does a knowledge of psychological or cosmic

laws help us, and what is an example of a law we must
understand?
A Happy
: is he who has been able to learn the causes
of things. (Virgil)
144. Q: Sometimes I feel utterly worthless.
A : There is a treasure in every person. (Sufism)
145. Q: So our task is to uncover this treasure, to realize

that we had it all along?
A Every man has within himself a continent of

:
undiscovered character. Happy is he who proves to be the

Columbus of his spirit. (Goethe)
146. Q: Where do the everyday virtues of goodness and

we spontaneously turn
kindness enter into our self-work? Will
into nicer people?
A You may,
: then, boldy declare that the highest good
is singleness of mind, for where agreement and unity exist,
there must the virtues be. It is the vices that arc at war with
each other. (Seneca)

147. Q: What advice do you have for helping us at the early

stages of our mystical studies?
A : If we would put some slight stress on ourselves at

the beginning, then afterwards we should be able to do all
things with ease and joy. (Kempis)
148. Q: Please summarize our needed course of action.

A : Sleep no more! (Shakespeare)
Review these valuable points
a. As the mind becomes clearer, so does life.

b. where you are to change your fortunes!
Start right
c. Self-honesty is a tremendous power in your favour.
d Courageously plunge into new and different ideas.
e. You can become your own harbour of security.
/. Let self-elevation come through self-knowledge.

g. Orderly self-study will banish all confusion.
h. Your first duty is to self-harmony, not to society.
i. Learn to step out of your own way.
/. Our task is to awaken from psychic sleep.
3. How to Win New Control in Human
Relations
149. Q: I always like to get the single most important fact

about any subject and then give it my total attention and
study. Will you therefore please state the single most
important fact about understanding other people and having
right relationships with them?
A: Would you know others? Read yourself — and

learn! (Schiller)
150. Q: Please supply an example of this.
A: We are never more discontented with others than

when we are discontented with ourselves. The consciousness
of wrongdoing makes us irritable, and our heart in its cunning
quarrels withwhat is outside it, in order that it may deafen
the clamour within. (Amiel)
151. Q: What is the connection between the right use of our

mental powers and harmonious human relations?
A He that follows the advice of reason has a mind that

:
is elevated above the reach of injury; that sits above the

clouds, in a calm and quiet ether, and with a brave
indifference hears the rolling thunders grumble and burst
under his feet. (Scott)
152. Q: Where do we make a mistake in seeking happiness

with other people?
A: We take less pains to be happy than to appear so.

(La Rochefoucauld)
153. Q: I was once advised to never carelessly reveal any of

my faults or weaknesses to others. Why?
HOW TO WIN NEW CONTROL IN HUMAN RELATIONS 39
A : Malice always aims where weakness can be injured.

(Gracian)
154. Q: We are aware of how humanity likes to flatter itself

on its wisdom and heroism, but how does an awakened man
see it?
A : But man, proud man, drest in a little brief

authority, most ignorant of what he's most assured, his glassy
essence, like an angry ape, plays such fantastic tricks before
high heaven as make the angels weep. (Shakespeare)
155. Q: What is the explanation of those rare moments

between two people when all pretence and division falls
away, and both quietly understand?
A The
: beautiful attracts the beautiful. (Hunt)
156. Q: We are all so impatient and so frustrated in our

dealings with each other. By what method can we show more
gentleness and understanding?
A The art of putting up with people may be learned

:
by practising patience on inanimate objects, which, in virtue

of some mechanical or general physical necessity, oppose a
stubborn resistance to our freedom of action — a form of
patience which is required every day. The patience thus
gained may be applied to our dealings with men, by
accustoming ourselves to regard their opposition, wherever
we encounter it, as the inevitable outcome of their nature,
which up against us according to the same rigid law
sets itself
of necessity which governs the resistance of inanimate
objects. To become indignant at their conduct is as foolish as
to be angry with a stone because it rolls into your path.
(Schopenhauer)
How to avoid human traps
157. Q: Many of my actions in social relations have turned

out less beneficial than expected, and have sometimes ended
in disaster. How can we avoid getting mixed up with the
wrong people?
40 THE MYSTIC MASTERS SPEAK:
A Inasmuch as we neither seek nor shun any object
:
except as our understanding represents it as either good or

bad, all that is necessary to right action is right judgement
. and the assurance of such an acquisition cannot fail to
. .
render us contented. (Descartes)
158. Q: We are always building something, always trying to

create an existence which is higher and better and more
tranquil. Yet with all this effort, everything remains the
same, including our shaky state of happiness.
A The: difficulty is that we do not make a world of

our own, but fall into institutions already made. (Emerson)
159. Q: We are told that obedience to our true and original

nature results in carefree relations with other people, so I
must have made a mistake somewhere. I believe that I live
from my authentic self, yet I still make blunders with others.
A: The chief of our concerns is that of ourselves, yet
how we not been told by the inner voice, that to
often have
pursue our own interests at the expense of others would be
to do wrong! So we imagine that we are sometimes obeying
the impulse of nature, but all the while we are resisting it. In
listening to the voice of our senses, we turn a deaf ear to the
dictates of our hearts. (Rousseau)
160. Q: What makes us so gullible that we repeatedly fall
into traps set by others? What trickery should we watch for?
A Self-interest speaks all sorts of tongues, and plays

:
all sorts of roles, even that of disinterestedness. (La Roche-

foucauld)
161. Q: What is the mystical method for remaining

unharmed by the deceitfulness and slander of others?
A: If a man empties himself of himself, who can harm

him? (Chuang-tse)
162. Q: I suppose that you mean we must empty ourselves

of false values, like pride and self-righteousness. But how
does this protect a man from the hostility of others?
A : Having nothing, nothing can he lose. (Shakespeare)
163. Q: Ordinary religion and psychology have a hard time

defining human evil. What is the esoteric definition?
A The
: only good is knowledge, and the only evii is
ignorance. (Diogenes)
164. Q: Most people are really shy and frightened of each

other. Is this a natural and necessary state, or an acquired
false condition which can be corrected?
A: We are troubled only by the fears which we, and

not nature, give ourselves. (Pascal)
Solving mankind's greatest problem
165. Q: Will you please explain man's fundamental problem, I

mean, what is the cause of his confused and self-defeating
ways?
A Thegreatest part of mankind

: may be said to be
. . .
asleep,and that particular way of life which takes up each

man's mind, thoughts, and actions, may be very well called
dream. This degree of vanity is equally visible in
his particular
every form and order of life. The learned and the ignorant,
the rich and the poor, are all in the same state of slumber.
(Law)
166. Q: Do you mean that human beings actually live,

work, play, marry, pass laws, fight wars — all in a state of
psychic sleep, or illusion?
A: While they dream, they do not know that they are

dreaming. (Lao-tse)
167. Q: It all makes sense, but it is shocking to realize that

allour activities and virtues are nothing but gigantic stage
performances.
A : Nothing is more terrible than active ignorance.

(Goethe)
4_ THE MYSTIC MASTERS SPEAK!
168. Q: For example?
.4 : The Puritans hated bear-baiting, not because it gave

pain to thebut bear, because it gave pleasure to the
spectators. (Macaulayi
169. Q: I have suspected all this for a long time. If we are

to get out of the woods, we need all the guidance we can get.
Where can we start our self-awakening?
.4 : Judge not according to the appearances, but judge

righteous judgment. (Jesus)
170. Q: What is righteous judgment?
.4 To judge is to see clearly, to care for what is

: just
and therefore to be impartial, more exactly, to be dis-
interested, more exactly still, to be impersonal. (Amiel)
171. Q: The evidence of man's self-defeating behaviour is

too overwhelming to dismiss, but won't we find it upsetting
or depressing to give it much attention?
.4 : you come across any special trait of meanness or

If
stupidity .you must be careful not to let it annoy or
. .
distress you. but to look upon it merely as an addition to

your knowledge — a new fact to be considered in studying
the character of humanity. Your attitude towards it should
be that of the mineralogist who stumbles upon a very

characteristic specimen of a mineral. ( Schopenhauer!
172. Q: I have found that dailv association with mystical

teachings is by itself a reliable source of guidance through the
world of people.
.4 : He that walks with wise men shall be wise. (Old
Testament)
L73. Q: Iam part of a study group which meets on Tuesday

evenings. We want to make the most of the session. Can you
outline the best classroom attitude and action for each of us?
.1: He who diligently attends, pointedly asks, calmly

speaks, coolly answers, and ceases when he has no more to
say, is in possession of some of the best requirements of

conversation. (Lavater)
Be guided by cosmic principles
174. Q: How does an understanding of cosmic principles,

like those taught by the mystics, help us in our human
affairs?
A He who knows the Tao is sure to be well acquainted

:
with the principles that appear in the procedures of things.

Acquainted with those principles, he is sure to understand
how to regulate his actions in all kinds of circumstances.
Having that understanding, he will not allow things to injure
him. (Taoism)
175. Q: Does that apply to those times when we feel

ourselves to be the helpless victims of circumstances and of
other people? What cosmic principle covers this situation?
A: My true being, the essence of my nature, myself,

remains inviolate and inaccessible to the world's attacks.
(Amiel)
176. Q: What is a right and a mature attitude for starting

our day?
A Begin in the morning by saying to yourself, 'I shall

:
meet with the busybody, the ungrateful, arrogant, deceitful,

envious, unsocial. All these things happen to them because of
their ignorance of what is good and evil ... I cannot be
injured by any of them.' (Aurelius)
177. Q: Is it true that we can use all uncomfortable

conditions for gaining mere valuable self-insight? If so, will
you please show us how?
A: Your friends will tell you that they are sincere;
your enemies are really so. Let your enemies' criticism be like
a bitter medicine, to be used as a means of self-knowledge.
(Schopenhauer)
178. Q: But perhaps I have wasted my powers for self-

insight beyond recovery.
A Of: that which belongs to a man, he cannot rid
himself, even though he were to throw it away. (Goethe)
179. Q: I know a woman who speaks quite rudely at times,

but justifies it by calling herself a frank person. What is her
particular problem?
A We: endeavour to make a virtue of the faults we are
unwilling to correct. (La Rochefoucauld)
180. Q: Why is it such a shock and a disappointment when

someone whom we like or admire suddenly reveals hidden
badness?
A : It is foolish to be surprised when a fig tree produces

figs. (Aurelius)
181. Q: I don't suppose it is wrong to mention our

problems, at least some of them, to other people, but still it
seems so pointless. I have noticed that many people actually
enjoy hearing of another person's problem because it
distracts them from their own. Please comment.
A: Our dependence upon God ought to be so entire

and absolute that we should never think it necessary, in any
kind of distress to seek out human consolations. (Kempis) .
182. Q: At times it seems put these principles

difficult to
into daily operation. I guess I need encouragement!
A: Choose always the way that seems right; however

rough it may be. Practice will make it easy and pleasant.
(Pythagoras)
The power of honest self-observation
183. Q: Since self-change is the only road to changed and

happier relations with others, what is a common but wrong
attitude we must banish in ourselves?
A : We are slow to believe those things which, if
believed, would hurt our feelings. (Ovid)

184. Q: Could you please be specific about the need for

noticing negative states in ourselves, as a first step towards
dismissing them?
A: Who has not at one time or other felt a sourness,
wrath, selfishness, envy- and pride, which he could not tell
what to do with, or how to bear, rising up in him without his
consent, casting a blackness over all his thoughts, and then as
suddenly going off again, either by the cheerfulness of the
sun or air, or some agreeable accident, and again, at times, as
suddenly returning upon him? Sufficient indications are these
to every man that there is a dark guest within him often . . .
lulled to sleep by worldly light and amusements. (Law)
185. Q: So self-observation and self-honesty are the way out

of the cave?
A : This is the way thou must go. (Bunyan)
186. Q: People come into our lives and they exit from our
lives. Whatbasic thought can help us to experience these
changes in the right way?
A : I have learned in whatsoever state I am, therewith

to be content. (New Testament)
187. Q: I am in a position where I can freely give gifts and

other benefits to various people, including my children.
Sometimes I sense that I must not yield to some of their
requests, which sets up a vague conflict in me. Can you
explain this?
A : For this is the hardest of all; to close the open hand

out of love. (Nietzsche)
188. Q: I am anxious and uncertain because I often do not

know what to do in these complex human affairs.
A What
: need is there of fear, since it is in your power
to inquire what ought to be done? (Aurelius)
189. Q: What about the problem of making the right

decisions? How can know which
I decision is truly best?
A : If our eyes were opened, we should see it.
(Boehme)
190. Q: I feel the need for certain people and for society in
general, but at the same time I resent the obligations they

place me under. Please comment.
A How much
: easier it is to live in simplicity, than to
be obligated to those who might enrich me. (Sufism)
191. Q: What do the mystics have to say about human

humility? I am afraid I have some suspicions here.
A: Humility is often only a feigned submission, of

which we make use to make others submissive. It is the
trickery of pride which abases itself in order to exalt itself,
and though it transforms itself in a thousand different ways,
it is never better disguised and more capable of deceiving
than when it conceals itself under the cloak of humility. (La

Rochefoucauld)
Learn these facts about human nature
192. Q: What if a person commits a wrong, but says he is
sorry about it afterwards. Should we not accept his remorse

as fully genuine?
A He will inevitably repeat the offence, or do

:
something similar to it, should the occasion return, even

though for the moment he is deep and sincere in his
assurances of the contrary. There is nothing, absolutely
nothing, that a man cannot forget, except himself, his own
character. For character is incorrigible, because all a man's
actions arise from an inward principle; he must always do the
same thing under like circumstances, and he cannot do
otherwise. (Schopenhauer)
193. Q: Then how can anyone change his basic nature from
bad to good? What is man's way out of himself?
A: The great law of culture is: Let each become all
that he was created capable of being; expand, if possible, to

his full growth; resisting all impediments, casting off all
HOW TO WIN NEW CONTROL IN HUMAN RELATIO
forei^ru especially all noxious adhesions, and show himself at
tb in his own shape and stature, be these what thev may.

iCarlyle.
194. Q: What can we do to make this a real experience in

our lives?
4
A: Sickness is not cured by saying Medicine*, but by
drinking it. So a man is not free by the name of the Eternal
without discerning the Eternal. (Shanka:
195. Q: How would you describe genuine humility?

A : It costs us a great deal of trouble not to be of the
same opinion as our self-love, and not be too ready to believe
in the good taste of those who believe in our merits. (Amiel)
196. Q: Why do cruel people often win great prosperity and

public honours, and how do thev get away with their
wickedness?
A Does anyone do wrong? h

: is to himself that he i
the wrong. (Aurelius)
197. 0: Then wickedness is its own punishment?

A : There is no greater punishment of evil than that it is
dissatisfied with itself and its deeds. (Sen*
198. 0: But what is the esoteric explanation for the huge

success and fame of some people who are neither talented
nor conscientious?
.T : Fortune brings in some boats that are not steered.

(Shakespeare)
199. Q: How does the law of cause and effect operate in our
relations with other people?
.1: We receive but what we give. (Colerid
200. Q: 1 am fascinated by a particular branch of that law.

It states that the man who does good to himself will
spontaneously do good to others, and that whoever harms
himself also hurts others. This proves absolutely that self-
development must be our first development. Please comment
on this principle.
A You: can depend upon no man, upon no friend, but

on him who depends upon himself. Only he who acts
beneficially towards himself will act so towards others.
(Lavater)
201. Q: If wesuspect that someone is concealing his real

and his selfish motives from us, how can we discover them?
A : We endeavour to conceal our vices under the

disguises of the opposite virtues. (Fielding)
How self -conquest brings peace
202. Q: Please supply a basic truth about love, I mean,

about authentic love, not what people call love.
A The: deepest and most passionate love is that which

survives the extinction of esteem. (Ouida)
203. Q: We have been taught that knowledge of what is

truly right is when awakened, we need
already within us, and
no other authority. What is a specific instance of this?
A The: rule for doing unto others as you would wish

them to do unto you, calls for no miraculous proof, neither
does it require faith, because the rule is convincing in itself,
both to reason and to human nature. (Tolstoy)
204. Q: What superior state of mind will be ours when we

have completed our needed tasks?
A : I am quite my own master, agreeably lodged,

perfectly easy in my circumstances. I am
contented with my
situation, and happy because I think myself so. (Le Sage)
205. Q: So self-conquest automatically includes conquest

over our human circumstances, whatever they may be?
A Such
: a man comes to tranquillity, and out of that
tranquillity shall rise the end and healing of his earthly pains.
(Bhagav ad-Git a)
206. Q: But I cannot imagine any world other than the

troublesome one I now inhabit!
A There are more things in heaven and earth

: . . . than
are dreamt of in your philosophy. (Shakespeare)
207. Q: The mystics state that there is a great difference

between the man who publicly claims to be concerned for
others, and the man who lives from the truth in a quiet and
natural manner. Have I summarized this particular idea
correctly?
A: The moral enthusiast, who in the maze of his

subdeties, loses or despises the plain paths of honesty and
duty, is on the brink of crimes. (Lavater)
208. Q: What special abilities does a mystical-minded man

possess?
A : His eyes can read men's inmost hearts, and all the
art of hypocrites cannot deceive him. His sharp discernment
sees things clear and true. (Moliere)
209. Q: And such a man possesses all those virtues and

powers we have been discussing, such as deep cosmic
knowledge and authentic compassion for wandering man-
kind?
A: Such men not only liberate themselves; they fill
those they meet with a free mind. (Philo)
210. Q: There is far more anger and resentment between

people than anyone likes to admit. What information can
banish these harmful emotions?
A A : physician is not angry at the intemperance of a

mad patient, nor does he take it ill to be insulted by a man in
a fever. Just so, should a wise man treat all mankind as a

physician treats a patient, and look upon it only as sick and
irresponsible. (Seneca)
211. Q: I believe mysticism can be described as a system for

unlearning, that is, we must cease to know so many wrong
things.
A: Know not what you know. (Plautus)
The truth is always with you
212. Q: Is there a tactful and effective way to correct a

person who is wrong but cannot see it?
A : When we
wish to correct with advantage, and to
show another we must notice from what side he
that he errs,
views the matter, for on that side it is usually true, and admit
that truth to him, but reveal to him the side on which it is
false. He is satisfied with that, for he sees that he was not
mistaken, and that he only failed to see all sides. (Pascal)
213. Q: How can we tame the surrounding world?
A : It is good to tame the mind. (Buddhism)
214. Q: We are told we must adjust to society, but I am

beginning to suspect this advice comes from the maladjusted.
Certainly we must seek mental harmony and not try to adjust
to hypnotized humanity.
A: It is a misfortune to have to manoeuvre one's heart

as a general has to manoeuvre his army. (Smith)
215. Q: I often find myself in the conflict of wanting

something and not wanting it at the same time, like trying to
please someone while wishing I were free of him. Can I rise
above this?
A : The heart is made to reconcile contradictions.

(Hume)
216. Q: Then we can find instant relief from self-battling?
A: It is our prerogative as spiritual beings, that we can

rise above the feeling of the moment, above all that is
isolated and individual. (Caird)
217. Q: Can these ideas work to change us, even when we

have understanding of them, and even when part of us
little
resists them? In other words, is the truth on our side, even

when we are not on our own side?
1
A No one can see these truths in the manner that I

:
have presented them, without being in some degree inclined

to believe them, and in some degree stirred up to act in
conformity to them. (Law)
218. Q: Then there is at least a small part of us that always

wants to know and do what is right?
A Our
: minds possess by nature an insatiable desire to
know the truth. (Cicero)
219. Q: How is a higher truth communicated to receptive

minds?
A The
: pure man . . . has the power of bringing it into
a certain state of vibration, which can be conveyed to others,
arousing in them a similar vibration. You see that in everyday
actions. I am talking to you. What am I trying to do? I am, so
to say, bringing my mind to a certain state of vibration, and
the 1 succeed in bringing it to that state, the more you
more
willbe affected by what I say. All of you know that the day I
am more enthusiastic the more you enjoy the lecture.
(Vivekananda)
220. Q: Some of these facts about human nature shock us

out of our idealism, which the mystics would no doubt call
false idealism. How can these facts be turned into healing?
A: Truth is always present; it only needs to lift the

iron lids of the mind's eye to read its oracles. (Emerson)
221. Q: Please review the main lessons governing right

relations with both others and ourselves.
A The
: highest purpose of intellectual cultivation is to
give man a perfect knowledge and command of his own inner
self; to render his consciousness its own light. (Novalis)
Outstanding principles to remember
a. Right thinking creates right human relations.

b. You need never be afraid of any other person.
c. Our principal task in life is cosmic self-awakening.
d. Knowledge of these ideas is perfect social security!
e. Use every event, calm or rough, for more self-insight.
/. Observe and learn from your own actions and reactions.
g. Learn to live simply, easily, with self-contentment.
h. All harm to others is automatic self-harm.
i. Let these truths guide your daily experiences.
j Live with these principles about social relations.
4. Let Your Mind Work Wonders for You
222. Q: There are so many topics of study, like habits and

success and happiness, so how can we avoid getting lost in the
maze of all these subjects?
A At bottom there is but one subject of study

: the . . .
mind. All other subjects may be reduced to that; all other

studies bring us back to this study. (Amiel)
223. Q: For a long time was quite sure I possessed a clear

I
mind and wise judgment, so what a shock to see my mistake!

But now that I have gone through the humiliation, I find a
great sense of relief as well as a new kind of understanding.
A: But now you are awake; it is but a dream you had!

For horror's prey in darkness of the night is but our reason's
sport in morning light. (Corneille)
224. Q: problem to determine which of the modern

It is a
teachers of these ancient wisdoms are best qualified to help
us. Which ones deserve our attention and our respect?
A : Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your
own mind. (Emerson)
225. Q: Both Epictetus and Marcus Aurelius teach that a

change of opinion towards a circumstance changes that
circumstance as far as the individual is concerned. Could you
please explain that principle in another way?
A There
: is nothing either good or bad, but thinking
makes it so. (Shakespeare)
226. Q: Then the correct way to banish harmful conditions

is to banish the belief in harm from our thinking?
A: I saw that all things which occasioned me any
anxiety or fear had in themselves nothing of good or evil,
except in so far as the mind was moved by them. (Spinoza)
227. Q: In simple language, what is the matter with man?

A : Finally, the mind of man is so constructed that it is
taken far more with disguises than with realities. (Erasmus)
228. Q: In what way does a man think illogically?
A One
: believes what one wishes to believe. (France)
229. Q: I am very pleased at how my new insight into
human nature has swept away many harmful beliefs.
A : It is very necessary that a man should be appraised

early in life that it is a masquerade which he finds himself,
in
for otherwise, there are many things which he will fail to
understand. (Schopenhauer)
230. Q: For one thing, I have observed that weakness in

people invites tyranny from other weak people who pretend
to be strong.
A : Whatever cannot obey itself, is commanded. Such is
the nature of living things. (Nietzsche)
231. Q: Is it necessary to retire from the world in order to

achieve our inner objectives?
A Character is constructed
: in the midst of the
tempests of the world. (Goethe)
Great minds are like eagles
232. Q: How does the absorption of lofty principles change

and refine our physical habits?
A: Gentleness in the gait is what simplicity is in the

dress. Violent gestures or quick movements inspire involun-
tary disrespect. (Balzac)
LET YOUR MIND WORK WONDERS FOR YOU 55
233. Q: The mystics teach that self-awareness can turn us

into real people. I would be helped by having an example of
non-aware behaviour.
A We often inconvenience others, when

: we fancy we
can never possibly do so. (La Rochefoucauld)
234. Q: What makes a man whatever he is?
A: As he thinketh in his heart, so is he. (Old

Testament)
235. Q: I want to show a friend that mystical principles

consist of the highest common sense, which keeps
form of
one out of trouble. Please supply a suitable thought for this.
A : What man in his senses abandons that which is
good, to keep company with evil? (Clement)
236. Q: Why do human beings generally fail to receive the

higher truths which could save them from themselves?
A: They are, in effect, deaf to that internal voice

which, nevertheless, calls to them so loud and emphatically.
A mere machine is evidently incapable of thinking . . .
whereas in man there exists something perpetually prone to

expand, and to burst the chains by which it is confined.
(Rousseau)
237. Q: I sense the existence of a higher intelligence, but

there seems to be a wall between us. How can I attain natural
oneness with this greater force?
A Every instrument and tool, if it does that for which

:
it is well, and yet he who made it is not there.

has been made,
But in things which are put together by nature, there abides
in them the power which made them, therefore, the more
correct it is to reverence this power. Think that if you live
and act according to its will, everything in you is in harmony
with intelligence. (Aurelius)
238. Q: Sometimes I feel that my understanding has

bumped into a fence.
A God
: has placed no limit to intellect. (Bacon)
239. Q: There must be a reason for it, but 1 do not

understand why the true teachers emphasize cosmic love,
instead of offering specific advice about harmony in the
family and in friendships.
A Right is more beautiful than private affection; and

:
love is compatible with universal wisdom. (Emerson)
240. Q: In other words, these teachers think from a higher

level?
A: Great minds are like eagles, and build their nest in

some lofty solitude. (Schopenhauer)
241. Q: My is self-doubt. One minute 1 think I

difficulty
know how improve my life, but the next minute I am
to
overwhelmed by uncertainty.
A Our
: doubts are traitors, and make us lose the good
we oft might win by fearing to attempt. (Shakespeare)
How to be a self-aware individual
242. Q: A main mental problem our absence from

is
ourselves, our inability to be conscious of what we are doing

at thetime we are doing it. What short phrase can we use for
keeping us at home to ourselves?
A Remember yourself.
: (Gurdjieff)
243. Q: Can you provide an example of how a free and

spontaneous mind rolls forward?
A : Perfect kindness acts without thinking of kindness.

(Lao-tse)
244. Q: 1 have often wondered why certain people can be

very skilled and clever in their business or in artistic work,
yet in matters calling for the simplest of good judgment they
do the most stupid thing possible.
A : Cleverness is not wisdom. (Euripides)

245. Q: There are so few who really know!

A : Excellent things are rare. (Plato)
246. Q: Does such old-fashioned technique as making a

daily determination to succeed have a place in mystical
programmes?
A The
: greatest man is he who chooses right with the
most invincible resolution. (Seneca)
247. Q: I accept the existence of this new way of thinking

towards life, and I believe that certain men, like Christ and
Buddha, found it. However, it is only a vague concept in my
mind. Can you explain my difficulty to me?
A No man
: can see over his own height. Let me explain
what I mean. You cannot see in another man any more than
you have in yourself. Your own level strictly determines the
extent to which he comes within your understanding. If your
intelligence is unawakened, mental qualities in another, even
though they be of the highest kind, will have no effect on
you at all his higher mental qualities will no more exist
. . .
for you than colours exist for those who cannot see.
(Schopenhauer)
248. Q: So if we raise our own level of consciousness, we
will also know what the great teachers knew?

A: A principle installed into a good mind brings forth
fruit. (Pascal)
249. Q: I often feel that we are required to do more than

our understanding allows us to do.
A: God is able to do more than man can understand.

(Kempis)
250. Q: What mental fault prevents happiness?
A We : are no longer happy so soon as we wish to be

happier. (Landor)
251. Q: Will you please repeat that in another way?

A : Happiness in this world, when it comes, comes
incidentally. Make it the object of pursuit, and it leads us a
wild-goose chase, and is never attained. (Hawthorne)
An important fact about self-curing
252. Q: What is the cure for mental suffering?
A : It follows absolutely, that one who uses his

understanding correctly, can fall a prey to no sorrow.
(Spinoza)
253. Q: How is fear banished?
A : Fear must be entirely banished. The purified soul

will fear nothing. (Plotinus)
254. Q: Recently I read a lecture by one of those rare men

who really knows what he is talking about in spiritual
matters. One part of me was afraid to accept the strong
truths he offered, but another part was immensely attracted
to him. Please comment on this.
A : When a natural discourse paints a passion or an

effect, one feels within oneself the truth of what one reads.
This feeling was there before, although one did not know it.
Therefore, one is inclined to love him who makes us feel it,
for he has not shown us his own riches, but ours. (Pascal)
255. Q: I can't deny that much of my thinking is

mechanical, rather than fresh and spontaneous. I always find
myself thinking and saying the same things. I would like to
change it, but am not sure as to the method.
A: The wish to be cured is part of the cure. (Seneca)
256. Q: Why do most of us change our minds so often and

so quickly?
A: Our moods do not believe in each other. (Emerson)
257. Q: A friend of mine enjoys these studies, but cannot

understand how all this thinking can help her daily actions.
What can I tell her?
A : Philosophy is the art of living. (Plutarch)
258. Q: It is now clear to me that I have been living mostly

from borrowed ideas, so I wish to start all over again and
think for myself. This is possible, isn't it?
A A man of intellect is like an artist who gives a

:
concert without help from anyone else, playing on a single

instrument — perhaps a piano, which is a small orchestra in
itself. Such a man is a small world in himself, and the effects
produced by various instruments together, he produces all by

himself, in the unity of his own consciousness. (Schopen-
hauer)
259. Q: Will you please comment on this from the

viewpoint of what is usually called mental maturity?
A When
: I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood
as a child, thought as a child, but when I became a man, I

I
put away childish things. (New Testament)
260. Q: I suppose we must give up our toys, but won't we

miss them, won't we feel empty?
A When
: the moon shone we did not see the candle.
(Shakespeare)
261. Q: I was once advised to unlearn many of my acquired

ideas which swelled me up with pride. How would you
confirm the necessity for this?
A : Humility, like darkness, reveals the heavenly lights.

(Thoreau)
262. Q: Does this revelation tell us what we need to know

about ourselves?
A : Man's true nature, his true good, true virtue, and

true religion, are things of which the knowledge is insepar-
able. (Pascal)
Let self-transformation start right now!
263. Q: Please supply a good general attitude I should

maintain throughout my day.
A: Be free, gay, simple, a child. But be a sturdy child

who fears nothing. (Fenelon)
264. Q: I used to think I could find myself by chasing

madly around from one exciting event to another, but thanks
to these studies I realize that a thousand zeros still add up to
zero.
A There comes a time when, on the one hand, a vague

:
awakening consciousness stirs the soul, the consciousness of

the higher law and the sufferings a man endures from the
. . .
contradictions of life, compel him to renounce the social

order and to adopt the new And this time has now . . .
arrived. (Tolstoy)
265. Q: I have a very active mind, but it does not produce

the valuable results I would like.
A To : be possessed of an energetic mind is not enough;

the first requirement is to use it correctly. (Descartes)
266. Q: There is something I do not understand. We have

been told that the human mind is a powerful and marvellous
instrument, yet we see nothing but chaos and heartbreak all
around us. What is the answer to this apparent contradiction?
A It is the abuse of our faculties which make us
:
wicked and miserable. Our cares, our anxieties, our griefs, are
all owing to ourselves ... If we could be contented with
being what we are, we should have no inducement to lament

our fate; but we inflict on ourselves a thousand real evils in
seeking after an imaginary happiness. (Rousseau)
267. Q: What new value can an individual expect from

achieving mental control?
A Without effort, he rules

: all things by the power of
his mind. (Xenophanes)
268. Q: What could I say to a person who wishes to

understand why he behaves as he does?
A Thought
: is parent of the deed. (Carlyle)
269. Q: We need to be reminded that mental elevation is a

supremely important task in life. Please supply such a
reminder.
A: Let a prince be guarded with soldiers, attended by

counsellors, and protected by a fort, yet if his thoughts
disturb him, he is miserable. (Plutarch)
270. Q: To meditate upon these self-enriching ideas requires

that wefree our minds of noises and distractions, but
everything around us screams for our attention.
A The: Wise One instills the truth in whoever comes to

him yearning for freedom, who follows the true path,
calming the tumult of his mind and bringing restfulness.
(Shankara)
271. Q: Am I correct in thinking that these guiding

principles will eventually become a basic part of our nature,
so that all guidance is really self-guidance?
A When we meet with the self thus purified

: even . . .
while here below, we have attained the heights, and need no

further guidance. (Plotinus)
Secrets about the laws of the mind
272. Q: Intuition has been defined as a higher form of

understanding. In what way does it perceive things?
A: Intuition is the clear conception of the whole at

once. (Lavater)
273. Q: If a person learns to listen to this inner voice, will it
tell him everything he needs to know?

A : He need not go away from home for instruction.
(Terence)
274. Q: No matter the direction in which I turn my mind, I
feel like a soldier who jumps into a trench for safety, only to
find himself facing enemy rifles.
A: To win true peace, a man needs to feel himself

directed, pardoned, and sustained by a supreme power, to
feel himself on the right road, at the point where God would
have him be — in harmony with God and the universe. This
reliance gives strength and calm. (Amiel)
275. Q: Are there definite laws of the mind whose

understanding will help us?
A : All things obey fixed laws. (Lucretius)
276. Q: Please describe one such law.

A: Great men are they who see that spiritual is
stronger than any material force, that thoughts rule the

world. (Emerson)
277. Q: May we have an example of how this law operates

within us, perhaps to increase our skill in whatever we do?
A: The more we do, the more we can do; the more

busy we are, the more leisure we have. (Hazlitt)
278. Q: My work as a doctor uncovers the bad mental diets

of many people, I mean, they feed upon negativities, like
bitterness and argument. What is the esoteric explanation of
this?
A : A man that has no virtue in himself, ever envies

virtue in others, for men's minds will either feed upon their
own good or upon others' evil, and who lacks the one will
prey upon the other. (Bacon)
279. Q: Is it possible to make alert efforts without straining

ourselves?
A The thoughts that come often unsought, and, as it

:
were, drop into the mind, are commonly the most valuable of
any we have. (Locke)
280. Q: How would we feel the influence of a truly superior

mind?
A: The make us feel, first of all, the indifference
great
of circumstances. They call into activity the higher percep-
tions, and subdue the low habits of comfort and luxury; but
the higher perceptions find their objects everywhere; only the
low habits need palaces and banquets. (Emerson)
281. Q: What is the difference between a fully enlightened

mind and a mind still struggling towards the heights?
A : Little minds are too much hurt by little events.

Great minds understand all of them, and remain untouched.
(La Rochefoucauld)
You can live your own life
282. Q: I need assistance in abolishing certain habits of

behaviour which usually lead to trouble. Can right thinking
solve this problem?
A: Thought is the key to all treasure. (Balzac)
283. Q: I want to live my own life, but people think you are
cold and selfish unless you join their silly activities. I suspect
this may be false guilt on my part.
A I would rather sit on a pumpkin, and have it all to

:
myself, than to be crowded on a velvet cushion. (Thoreau)
284. Q: What is the connection between self-knowledge and

self-discontent?
A : Those who do not observe the movements of their

own minds must of necessity be unhappy. (Aurelius)
285. Q: What benefit comes to us as we carry these

principles into our daily life in business and athome?
A The : by experience is clearness of
chief result gained
view. This is what man of mature age ... it
distinguishes the
is only then that he sees things plainly, and takes them for
what they really are, while in earlier years he saw a

phantom-world, put together with the whims and imagin-
ations of his own mind the real world was hidden from
. . .
him, or the vision of it distorted. The first thing that

experience does is to free us from the phantoms of the
mind. (Schopenhauer)
286. Q: I want to think for myself, to not accept a position

as right just because the masses insist it is right.
A A : hundred thousand sheep are not more instructive

than one sheep. (Amiel)
287. Q: Is there a point along the spiritual path when we

become aware of new values and new directions, I mean, will
we see a clear difference in the way we think and feel and
act?
A : There is a moment ... at which flattery and

falsehood can no longer deceive, and innocence itself can no
longer be misled. (Junius)
288. Q: What thought can begin to shake us loose from the

have power over us?
illusion that others
A : Most powerful is he who has himself in his

power. (Seneca)
289. Q: have been thinking of all the reasons why we must

I
work diligently to turn the light of consciousness upon

ourselves. One of the best reasons is that it leads us out of the
pain of envy and competition with our neighbours. What
reason can you add?
A : Just as a candle cannot burn without fire, men

cannot live without a spiritual life. (Buddha)
290. Q: In a crisis I am sometimes overcome by impulsive
reactions which only make things worse. Where does cor-

rection begin?
A: The improvement of the mind improves the heart

and corrects the understanding. (Agathon)
291. Q: Please comment on the connection between

common sense and these higher revelations of truth.
A: It is not necessary to think of revelation as a source

of knowledge which is either contrary to reason or above
reason .On the contrary, it would not be difficult to show
. .
that the true idea of revelation, that which is most honouring

to God, is at the same time that which is most ennobling to
man — the idea, that is, of a revelation which addresses itself,
not to the ear or the logical understanding only, but to the

whole spiritual nature. (Caird)
How to expand your mental powers
292. Q: What basic idea can we reflect upon during the day,
in order to expand our awareness of things as they really are?
A : Self-reverence, self-knowledge, self-control, these

three alone lead life to sovereign power. (Tennyson)
293. Q: People tell me they wish power to clear their lives

of nagging problems, but say they do not know where to
start.
A There is a great deal of umapped country within us

:
which would have to be taken into account in explanation of

our gusts and storms. (Eliot)
294. Q: Please start us towards exploring this country.
A The first lesson, then, is to sit for some time and let
:
the mind run on. The mind is bubbling up all the time. It is
like that monkey jumping about. Let the monkey jump as
much as he can; you simply watch and wait. Knowledge is
power says the proverb, and that is true. Until you know
what the mind is doing you cannot control it. Give it the full
length of the reins; many most hideous thoughts may come
into it; you will be astonished that it was possible for you to
think such thoughts. But you will find that each day the
mind's vagaries are becoming less and less violent, that each
day it is becoming calmer until at last it will be under
. . .
perfect control, but we must patiently practise every day.

(Vivekananda)
295. Q: You said that when there is something right in us,
we are attracted the Tightness of these higher cosmic
to
truths. I have a long way to go, but already I marvel at the
new world I have entered.
A: It was through the feeling of wonder that men now

and at first began to philosophize. (Aristotle)
296. Q: How can we prevent the loss of helpful insights we

have acquired?
A : A thought once awakened does not slumber.

(Carlyle)
297. Q: I often feel judged by others, which is a form of

mental slavery I would like to abolish.
A Who : in the world, then, is the man who has any

authority to make any declaration about you? (Epictetus)
298. Q: How do our daily actions connect with these higher

truths?
A To be a philospher is not merely to have subtle

:
thoughts, nor even to found a school, but so to love wisdom

as to live, according to its dictates, a life of simplicity,
independence, magnanimity, and trust. (Thoreau)
299. Q: Please explain how a right mind makes right

actions.
A A : capacity for self-recollection — from withdrawal

from the outward to the inward — is in fact the condition of
all noble and useful activity. (Amiel)
300. Q: There seems to be an inner impulse that drives us

forward, even against our weary wishes to give up. What is
the nature of this encouraging energy?
A : We feel that we are greater than we know.

(Wordsworth)
301. Q: I never quite know what step to take next.

A: Walk on! (Zen)
Absorb these uplifting thoughts
a. Release your mental powers by learning all about

them.
b. Whatever we are is determined by whatever we think.
c. There is no limit to your mental expansion.
d. Practise daily at being a self-aware individual.
e. You can use your own mind for all self-curing.
/. Starting today, let your mind transform your life.
g. Your deeper mind knows all the needed answers to
life!
h. Learn to think easily, casually, naturally.

i. Right thinking frees you of a false sense of guilt.
j. Awakened mental powers can never be lost.
5. The Way to Lasting Peace and
Happiness
302. Q: Please describe the nature of a truly victorious life.
A : A happy life consists in a mind which is free,

upright, undaunted and steadfast, beyond the influence of
fear or desire. (Seneca)
303. Q: What is the highest happiness of man?

A What greater pleasure is there than to find myself
:
the one thing that I ought to be, and the whole thing that I
ought to be? (Suso)
304. Q: I am
caught in a mental contradiction, but at least
am aware One part of my mind insists that others are
of it.
responsible for my troubles, while another part tells me to

stop blaming others and to see myself as my only problem.
What fact can strengthen the right voice?
A No man
: is damaged by an action which is not his
own. (Epictetus)
305. Q: It is strange, butI often feel guilty about enjoying
myself, and I have noticed the same feeling in others. I

believe it is a false feeling, but what part should enjoyment
play in life?
A The highest enjoyment is that of being contented

:
with ourselves. It is in order to deserve this contentment that

we are placed here on earth and endowed with liberty.
(Rousseau)
306. Q: But what can a person do when all his familiar and
established plans for happiness break down and fail him?
THE WAY TO LASTING PEACE AND HAPPINESS 69
A : Let him lovingly cast all his thoughts and cares, and
his sins, too, as it were, on that unknown Will. Beyond this
unknown will of God, he must desire and purpose nothing;
neither way, nor rest, nor work, neither this nor that, but
wholly subject and offer himself up to this unknown will.
(Tauler)
307. Q: Many people pretend to be happy, but are unaware

that they are merely playing a role. What is the difference
between artificial happiness and true happiness?
A: False happiness renders men stern and proud, and

that happiness is never communicated. True happiness
renders them kind and sensible, and that happiness is always
shared. (Montesquieu)
308. Q: It seems that we must have a fondness for what is
right.
A : For a happy life is joy in the truth. (Augustine)
309. Q: The open or subtle competition between men for

power and prestige is an obvious factor in turning life sour.
What do men who live in reality say about such competition?
A : If two angels were sent down from heaven — one to
conduct an empire, and the other to sweep a street — they
would feel no inclination to change employments. (Newton)
How happiness comes by itself
310. Q: What mental technique might we put into operation

for abolishing unhappiness?
A : It is anyone who is capable of

most important for
higher and nobler thoughts to keep his mind from being so
completely engrossed with private affairs and ungracious
troubles as to let them take up all his attention and crowd
out worthier matters, for that is, in a very real sense, to lose
sight of the true end of life. (Schopenhauer)
311. Q: 1 can testify as to the Tightness of these studies, for

I know full well how they describe my own condition! For
one thing, I am beginning to see the uselessness of wishing to
have what others possess.
A: Before we passionately desire anything which

another enjoys, we should examine into the happiness of its
possessor. (La Rochefoucauld)
312. Q: I have difficulty understanding the basic cause of

mental and emotional suffering. Will you please explain it as
simply as possible?
A We : do not content ourselves with the life we have

in ourselves and in our own being; we desire to live an
imaginary life in the mind of others, and for this purpose we
desire to shine. We labour unceasingly to adorn and preserve
this imaginary existence, and neglect the real. And if we
possess calmness or generosity or truthfulness, we are eager
to make it known, so as to attach these virtues to that
imaginary existence. (Pascal)
313. Q: So the basic cure is to get at the basic cause. In

other words, happiness comes by itself when we cease to live
in illusions about ourselves?
A When: the imaginary self melts away. (Shankara)
314. Q: Is it truly possible to change what happens to us in

daily experiences, I mean, change for the better?
A : If we will lift up the mind. (Boehme)
315. Q: Would you say that growth towards peace consists

in making right choices, like choosing to understand our
minds instead of choosing to dislike ourselves?
A: Each man in his perception of truth is like a
traveller who
walks by aid of a lantern whose light is cast
before him: he does not see what as yet has not been revealed
by the beams, he does not see the path he has left
behind . but at any given step he sees that which the
. .
lantern reveals, and he is always at liberty to choose one side

of the road or the other. (Tolstoy)
316. Q: To feel good we must obviously choose what is
truly right for us, but that is our problem. We are so confused
regarding what is truly right.
A : That is always best which gives me to myself. The

sublime is excited in me by the great stoical doctrine, Obey
thyself.That which shows God in me, fortifies me.
(Emerson)
317. Q: By what method can I help my spouse get over

nervous irritability which keeps our home in an uproar?
A : All things must be set right in yourself first, before

you can rightly assist others towards the attaining to the
same state. (Law)
How mystic truths work for you
318. Q: Please supply a rule for starting out towards inner

newness.
A : The first was never to accept anything for true

which I did not clearly know to be such. (Descartes)
319. Q: Life gives us so many things to do, it is wise to

place first things first. What is the correct order of procedure
for life in general?
A: Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his

righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.
(Jesus)
320. Q: We seem to be on a futile march. Our desired

happiness recedes before our eyes as we approach it.
ALet each one examine his thoughts, and he will find

:
them occupied with the past and the future. We scarcely

all
ever think of the present, and if we think of it, it is only to

take light from it to arrange the future ... So we never live,
but we hope to live; and, as we are always preparing to be
happy, it is inevitable we should never be so. (Pascal)
321. Q: What is the correction?

A : Confine yourself to the present. (Aurelius)
322. Q: I was recently upset when my plans for moving to a

new home were blocked by unexpected circumstances.
According to esoteric doctrines, could I have maintained
perfect poise in spite of everything?
A: The mind is the master over every kind of fortune;
it acts in both ways, being the cause of its own happiness and
its own misery. (Seneca)
323. Q: Then sadness is merely a wrong state of mind?
A: All gloom is but a dream and a shadow . . .
cheerfulness is the real truth. (Hawthorne)
324. Q: I am trying to understand more clearly that

self-contentment is the only contentment. Will you shed
more light on this?
A: When I see an anxious man, I say, 'What does this

man want?' If he did not want something which is not in his
power, how could he be anxious? For this reason, a lute
player when he is singing by himself has no anxiety, but
when he goes to the theatre, he is anxious, even if he has a
good voice and plays well on the lute, for he not only wishes
to sing well, but also to obtain applause, which is not in his
power. (Epictetus)
325. Q: How do these mystical truths work on us, I mean,

how do they change us, what do we become?
A: Man is only what he becomes — profound truth,

but he becomes only what he is — truth still more profound.
(Amiel)
326. Q: Why do so many people fail to discover these

profound details about their own deliverance?
A: Errors, like straws, upon the surface flow; he who
would search for pearls must dive below. (Dryden)
327. Q: I would be happier if I could see myself taking long

leaps out of the spiritual desert into the meadows.
A: A true-devoted pilgrim is not weary to measure

kingdoms with his feeble steps. (Shakespeare)
No secrets of life are hidden from you
328. Q: What prevents us from finding lasting contentment?
A: There comes for ever something between us and

what we deem our happiness. (Byron)
329. Q: What sort of things?
A: We T
are the creatures of imagination, passion and

self-will, more than of reason, or even of self-interest
. . . Even in the common transactions and daily intercourse
of we are governed by whim,
life, caprice, prejudice or
accident. The falling of a teacup puts us out of temper for
the day. (Hazlitt)
330. Q: I understand how we must be the architect of our

own happiness, but fate constantly thwarts our intentions.
A: Happiness lies in the consciousness we have of it,

and by no means in the way the future keeps its promises.
(Sand)
331. Q: If we could only find a way to make this fact a

guiding light in everything that happens to us.
A : Courage comes next to prudence as a quality of

mind very essential to happiness . . . Our motto should be
Wo Surrender', and far from yielding to the ills of life, let us
take fresh courage from misfortune . . . Let our attitude be

such that we would not quake even if the world fell in ruins
about us. (Schopenhauer)
332. Q: I am newly inspired by my introduction to

esotericism, but must we not guard against substituting the
inspirational for the practical?
A: The useful and the beautiful are never separated

(Periander)
333. Q: What cosmic law governs our level of happiness?
A: Whilst a man seeks good ends, he is strong by the

whole strength of nature The perception of this law of . . .
laws awakens in the mind a sentiment which we call the

religious sentiment, and which makes our highest happiness.
Wonderful is its power to charm and to command. It is a
mountain air. (Emerson)
334. Q: What is the esoteric definition of happiness?
A A happy
: life is one which is in accordance with its
own nature. (Seneca)
335. Q: If nature is good, why do we suffer from evil?
A There exists no other

: nature than what you evil in
either do or suffer, and you the author of are equally
both . Particular evil exists only in the sentiment of the
. .
suffering being; and this sentiment is not given to man by

nature, but is of his own acquisition Take away our errors . . .
and our vices take away, in short, even- thing that is the
. . .
work of man, and all that remains is good. (Rousseau)
336. Q: The mystics say that nothing is hidden from the

man who really wants to find out. How is this accomplished?
A: I plunge into myself and all things know. (Sufism)
337. Q: Is it correct to say that the more we have of our

true self, the less we need other things?
A: Few things are needed to make a wise man happy;

nothing can make a foolish man content, and that is why-
most men are miserable. (La Rochefoucauld)
How to banish painful imagination
338. Q: You state quite correctly that our minds often

refuse to see our actual unhappiness, because we prefer to
live indreamland. How can we conquer this self-evasion? Are
our emotions more honest than our minds?
A: We are not miserable without feeling it. (Pascal)

339. Q: It is a new but sensible thought to me that the first

step towards personal peace is to calmly be aware of our lack
of peace.
A The
: beginning of philosophy to him at least who
enters on in the right way and by the door, is a
it
consciousness of his own weakness and inability about

necessary things. (Epictetus)
340. Q: I know that esoteric teachings stress the need for

faithful self-examination, but what is its purpose?
A : If by patience, if by watching, I can secure one new

ray of light, can feel myself elevated . . . shall I not watch
ever? (Thoreau)
341. Q: I practise honest self-examination, but am some-

times shocked at what I see in myself.
A : Truth above all, even when it upsets and over-

whelms us! (Amiel)
342. Q: And this begins an entirely new kind of happiness?
A : There is no greater delight than to be conscious of

sincerity in self-examination. (Mencius)
343. Q: I why philosophers and religious

don't understand
teachers spend so time talking about human sorrow.
much
Most people appear reasonably happy.
A What
: private griefs they have, alas! (Shakespeare)
344. Q: My imagination is constantly running off unhappy
scenes from my past. I don't like the strange hold these

scenes have on me.
A: This pulling out of the imagination which I am

recommending, will also forbid us to summon up the
memory of past misfortune, to paint a dark picture of the
injustice or harm that has been done us, the losses we have
sustained, the insults, slights and annoyances to which we
have been exposed, for to do that is to arouse fresh life into
all those hateful passions long laid asleep — the anger and
76 THE MYSTIC MASTERS SPEAK.
resentment which disturb and pollute our nature.
(Schopenhauer)
345. Q: What will help us to work or ourselves with greater

sincerity?
A : Let us not forget that man can never get away from
himself. (Goethe)
346. Q: Esotericism cautions us against getting carried away

by excited emotions which masquerade as feelings of joy.
Will you please provide an example of legitimate emotions?
A: When we are unhurried and wise, we perceive that

only great and worthy things have any permanent and
absolute existence, that petty fears and petty pleasures are
but the shadow of realitv. This is alwavs exhilarating and
-
sublime. (Thoreau)
347. Q: My observations of other people reveal how much

they suffer from feeling unnoticed and unappreciated. What
is the answer to this?
A: The silence that accepts merit as the most natural

thing in the world, is the highest applause. (Emerson)
The interior man is always free!
348. Q: The mystics teach that man is already complete,

needing nothing to be happy, but man is unhappy.
A : The heart is like a musical instrument of many

strings, in which all the chords need to be played in harmony.
(Saadi)
349. 0: Why are people who have succeeded in various ways

just as unhappy as they were before winning success?
A : If we cannot find contentment in ourselves, it is
useless to seek it elsewhere. (La Rochefoucauld)
350. Q: The way you have simplified these truths has been
of great benefit. My question is, how can we win more of
these perfect moments when we are tree of our cares and

confusions, that is, when we are detached from ourselves?
A : All that tends to purify and elevate the mind will

assist you in this attainment, and approach and
facilitate the
recurrence of these happy intervals. (Plotinus)
351. Q: What is the answer to those who feel that life in

general has treated them unfairly?
A: Nature never deceives us; it is always we who
deceive ourselves. (Rousseau)
352. Q: I cannot reconcile the fact of a riotous world with

the fact of inner peace.
. 1 : The exterior man may be undergoing trials, but the

interior man is quite free. (Eckhart)
353. Q: But the pressures and the demands of the outer

world are so insistent.
A It is in your power to be free from all compulsions,

:
and to remain in the greatest tranquillity of mind, even if all

the world cries out against you as much as it chooses.
(Aurelius)
354. Q: All my life I tried to be happy by letting other

people tell me what I needed, but now I see how they used
my problems to evade their own problems. It is a genuine
pleasure to let these studies make everything clear at last,
especially regarding the necessity for inner harmony.
A: There is nothing pleasurable except what is in

harmony with the utmost depths of our divine nature. (Suso)
355. Q: There must be a good reason why the mystics

declare we must go beyond the frontier of shallow human
reasoning.
A Our reason
: is so weak that a trifle is enough to
trouble and intoxicate it. (Cherbuliez)
356. Q: Since we need to acquire constructive attitudes,

please mention one.
A : Give me liberty to know. (Milton)
357. Q: have recently become aware of a mental imp

I
which has nagged me for many years. I am compelled to

constantly justify myself before others, which is tiring. Does
inner newness bring release?
A: The victor need not explain. (Gracian)
How to recognize an authentic teacher
358. Q: What reassurance could I give to a friend whose

search for a new life has been unsuccessful up to this point?
A: You traverse the world in search of happiness,

which within the reach of every man; a contented mind
is
confers it on all. (Horace)
359. Q: What could I tell this friend to help cancel his belief
that exterior success can fulfill him?
A: Towards the throne they all strive: it is their
madness — as if happiness sat on the throne. (Nietzsche)
360. Q: A group of us at the office have been discussing the

topic of individual happiness. Will you please supply an idea
which I might add to the discussion?
A The greatness and the wretchedness of men are so

:
evident that the true religion must necessarily teach us both

that there is in man some great source of greatness, and a
great source of wretchedness. It must then give us an
explanation of these astonishing contradictions. In order to
make man happy, it must prove to him that there is a God,
and we ought to love him, that our true happiness is to be in
him, and our sole evil to be separated from him. (Pascal)
361. Q: Where does the idea of prayer enter into our

much seems to
studies? People pray for happiness, but not
happen.
A Prayer
: as a means to effect a private end is theft
and meanness. It supposes dualism in nature and con-
sciousness. As soon as the man is at one with God he will not

beg. He will then see prayer in all action. (Emerson)
362. Q: It is clear that frustration arises from not seeing

things they really are. What
as is an instance of wrong
judgment towards other people?
A Those who
: are believed to be the most mild and
humble are usually the most ambitious and envious.
(Spinoza)
363. Q: Most of us chase frantically around in our attempts

to build security, but those men who know what life is all
about have a unique leisureliness. How can they afford to be

so casual in a flustered world?
A Who stands already on heaven's topmost

: dome
needs not to search for ladders. (Rumi)
364. Q: If we were to meet a man who sees things as they

really are, how could we recognize him as such?
A : It takes a wise man to discover a wise man.
(Xenophanes)
365. Q: You have helped me to see that a problem cannot

be solved on its own level; that self-elevation is the answer to
every unhappiness. Will you please repeat this fact in a new
way?
A : We
can console ourselves for not having great
talents as ourselves for not having great places. We
we console
can be above both in our hearts. (Vauvenargues)
366. Q: People usually attribute their unhappiness to

superficial causes, like lack of money. Will you supply us
with a deep and real reason?
A: The cause of misery is the clash between the

one dragging one way, and another
different forces of nature,
dragging another, rendering permanent happiness impossible.
(Vivekananda)
367. Q: What can free us of these inner contradictions?
A The conscious self is that which remains constant in

:
its pure universality through all particular, changeful experi-

ences ... it has the capacity to transcend that opposition and
to think a higher unity which comprehends. (Caird)
Your glimpse of a new world
368. Q: Please give us a thought about happiness for our

careful reflection.
A To believe that happiness exists in a feverish

:
ambition, rather than in a tender and simple affection, is to

believe that the immensity of the sea will more readily
quench thirst than the pure, clear water of a humble
fountain. (Castelar)
369. Q: These teachings take away many of the activities of

which we were fond, but which we now see as useless. What
new activities will capture our fondness?
A That which causes us to think is dear to us, and

:
everything which gives even a small impulse to our faculties is

agreeable. (Lavater)
370. Q: What determines whether we go swiftly or slowly

along the mystic path?
A God
: offers to every mind its choice between truth
and repose. (Emerson)
371. Q: The mystic masters have described my mental state

much too accurately! Quite frankly, my mind is a museum,
incapable of displaying anything fresh and spontaneous. If I
understand correctly, this awareness is in itself a long step
towards newness.
A The beginning of philosophy is to know the

:
condition of one's own mind. If a man recognizes its

weaknesses, he will not wisli to apply it to important
questions. (Epictetus)
372. Q: I now know several positive mental states to

cultivate, but would like to know of various negative states,
so as to avoid them.
A Some
: persons depress their own minds, despond at
the first difficulty; and conclude that making any progress in
knowledge, farther than serves their ordinary business, is
above their capacities. (Locke)
373. Q: What determines our fate and destiny?
A: What I will is fate. (Milton)
374. Q: Peace among human beings can come only with the
unity of all hearts and minds. What cosmic fact can help us
achieve this unity?
A: All are but parts of one stupendous whole. (Pope)
375. Q: A previous point of yours has given me unusual

encouragement, so I would like it repeated. You said that
only when our world falls apart do we have incentive for
finding a new and real world.
A It is only when everything, even love, fails, that,

:
with a flash, man finds out how vain, how dream-like is this
world. Then he catches a glimpse ... of the beyond. It is
only by giving up this world that the other comes; never
through holding on to this one. (Vivekananda)
376. Q: Some people seem to have a greater degree of

spiritual contentment than others. What determines the
difference?
A : There is an esoteric doctrine each man enters

. . .
into God so much asGod enters into him. (Amiel)
377. Q: My awareness of the need for an open mind has

changed everything for me!
A What
: a light is here for those that can bear or love
the light! (Law)
Summary of ideas about happiness
a. Happiness consists in being a real and free person.

b. An agitated imagination prevents happiness.
c. You choose life-enjoyment by choosing cosmic truth!
d. Live only in the reality of the present moment.
e. Never be discouraged in your search for trueness.
f. Study the mystical laws which govern peace of mind.
g. Do not be afraid to face any present distress.
h. Do not mistake passing excitement for lasting peace.
i. Your interior self is always free and contented.
j. Practise these principles with enthusiasm.
6. How to Gain More Strength and
Confidence
378. Q: What is the secret of the strength of the mystic

masters?
A: Great men stand like solitary towers in the city of

God, and secret passages, running deep beneath external
nature, give their thoughts intercourse with higher intel-
ligences,which strengthens and consoles them, and of which
the labourers on the surface do not even dream. (Longfellow)
379. Q: If I were to follow the example of men who have

achieved steadfast confidence, what would I do?
A : Use the light that is in you to recover your natural

clearness of sight. (Lao-tse)
380. Q: You say that new power fills us as we blend with

cosmic rules. Please explain.
A: Once possessed of the principle, it is equally easy to

make forty or forty thousand applications of it. (Emerson)
381. Q: It makes no difference what we call this Higher

Power — whether God or Truth, Reality or Creator, but all of
us have this inner yearning for something superior to our
everyday selves. How can we make this lofty contact?
A You: ask, 'How can we know the Infinite?' I answer,

not by reason. It is the office of reason to distinguish and
define. The cannot be ranked among its
Infinite, therefore,
objects. You can only apprehend the Infinite by a faculty
superior to reason, by entering into a state in which you are
your finite self no longer, in which the Divine Essence is
communicated to you. This is Ecstasy. It is the liberation of
your mind from its finite consciousness. (Plotim
382. 0: Can you describe the way in which our inner

strengths gi w as we persist in self-discovery?
A : They may be compared to the commanders of

armies, whose forces usually increase in proportion to their
victories . . . For he truly engages in battle who endeavours to
surmount all the difficulties and errors which prevent him
from reaching the knowledge of truth. (Descartes)
383. Q: 1 stand solidly on these principles when all is going

smoothly, but sag somewhat when a psychic storm breaks
out.
A : Be like the promontory against which the waves

continually break, but which stands firm and tames the fury
; water around it. ( Aurelius)
384. Q: Please suggest a technique for making the mind the

master of any task which the hands are required to do.
A : Careful attention to one tiling often proves superior

to genius. Cicero
( i
The power of honest self-facing
385. Q: The true teachings, including the New Testament,

say that * strong by first becoming weak, that wisdom
comes by abandoning our usual wisdom. I do not understand
this idea of self-growth through self-loss.
A : The more the marble wastes, the more the statue

grows. (Michelangelo)
386. Q: I understand this to mean we must lose everything

false and wrong in us, such as artificial behaviour and
imaginary virtues.
A: Our salvation consists wholly in being saved from

ourselves. (Law)
387. Q: It may be shocking to reveal our weakness to

HOW TO GAIN MORE STRENGTH AND CONFIDENCE 85
ourselves,but of course it is necessary. How can we learn

about our weak points?
A : Observe yourselves. (Pascal)
388. Q: What might we see in ourselves which would finally

prove to be valuable self-knowledge?
A To : affect a quality, and to plume yourself upon it,
is just to confess that you do not have it. Whether it is
courage, or learning, or intellect, or wit, or success with

women, or riches, or social position, or whatever else it may
be that a man boasts of, you may conclude by his boasting
about it that this is precisely the direction in which he is
rather weak, for if a man really possesses any faculty to the

full, it not occur to him to make a great show of
will
affecting he is quite content to know that he has it.
it;
(Schopenhauer)
389. Q: No doubt we must become aware of our faults if we

are to correct them, but it takes courage to face ourselves,
which we often lack.
A God never makes us sensible of our weaknesses,

:
except to give us of his strength. (Fenelon)
390. Q: It is not easy to admit, but I am sometimes easily

influenced and persuaded by people who want something
from me. Far too often I end up victimized. I don't like this
weakness in myself.
A have a body on which other bodies act, and which

: I
acts reciprocally upon them. This reciprocal action is certain;

but my will is independent of my senses. I can either consent
to, or resist their impressions. I am either vanquished or
victor, and can perceive clearly within myself when I act
according to my will, and when I submit to be governed by
my passions. 1 always have the power to will. (Rousseau)
391. Q: 1 have always seen myself assomeone who values

religion and philosophy, yet I feel cramped by that very
self-image. If I am deceiving myself, I want to know about it.
.4 Under a pretext of spirituality we are always
:
checking legitimate aspirations. We have lost the mystical

sense, and what is religion without mysticism? — a rose
without perfume. (Amiel)
392. I do not wish to be

Q: a part of the complaining
attitude which so many people have towards life. What
attitude can I adopt to keep myself separate and
adventurous?
A : I count life just a stuff to try the soul's strength on.

(Browning)
How to gain lasting self-strength
393. Q: Will you please explain what the mystics mean by

givingup our human identities and human values? What is the
purpose, what is the result?
A When you thus cease to be finite, you become one

:
with the Infinite. In the reduction of your soul to its simplest

self, its divine essence, you realize this Union, this Identity.
(Plotinus)
394. Q: And this new state is one of authentic and

permanent self-strength?
A : Speak the truth, and all nature and all spirits help
you with unexpected furtherance. (Emerson)
395. Q: I need more confidence to face the future.
A: All things change, yet we need not fear anything

new. (Aurelius)
396. Q: You have said that a first step towards cosmic

strength is to dislike our states of weakness. What particular
weakness might be a good start?
.4: A man's exact imitation of the song of the

nightingale displeases us when we discover that it is mimicry,
and not the nightingale. (Kant)

397. Q: So a man's great technique for becoming a real

person is to detect and shun the false?
.4: He has chosen the highway; he will advance.

(Bhagauad-Gita)
398. Q: WTiat is the connection between inner strength and

periods of solitude? It seems wc must sometimes stand apart
from otiiers to prevent drainage of our energies.
A Petrarch gives a similar reason for wishing to be

:
alone — that tender spirit, so strong and constant in his love

of seclusion! The streams, the plains and woods know well,
he says, how he has tried to escape the perverse and stupid
people who have missed the way to heaven. (Schopenhauer)
399. Q: I believe it is correct to say that love has a unique

power of its own.
A: Love sees what no eye sees; love hears what no ear
hears. (Lavater)
400. Q: How canwe conquer the weakness of getting so

easily displeased by other people?
A : If we were faultless, we should not be so much

annoyed by the defects of those with whom we associate. If
we were to acknowledge honestly that we have not virtue
enough to bear patiently with our neighbour's weaknesses,
we should show our own imperfection, and this alarms our
vanity. (Fenelon)
401. Q: I have noticed that many people do not know what

ismeant by inner strength. Some think that outbursts of
emotion indicate personal power. What do vou sav about
this?
A In the same degree in which a man's mind is nearer

:
to freedom from all passion, in the same degree also is it

nearer to strength. (Aurelius)
Why you should associate with these truths
402. Q: I have had an interesting inner experience during

the last few months. With increasing force, nothing seems
important except the gathering of esoteric information.
A The more we know, the greater our thirst for

:
knowledge. The water-lily, in the midst of waters, opens its

leaves and expands its petals at the first pattering of showers,
and rejoices in the raindrops with a quicker sympathy than
the parched shrub in the sandy desert. (Coleridge)
403. Q: If a person wants assistance, he must find it

somewhere, but how can he know he has found the right
harbour of help?
A: He need go nowhere, because wherever he is, that

which is to save him, and that which he is to be saved from, is
always with him. (Law)
404. Q: Is freedom our natural and original state?
A: I am as free as Nature first made man, ere the base

laws of servitude began. (Dryden)
405. Q: What happens when we realize our actual liberty?
A: Then flows into us knowledge — an inner revelation

which preserves our spirit open, and, lifting us above all
images and all disturbance, brings us to an inward silence.
Here the divine inspiration is a secret whispering in the inner
ear. (Ruysbroeck)
406. Q: How can a person speed up the process of inner

harmony?
A: His aim should be to concentrate and simplify, and
so to expand his being and so to float upwards towards
. . .
the divine fountain of being whose stream flows within him.

(Plotinus)
407. Q: I dread that my fortune may be bad.
A Fortune
: dreads the brave. (Seneca)
408. Q: 1 can see the gold in merely associating with these

higher facts.
A A man who
: desires to excel should work with those
things that are in themselves most excellent. (Epictetus)
409. Q: Please give us something to think about regarding

strength and confidence.
A: Without courage, there cannot be truth, and

without truth there can be no other virtue. (Scott)
410. Q: History proves over and over again that the masses
never follow a teacher of genuine strength, at least not for
long. Is this because, as the teachers themselves point out,
darkness dislikes the light?
A Mental superiority of any kind always tends to

:
isolate its possessor; people run away from him out of puie
hatred, and say all manner of bad things about him by way of
justifying their actions. (Schopenhauer)
411. Q: But suppose a man reverses his attitude, Imean, he

now prefers to come home to himself, instead of wandering
the psychic jungles. I imagine he will now see the strength of
a teacher in a new light.
A: When we see those whom it inhabits, we are

appraised of new degrees of greatness. From that inspiration
the man comes back with a changed tone. (Emerson)
Be the captain of your own psychic ship!
412. Q: You say that strength must always be solitary, that

we cannot gain it from a crowd, but isn't it a sign of power
when an organized group marches in unison towards one
direction?
A The: majority of men are, as it were, suspended in

the air, like toy balloons; every breath of v ind moves them.
(Nietzsche)
413. Q: Then we cannot trust the wisdom of aggressive

crowds?
A : Loud clamour is always more or less insane.
(Carlyle)
414. Q: It is obvious that some teachers dwell in total

freedom from earthly burdens. May we know the basic
process by which they arrived?
A : This is when the inmost of the spirit is sunk and

dissolved in the inmost of the Divine Nature, and thus
new-made and transformed. (Tauler)
415. Q: How can we prevent the loss of strength and

energy?
A : Our life is frittered away by detail . . . Simplify,

simplify. (Thoreau)
416. Q: Only recently have I become aware of the tremen-

dous value of self-responsibility, which has awakened new
energies. How does esotericism teach this virtue?
A: Physician, heal thyself. (Jesus)
417. Q: I feel that my past failures may have disqualified

me for changing my fortunes today.
A: What you do still betters what is done. (Shake-

speare)
418. Q: I feel powerless in the face of my own weaknesses.

It would help to have a plan for making me the captain of my
own psychic ship.
AErase your imaginations by often saying to your-

:
self, it is in my power to let no badness be in this spirit,

'Now
no craving nor any disturbance at all, but looking at all things
I see what is their nature, and I use each according to its
value.' Remember this power which you have from nature.
(Aurelius)
419. Q: From the mystical viewpoint, what is genius?
A: The first and last thing which is required of genius

is the Love of truth. (Goethe)
1
420. Q: Is the opportunity for finding fresh strength always

available?
A: It is always with us, but there must be an opening

of the heart to it, and though it is always there, yet it is only
felt and found by those who are attentive to it, depend upon,
and humbly wait for it. (Law)
421. Q: I would never have believed it a few months ago,

but now I see how we carelessly permit other people to drain
us of energy.
A : Make not a close friend of a melancholy, sad

person. He will be sure to increase your adversity and
decrease your good fortune. He
goes always heavily loaded,
and you must bear half. (Fenelon)
422. Q: How can we allow our emotions to contribute to

our growing strength?
A Through zeal, knowledge is gained, through lack of

:
zeal,knowledge is lost. Let a man who knows this double

path of gain and loss, thus place himself that knowledge may
grow. (Buddha)
How to spend your energy profitably
423. Q: What is an example of self-defeating effort?
A The
: effort people make as far as possible to conceal
their misfortunes, and to put the best face they can upon
them, for fear lest their misfortunes may show how much
they are to blame. (Schopenhauer)
424. Q: I need more self-strength in general. What can I rely

upon to build it?
A Relying on what? Not on reputation nor on wealth

:
nor on the power of the law, but on his own strength for . . .
these are the only things which make men free. (Epictetus)
425. Q: It is only a small stream of insight at the present

time, but I do see the absolute necessity for building my life
upon spiritual and psychological foundations.
A : To see small beginnings is clearness of sight.
(Lao-tse)
426. Q: Please define spiritual courage.

A
True fortitude I take to be quiet possession of a
:
man's and an undisturbed doing his duty, whatever evil

self,
besets or danger lies in his way. (Locke)
427. Q: How can we overcome doubt in ourselves?
A
Ever building, building to the clouds, still building
:
higher, and never reflecting that the poor narrow basis cannot
sustain the giddy tottering column. (Schiller)
428. Q: What do we need to know about spiritual heroism?
A : Heroism is the brilliant triumph of the soul over the

flesh, that is to say, over fear, fear of poverty, of suffering
. . . There is no serious piety without heroism. Heroism is the
dazzling and glorious concentration of courage. (Amiel)
429. Q: The courage to stand alone?

A Heroism works in contradiction to the voice of
:
mankind, and in contradiction, for a time, to the voice of the

great and good. Heroism is an obedience to a secret impulse
of an individual's character. (Emerson)
430. Q: By what method does a mystic master keep himself

in strong and spontaneous activity?
A The : sage attends to the inner, and not to the outer.
(Lao-tse)
431. Q: And this provides a permanent contentment?

A To : be strong is to be happy. (Longfellow)
432. am aware of how much valuable energy we waste

Q: I
in useless imaginations and negative emotions, and wish to

correct it as fast as possible. In what direction can I point my
recovered energy?
A : But often, in the world's most crowded streets, but

often, in the din of strife, there arises an unspeakable desire
after the knowledge of our buried life; a thirst to spend our
fire and restless force in tracking out our true, original
course. (Arnold)
433. Q: And this, I believe, leads to genuine self-assurance?
A
Begin to search and dig in your own field for this
:
pearl of eternity and when you have found it you will

. . .
know that all which you have sold or given away for it is as
mere a nothing as a bubble upon the water. (Law)
Here is your fresh source of energy
434. Q: What is the meaning of the esoteric teaching that

silence is strength?
A : True bravery is shown by performing without

witness what one might be capable of doing before all the
world. (La Rochefoucauld)
435. Q: The mystics speak of an inward friend who is more

powerful than all exterior enemies. What do they mean by
this?
A: Notwithstanding the sight of all those miseries

which wring us, and threaten our destruction, we have still an
instinct that we cannot repress, which elevates us above our
sorrows. (Pascal)
436. Q: When our pain and panic reaches a crisis, the agony
seems overwhelming. It is hard at these times to see how
truth can conquer error.
A : I have often found a small stream at its source, that,

when followed along its course, carried away the camel with
its load. (Saadi)
437. Q: How can a person tell whether he is living from his

true nature or from borrowed costumes?
A What: is not natively his own falls off and comes to
nothing. (Landor)
438. Q: Why do we fail to use our minds with full power?
A : Every man takes the limits of his own field of vision
for the limits of the world. (Schopenhauer)
439. Q: I have heard that true humility is the same thing as

true strength, which I do not comprehend.
A True piety has in it nothing weak, nothing sad,
:
nothing constrained. It enlarges the heart; it is simple, free,

and attractive. (Fenelon)
440. Q: More and more I see how we waste ourselves in

shallow strivings, but I do not understand why we foolishly
persist in them.
A He who
: does not understand how the soul contains
the Beautiful within itself, seeks to realize beauty without,
by laborious production. (Plotinus)
441. Q: What a shocking but healthy discovery! I see clearly

how personal weakness invites others to attempt to exploit
and drain me.
A To: the generality of men you cannot give a stronger

hint for them to impose upon you than by imposing upon
yourself. (Fielding)
442. Q: I have a general sense of weariness in mind and

spirit, which prevents me from giving much of myself to
these studies. I need a fresh source of psychic power.
A: This energy does not descend into individual life on

any other condition than entire possession. It comes to the
lowly and simple; it comes to whomsoever will put off what
is foreign and proud; it comes as insight; it comes as serenity
and grandeur. (Emerson)
443. Q: The mystics teach the existence of great power

within each man. Why, then, do we not see it?
A true that all knowledge is within ourselves, but

: It is
this has to be called forth by another knowledge. Although

the capacity to know is inside us, it must be called out.
(Vivekananda)
Understand this great cosmic law
444. Q: What can a person do if he feels that his habitual

and traditional religion has failed him?
A Freedom
: is a new religion. (Heine)
445. Q: People feel helplessly whirled about by the existing

social structure, with its burdensome laws and taxes, crimes
and uncertainties. What declaration of independence can be
given to those who feel caught in the whirlpool?
A: If you did not desire your present position, you

would not be doing everything possible to maintain it ... If
you cease doing those things which maintain your position,
you will lose at once that position which you claim is forced
upon you and which is your burden ... It is impossible for
any man to be placed against his own will in a condition
which is contrary to his conscience. (Tolstoy)
446. Q: Why are we so doubtful about our possibilities for

attaining a totally new life?
A: We know what we are, but not what we may be.
(Shakespeare)
447. Q: We are told that a healthy but unseen work goes on

within us as we collect information about cosmic matters.
Please explain this secret work by facts.
A We are weaving them into a unity, supplying to

:
merely isolated things the hidden link of spiritual continuity

and coherence, penetrating beneath the outward husk of
facts to a something deeper, richer, more permanent. (Caird)
448. Q: Where can we start to understand some of the great

cosmic laws which run the universe?
A : It is the spiritual always which determines the

material. (Carlylc)
449. Q: I want to work hard on all this, so what must I

personally contribute to these instructions in order to change
them into beneficial experiences?
A : When moral courage feels that it is in the right,
there is no personal daring of which it is incapable. (Hunt)
450. Q: What do we need to know about the nature of true

self-strength?
A: It is the greatest manifestation of power to be calm.

It iseasy to be active. Let the reins go, and the horses will
drag you down. Any one can do that, but he who can stop
the plunging horses is the strong man. Which requires the
greater strength, letting go, or restraining? The calm man is
not the man who is dull Activity is the manifestation of
. . .
the lower strength, calmness of the superior strength.

(Vivekananda)
451. Q: I would like to persuade myself of the futility of

putting off the spiritual adventure any longer.
A: We must fight the fight! ... We only find rest in

effort. (Amiel)
452. Q: What is an example of a right and courageous

viewpoint towards finding the new life?
A We : have both heard and believe that there is such a

place to be found. (Bunyan)
Special paths to self-confidence
a. Self-strength comes from self-awareness, self-unity.

b. As we abandon false strength, true power appears.
c. You have the power to not be victimized by anyone.
d. Authentic self-confidence is always calm, never agitated.
e. Return to your natural state of dynamic living.
f. Courage comes by associating with cosmic facts.
g. Depend upon your own resources, not upon others.
h. Never permit others to drain your psychic energies.
i. Allow these principles to banish all self-doubt.
;'. True self-power can never be stolen nor exhausted!
7. You Can Make Problems Disappear for
Ever
453. Q: What is the basic cause of all our problems?
A : There are people in the world, who, having

renounced all the laws of God and nature, have made laws for
themselves which they strictly obey. (Pascal)
454. Q: Nothing has ever given me more encouragement

than these ideas, but I wonder whether they can solve my
particular problem, which I prefer not to identify.
A: There is a remedy for every wrong and a satis-

faction for every soul. (Emerson)
455. Q: May I have a basic principle of guidance for

avoiding problems with relatives?
A: Take precautions before the evil appears; regulate

things before disorder has begun. (Lao-tse)
456. Q: Please explain how an inner wrongness creates an

outer problem. It might motivate us towards self-elevation!
A Nothing
: is a greater barrier to being on good terms
with others than being ill at ease with yourself. (Balzac)
457. Q: Apparently we use the wrong tool in trying to solve

our problems. Please identify a wrong tool.
A He employs
: his emotion who can make no use of
his reason. (Cicero)
458. Q: What is a specific example of a wrong emotion?

A : There is no passion that so much transports men
from their right judgment as anger. (Montaigne)
459. Q: Anger is a major problem with most of us, even

more so because we keep this particular emotion well
concealed. Do you have suggestions for dealing with other
people with calm and poise?
A : If you want your judgment to be accepted, express

it coolly and without passion. All violence has its origin in
the and so, if your judgment is expressed with
will,
vehemence, people will consider it an effort of will, and not
the outcome of knowledge, which is in its nature calm and
unemotional. (Schopenhauer)
460. Q: Nervousness is also a troublesome emotion with

many people. We are nervous over money and health and
politics and everything else. What can settle us down?
A True philosophy is that which renders us to
:
ourselves, and all others who surround us, better, and at the
same time more content, more patient, more calm, and more
ready for all decent and pure enjoyment. (Lavater)
461. Q: It is obvious that mankind never really solves its

problems, but only rearranges them. Why don't men see that
the only true solution is in this new and higher way of
thinking?
A : You cannot talk to a summer insect about ice.

(Zen)
Remedies are always within reach
462. Q: Our class in esotericism will be taking up a problem

which awakened men mention quite often, that of false
goodness. May I have an example of how a wrong sense of
goodness bounces back as trouble?
A : Never try to please an envious person. (Vauven-

argucs)
463. Q: There are as many personal problems as stars!

YOU CAN MAKE PROBLEMS DISAPPEAR FOR EVER 99
Where can we find the time and energy to take up each one
at a time and give it our earnest attention?
A : It matters not what our evils are . . . hardness of

heart, covetousness, wrath, pride, and ambition,etc., our
remedy always one and the same, always at hand, always
is
certain and infallible. (Law)
464. Q: Please explain the remedy.
A : It is in the recognition or non-recognition of these

principles that a man finds or fails to find freedom. (Tolstoy)
465. Q: What if we are visited by trouble while still not

understanding the truths that could rescue us?
AThat which you do not understand when you read,

:
you will in the day of your visitation, for many

understand
secrets of religion are not perceived till they be felt, and are
not felt but in the day of calamity. (Taylor)
466. Q: I am tired of being told how I should behave. If we

have duties to perform in life, they must certainly have
nothing to do with hypocritical moral codes invented by
pious frauds.
A : it is now constituted, all the established

In society as
rules are so many mechanical duties, while real duty consists
in obeying the laws of our own being. (Cherbuliez)
467. Q: Maybe I am getting a bit of wisdom after all, for I
suspect that I may be the cause of the troubles I get. What

spiritual law explains this?
A With what measure

: ye mete, it shall be measured to
you again. (Jesus)
468. Q: So the punishments we get from others always start

with some unconscious error in ourselves?
A: You cannot do wrong without suffering wrong.

(Emerson)
469. Q: I have an important business project which I must

put into the hands of a responsible man. How can I estimate
the reliability of several prospective employees
A A man shows
: his character just in the way in which
he deals with trifles — for then he is off his guard. This will
often afford a s:ood opportunity of observing the boundless
egoism of a man's nature, and his total lack of consideration
for others: and if these defects show themselves in small
things, or merely in his general manner, you will find that
they also underlie his action in matters of importance,
although he mav disguise the fact Do not trust him . . .
beyond your door. (Schopenhauer)
Love and wisdom must ^o together

_
- O: What sort of battle-cry can turn the power of our
.
emotions into allies against misfortune?
A: I love everything, one thing only — the

and dislike
desperate imprisonment being of my
Liberty for the . . .
inner man is then the strongest of my passions — perhaps my

only passion. (Amieli
471. O: What can we do about an adverse fate?
A: The fault ... is not in our stars, but in ourselves.

(Shakespeare
472. Q: Can we safely let our conscience be our guide?
A What we call conscience, is, in many

: instances, only
a wholesome fear of the constable. iBovee)
473. Q: Because they are unusual men, the mystic masters

must have unusual ways to communicate their help to pupils.
Correct?
A: One of the most wonderful things in nature

glance; it transcends speech; it is the bodily symbol of
identity. (Emers
474. Q: Why do the wise men of all philosophies advise us

to keep our self-work to ourselves, and not even mention it
to most people?
A That conduct sometimes seems useless in the eyes

:
of the world, the secret reasons for which, may, in reality, be

wise and solid. (La Rochefoucauld)
475. Q: I would like to learn to enjoy each separate

moment.
A: Peace of mind! That is something essential to any
enjoyment of the present moment, and unless its separate
moments are enjoyed, there is an end to life's happiness as a
whole. We should always recollect that today comes only
once, and never returns. We fancy that it will come again
tomorrow, but tomorrow is another day, which, in its turn,
comes once only. (Schopenhauer)
476. Q: You teach that wisdom must be mixed in with our

love. Will you please explain what you mean?
A : Forgiveness is commendable, but apply not oint-
ment to the wound of an oppressor. (Saadi)
477. Q: Most of us have so very little to contribute to our

own self-transformation.
A: No heart that holds one right desire treads the

road of loss. (Bhagavad-Gita)
478. Q: The mystic philosophers teach that a problem

cannot be solved on its own level. What does that mean?
A: Nothing does so establish the mind amidst the

rollingsand turbulence of present things, as a look above
them and a look beyond them, — above them, to the steady
and good hand by which they are ruled, and beyond them, to
the sweet and beautiful end to which, by that hand, they will
be brought. (Taylor)
How to dissolve difficulties by relaxing
479. Q: In my present perplexity, I am faced with four

different choices of possible solutions. How can I know
which one is best for me?
A As: long as you lack self -unity, what difference does

it make what you decide to do? (Sufism)
480. O: Does this mean that the irritating problem of

indecision arises because we are in self-contradiction, because
a wall of illusion stands between us and reality?
A: To be upset at anything which happens to us is a

separation of ourselves from nature. (Aurelius)
481. Q: What part does chance play in our lives? How can
we command it for our best interests?
A : Chance will not do the work — chance sends the

breeze; but if the pilot slumber at the helm, the very wind
that wafts us towards the port may dash us on the shelves.
The steersman's part is vigilance, blow it rough or smooth.
(Scott)
482. Q: I think most of all we need deliverance from

shallow platitudes and stupid sentimentalities about all the
nice people who will help us with our problems.
A A : is rare. No, it is
friend in need, as the saying goes,
just the opposite; no sooner have you made a friend than he
is in need and asks you for a loan. (Schopenhauer)
483. Q: We are taught to stop doing things, instead of trying

to do, that is, to stop acting from false ideas and from
artificial personality traits. What is the purpose of this
technique?
A Cease striving;
: then there will be self-trans-
formation. (Chuang-tse)
484. Q: What is the healthy answer to the problem of

extravagance, to wanting and buying things that won't add an
inch to our contentment?
A The man
: is richest whose pleasures are the cheapest.
(Thoreau)
485. Q: We are advised to use the faults of others as lessons

for self-maturity. Will you detail one such lesson?
A : When people are overcome by rage, it is good to

observe attentively the effects on those who deliver them-
selves up to this emotion. (Plutarch)
486. Q: have noticed both in myself and in others how

I
many problems are caused by our desperate attempts to be

noticed, to appear important, to feel respected and admired.
What is the answer to this painful compulsion?
A : It is not at all necessary to be great, as long as we
are in harmony with the order of the universe. (Amiel)
487. Q: But human power confers respect.
A : Those he commands, move only in command,

nothing in love. (Shakespeare)
Why we run into unexpected disasters
488. Q: What could I say to a person who complains

bitterly at the way life has treated him? He demands rewards
and comforts from the people he blames for his misery.
Perhaps a simple truth can penetrate his mind.
A Nothing can bring you peace but yourself. Nothing

:
can bring you peace but the triumph of principles. (Emerson)
489. Q: My problem has been with me for a long time. It is
easier for me good friend to others than to myself!

to be a
A What is your aim? To be good? And how is this

:
accomplished except by general principles, some about the

nature of the universe, and others about the proper consti-
tution of man. (Aurelius)
490. Q: I have noticed a particular form of anxiety in me,

which is worry that I may lose various items
the I have
acquired through hard work.
A : Truth is the highest thing that man may keep.

(Chaucer)
491. Q: Where do talents and gifts play their part in
problem-solving?
A: Desire spiritual gifts. (New Testament)
492. Q: If I could hear the answer to this one question I

could spend months thinking about it. The question is, why
do we suddenly run into difficulties and disasters which give
no visible warning?
A We run carelessly to the cliff, after we have put
:
something before us to prevent us seeing it. (Pascal)
493. O: It seems that a wholehearted effort towards

self-transformation would stir up on the inside. What is
things
the practical value in this?
A When
: the fight begins within himself, a man's worth
something. (Browning)
494. Q: I am puzzled by the esoteric teaching about

inaction. The mystics state that the right kind of inaction is
authentic action which transforms everything into its nat-

urally healthy condition. But how can doing nothing produce
something?
A: Who is there who can make muddy waters clear?

But if allowed to remain still, it will gradually clear itself.
(Lao-tse)
495. Q: May we have a few facts about inner guidance?
A All our progress is an unfolding, like the vegetable

:
bud. You have first an instinct, then an opinion, then a

knowledge, as the plant has root, bud, and fruit. Trust the
instinct to the end, though you can render no reason.
(Emerson)
496. Q: You say that we make authentic gain by first

experiencing a loss. Will you provide an example of this basic
teaching?
A : It is only after a man has rid himself of all pretence,

and taken refuge mere unembellished existence, that he is
in
able to attain that peace of mind which is the foundation of
human happiness. (Schopenhauer)
Only consciousness can banish conflicts
497. O: Eastern wise men teach that harmony with

nature — including our own nature — delivers us from daily
pain and frustration. What does this mean?
A : Is there any cause in nature that makes these hard

hearts? (Shakespeare)
498. O: Our study group consists of lawyers, real estate

agents, and other men and women engaged in various
businesses. We have been seeking the one key which reveals
what we should do for ourselves as we go about our business
duties. We want to wake up!
A Our
: individual life consists in separating ourselves
from our surroundings; in so reacting upon it that we
apprehend it consciously, and make ourselves spiritual
personalities — that is to say, intelligent and free. (Amiel)
499. Q: I do not understand why you say we must become

clearly conscious of our problems. If we are unaware of
them, they cannot bother us.
A A : stone beneath the surface of the ground is just as

heavy as a visible one. (Eckhart)
500. Q: As one road to self-freedom, you have urged us to

observe ourselves, to detect our hidden motives for doing
what we do. May we hear of a specific area for self-
observation?
A : We oftener says things because we can say them

well, than because they are sound and reasonable. (Landor)
501. Q: I have a problem in deciding how to think correctly

towards people in trouble. While feeling sympathy, I also
sense that they have shirked their responsibilities towards
themselves.
A We may
: be pretty certain that persons whom all the
world treats deserve entirely the treatment they get. The
ill
world is a looking-glass, and gives back to every man the

reflection of his own face. Frown at it. and it will in turn
look sourly upon you; laugh at it and with it, and it is a
jolly, kind companion. (Thackeray)
502. Q: Is this the same as saying that we attract more of

what we already are, that we receive exactly what our actual
nature asks for?
A : Every man stamps bis value on himself. The price

we set for ourselves is given us . . . Man is made great or small
by his own will. (Schiller)
503. O: I need to see more clearly how I am punished by

my own wrong attitude towards life.
A He that will keep a

: monkey should pay for the
glasses he breaks. (Selden)
504. 0: What is the correct attitude to have towards

blundering mankind as a whole?
,4 : I have earnestly endeavoured not to laugh at human
actions, nor to lament them, but to understand them.

(Spinoza)
The value of spiritual exercises
505. have carried out these spiritual exercises with

Q: I
excellent results. For one thins;, I see the value of reading
with a relaxed and an enjoyable state of mind.
A I would study, I would know. I would admire for

:
ever. These works of thought have been the entertainments

of the human spirit in all merson)
506. Q: There are thousands of puzzles and problems to be

solved in the world of human events. Some of them seem so
stubborn that I wonder if anv personal effort can cut a man
loose.
A: Trulv, I see he that will but stand to the truth, it
will cany him out. (F< \

VOL" CAN MAKE PROBLEMS DISAPPEAR FOR EVER 107
507. Q: Why are the most useless people always those who
are the most noisy and demanding?
A: li is difficult to keep quiet if you have nothin
do. (Schopenhauer)
508. 0: have a strange contradiction. Sometimes I am very

I
grateful others for benefiting me, but at other times I

to
resent them for their benefits. I think I dislike feeling
obligated to people.
A Happy the man to whom Heaven has given a morsel

:
of bread without laying him under the obligation of thanking

any other for it than Heaven itself. (Cervantes)
509. 0: My need is for information. In analysing my

self-invited battles, I find many of them occur because of my
loneliness. It drives me into associations with people whom I
sense are loaded with concealed cunning and hostility, but I
blunder straight ahead anyway.
Those who have resources within themselves, who

A :
can dare tolive alone, want friends the least, but, at the same
time, best know how to prize them the most. But no
company is far preferable to bad, because we are more apt to
catch the vices of others than their virtues. (Colt
510. 0: Why is it several people can have entirely different

reactions to the same event, one responding with amusement,
another in disappointment, a third with surprise?
.-1 : Each one sees what he carries in his heart. (Goethe)
511. Q: It is said that love conquers all, so can it conquer all
that is wrong with us?

.1 : Love is the crowning grace of humanity, the holiest
right of the soul, the golden link which binds us to duty and
truth, the redeeming principle that chiefly reconciles the
heart to life, and is prophetic of eternal good. (Petrarch)
512. Q: What is a major turning point in our upward climb?
A : While we are aware of thirsting after know]

begin to seek here and there, wherever we think we can get
some truth, and, failing to find it we become dissatisfied and
seek in a fresh direction. All search is vain, until we begin to
perceive that knowledge is within ourselves . . . that we must
help ourselves . . . Then we may know
that the sun is rising,
that the breaking for us, and, taking courage, we
morning is
must persevere until the goal is reached. (Vivekananda)
513. Q: When I think of the many kinds of discontent

which we must combat, I feel the need for a basic strategy.
A Who
: conquers indolence will conquer all the rest.
(Lavater)
514. Q: I can see where we can use these ideas in many

instances, like overcoming shyness, but I wonder how they
might work in an especially tough situation? Just now I am
faced with a crisis regarding my love life.
A : Philosophy is the art and law of life, and it teaches

us what to do in all cases, and, like good marksmen, to hit
the target at any distance. (Seneca)
515. Q: Of all these ideas, the adventure of winning a new

command over my own thoughts and feelings is the most
interesting. I can think of nothing more practical than this.
A He who would be master of himself shall win

: it, if
he bravely strives. (Bhagavad-Gita)
Your esoteric work is truly right!
516. Q: I have begun my mental life all over again, from the
very start, just as if I knew nothing at all. At first I thought
this represented weakness, but now I find it to be a source of
new energy.
A : When we begin at the real beginning — when
thought starts where alone it legitimately can start — it is
forced onwards, from step to step, by an irresistible inward
necessity, and cannot stop short till it has found its goal in
the sphere of universal and absolute truth, or in that Infinite
Mind which is at once the beginning and the end, the source
and the final explanation of all thought and being. (Caird)
517. Q: How does a mystic master meet the same problems

we have?
A: I am too high for fortune to harm mc. (Ovid)
518. Q: I was once told that I must have as much

knowledge about what is wrong as I have knowledge of what
is right. Why is it not enough to simply know what is right?
A: The knowledge of God without that of man's

misery causes pride. The knowledge of man's misery without
that of God causes despair. (Pascal)
519. Q: Where do people go wrong in thinking about God,

Truth, Reality?
A An
: idea about God is not God. (Tolstoy)
520. Q: My question is about rewards. While I know we are

working for inner benefits, not for material rewards, I
sometimes wonder whether I am gaining anything at all.
A There is a third silent party to all our bargains. The

:
nature and soul of things takes on itself the guaranty of the

fulfilment of every contract, so that honest service cannot
come to loss. If you serve an ungrateful master, serve him the
more. Put God in your debt. Every stroke shall be repaid.
The longer the payment is withholden, the better for you; for
compound interest on compound interest is the rate and
usage of this exchequer. (Emerson)
521. Q: Please show us how weakness and fear go together.
A Weak
: people prefer to be dependent in order to be
protected. Those who fear men love the laws of the land.
(Vauvenargues)
522. Q: It would be interesting to hear how we will see the

world when we have dissolved the mental mists as others have
done.
A The: philosopher laughs, for he alone escapes being

1 1 THE MYSTIC MASTERS SPEAK!
duped, while he sees other men the victims of persistent
He is like some mischievous spectator of a ball who
illusion.
has cleverly taken all the strings from the violins, and yet sees
musicians and dancers moving and pirouetting before him as
though the music were still going on. (Amiel)
523. Q: What would indicate that we are really dissolving

our problems, instead of merely rearranging them?
A: A sound direction is not so much indicated by

never making a mistake, as by never repeating it. (Bovee)
524. Q: How do we lose our natural power to solve

problems and how can we regain it?
A
Every reaction in the form of hatred or evil is so
:
much mind, and every evil thought or deed or

loss to the
hatred, or any thought of reaction, if it is controlled, will be
laid in our favour. It is not that we lose by thus restraining
ourselves; we are gaining infinitely more than we suspect
... it is so much good energy stored up in our favour; that
piece of energy will be converted into the higher powers.
(Vivekananda)
525. Q: I simply have the feeling that our work with these
ideas is right — that the richer life is a certainty.
A : Press on! A better fate awaits you. (Hugo)
Reflect upon these vital thoughts
a. Every problem and every conflict has a solution.

b. All answers exist in a clearand a calm mind.
c. We are both the cause and the cure of our difficulties.
d. If you deeply wish to abolish strife, you can do so.
e. A self-harmonious nature does not create problems.
/. Use your losses as lessons in living a free life.
g. As a crisis rises to consciousness, it begins to fade.
h. Do not have a fondness for habitual, but useless, ideas.
i. Work diligently at self-insight and self-understanding.
;'. Realize that your esoteric efforts are truly right!
8. Secrets of Self-freedom and
Self-command
526. Q: Where do we start our quest for freedom and

independence?
A: Thought takes a man out of servitude into freedom.

(Emerson)
527. Q: You refer, I believe, to the new thought aroused by

a strong wish to break out of the old ways?
A: He is the free man whom the truth makes free, and

all are slaves besides. (Cowper)
f
528. Q: wonder whether other people have the same

I
timidity that I have regarding independence? I mean that it

sometimes seems frightening to break out of the social net to
stand all alone.
A: I exist as I am — that is enough; if no other in the

world be aware, I sit content. (Whitman)
529. Q: I sense the folly of depending upon others, so

would appreciate counsel for breaking away.
A: If a to think that I am more dependent
man comes
upon him than he dependent upon me, he feels as though I
is
had stolen something from him, and his aim will be to have
revenge and get it back. The only way to obtain superiority
in dealing with men is to let it be seen that you are
independent of them. (Schopenhauer)
530. Q: What do we need to know about self-slavery?
A : I will have care of being a slave to myself, for it is a

2

perpetual, a humiliating, and the heaviest of all servitudes.
Liberty is maintained by moderate desires. (Seneca)
531. Q: Are you saying that we can be entirely independent

of fright and harm from events and objects in the exterior
world? How?
A: Things stand outside us, themselves by themselves,
neither knowing anything of themselves, nor expressing any
judgment. What is it, then, which makes judgment about
them? Your ruling faculty. (Aurelius)
532. Q: What do you mean by personal freedom?
A : Is freedom anything else than the power of living as

we choose? Nothing else. Tell me then, you men, do you
wish to live in error? We do not. No one who lives in error is
free.Do you wish to live in fear? Do you wish to live in

sorrow? Do you wish to live in tension? By no means. No one
who is in a state of fear or sorrow or tension is free, but
whoever is delivered from sorrows or fears or anxieties, he is
at the same time also delivered from servitude. (Epictetus)
533. Q: You make it clear that freedom is the power to live

as we choose, which is an attractive principle. Tell us of a
good choice to make right now.
A
I prefer those men of genius who awaken in me the
:
sense of truth, and who increase the sum of one's inner

liberty. (Amiel)
How to maintain total self-command
534. Q: I am in conflict over the possibility of losing part of

my financial security. Can these lessons teach me to remain
calmly unaffected about such things?
A Every mind seems capable of entertaining a certain

:
quantity of happiness, which no institutions can increase, no

circumstances alter, and entirely independent of fortune.
(Goldsmith)
535. Q: Then through right self-work we can win command

SECRETS OF SELF-FREEDOM AND SELF-COMMAND 1 1 3
over our circumstances, regardless of their nagging nature?
A: Self-control, too, is something which we have in our

own power. (Schopenhauer)
536. Q: To me, freedom means freedom from neurosis,

unhappiness, and hostility. By this standard, few live in
freedom, though everyone claims to love it.
A None
: are more hopelessly enslaved than those who
falsely believe they are free. (Goethe)
537. Q: Am I correct in defining freedom as an absence of

worry and hostility?
A: Who then is free? The wise man who can govern

himself. (Horace)
538. Q: Beneath all our pretence of gaiety, we sense our

slavery to our unfaced problems. What prevents us from
rising up in a mighty rebellion to throw it off?
A : So helpless does slavery make men that they grow
fond of it. (Vauvenargues)
539. Q: Please give us a starting point for overthrowing the

common human weakness for flattery.
A Do you wish to be praised by a man who curses

:
himself three times an hour? Do you wish to please a man

who cannot please himself? (Aurelius)
540. Q: The great avatars teach that the truth is deeply

hidden within us, needing only our invitation to grow and
burst our chains. Please describe this process.
A Truth comes home to the mind so naturally that

:
when we learn it for the first time, it seems as though we do

no more than recall it to our memory. (Fontenelle)
541. Q: Thanks to these principles, I now see that the more

the public applauds an action, the more wrong the action
may be.
4

A : All creatures live bewildered, save some few.
(Bhagavad-Gita)
542. Q: That is a perfect reason for resolving to live with an

independent mind.
A : He who hangs on to the errors of the ignorant

multitude, must not be counted among the great men.
(Cicero)
543. Q: Why do we fail to see false ideas as false?
A: Hardly one in ten thousand will have the strength

of mind to ask himself seriously and earnestly, 'Is that true?'
(Schopenhauer)
Self-liberty is your natural state
544. Q: Since human beings falsify everything, what is their

counterfeit version of freedom?
A: None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the

rest love not freedom, but licence. (Milton)
545. Q: I am now aware of how society is caught in its own

web, but I hope that the individual who wants to escape can
still do so.
A: Before man made us citizens, great Nature made us

men. (Lowell)
546. Q: Then self-knowledge is the way to self-freedom?
A : Chief among the causes of liberty is devotion, the

watchfulness of the spirit towards its own nature. (Shankara)
547. Q: So we surround ourselves by psychic prison bars by

our failure to study the ways we think and act?
A : In living creatures, ignorance of self is nature; in

man it is a vice. (Boethius)
548. Q: You say that gullibility is a chain which most

people wear without even feeling it. No doubt this is true of
me, so what information about human nature can help break

the chain?
A What appears to be generosity is usually nothing

:
more than disguised ambition, which despises petty self-

interests in order to gain greater self-interests. (La Rochef-
oucauld)
549. Q: Now that I understand how man preys upon man, I

also understand something else, which at first is startling.
Society publicly praises individuality and independence, but
really fears those who stand on their own feet.
A : Society everywhere is in conspiracy against the

manhood of every one of its members Self-reliance is its
. . .
aversion. (Emerson)
550. Q: I want to be a self-directed man. How?

A: Eagles fly alone; they are but sheep which always
herd together. (Sidney)
551. Q: But isn't it right and necessary to have various kinds

of authorities? Don't they do their best to make us secure
and comfortable?
A Are you less a slave by being loved and favoured by

:
your master? Your master favours you; he will soon beat

. . .
you. (Pascal)
552. Q: I have met a few men who have attained self-

command to one degree or another. have noticed that the
I
higher his level, the less pretence and the more authentic
pleasantness.
A: Good sense and good-nature are never separated,

though the ignorant world has thought otherwise. Good
nature, by which I mean beneficence and candour, is the
product of right reason. (Dryden)
553. Q: What sort of self-effort really makes a difference?

A: Great thoughts reduced to practice become great
acts. (Hazlitt)
6

554. Q: I lose my
self-command whenever I feel offended,
though I usually keep it hidden from others. How can I
change this?
A : not the man who gives blows

Remember that it is
or abuse who offends you,

but the view you take of these
things as being offensive. When, therefore, anyone provokes
you, be assured that it is your own opinion which provokes
you. (Epictetus)
Give a wide welcome to higher impressions
555. Q: My first steps away from my old nature must be

very short ones, so may I have a suitable thought?
A Our: greatest glory consists not in never falling, but

in rising every time we fall. (Goldsmith)
556. Q: What is our personal responsibility in achieving

self-liberty?
A: Liberty in submission — what a problem! And yet

that is what we must always come back to. (Amiel)
557. Q: May we hear more about this correct and beneficial

submission? To what do we submit ourselves?
A Our
: activity should consist in placing ourselves in a
state of susceptibility to Divine impressions, and pliability to
all the operations of the Eternal Word. (Guyon)
558. Q: I wish to have this more abundant life.
A : All we have to do is to receive what we are given

(de Caussade)
559. Q: But what if I lack the necessary strong belief to

bring this newness to me?
A: Belief consists in accepting the affirmations of the
soul; unbelief, in denying them. (Emerson)
560. Q: How can I maintain a pleasant nature, not merely

when things are going my way, but at all times?
A Your disposition will be suitable to that which you

:
most frequently think about, for the spirit is, as it were,

tinged with the colour and complexion of its own thoughts.
(Aurelius)
561. Q: I am especially interested in understanding how

inward victory expands itself to outward triumph. May I have
a thought on this?
A If you are inwardly free from fighting, no one will

:
be able to fight with you. (Taoism)
562. Q: What about those times when we feel battered by

the world?
A : Truth is tough. It will not break, like a bubble, at a

touch . . . you may kick it about all day, like a football, and
it will be round and full at evening. (Holmes)
563. Q: I was first attracted to these principles by seeing

how easily we can lose those liberties which are based on
human plans. Only the spiritual is secure.
A Let me tell you, that as here lies all the true and
:
real freedom, which cannot be taken from you, so in the

constant exercise of this freedom, that is, in a continual
leaving yourself to, and depending upon the operation of
God in your soul, lies all your road to heaven. No divine
virtue can be had any other way. (Law)
564. Q: What is the esoteric teaching about worship?
A : Better than worshipping gods is obedience to the

laws of righteousness. (Buddha)
New thoughts lead to new independence
565. Q: Since our life is what our thoughts make it, what
kind of thoughts lead a man back to his natural indepen-
dence?
A : His individual dignity, not derived from birth, from

success, from wealth, from outward show, but consisting in
8

the indestructible principles of his soul - this ought to enter
into his habitual consciousness. (Channing)
566. Q: It was a surprising revelation, but you have made

me conscious of my dependence upon borrowed ideas —
most of them false. I wish to toss out this dependency once
and for all.
A They who
: have light in themselves will not revolve
as satellites. (Seneca)
567. Q: What is the alternative to relying upon the notions

we have picked up from the past?
A: Rely on principles. (Epictetus)
568. Q: A group of us have determined to no longer hear

merely what we prefer to hear, but will listen to whatever is
truly good for us, regardless of our tender feelings. Will you
please give us a challenging truth to face?
A One would be apt to think, from the murmurs of

:
impatient mortals, that God owed them a recompense before

they had deserved it, and that he was obliged to reward their
virtue beforehand. No, let us first be virtuous, and rest
assured we shall sooner or later be happy. Let us not require
the prize before we have won the victory. (Rousseau)
569. Q: Please give us a specific instance of where society

defeats its own search for freedom.
A : Hero-worship is strongest where there is the least

regard for human freedom. (Spencer)
570. Q: You say that the false must go before the true can
come. What particular falseness can we work against in order
to find self-release?
A
Every man's nature is concealed with many folds of
:
disguise,and covered with various veils. His brows, his eyes,

and very often his countenance, are deceitful, and his speech
is most commonly a lie. (Cicero)
9
SECRETS OF SELF-FREEDOM AND SELF-COMMAND 1 1
571. Q: I now see that the so-called easy way of behaving

like a social sheep is the hard way after all. I want to be my
own man.
A easy in the world to live after the world's
: It is
opinion; easy in solitude to live after your own; but the

it is
great man is he who, in the midst of the crowd, keeps with

perfect sweetness the independence of solitude. (Emerson)
572. Q: I still do not understand why our thinking should

not simply fall in with the majority. That seems to be the
best we can do in this ailing world.
A Why
: do we follow the majority? Is it because they
have more reason? No, because they have more power.
(Pascal)
Your genuine needs are always supplied
573. Q: Mine is a familiar question about self-independence,

but the answer is not so easily found. Is there a method by
which I can learn to cast aside my artificial personality traits
and to simply be myself?
A A man
: can be himself only so long as he is alone,
and he does not love solitude, he will not love freedom, for
if
it is only when he is alone that he is really free. Restraint is
always present in society, like a companion of whom there is

no riddance, and in proportion to the greatness of a man's
individuality, it will be hard for him to bear the sacrifices
which all contact with others demands. (Schopenhauer)
574. Q: What information could free a man obsessed with

the desire to expand his world at the cost of personal peace?
A A : man's affections are just as fully satisfied by the
smallest circle as they can be by a large circle. (Balzac)
575. Q: We seem to trade our integrity for things we assume

that we need, as when we please people so that they will also
be pleased with us. Does our ascent to higher levels of
consciousness supply our genuine needs?
A : In all places where you shall come, you will find no
want at all. (Bunyan)
576. Q: In a single sentence, how can we be in charge of

everything that happens to us, whether good or bad?
A : Philosophy alone makes the mind invincible and

places us out of the reach of fortune, so that all her arrows
fall short of us. (Seneca)
577. Q: We have learned about many of our wrong wishes,

so please next give us a right wish.
A: I wish to be a true and free man. (Emerson)
578. Q: How can we become true men?

A Great men are the true men, the
: men in whom
Nature has succeeded. (Amiel)
579. Q: It would be nice to feel that this is also possible for

us.
A : All may do what has by man been done. (Young)
580. Q: As you have stated, this is a challenging task, but I
know we have every reason to feel confident.
A: Be cheerful, also, and seek not external help, nor

the peace which others give. A man must stand straight, and
not be kept straight by others. (Aurelius)
581. Q: Please connect self-independence with self-

happiness.
A Himself is the source of the best and most a man

:
can be or achieve. The more this is so — the more a man finds

his sources of pleasure in himself — the happier he will
be For all other sources of happiness are in their nature
. . .
most uncertain. (Schopenhauer)
582. Q: I have just started to read esoteric literature, and

wish to proceed with the most beneficial attitude.
A Read
: not to contradict and confute, nor to believe
SECRETS OF SELF-FREEDOM AND SELF-COMMAND 121
and take for granted, nor to find talk and discourse, but to
weigh and consider. (Bacon)
The fascination of esoteric studies!
583. Q: What basic rule will help us retain self-command

when dealing with an angry person?
A Oppose
: not rage while rage is in its force, but give it
way a while and letit waste. (Shakespeare)
584. Q: You have explained that we can have a geniune

positive attitude, based on reality, or a fictitious positive
attitude, based on self-deception. Please comment on a false
positiveness.
A: The most positive men are the most credulous,

since they most believe themselves, and advise most with
their falsest flatterer and worst enemy — their own self-love.
(Pope)
585. Q: How can we have a genuinely positive mind?

A: Before God can deliver us from ourselves, we must
undeceive ourselves. (Augustine)
586. Q: People are always setting up standards of conduct

for other people, which usually reflect some kind of
self-righteousness or self-interest. Show us how to live by our
own Tightness.
A : Whatever one does or says, 1 must be good, just as if

the emerald were always saying, 'Whatever anyone does or
says, I must be an emerald and keep my colour.' (Aurelius)
587. Q: I have learned that liberty of all kinds is preserved

through alertness towards those who would cunningly steal it
with gifts.
A: Liberty is of more value than any gifts, and to

receive gifts from men is to lose it. Be assured that men most
commonly seek to oblige you only that they may engage you
to serve them. (Saadi)
588. Q: You pointed out that self-reliance is a stout shield

against getting into trouble. May we have an instance of this?
A : I have often said that all the misfortunes of men

spring from their not knowing how to live quietly at home, in
their own rooms. (Pascal)
589. Q: Presently, my foremost attitude towards these

lessons is one of growing interest, even towards those I do
not fully understand. I am wondering what other attitudes
willflow into us as we go on?
A: How our delight in any particular study, art, or

science rises and improves in proportion to the application
which we bestow upon it. Thus, what was at first an exercise
becomes at length an entertainment. (Addison)
590. Q: What would be a good declaration for us to live by?
A: I will walk at liberty: for I seek thy precepts. (Old

Testament)
591. Q: Please comment in general on freedom from anger.

A When I am angry my whole mind has become a
:
huge wave of anger. I feel it, see it, handle it, can easily
manipulate it, can fight with it, but I shall not succeed
perfectly in the fight until I can get down below. A man says
something very harsh to me, and I begin to feel that I am
getting heated, and he goes on till I am perfectly angry, and
forget myself, identify myself with anger. When he first
began to abuse me I still thought, T am going to be angry.'
Anger was one thing and I was another, but when I became
angry, I was anger. These feelings have to be controlled in the
germ, the root, in their fine forms, before even we have
become conscious that they are acting on us. (Vivekananda)
Make internal freedom your goal
592. Q: My friends sometimes ask me what esotericism is all

about, which I explain in various ways. What might be a
summarized explanation?
A There is provided an escape from the narrowness

:
and poverty of the individual life, and the possibility of a life

which is other and larger than our own, and yet which is
most truly our own. For, to be ourselves, we must be more
than ourselves. What we call love is, in truth the losing of . . .
our individual selves to gain a larger self. (Caird)
593. Q: Religions and philosophies teach that an enlight-

ened man becomes his own law, which is truly right and
moral, in contrast to man-made law. Is that what you mean
by self-independence?
A A heroic person walks at his ease through and out
:
of that custom or precedent or authority that suits him not.

(Whitman)
594. Q: How do you summarize the esoteric teaching

regarding man-made rules and spiritual rules?
A : Love is the fulfilling of the law. (New Testament)
595. Q: It was both surprising and pleasing to hear that we

can use every problem for greater freedom. How might I use
verbal attacks from others?
A Never disregard what your enemies say. They may

:
be severe, they may be prejudiced, they may be determined

to see only in one direction, but still in that direction they
see clearly. They do not speak all the truth, but they
generally speak the truth from one point of view; so far as
that goes, attend to them. (Haydon)
596. Q: What is the right attitude to take towards a person

who praises you one moment and threatens you the next?
—
A The anger of an ape the threat of a flatterer
:
—
these deserve equal regard. (Epictetus)
597. Q: I would be the happiest man on earth if I could

cease to be a slave of my circumstances. What can the
teachers of esotericism do for us in this trap?
A: The great make us feel, first of all, the indifference

of circumstances. They call into activity the higher percep-
tions, and subdue the low habits- of comfort and luxury; but
the higher perceptions find their objects everywhere; only the
low habits need palaces and banquets. (Emerson)
598. Q: I need to discover freedom from a tense self-

defensiveness, which leaves me exhausted at the end of the
day.
A : Dwelling in the light, there is no occasion at all for

stumbling, for all things are discovered in the light. (Fox)
599. Q: People often feel that the Higher Power has placed
us in this world without sufficient strength and aid.
A He has delivered you into your own care, and says,

:
'I had no one better to entrust him to than yourself. Keep

him for me, such as he is by nature — modest, faithful,
upright, unafraid, free from passion and dread.' (Epictetus)
600. Q: What is an example of a free mind?
A : True eloquence scorns eloquence. (Pascal)
601. Q: I wish to avoid unnecessary problems in my esoteric

studies. What can remind me to remain constant and
systematic?
A He is unwise who looks at the fruit of lofty

: trees,
but does not measure their height. (Quintus)
602. Q: My class is making progress with several elementary

lessons on self-liberty, but. may we also have a more difficult
one for study?
A : The internal nature is much higher than the

external, and much more difficult to grapple with, much
more difficult to control; therefore he who has conquered
the internal nature controls the whole universe; it becomes
his servant. (Vivekananda)
603. Q: I sense the purity of purpose of a teacher of truth.

How might he best express it in words?
A I want to help you to grow as beautiful as God

:
meant you to be when he thought of you first. (MacDonald)
The esoteric path to freedom
a. True freedom resides in a free mind and spirit.

b. You need not be chained by people or circumstances.
c. Choose self-command for yourself right now.
d. To be aware of non-liberty is the beginning of liberty.
c. Self-independence is your right and natural state.
/. Use self-reliance as a guiding light to inner peace.
g. The truth is stronger than any crisis or difficulty.
h. Authentic freedom can never be taken away from you.
i. Let truthful principles succeed within your mind.
/. Make your personal declaration of independence!
9. Here Is the Cure for Pain and Suffering
604. Q: Obviously, we must understand the nature of

suffering if we it. Where can we
are to dissolve start?
A: One must plunge into it, and I have done so.

(Amiel)
605. Q: What kind of knowledge about sorrow sets us free

from sorrow?
A : In the loss of an object we do not proportion our
grief to its real value, but to the value our fancies set upon it.
(Addison)
606. Q: That helpful information affirms our need for

insight into the ways of the mind.
A : The price of wisdom is above rubies. (Old Test-
ament)
607. Q: How would you describe man's present condition?
A Man
: does not know in what rank to place himself.
He has plainly gone astray, and fallen from his true place,
without being able to find it again.He seeks it anxiously and
unsuccessfully, everywhere in impenetrable darkness. (Pascal)
608. Q: How can we turn on our mental lanterns to full
light?
A: Observe yourself as your greatest enemy would do;

so shall you be your greatest friend. (Taylor)
609. Q: The one word that characterizes me best of all is

HERE IS THE CURE FOR PAIN AND SUFFERING 127
restlessness.no sooner reach my desired destination than I

I
want to to somewhere else. One minute I'm all excited

roam
over something and the next minute it bores me. What causes
my dissatisfaction?
A What do you suppose will satisfy

: the soul except to
walk free andown no superior? (Whitman)
610. Q: I recently suffered severe humiliation in my relation

with another person. Before meeting esotericism, I would
have wanted revenge, but now I wish to use the experience
for inner elevation. How?
A How is inner unity even possible under such
:
circumstances? ... To be sure, the best thing he can do is to

recognize which part of him smarts the most under defeat,
and let it always gain the victory. This he will always be able
to do by the use of his reason Let him resolve of his own
. . .
free will to undergo the pain which the defeat of the other
part involves. This is character. (Schopenhauer)
611. Q: What is an example of a man's inner contradiction

which punishes him because he fails to see it in himself?
A: I have often wondered how it is that every man
loves himself more than allmen, but yet sets less
the rest of
value on his own opinion of himself than on the opinion of
others. (Aurelius)
612. Q: I would like to live in a simple contentment, but

the urge for fame and fortune seems so rewarding.
A: He is well paid that is well satisfied. (Shakespeare)
The only solution to suffering
613. Q: What is your first principle for removing sorrowful

experiences?
A The first is by clearing of the understanding,

:
thereto adding a supernatural light, by which natural reason

comes to see something that it saw not before, or at least did
not esteem before. (Baker)
614. Q: So we cause our own suffering by a refusal to listen
to higher inspirations?
A When
: the ship does not yield to the rudder, it yields
to the rock. (France)
615. Q: Will you make the lesson about yielding and

surrendering somewhat clearer?
A : It is right to yield to the truth. (Horace)
616. Q: So esoteric self-education is the only solution to

pain?
A : Ignorance is the root of misfortune. (Plato)
617. Q: I have tried to explain to myself the hazards of

self-ignorance, but have been unable to put it into a clear
statement. Will you please do so?
A Man
: is nothing but contradiction; the less he knows
it the more dupe he is. (Amiel)
618. Q: But we can rise above this self-contradiction to our

natural and peaceful state?
A : We live in succession, in division, in parts, in

particles. Meantime within man is the soul of the whole; the
wise silence; the universal beauty, to which every part and
particle is equally related; the eternal One. (Emerson)
619. Q: I am beginning to see why the sages say that the

worst deception is self-deception. Our proud insistence that
we are living in a palace is the very fraud that keeps us in the
dungeon.
A : Nothing is so easy as to deceive one's self, for what

we wish to believe, we readily believe, but such expectations
are often inconsistent with the real state of things. (Demo-
sthenes)
620. Q: A friend has asked me a certain question about

social chaos, which I will ask of you. How does individual
irresponsibility expand itself to community calamity?
HERE IS THE CURE FOR PAIN AND SUFFERING 1 29
A: The common people are but ill judges of a man's

merits; they are slaves to fame, and their eyes are dazzled
with the pomp of titles and large retinue. No wonder, then,
that they bestow their honours on those who least deserve
them. (Horace)
621. Q: You have said that the thrill that men get by
worldly success is always accompanied by feelings of guilt
and despair. Why is this?
A : Because they cannot hope to rise except by

frustrating one another. (Vauvenargues)
622. Q: I don't want to conquer the world; I just want to be

contented with myself.
A: Remember that the ruling faculty is invincible;

when self-collected it is satisfied with itself therefore the . . .
mind which is free from passions is a citadel, for man has

nothing more secure to which he can fly for safety.
(Aurelius)
Study your heartache scientifically
623. Q: I am encouraged by a discovery I made in a book of

deep wisdom. It said that new life can begin only when the
pressure from frustration and despair reaches the cracking
point. Does this mean that our cracking is a cracking open,
that it is the very exit from our ego-prison?
A It seldom happens that a man changes his life

:
through his habitual reasoning. No matter how fully he may

sense the new plans and aims revealed to him by reason, he
continues to plod along in the old paths until his life becomes
frustrating and unbearable ... he finally makes the change
only when his usual life can no longer be tolerated. (Tolstoy)
624. Q: That is an amazingly new way to look at suffering.
A : The eternal stars shine out as soon as it is dark

enough. (Carlyle)
625. Q: But can we, with all our instabilities, grasp this?
1 30 THE MYSTIC MASTE RS SPEAK!
A You
: can understand this by giving careful attention
to what has been said. (Theologia Germanica)
626. Q: A willingness to let go of all that we at present and

falsely think is valuable, is the way to a self-success that
satisfies. The way is not found elsewhere, such as in a
scholarly education. Are my two statements correct?
A :every man's short lesson of life, and he that
This is
has well learned it, is scholar enough, and has had all the
benefit of a most finished education. (Law)
627. Q: The lessons we have heard so far indicate that we

can use our tribulations for self-freedom or for self-imprison-
ment, according to the way we handle them.
A : Sweet are the uses of adversity. (Shakespeare)
628. Q: What would be a wrong use of suffering?

A dangerous to abandon one's self to the luxury
: It is
of grief, for deprives one of courage and even the wish for
it
recovery. (Amiel)
629. Q: You seem to say that suffering can be studied

scientifically, with profitable results.
A : This science is not theoretical, but practical, in

which experience surpasses the most polished and clever
speculation. (Molinos)
630. Q: Several of us in our study group have been helped

by seeing the folly of wasting our time in the social beehive.
Will you please make this even clearer to us?
A The
: not rest directly upon the
social impulse does
upon the fear of solitude. It is not just the
love of people, but
charm of having the company of others that people seek; it is
the dreary oppression of being alone — the monotony of
their own consciousness — that they would avoid. They will
do anything to escape it, even put up with bad companions,
and tolerate the feeling of restraint which all society involves,
which is very burdensome. (Schopenhauer)
631. Q: Insight into this is true wisdom?

A Wisdom
: consist in performing only useful actions.
(Cherbuliez)
How to cure yourself swiftly
632. Q: What is the correct way to sympathize with those in

sorrow?
A: One should never be very forward in offering

spiritual consolations to those in distress. These, to be of any
service, must be self-evolved in the first instance. (Coleridge)
633. Q: We are cautioned against rising up with false

elation, elation based on vanity or a feeling of superiority.
How can we recognize this kind of artificial joy?
A : As high as we have mounted in delight, in our

dejection do we sink as low. (Wordsworth)
634. Q: What kind of desire would dominate a mind which

is marching towards mental health?
A What
: is it that any thoughtful, serious men could
wish for, but to have a new heart, and a new spirit, free from
the hellish self-tormenting elements of selfishness, envy, pride
and wrath? (Law)
635. Q: How are our receptive minds affected by the truths

and principles we are hearing?
A: When the ripe moment comes, the truth within

answers to the fact without, as the flower responds to the
sun, giving it heat and colour. (Mabie)
. . .
636. Q: Does this newness free us from any suffering which

others may try to impose upon us?
A The man who
: has no wound on his hand may touch
poison with hand, for poison cannot affect a man with no
his
open wound. Neither is there evil for the man free of evil.
(Buddhism)
637. Q: I feel it important to know more about the labels
which people like to paint upon others, both flattering labels
and slanderous ones.
A: I leave it to other people to call me this or that. It
matters little what any one is called. (Macdonald)
638. Q: I have suffered several severe losses lately, including

that of someone very close to me. I knowdoes no good to
it
feel sorry for myself, so I don't fall into that trap. However, I
would like to have the mystical explanation regarding
personal loss.
A Nothing is ever really lost, or can be lost, no birth,

:
identity, form — no object in the world, nor life, nor any

visible thing; appearance must not foil, nor shifted sphere
confuse thy brain. Ample are time and space — ample the
fields of Nature. (Whitman)
639. Q: How does this inner refreshment actually flow into

us when we use grief correctly? Please provide an example.
A : some dreadful and ghastly dream, we

When, in
reach the moment
of greatest horror, it awakes us; thereby
banishingall the hideous shapes that were born of the night.
And life is a dream: when the moment of greatest horror

compels us to break it off, the same thing happens. (Thoreau)
640. Q: Suffering is no doubt an excellent teacher, when

rightly used, but why do we so seldom use it correctly?
A Few people are wise enough to prefer useful

:
reproof to treacherous praise. (La Rochefoucauld)
There is a way out!
641. Q: Teachers Krishnamurti and George Gurdjieff

like
say that people falsely value their sufferings, which I have
noticed in myself. Pains supply a strange excitement, a fiery

agitation, which burns up true life. Please verify this.
A There : are moods in which we court suffering, in the

hope that here, at least, we shall find reality, sharp peaks and
edges of truth. But it turns out to be scene-painting and

counterfeit. The only thing grief has taught me is to know how
shallow it is. (Emerson)
642. Q: It was a strange discovery to me, but I now see that

many people actually enjoy their suffering.
A: The wretched hasten to hear of their own miseries.

(Seneca)
643. Q: What is their cure?
A To: learn to look away from oneself is necessary in

order to see many things. (Nietzsche)
644. Q: There seems to be room for the right kind of

defiance in the spiritual journey, not the angry kind, but one
composed of the will to succeed against all foes. Comment,
please.
ALet fortune do her worst, whatever she makes us

:
lose, makes us lose our honesty and

so long as she never
independence. (Pope)
645. Q: Will an understanding of these principles help me

with a problem connected with the people with whom I
work?
A: A free mind has power to achieve all things.
(Eckhart)
646. Q: How can we see this newness in our daily lives?
A : Only that day dawns to which we are awake.

(Thoreau)
647. Q: I am almost afraid to ask my question! Self-right-

eousness is my chief malady. What is your medicine?
A: Do you never look at yourself when you criticize
another person? (Plautus)
648. Q: Since it is the truth that hurts, we must obviously

enter into and pass beyond the hurt in order to grow. Will
you please supply a method for doing this?
A We would
: gain more by letting ourselves be seen as
we really are, than by attempting to appear what we are not.
(La Rochefoucauld)
649. Q: That seems to call for courage to face things

according to reality, not according to our imagination.
A: Fearless minds climb soonest unto crowns. (Shake-

speare)
650. Q: What can we do about vague fears, I mean, the kind

which we hardly recognize, and which seem to have no
definite source?
A He who has found the bliss of the Eternal has no

:
fear from any quarter. (Upanishads)
651. Q: One member of our esoteric school suggested a

basic practice to employ at all times, but especially with the
approach of psychic storm clouds. He suggested that we
simply remember that there is a way out, and that it can be
found. Your comment, please?
A Look
: at no inward or outward trouble in any other
view; reject every other thought about and then every kind
it,
of trial and distress will become the blessed day of your

property. (Law)
652. Q: But what if we cannot find this self-satisfying

reality?
A: I laugh when I hear that the fish swimming in the

water is thirsty. (Kabir)
How to escape self-imprisonment
653. Q: I would appreciate a comment about a lesson I

heard recently. The lesson explained that only whatever is
false in us can suffer, and that our true nature resembles pure
air, which attacking arrows cannot strike because there is
nothing there for them to strike.

HERE IS THE CURE FOR PAIN AND SUFFERING 135
A The
: ruling faculty does not disturb itself, I mean, it
does not frighten itself or cause itself pain . The guiding

. .
principle in itself wants nothing, unless it makes a want for

itself, and therefore it is free. (Aurelius)
654. Q: My inner life is so complicated!
A : Simplicity of character is the natural result of

profound thought. (Hazlitt)
655. Q: I have noticed that the sighting of an attractive

object of any kind arouses my desire to possess it, which is
then followed by the painful realization that I cannot have it.
What can I do about this punishing mental process?

A : It is proof of great talents to recall the mind from
the senses, and to separate thought from habit. (Cicero)
656. Q: I need the help of something above myself.

A The soul's communication of truth is the highest
:
event in nature and this communication is an influx of

. . .
the Divine Mind into our mind Every moment when the . . .
individual feels invaded by it is memorable. (Emerson)
657. Q: But who can know this superior state?
A The man who

: yearns to know. (Bhagav ad-Git a)
658. Q: Feelings of persecution seem to exist to one degree

or another in many people. No doubt this is an unconscious
source of suffering, which right thinking can erase.
A A : great spirit is above insult, injustice, grief, and

mockery. (La Bruyere)
659. Q: What could help a person who feels rejected by

people because he was once in serious trouble with the law?
A The mind
: alone cannot be exiled. (Ovid)
660. Q: I am at present investigating the ways in which we

place ourselves in psychic prison. Please mention one way.
A : The world is imprisoned by its own activity.
(Hinduism)
661. Q: May I have the full details of this?
A The man who spends his life in sensual acts

:
performs acts that depend upon temporary causes beyond his

control. Of himself he does nothing, but it seems to him that
he is acting independently. In reality, all that he imagines he
is doing by himself is done through him by a higher power;
he is not the creator of life but its prisoner. But the man who
devotes his life to the recognition and practice of the truth
revealed to him unites himself with the source of universal
life, and accomplishes not personal or individual acts that
depend upon time and space, but acts that have no cause, but
are in themselves causes of all else, and have an endless
significance. (Tolstoy)
662. Q: What is the foundation of this true action?
A : Let your understanding be your action. (Kier-

kegaard)
The pleasures of your inner journey
663. Q: When it comes to unburdening myself from grief, I

am like a man who tries to get rid of a heavy brick by shifting
it from his left hand to his right! How can I drop it?
A The
: being who has attained harmony, and every
being may attain it, has found his place in the order of the
universe, and represents the divine thought at least as clearly
as a flower or a solar system. Harmony seeks nothing outside
itself. It is what it ought to be; it is the expression of right,
order, law, and truth; it is greater than time, and represents
eternity. (Amiel)
664. Q: Please give us a cosmic law governing mental pain.
A He who
: commits injustice is made more wretched
than he who suffers it. (Plato)
665. Q: What would be an example of concealed mental

cruelty between friends?
A: In the adversity of our best friends, we often find

something which does not displease us. (La Rochefoucauld)
666. Q: My close observation of people has made one of

your teachings very clear to me — the happiness of most
people is nothing but a stage performance.
A: Most become so only through imitation, and

deliberately counterfeit high spirits and cheerfulness.
(Vauvenargues)
667. Q: When I look at the unthinking ways of men and

women I can see what great patience the mystic masters must
possess!
A The work
: an unknown good man has done is like a
vein of water flowing hidden underground, secretly making
the ground green. (Carlyle)
668. Q: Why do so many people fail to find happiness?
A : All men wish to be happy, but are dull at perceiving

exactly what it is that makes life happy. (Seneca)
669. Q: Will you please review and clarify what is necessary

for personal peace?
A: Happiness is no other than soundness and perfec-

tion of the mind. (Aurelius)
670. Q: I would like to mention a pleasant experience I

have had with these thoughts. At first I was timid towards
them, then curious, then attracted, and finally captivated by
their trueness and kindness.
A Mental pleasures never clog; unlike those of the
:
body, they are increased by repetition, approved of by

reflection, and strengthened by enjoyment. (Colton)
671. Q: I do not understand the first principles about

cosmic guidance. It seems to require the absence of self-will
and self-contradiction, but I would value more information.
A We : are never without a pilot. When we know not

1 38 THE MYSTIC MASTERS SPEAK:
how to steer, and dare not hoist we can drift. The
a sail,
current knows the way, though we do not. The ship of
heaven guides itself, and will not accept a wooden rudder.
(Emerson)
672. Q: Where does this reliance on natural currents take a

man?
A : He attains freedom from all worldly cares and
anxieties, and nothing can ever chain him again. (Rama-
krishna)
A clear mind is a treasure
673. Q: You have repeatedly stated that the first step

towards freedom is to become aware of self-imprisonment,
which I now see as practical wisdom. Please mention one
prison cell occupied by unaware people.
A: What people will say — in these words there lies the

tyranny of the world, the whole destruction of our natural
disposition, the uneven vision of our minds. These four words
bear sway everywhere. (Auerbach)
674. Q: For a long time I have felt blackmailed by society,

especially in its demands that I approve its clownish hustle by
joining it. Lately, I have added another thought to this,
which is, I have permitted this blackmail by not living
according to honest principles.
A He who floats with the current, who does not guide

:
himself according to higher principles, who has no ideal, no

convictions — such a man is ... a thing moved, instead of a
living and moving being — an echo, not a voice. The man who
has no inner life is a slave of his surroundings, as the
barometer is the obedient servant of the air. (Amiel)
675. Q: This confirms the mystic teaching that we act

wrong because we are unable to recognize what is right.
A: Not to understand a treasure's worth ... is cause of

half the poverty we feel, and makes the world the wilderness
it is. (Cowper)
676. Q: Please review an area where we have gone wrong,

but which we can make right.
A We : are all taking that which is bad for that which is
good, and that which is a dream for that which is real. Soul is
the only reality, and we have forgotten it. (Vivekananda)
677. Q: I used to suffer intensely in my relations with the

opposite sex, which I thought were based in love. But now I
am conscious of an esoteric truth which I refused to face for
many years, which says that false love quickly turns to hate.
My suffering has ended in this area, for which I am grateful,
but will you please discuss it?
A: Take care how you to the voice of the

listen
flatterer, who, in return for his stock of words, expects
little
to gain considerable advantages from you. If one day you do

not comply with his wishes, he charges you with two
hundred defects, instead of perfections. (Saadi)
678. was a revelation to me to hear you describe true

Q: It
spiritualityas nothing more nor less than a clear and

undivided mind. Please repeat that idea.
A : Keep the imagination sane — that is one of the

truest conditions of communion with heaven. (Hawthorne)
679. Q: We want peace with ourselves. Where do we start?
A: If we liberate our souls from our petty selves, wish

no ill to others, and become clear as a crystal diamond
reflectingthe light of truth, what a radiant picture will
appear in us mirroring things as they are, without the
admixture of burning desires, without the distortion of
erroneous illusion, without the agitation of clinging and
unrest. (Buddhism)
680. Q: So self-transformation is the same thing as begin-

ning to see things as they really are?
A
From all this it may be concluded that an
:
unregenerate man is like one who sees phantoms at night . . .
and afterwards, when he is being regenerated, he is like the

same man seeing in the early dawn that the things he saw at
night are delusions. (Swedenborg)
681. 0: It is our own insight that finally dissolves suffering?
A As
: sunlight scatters darkness. (Shankara)
Inspiring messages for you
a. Carefully explore the nature of pain and suffering.

b. Nothing satisfies man but to walk inwardly independent.
c. Surrender yourself to that which is truly right.
d. Spiritual understanding is your certain castle of safety.
e. Use anguish as a signal for turning to higher truths.
f.
The self-liberated man cannot be hurt by other people.
g. Let unhappiness serve as lessons in psychic growth.
h. There is a way out!
i Reject the artificial happiness in which most people live.
j. Let your inner guide lead you out of the wilderness.
10. How to Brighten Surrounding
Conditions
682. Q: What is the fundamental rule for living peacefully

and dynamically, regardless of what comes to us each day?
A Make
: circumstances — all circumstances — conform
to the law of your mind. Be always a king, and not they, and
nothing shall hurt you. (Emerson)
683. Q: A detailed explanation of this would be helpful.
A: Fortune does us neither good nor hurt; she only

presents us the matter, and the seed, which our soul, more
powerfully than she, turns and applies as she best pleases;
being the sole cause and sovereign mistress of her own happy
or unhappy condition. (Montaigne)
684. Q: Is there a test by which we can know for sure that

we are meeting life with cosmic Tightness?
A Touch what you

: wish with it, and it turns to gold.
(Epictetus)
685. Q: In other words, self-change makes everything else

all right?
A The
: partial becomes whole, the crooked becomes
straight, the empty becomes full, the worn out becomes new.
(Lao-tse)
686. Q: Thousands of organizations around the globe are

trying to make it a better world, but not much changes. Why
is this?
A: There are thousands hacking at the branches of evil

to one who is striking at the root. (Thoreau)
687. Q: Please comment on false human effort towards
goodness and protection, that is, effort based on the illusion
that wolves, masquerading as shepherds, care for and will
guard the sheep.
A The evil done by man falls upon his own head,

:
without making any change in the system of the world.

(Rousseau)
688. Q: have never heard a truth which calls for a greater

I
reverse in thinking — a healthy reverse, I know. Because

my
of this, will you please review the basic facts about man-made
attempts to improve the world?
A: However much we have dulled ourselves with

hypocrisy, and dulled ourselves with the self-suggestion
resulting from hypocrisy, nothing can destroy the absolute
certainty of that simple and clear truth that no exterior
effort can provide us with security. (Tolstoy)
689. Q: Please explain how self-command provides freedom

from exterior pressures and conflicts.
A: This external world but the gross form of the
is
internal, or subtle. The

always the cause, and the
finer is
grosser the effect. So the external world is the effect, and the
internal the cause. In the same way external forces are simply
the grosser parts, of which the internal forces are the finer.
One who has discovered and learned how to manipulate the
internal will get the whole of nature under his
forces
control ... He will be master of the whole of nature, internal
and external. (Vivekananda)
The mystical meaning of victory
690. Q: We have been encouraged to think deeper and

deeper about any idea which we think we already under-
stand. There must be good reason for this.
A : Indeed it is well said, 'In every object there is
inexhaustible meaning; the eye sees in it what the eye brings

means of seeing.' (Carlyle)
HOW TO BRIGHTEN SURROUNDING CONDITIONS 143
691. Q: What can awaken our dozing energies?
A: Enthusiasm gives life to what is invisible. (Stael)
692. Q: Please say more about inner liberty.
A: Who is it that is to become free? You, I,we. Free

from what? From everything that is not you, not I, not we. I,
therefore, am the seed that is to be freed from all wrappings,
and free from all confining shells. (Stirner)
693. Q: Eastern wise men praise the power of non-action,

which means to stop trying to force life to bend to our
demands. It is certainly a sane course, but I need assurance
that nothing is lost by this kind of active non-action.
A When we
: are doing nothing in particular, it is then
that we are living through all our being . . . Will issuspended,

but nature and time are always active, and if our life is no
longer our work, the work goes on none the less. With us,
without us, or in spite of us, our existence travels through its
appointed phases. (Amiel)
694. Q: Obviously, the mystic's definition of victory is

differentfrom that of most men. What does the mystic mean
by triumph?
A My third maxim was to endeavour always to
:
conquer myself rather than fortune, and change my desires

rather than the order of the world and thus render me . . .
contented. (Descartes)
695. Q: Why must we do individual work to uplift

ourselves? Can't an individual trust society for his rescue?
A : And run to meet what he would most avoid?

(Milton)
696. Q: Will you please explain this idea?
A : Society never advances. It recedes as fast on one

side as it gainson the other. (Emerson)
697. Q: But people are always planning new ways to

advance themselves and to be happy. If people never really
uplift themselves with their activities, then what are they
doing?
A Doing : nothing with a great deal of skill. (Cowper)
698. Q: Is it correct to say that we need not strain to add

anything to ourselves, but to live within our own natural and
unpretentious self?
A: Simplicity, therefore will contribute to hap- . . .
piness .Our existence will glide on peacefully like a stream

. .
which no waves or whirlpools disturb. (Schopenhauer)
699. Q: It is obvious that human beings are doing something

wrong, that we reject our jewels and wear the stones. What
self-work can correct us?
A : It is the endeavour by the constant exercise of

spiritual activity, to appropriate that infinite inheritance of
which we are already in possession. (Caird)
How to win over all circumstances
700. Q: In reflecting about these matters, I believe that the

single greatest power we have is a sensible persistence towards
self-awakening.
A : What sort of tree is there which will not, if
neglected, grow crooked and unfruitful, butwhich will, if

given right attention, prove to be productive, and bring its
fruit to maturity? (Plutarch)
701. Q: What might we add to our persistence in order to

advance faster?
A : Method, like perseverance, wins in the long run.

(Duclos)
702. Q: May we have a method for maintaining peace of

mind?
A : It is in your power, whenever you choose, to retire
into yourself. Nowhere can you retire with more quietness or
more freedom than within your own spirit Constantly . . .
and renew yourself. Let your

give yourself to this retreat,
principles be brief and fundamental, and when you have
returned to them, that will be enough to purify the spirit
completely, and to send you back from all discontent.
(Aurelius)
703. Q: Many people listen to and receive these ideas on the

mental plane, but their lives still resemble robots.
A How: can any external revelation help me unless it is
verified by internal experience? (Eckhart)
704. Q: What is the nature of this internal experience?
A A new
: heart also will I give you, and a new spirit
will I put within you. (New Testament)
705. Q: We speak of the need for character, but it is such a

loosely defined term. What is the mystical definition?
A : Character is the habit of action from the permanent

vision of truth. It carries a superiority to all the accidents of
life. It compels right relation to every other man —

domesticates itself with strangers and enemies. (Emerson)
706. Q: This, then, is the foundation for pleasant feelings

under all circumstances?
A : It lies in our own power to attune the mind to

cheerfulness. (Auerbach)
707. Q: I sense that nothing in the exterior has power to

make us gloomy, but need more insight about our relation-
ship to circumstances.
A We : are in them, not under them. (Landor)
708. Q: What has carried us to the particular circumstances

in which we find ourselves, and how can we change and
elevate everything?
A: Whatever we are now, is the result of our acts and

thoughts in the past; and whatever we shall be in the future,
willbe the result of what we think and do now When it . . .
comes, the higher powers and possibilities of the soul are

quickened, spiritual life is awakened, growth is animated.
(Vivekananda)
709. Q: Since self-change is the only road to changed and

improved relations with others, what is a common but Wiong
attitude we can work to banish?
A We are slow to believe that which

: if believed would
hurt our feelings. (Ovid)
710. Q: What should be a man's major objective in studying

his own mind?
A: To think from his own understanding, and to act
from his own will. (Swedenborg)
You can refuse wrong influences
711. Q: What is the difference in the day of someone who

liveswith cosmic principles and someone who knows nothing
about them?
A Where one man shapes his life by precept and

:
example, there are a thousand who have it shaped for them

by impulse and by circumstances. (Lowell)
712. Q: You have urged us to distinguish between true

morality and false goodness. May we have further aid?
A Morality or the moral life may be described as that

:
solution of the contradiction between man's higher and lower

nature which is accomplished by the transformation of the
lower into the organ or expression of the higher. (Caird)
713. Q: Each of us sees the world in a different way. Why?

A : Each heart is a world. You find all within yourself
that you find without. The world that surrounds you is the
magic glass of the world within you. (Lavater)
714. Q: Most of us insist upon doing things the hard way,

but maybe we can do otherwise when it comes to life as a

whole. What is the simple and direct way to the new life?
A There are some men — but the smaller number —

:
who instantly, and as though by prophetic intuition, perceive

the truth, surrender themselves to its influence, and live up to
its precepts. Others — and they are the majority — are
brought to the knowledge of the truth and the necessity for
its adoption, by a long series of errors, by experience and
suffering. (Tols t oy)
715. Q: Now that we know that all punishment is really

self-punishment, how can we stop harming ourselves?
A: If you could see things as they are, not as they

appear, you would no longer inflict injuries and pains on
your own selves. (Buddhism)
716. Q: What is an effective method for remaining free of

wrong influences?
A: Stand apart from circumstances, and do not permit
them to influence the mind. (Zen)
717. Q: We are now aware of the false influence of the

exterior world. What is right persuasion?
A : Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind.

(New Testament)
718. Q: What power can help us shut out the hysterical

and think independently?
voices of the outer world,
A : Nothing affects the heart like that which is purely

from itself, and of its own nature. (Shaftesbury)
719. Q: What a victory would be ours if we were capable of

being contented with what we have and with where we are.
A: If you are in Gyaros, do not let your mind dwell

upon life at Rome; do not think about the pleasures offered
to you when living in Rome, and all that would reward your
return. Instead, be intent on discovering how the man who
lives in Gyaros can live in Gyaros like an inspired man. And if
you are in Rome, do not let your mind reflect upon life in
Athens, but learn how to live in Rome. (Epictetus)
How to create pleasant circumstances
720. Q: I have been helped by realizing that we can go far

beyond ourselves.
A : an immense ocean over which the mind can

There is
sail, upon whichthe vessel of thought has not yet been

launched Let us haul it over the belt of land, launch on
. . .
the ocean, and sail outwards. There is much beyond all that
has ever yet been imagined. (Jefferies)
721. Q: I have heard the teaching about artificiality being

the enemy of freedom. Will you please explain it.
A : Horses and oxen have four feet. That is natural.

Place a halter on the head of a horse, or a rope through the
nose of an ox. This is unnatural. (Taoism)
722. Q: We would profit by understanding what it means to

be natural.
A He: is great who is what he is from Nature, and who

never reminds us of others. (Emerson)
723. Q: Where can I start to act in a different way, a way

which creates pleasant and harmonious circumstances?
A : If you would do something, you must be some-

thing. (Goethe)
724. Q: Some human contacts look like trouble at first

glance, yet we dazedly blunder in and out of them, often to
our regret. What is wrong with us?
A We are too careless and too self-absorbed to
:
understand one another. Whoever has seen a masked ball

where people dance together in friendliness, then separate
and never see each other again, will have some idea of this
world we live in. (Vauvenargues)
725. Q: What can we do when we feel far away from secure

circumstances?
A: Exile is terrible to those who have, as it were, a

limited habitation; but it is not terrible to those who look
upon the whole globe as one city. (Cicero)
726. Q: How can I cease to get upset over daily difficulties?
A You can remove out of the way many useless things

:
which disturb you, for they lie entirely in your opinion

towards them. (Aurelius)
727. Q: How does insight into other people kindle gentle

feelings towards them?
A: If we could read the secret history of our enemies,

we should find in each man's life sorrow and suffering
enough to disarm all hostility. (Longfellow)
728. Q: wish to confirm a certain point. As we make

I
ourselves right on the inside, exterior improvements occur

without effort on our part?
A: This simplicity expands itself little by little to outer

things. (Fenelon)
729. Q: May we have a summary of both our actual life, and

of the new life which comes when we invite it?
A: We are not endowed with real

are but shadows: we
life, and all that seems most
about us is but the thinnest
real
substance of a dream — till the heart be touched. That touch
creates us — then we begin to be — thereby we are beings of
reality and inheritors of eternity. (Hawthorne)
Exterior events have no power over you
730. Q: There seems to be a much deeper meaning to these

facts than the mind is able to grasp at first. Can a man's
emotions, properly used, help to advance his understanding?
A : There deep significance concealed, connecting

is a
him, when he once felt it, with the highest truths of the
has
invisible world. (Robertson)
731. Q: The world seems like such a hostile place!
A : To a mind that is still, the whole universe

surrenders. (Chuang-tse)
732. Q: I have the nervous feeling that people and events

can disturb and shock me.
A I saw that all things which occasioned me any

:
anxiety or fear had in themselves nothing of good or evil,

except in so far as the mind was moved by them. (Spinoza)
733. Q: What is a method for winning the self-control

necessary for creating exterior betterment?
A: It is necessary to study the mind itself, mind

studying mind. We know that there is the power of the mind
called reflective. I am talking to you; at the same time I am
standing aside, as it were, a second person, and knowing and
hearing what I am talking. You work and think at the same
time, another portion of your mind stands by and sees what
you are talking. The powers of the mind should be
concentrated and turned back upon itself, and as the darkest
places reveal their secrets before the penetrating rays of the
sun, so will this concentrated mind penetrate its own
innermost secrets ... It will all be revealed to us. (Vive-
kananda)
734. Q: The first higher truth I ever learned one of

is still
the most powerful and helpful forces in my day. was the

It
truth that self-liberty remains self-liberty, regardless of where

the physical man may go.
A: Liberty is not in any form of government. It is in

the heart of free man; he carries it with him everywhere.
(Rousseau)
735. Q: So peace is not a place, but an inner condition!
A : In a village or in a forest, on land or sea,wherever

venerable persons dwell, that place is delightful. (Buddhism)
736. Q: Is there a way to maintain peace of mind in spite of

1
HOW TO BRIGHTEN SURROUNDING CONDITIONS 1 5
exterior changes and disappointments?
A: Resign yourself to the sequence of things, forget-

ting the changes of life, and you shall enter into the pure, the
divine, the One. (Taoism)
737. Q: Part of my mind still insists that exterior events can

command my mind to think in a certain way, perhaps to
think with pain. What true thought can work against this
false thought?
A It is in our power to have no opinion about a thing,

:
and not to be disturbed in our soul, for things themselves

have no natural power to form our judgments. (Aurelius)
738. Q: I want these teachings, but my circumstances are

opposed to them, for example, most of my friends are
absorbed by petty activities.
A : It matters little where a man may be at this
moment; the point is whether he is growing. (MacDonald)
The greatest reward on earth
739. Q: The trouble with most of us is our endless demand

for rewards — a greater reward, a vanity-pleasing reward, an
exciting reward.
A Reward? Do you seek any greater reward for being

:
a good man than doing what is right and just? Does it . . .
seem to you a small and worthless thing to be a good man,

and therefore a happy man? (Epictetus)
740. If people were to change inwardly, by receiving the

Q:
truth, would make a profound change in our exterior ways
it
of life. What would happen to our ways of earning a living, to

our relations with each other, to our medical and scientific
programmes?
A: They would be different, richer, and higher, but
would not at all be discontinued. What would be destroyed is
whatever is false in them, while whatever is true in them
would blossom and grow stronger. (Tolstoy)
741. Q: How can we possibly change so many things?
A: Nothing need be changed but your hearts, (de

Caussade)
742. Q: I am like a man in a haunted house who has at least

made his way to the windows to see the outside world. I
know I can eventually break out.
A: In the meantime, of course, you must have

patience. He who can see truly in the midst of general
infatuation is like a man whose watch keeps good time, when
all clocks in the town in which he lives are wrong. He alone
knows the right time. (Schopenhauer)
743. Q: Esotericism says that authentic power consists of

inner qualities, like self-knowledge and self-command. How
does it define false power?
A: All violence, all that is dreary and repels, is not

power, but the absence of power. (Emerson)
744. Q: Please say more about our ability to handle every

kind of event with perfect poise.
A The inner life is the only means whereby we may

:
oppose a profitable resistance to circumstances. If the sailor

did not carry with him his own temperature he could not go
from the pole to the equator, and remain himself in spite of
all. (Amiel)
745. Q: Please show us what you mean by a heroic

determination to achieve psychic success.
A: I have severed all ties because I seek deliverance.

How is it possible for me to return to the world? He who
seeks religious truth, which is must
the highest treasure of all,
leave behind all that can concern him or draw away his
attention, and must be bent upon that one goal alone. He
must free his soul from covetousness and lust, and also from
the desire for power. (Buddha)
746. Q: What a challenging but magnificent aim!

A : For the sake of this end there has been given to

man the ability to elevate his understanding into the light in
which the angels of heaven are, that he may see what he must
will and must do. (Swedenborg)
747. Q: Is it accurate to say that true happiness occupies

the same level as our clearness about cosmic matters?
A : As the mind is made intelligent, the capacity of the

soul for pure enjoyment is proportionately increased.
(Wallace)
Hear this magnificent message!
748. Q: These are the truths I have been searching for all
my life. Now I need preliminary guidance.

A: If you want to be an astronomer you must go to
the observatory, take a telescope, study the stars and planets,
and then you become an astronomer. Each science must
will
have its own methods.
I could preach you thousands of
sermons but they would not make you religious, until you
first practised the method. These are the truths of the sages
of countries, of all ages, men pure and unselfish, who had
all
no motive but to do good to the world. They all declare that

they have found some truth higher than that the senses can
bring to us, and they challenge verification. They say to you,
take up the method and practise honestly ... So we must
work faithfully, using the prescribed methods, and light will
come. (Vivekananda)
749. Q: There must be a good reason why we are instructed

to go beyond a mere collection of spiritual facts and plunge
into a deep and personal experience with the truth.
A A hundred thousand tongues may discourse to you

:
about the sweetness of honey, but you can never have

knowledge of it except by taste. (Caussin)
750. Q: If we really know ourselves, will we also know the

right way to act in each human event?
A : If a man is a good judge of silver, he will know, for
the coin will tell its own story. (Epictetus)
751. Q: What should we know about ourselves in order to

live with more rightness?
A As long as a man stands in his own way, everything

:
seems to be in his way, governments, society, and even the

sun and moon and stars. (Thoreau)
752. Q: Sometimes I am tempted to climb towards public

prominence, even though sensing its emptiness. What idea can
help against foolish ambition?
A : I would rather go up the ladder to life. (Bunyan)
753. O: once experimented by putting more energy into a

I
project I thought I possessed, and was pleasantly

than
surprised to see that the very use of energy increases it. This
confirms our connection with limitless universal power.
A He: alone has energy who cannot be deprived of it.
(Lavater |
754. Q: I am beginning to see why this way is the only way

to genuine and lasting cheerfulness.
A Heal your wounds, you wounded, and eat your fill,

:
you hungry. Rest, you wean and you who are thirsty -
quench your thirst. Look up to the light, you that sit in

darkness; be full of good cheer, you that are forlorn. Trust in
truth, you that love the truth, for the kingdom of righteous-
ness is founded upon earth. The darkness of error is dispelled
by the light of truth. W e can see our way and take firm and
T
certain steps. (Buddhism)
755. Q: You have said that our awakening consciousness

enables us to hear a magnificently new message. What is this
message?
A There
: is another and a better world. (Kotzebue)
Helpful highlights of Chapter 10
a. You can have victory over all events and conditions.

b. Self-conquest is the key to exterior conquest.
c. Let these ideas become personal experiences.
d. You can learn to reject all harmful influences.
e. Take a voyage beyond your present mental states.
/. Use all your energies for self-emancipation.
g. Pursue the great reward of inner harmony.
h. Determine every day to win a new psychic success.
i You can become a good judge of what is best for you.
j. The truth will make your new world appear.
11. How to Avoid Mistakes and Banish
Obstacles
756. Q: In general, what is the chief obstacle to our dis-

covery of the higher life?
A: Each has his own fancies, opposed to his true good.

(Pascal)
757. Q: I have always felt inferior to other people. People

who famous or expert in even small ways make me
are feel
worthless by comparison. This feeling now haunts me as I
take up the task of self-discovery.
A : This is is the meat for

the meal equally set, this
natural hunger, itwicked just the same as the
is for the
righteous, I make appointment with all, I will not have a
single person slighted or kept away. (Whitman)
758. Q: How can I conquer the harmful habit of giving

importance to trivial and useless things? They drain all my
strength and peace.
A The man who

: lives in the true light and true love
has the finest, noblest, and most worthwhile life that ever
was or will be, therefore, it cannot but be loved and treasured
above any other life. (Theologia Germanica)
759. Q: I am sure we are unaware of many of our obstacles.

Will you please reveal one of them?
A We cannot let our angels go. We do not see that

:
they only go out that archangels may come in. We are

idolators of the old. We do not believe in the richness of the
soul, in its proper eternity and omnipresence. (Emerson)
HOW TO AVOID MISTAKES AND BANISH OBSTACLES 1 57
760. Q: False information is that which a man picks up

from others, from those who appear wise, but who stumble
in the dark. Who is a man of true wisdom?
A: He is wise who is wise to himself. (Euripedes)
761. Q: Can you supply an example of what the mystics

mean when they speak of an imbalanced man?
A: All other knowledge is hurtful to him who has not
the science of honesty and good-nature. (Montaigne)
762. Q: We have just formed a study group with twenty

members. Everyone has resolved to face whatever must be
faced in order to break through the walls to freedom. May I
carry back to the group a basic programme for success?
A Only let your present and past distress make you

:
feel and acknowledge this twofold great truth: first, that in

and of yourself, you are nothing but darkness, vanity, and
misery; secondly, that of yourself, you can no more help
yourself to light and comfort, than you can create an angel.
People at all times can seem to assent to these two truths, but
then it is an assent that has no depth or reality, and so is of
little or no use, but your condition has opened your heart for
a deep and full conviction of these truths. Now give way, I

beseech you, to this conviction, and hold these two truths, in
the same degree of certainty as you know two and two to be
four, and then you are with the prodigal come to yourself,
and above half your work is done. (Law)
763. Q: I sense a unique richness in what you have said.
A: If any man has understood this sermon, it is good

for him. (Eckhart)
Apply these principles right now
764. Q: I have no wish to continue with my old mistakes

any longer, so my task is to make this higher level of living
my own level. What is one way to succeed?
A: Truths, which enter with affection, are reproduced.
(Swedenborg)
765. Q: Impatience has always been my chief foe. I am
afraid itwill hurt my task of self-development.
A No great thing is created suddenly, any more than a

:
bunch of grapes or a fig. If you tell me that you desire a fig, I

answer you that there must be time. Let it first blossom, then
bear fruit, then ripen. (Epictetus)
766. Q: Why do all the great teachers repeatedly warn

people against false prophets and deceptive doctrines?
A : Many go out for wool, and come home shorn

themselves. (Cervantes)
767. Q: I resisted it for a long time, but the mental dawn is

beginning to break in one area. I now see why we are warned
against those who love to publicly praise goodness and
kindness.
A : It is difficult to persuade mankind that the love of

virtue is the love of themselves. (Cicero)
768. Q: How can we learn to detect such hypocrisy?
A Learn the value of a man's words and expressions

:
and you know him. Each man has a measure of his own for
everything; this he offers you inadvertently in his words.
(Lavater)
769. Q: Why do we so easily accept shallow answers and

foolish doctrines?
A A : mere trifle consoles us, for a mere trifle distresses
us. (Pascal)
770. Q: In a discussion with friends, someone remarked

about the uselessness of fighting against the truth. What
statement would verify this?
A For we can do nothing

: against the truth, but for the
truth. (New Testament)
771. Q: If a man wishes to go through life with a practical

and pleasant philosophy, where can he start?
HOW TO AVOID MISTAKES AND BANISH OBSTACLES 159
A: The first business of the philosopher is to part with

self-conceit. (Epictetus)
772. Q: Then a true philosopher is simply a natural person!
A: The less a man thinks or knows about his virtues

the better we like him. (Emerson)
773. We want peace with

Q: ourselves, but do not know
what we must do.
A The: entire root of your problem is that you cannot

get outside of yourself. (Fe'nelon)
774. Q: But in spite of all my working and reflecting and

persisting I am still my own prisoner.
A: We are too fond of our own will; we want to be

doing what we fancy mighty things: but the great point is to
do small things, when called to them, in a right spirit. (Cecil)
How to make everything clear
775. Q: Maybe I have the wrong viewpoint towards my

escape from psychic prison. Will you please explain how this
might be so?
A In fearing to make an effort to escape from

:
conditions that are fatal to us, because the future is obscure

and unknown, we are like passengers on a sinking ship, who
crowd into the cabin and refuse to leave it, because they have
not the courage to enter the boat that would carry them to
the shore. (Tolstoy)
776. Q: Here again we find ourselves needing courage

beyond ourselves.
A : Let not your heart be troubled. (Jesus)
777. Q: Because there is no real reason for feeling troubled?
A: The simple heart that freely asks in love, obtains.

(Whittier)
778. Q: Please enlarge your explanation of obtainments.
A A thousand illusions and follies are overcome ... A

:
thousand things become clear which were formerly enveloped

in obscurity, and results are obtained which give a feeling of
difficulties overcome. (Schopenhauer)
779. Q: You have stated that we harm others because we

have first harmed ourselves. This is so important to see, I
would like to hear it repeated in new words.
A The : soul of man does violence to itself, first of all.
(Aurelius)
780. Q: I have been told I have a stubborn mind, which is

probably true. What must I do in order to learn new and
beneficial ideas?
A: Cease to cherish opinions. (Zen)
781. Q: By what method can we abolish false opinions?
A: Sell your cleverness and buy bewilderment; clever-

ness is mere opinion; bewilderment is intuition. (Rumi)
782. Q: Weabandon our conditioned thinking,

are urged to
to return to the purity of our original minds. However, I
cannot see anything wrong in pursuing the answers to life
with the thoughts we have picked up by experience.
A : You know not, wandering one, where you are

flying to. You will run into an enemy while fleeing from an
enemy. (Gaultier)
783. Q: Your statement is confirmed by the individual and

social chaos all around us. The cure is worse than the illness!
We need a totally different viewpoint.
A : The new birth is here again the only power of

entrance. (Law)
784. Q: How can we understand what is meant by the new

birth?
A: Consciousness of error is, to a certain extent, a

consciousness of understanding, and correction of error is the
plainest proof of energy and mastery. (Landor)
785. Q: The first thing a man usually does when he gets into
trouble is to look around for someone to blame. Please
comment.
A : Regarding that which happens in harmony with
nature, we oughtblame neither gods, for they do nothing
to
wrong either voluntarily or involuntarily, nor men, for they
do nothing wrong except unconsciously. Consequently, we
should blame no one. (Aurelius)
The value of a new truth
786. Q: A chief neglect of ours seems to be the neglect of

independent exploration.
A We are foolish to depend upon the society of our

:
fellow-men they will not aid us

. . . We should seek the . . .
truth without hesitation, and, if we refuse it, we show that

we value the esteem of men more than the search for truth.
(Pascal)
787. Q: Since carefully observing the secret motives of

people, as the mystics have suggestedwe do, I am beginning
to see how few people have really liberated themselves from
themselves.
A : There are nine hundred and ninety-nine patrons of

virtue to one virtuous man. (Thoreau)
788. Q: I am thankful for your exposure of the difference

between shallow belief and practical purpose. Will you review
it?
A : All belief that does not make us more happy, more

free, more loving, more active, more calm, is, I fear, a
mistaken and superstitious belief. (Lavater)
789. Q: I am afraid that I live more by sudden impulses

than by natural wisdoms, for which I pay heavily. What is the
superior way?
A : What your heart thinks great is great. The soul's
emphasis is always right. (Emerson)
790. Q: The most baffling question to me is why we are

unable to take advantage of the inner riches offered by God,
Truth, Reality.
A: How can he grant you what you do not desire to

receive? (Augustine)
791. Q: How do we become our own barrier?
A: There are few persons to whom the truth is not a

form of insult. (Segur)
792. Q: What information can make us want to toss out our

touchiness and receive what we really need?
A : One great thought breathed into a man may

regenerate him. (Channing)
793. Q: You say that artificial virtue consists in doing good

in order to impress others, or to get a reward in return, and
that people who do this always feel resentful. Please explain.
A: Virtuous people have almost always a slight

suspicion of their situation. They think they are being duped
in the great market of life. (Balzac)
794. Q: We have learned that no man consciously punishes

himself, but does so only because he cannot see what he is
doing to himself. W hat

T
is the correction, for instance,
whenever we react angrily to another person's actions?
A Observe how much more pain is brought on by
:
your anger and frustration over their actions, than by the

actions themselves. (Aurelius)
795. Q: My present goal is to sec the connection between a

man's inward level of consciousness, and what happens to
him in the outer world. What law operates here?
A Each man
: reaps on his own farm. (Plautus)
796. Q: Personal experience has made me sceptical of what

human beings call love. They call it love in order to conceal
unloving motives. Is my analysis correct?
A There are people who would never be

: in love if they
had never heard of love. (La Rochefoucauld)
797. Q: Please discuss love which is worthy of the name.

A: Love is infallible; it has no errors, for all errors are
the want of love. (Law)
How to avoid concealed traps
798. Q: Each of our study class takes home the

member
same idea examination and meditation. The
for private
results are then shared at the next meeting. May we have a
good idea for next week?
A Whoever you are, who read these lines, think about
:
your position and your duties, not upon your position as

landowner, merchant, judge, emperor, president, clergyman,
priest, or soldier, which people temporarily call you, nor of
the imaginary duties which these positions impose upon you,
but think about your real and eternal condition as a human
being. (Tolstoy)
799. Q: Am I correct in thinking that the purpose of this

thought is to help us to value what is truly valuable?
A: What is a man advantaged if he gain the whole

world and lose himself? (Jesus)
800. Q: Sometimes we pretend that we do not know how to

help ourselves. What fact can shock us out of this excuse?
A : Every one of us, whatever our speculative opinions,
knows better than he practises, and recognizes a better law
than he obeys. (Froude)
801. Q: Describe a mind which has conquered many

obstacles.
A : I call that mind free which jealously guards its

intellectual rightsand powers, which calls no man master,
which does not content itself with a passive or hereditary
faith, which opens itself to light whencesoever it may come,
which receives new truth as an angel from heaven, which,
whilst consulting others, inquires still more of the oracle
within itself, and uses instructions from abroad not to
supersede, but to quicken and exalt, its own energies.
(Channing)
802. Q: My question is about the matching of ourselves

with the truth, which is obviously the only way to live
accurately. To ask the question briefly, how can we know?
A : There is an inward state of the heart which makes

truth credible the moment it is It is credible to some
stated.
men because of what they Love is credible to a loving
are.
heart; purity is credible to a pure mind; life is credible to a
spirit in which life beats strongly — it is incredible to other
men. (Robertson)
803. Q: Why do so many men find the truth about life too
incredible to accept?
A Every man's words, who speaks from that life, must

:
sound vain to those who do not dwell in the same thought on

their own part. (Emerson)
804. Q: I have the habit of walking dazedly into situations

which later cause regret. 1 need a basic rule for seeing a trap
before it catches me.
A : In every enterprise, consider where you will come

out. (Syrus)
805. Q: Is it possible to develop this kind of intuition

through mystical studies?
A: Principles are like seeds; they are little things which

do much good, if the mind which receives them has the right
attitudes. (Seneca)
806. Q: How would you describe our advancement through

these studies?
A A : certain new light is communicated to the mind.

(Baker)
It is right to seek help
807. Q: My personal obstacle is a reluctance to seek help

and guidance along the mystic path. This is probably a
combination of timidity and vanity.
A: All men who have sense and feeling are being

continually helped; they are taught by every person they
meet, and enriched by everything that falls in their way. The
greatestis he who has been oftenest aided. Originality is the
observing eye. (Ruskin)
808. Q: How can we escape being deceived by others?
A: Man is never deceived; he deceives himself.

(Goethe)
809. Q: It is obvious that many public authorities appeal to

human vanity and laziness, instead of teaching the need for
self-facing and self-help. Why do such deceivers attract so
many gullible followers?
A: There is a demand these days for men who can
make wrong conduct appear right. (Terence)
810. Q: But it is still our own fault if we are led astray?
A A : man's own vanity is a swindler. (Balzac)
811. Q: Why do we hesitate to believe these damaging facts

about ourselves?
A : Where belief is painful, we are slow to believe.

(Ovid)
812. Q: What is an example of self-deception, of believing

what we prefer to believe?
A: Were you to hear how your dear friends speak of

you behind your back, you would never speak another word
to them. (Schopenhauer)
813. Q: I do not understand how it is possible for a
truth-seeker to maintain stability and cheerfulness. We are,
after all, surrounded by personal and international suffering.
A : The greater the difficulty, the more glory in

surmounting it. Skilful pilots gain their reputation from
storms and tempests. (Epicurus)
814. Q: The habit of self-questioning has been praised by

men who have found the way out for themselves. Please show
us how a despairing man might phrase his self-inquiry.
A: But maybe I have overlooked something, or

misunderstood certain ideas. It cannot be possible that this
condition of despair is natural to man. (Tolstoy)
815. Q: Why do we so often miss the upward steps?
A Why : did you not look for the steps? (Bunyan)
816. Q: You have stated that esotericism reverses our

thinking. now see what you mean. Where we formerly
I
sought praise and admiration, we now see through it.
A In whatever way people may praise us, they never

:
teach us anything new. (La Rochefoucauld)
817. Q: What obstacles in general must we overcome?

errors, and lies are like huge, gaudy
A: Delusions,
vessels, timbers of which are faulty, and those who
the
embark on them are asking to be shipwrecked. (Buddha)
How to make all events harmless
818. Q: You have urged us to observe these facts in our

daily contacts with others, which I have done. I have a friend
whose life centres around the collection of beautiful objects
— and so on, yet she has no
paintings, furniture, flowers,
beauty of mind or spirit. This proves that the outer can add
nothing to the inner.
A : Though we travel the world over to find the

beautiful, we must carry it with us or we find it not.
(Emerson)
819. Q: have the bad habit of trying to force people and

I
events conform to my personal wishes, which usually

to
backfires against me. What esoteric lesson can help me blend
with events, instead of fighting them?
A Leave all things to take their natural course, and do

:
not interfere. (Lao-tse)
820. Q: I am aware of the need for honestly facing myself

as I actually am, but find it more challenging than I first
supposed. Is there something you can offer as aid?
A: It is therefore exceeding good and beneficial to us

to discover this dark, disordered fire of our soul, because
when rightly known and rightly dealt with, it can as well be
the foundation of heaven. (Law)
821. Q: So is it good to see the bad?
A: The natural man in us flinches, but the better self

submits. (Amiel)
822. Q: How might we more clearly see the necessity for

following this new way?
A : Have the past struggles succeeded? (Whitman)
823. Q: Please show us how a faulty attitude leads to

painful consequences.
A : I have tried to make friends by corporeal gifts, but

have only made enemies. I never made friends but by
spiritual gifts. (Blake)
824. Q: People use negative attitudes the same way they use
weapons. We seem to think it necessary to battle our way
forwards with all sorts of offensive weapons, like anger and
pretence. Since they are harmful to both others and
ourselves, why do they form a part of our nature?
A: None of these things should be called a man's,

which do not belong to a man, as man. They are not required
of a man, nor does man's nature promise them, nor are they
the means of man's nature attaining its goal. (Aurelius)
825. Q: So part of our freedom consists in liberty from
negative attitudes and emotions?
A Don't be a cynic, and bewail and bemoan. Omit the

:
negative propositions. Don't waste yourself in rejection, nor

bark against the bad, but chant the beauty of the good.
(Emerson)
826. Q: What is a major obstacle to self-contentment?
A : All the various ideas that arise making us believe

that we require something external to make us happy are
obstructions to that perfection. (Vivekananda)
The rules for a beautiful life
827. Q: Some of the Eastern teachings, like Zen, teach that

obstacles exist only in our confused imagination. How would
you say the same thing?
A There is no one who hinders you from always doing
:
and saying the things which are according to the nature of

which you are a part. (Aurelius)
828. Q: What prevents us from acquiring these truths as

personal possessions?
A : What we do not understand we do not possess.

(Goethe)
829. Q: May we have an example of a self-punishing

attitude towards spiritual matters?
A Those who
: do not love the truth take as a pretext
that it is disputed, and that a multitude deny it. And so their
error arises only from the fact that they do not love either
truth or charity. (Pascal)
830. Q: How can we detect that another person is really in

the wrong, especially when he gives the surface appearance of
tightness?
A: Few people are more often in the wrong than those

who cannot bear to be wrong. (La Rochefoucauld)
831. Q: It is obvious that we must not permit negative

people to stand in our path towards true life, still, we must
continue to live in this confused world.
A : Let us live happily, then, free from all ailments

among the ailing! Among men who are ailing, let us dwell
free from ailments! (Buddhism)
832. Q: You have pointed out that we fall into trouble

because of our inability to recognize trouble when we sight
it. So consciousness must be the certain solution to all
problems.
A : Every one who is

good can perceive evil; and he
in
who is in truth can seeThose whose under-falsity . . .
standings are in light from wisdom are like men who at

mid-day are standing upon a mountain and seeing clearly all
that is below. (Swedenborg)
833. Q: If I understand correctly, everything in life operates

according to intelligent and orderly laws, which we must
discover.
A: The heavens themselves, the planets, and this

centre, observe degree, priority, and place. (Shakespeare)
834. Q: So we can describe a right life as one which follows

no rules outside of natural and beneficial rules?
A : Such is the picture of a beautiful life, and could we

see it with our own eyes, as Plato says, great would be our
desire to possess Wisdom. (Cicero)
835. Q: I would appreciate hearing a grand summary of our

esoteric aim.
A : My cares and my inquiries are for decency and

truth, and in this I am wholly occupied. (Horace)
Great truths for daily guidance
a. The chief obstacle to happiness is wrong thinking.

b. Become fully aware of faulty ideas and opinions.
c. Never accept shallow answers to life; seek deep truths.
d. Work faithfully on yourself, and never be discouraged.
e. Remember that you are seeking totally new viewpoints.
f.
Love the truth, and have no desire for praise from men.
g. Refuse to be your own obstacle any longer!
h. These ideas enable you to avoid traps set by others.
L You can remain untroubled in this troubled world.
j. Truth and decency should be our grand goal in life.
12. The Path to Easy and Natural Living
836. Q: What are the basic rules for winning a life of natural
ease?
A: I am convinced, both by faith and experience, that

to maintain one's self on this earth is not a hardship but a
pastime, if we will live simply and wisely. (Thoreau)
837. Q: What is meant by living simply and wisely?
A
Every nature is contented with itself when it goes
:
on its way
well, and a rational nature goes on its way well,
when in its thoughts it consents to nothing false and . . .
when it is satisfied with everything that is assigned to it by

the common nature. (Aurelius)
838. Q: My work as a salesman of office equipment gives

me contact with dozens of executives and businessmen every
week. I have noticed that one of their chief characteristics is
nervousness. Could an executive living in these truths do his
work with total ease and calmness?
A : His thought is quiet, his words and deeds are quiet,
when he has won freedom by true knowledge. (Buddhism)
839. can see why inner freedom is everything. We must

Q: I
refuse be captured by the surrounding social swindle,

to
which passes for decency.
A A : horse which is harnessed to a wagon along with

other horses is not free . . . The same situation is true of man.
(Tolstoy)
840. Q: Tell us about the independent way.

A: Easy to walk by, inexhaustible! (Bhagav ad-Git a)
841. Q: All of us get tired of battling and bluffing our way

through life. We know we do things the hard way, yet know
no other. How can we know this other way, this really
triumphant way, of which you speak?
A We need only obey. There is guidance for each of

:
us, and by lowly listening we shall hear the right word.

(Emerson)
842. Q: Then obedience to truth, to our original nature,

makes the difference between a right and a wrong life?
A: Obedience ensures greatness, while disobedience
leads to defeat. (Saadi)
843. Q: If I understand correctly, this obedience frees us of

our own prison bars of egotism and self-righteousness?
A : Obedience is, indeed, founded on a kind of

freedom, else it would become mere subjugation. (Ruskin)
844. Q: I am very fond of the principle that the truth is the

most powerful force in the universe. Since it is helpful in a
practical way, and also encouraging, will you please go into
it?
A: Argument may be overcome by stronger argument,

and force by greater force, but truth and force have no
relation — nothing in common by which the one can act
upon the other. They dwell apart, and will continue to do so.
(Pascal)
845. Q: So this is what makes everything easy for a person

living in truth, in spite of a violent world?
A : Here a man shall be free from the noise and from

the hurryings of this life . . .men have met with angels here.
(Bunyan)
THE PATH TO EASY AND NATURAL LIVING 173
A story from Ancient India
846. Q: How can I cure my anxiety over being separated

from familiar things which give me a sense of security?
A : Diogenes was How so? Not because he was of

free.
free parentage, for that was not the case, but because he was
himself a free man. He had cast aside every handle by which
he might be enslaved All things sat loosely upon him,
. . . all
things were attached by slender ties. (Epictetus)
847. Q: What prevents us from living at ease with ourselves?
A No man
: can, for any considerable time, wear one
face to himself,and another to the multitude, without finally
getting bewildered as to which is the true one. (Hawthorne)
848. Q: May I state my desire as simply as possible? I wish

to be an entirely different kind of a person.
A From
: this difference between the new and the old
man, which is a difference as real as that between heaven and
earth, several lessons of great instruction may be learned.
(Law)
849. Q: What kind of real differences will we know?

Amen knew what
: If felicity dwells in the cottage of a
godly man, how sound he sleeps, how quiet his rest, how
composed his mind, how free from care, how easy his
position how joyful his
. . . heart, they would never admire
the noises, the diseases, the throngs of passions, and the
violence of unnatural appetites that fill the house of the
luxurious and the heart of the ambitious. (Taylor)
850. Q: Then happiness has nothing whatever to do with

public activities?
A: True happiness is of a retired nature, and an enemy

to pomp and noise. (Addison)
851. Q: It appears that our mental health will match the

degree with which we welcome higher principles.
A Humility may be taken for granted as existing in
:
every sane human being, but it may be that it most truly

manifests itself today in the readiness with which we bow to
new truths as they come from the scholars, the teachers, to
whom the inspiration of the Almighty giveth understanding.
(Holmes)
852. Q: Once we have heard and welcomed a new truth,

what next?
A : Be like the pearl oyster. There is a pretty Indian
fable to the effect that if it rains when the star Svati
is in the
ascendant, and a drop of rain falls into an oyster, that drop

will become a pearl. The oysters know this, so they come to
the surface when that star shines, and wait to catch the
precious raindrop. When one falls into the shell, quickly the
oyster closes it and dives down to the bottom of the sea,
there to patiently develop the drop into the pearl. We should
be like that. First hear, then understand, and then, leaving all
distractions, shut our minds to outside influences, and devote
ourselves to developing the truth within us. (Vivekananda)
853. Q: Please show us a difference between right and

wrong self-work.
A: Our grand business is, not to see what lies dimly at

a distance, but to do what lies clearly at hand. (Carlyle)
854. Q: I am impressed at the earnestness of certain people

who have pursued these principles over the years. Most
certainly there must be an attraction here which I must
discover for myself!
A: Where there is honey, there are bees. (Plautus)
How to win the good life
855. Q: The mystics teach that happiness comes to us of

effortlessly, as we make ourselves inwardly right. Will
itself,
you please explain what brings about this easy kind of

contentment?
A: The sovereign good of man is a mind that subjects

THE PATH TO EASY AND NATURAL LIVING 1 75
all things to itself, and is itself subject to nothing. Such a
man's pleasures are modest and reserved, and it may be a

question whether he goes to heaven or heaven comes to him.
(Seneca)
856. Q: In simple language, please tell us how to attain the

good life.
A: Truth is the source of every good thing in heaven

and on earth. He who expects to be blessed and fortunate in
this world should be a partaker of truth. (Plato)
857. Q: But how can we determine what is truly good,

when there are hundreds of contradictory opinions? What is
considered a good act in one country is an unlawful act in

another.
A The
: answer to the last appeal of what is right lies
within a man's own heart. Trust yourself. (Aristotle)
858. Q: Placing my confidence in exterior guides has

brought me nothing but grief, so self-trust must be the only
way out.
A How easy it is to repel and to clear away every

:
impression which is troublesome or unsuitable, and immedi-

ately to be in all tranquillity. (Aurelius)
859. Q: All this brightness and happiness can surround us

even while we carry on with our daily duties in this frantic
world?
A: The world is overcome, yes, even here! (Bhagavad-

Gita)
860. Q: The mystics warn us against practising false

goodness. What is an example of this?
A We : easily pardon in our friends those faults which

do not affect our own interests. (La Rochefoucauld)
861. Q: You have made us aware of false security, such as

dependence upon human authority, but will you explain
spiritual security? For example, is it possible to find steadfast
restfulness in self-knowledge?
A : That which I know immediately and intuitively

transcends in certitude other knowledge, for the certainty
all
ofit is bound up with the mind's certainty of itself. I can no

more doubt what I thus know than I can doubt my own
existence. (Caird)
862. Q: Please recommend a way to make our daily

activities as efficient and as easy as possible.
A Beware
: of dissipating your powers; strive constantly
to concentrate them. (Goethe)
863. Q: I recently read that most people are unaware of

how they waste their energies by indulging in useless and
endless talking. Please comment.
A : The first virtue is to restrain the tongue. He
approaches nearest to the gods who knows how to be silent,
even though he is in the right. (Cato)
864. Q: What an interesting idea! Up to now I had never

thought of silence as a method for learning.
A: Study to be quiet. (New Testament)
True strength is effortless
865. Q: The mystics teach that the Higher Power causes all
eventsto happen. Since this is so, how can we fall into
harmony with natural events?
A: We ought not to lead events, but to follow them.
(Epictetus)
866. Q: I sense something magnificent about the blending

of ourselves with events. It must certainly end all conflict.
A : At this elevation, there is no effort, no struggle.

(Suso)
867. Q: Do you mean that true strength, the strength arising

from self-unity, is effortless?
7
A : It is as easy for the strong man to be strong, as it is
for the weak man to be weak. (Emerson)
868. Q: If I could just get it deeply enough into my mind

that I am both the cause and the cure of my own conditions,
I would be inspired to elevate my inner state. Do you have a
statement for making me feel this fact more strongly?
A: We make
for ourselves, in truth, our own spiritual
world, our monsters, chimeras, angels — we make
own
objective what ferments in us We reward ourselves and . . .
punish ourselves without knowing it, so that all appears to

change when we change. (Amiel)
869. have given myself the task of learning everything

Q: I
possible about a particular human condition, for example, I

now see that an angry person is a frightened person. May I
have a new condition for investigation?
A : The freer you feel yourself in the presence of

another, the more free is he. (Lavater)
870. Q: One of the most helpful thoughts I ever heard was

that the truth never needs to defend itself. I now see that our
immersion in truth makes anxious self-defence completely
unnecessary.
A : Truth is as impossible to be soiled by any outward

touch as the sunbeam. (Milton)
871. Q: I often feel that I owe something for my bad

behaviour in past years, but you say this is false guilt.
A : Come, there is no more tribute to be paid. Our

kingdom is stronger than it was at that time. (Shakespeare)
872. Q: What prevents so many people from receiving the

needed information about the easy way?
A: To speak and to offend, with some people, are but

one and the same thing. (La Bruyere)
873. Q: We are told we have the ability to see beyond

ourselves, for instance, we can perceive the cause and cure of
compulsive habits. How does this come about?
A : Just as by the telescope and the microscope we can
increase the scope of our vision, and make higher or lower
vibrations cognizable to us, similarly, every man can bring
himself to the state of vibration belonging to the next plane,
thus enabling himself to see what is going on there.
( Yivekananda)
8 74. Q: And what is going on?
A: It is the Way of Heaven not to strive, and yet it

knows how to overcome; not to speak, and yet it knows how
to win a response. (Lao-tse)
A fascinating fact about happiness
875. Q: Please remind us of a basic principle, which we may

have neglected, but which calls for renewed study.
A : The notion of causedeeply rooted in every is
human mind. It is all men have it. It is a

a universal idea, for
necessary idea, for we cannot help having it, even if we deny
its existence. It probably arises first in the mind on the
occasion of our making an effort and seeing some result

follow. (Clarke)
876. Q: How can we cease to produce negative causes and

replace them with positive causes?
A : All that is required to produce it is simply the

consciousness of what is in any measure greater than
ourselves — the consciousness at each stage of our progress,
that something lies beyond us. (Caird)
8 77. Q: Am I correct in seeing our task as ridding ourselves

of blockage and contradiction, after which natural harmony
and happiness flow by themselves?
1 Pleasure is the reflex of unimpeded energy.

(Hamilton |
878. Q: It is fascinating to hear happiness described as the

uninterrupted flow of self-energy. Will you add a bit to the

idea?
A He is free who lives as he wishes to live. He is the

:
man who cannot suffer injury, who cannot be hindered or

compelled, whose impulses are not blocked, whose desires
attain their purpose, who does not fall into whatever he
wishes to avoid So, no wicked man lives like this, and so
. . .
he is not free. (Epictetus)
879. Q: Please supply a first step towards personal newness.
A: Man's life begins only with the appearance of

rational consciousness. (Tolstoy)
880. Q: An acquaintance of mine remarked that he saw no

need to work on himself when things were going smoothly.
What is your reaction to this statement?
A : It is wretched business to be digging a well just as
thirst is conquering you. (Plautus)
881. Q: You often remark that man has everything exactly

backwards from the way it is in reality. Will you reveal one
such area needing our correction?
A: Man does not wish ... to come out of spiritual

servitude into spiritual liberty, for the reason, first, that he
does not know what spiritual servitude is and what spiritual
liberty is; he does not possess the truths that teach this; and
without truths, spiritual servitude is believed to be freedom,

and spiritual freedom to be servitude. (Swedenborg)
882. Q: What knowledge can lift the servitude of being led

astray by others?
A A man often fancies that he guides himself, when
:
he is actually guided by other people, and while his mind

aims at one objective, his heart insensibly draws him towards
another. (La Rochefoucauld)
883. Q: More and more I am seeing the necessity for

choosing infavour of what is truly right for me.
A: The strongest principle of growth lies in human
choice. (Eliot)
The great message for all!
884. Q: Please suggest a general method of self-work which

we can use at any time.
A: Look within. Let neither the special quality of

anything, nor its value, escape you. (Aurelius)
885. Q: So much we do has no meaning, and the

that
sensing of this emptiness frightening. If we open ourselves
is
to rightness, will we know what we are doing with ourselves?

A: The world means something to the capable.
(Goethe)
886. Q: What prevents our inner nature from expressing

itself with originality and spontaneity?
A We: are full of mechanical actions. (Emerson)
887. Q: One time in my life I became aware of the

emptiness of flowery speeches and mechanical rituals. That is
what turned me towards mystical studies. I want to get to the
point of life.
A Only show that you know how to never be

:
disappointed in your desire, and how to never fall into that

which you would avoid. Let other people labour at debates
and difficulties and arguments. (Epictetus)
888. Q: Please describe esoteric self-confidence.
A: Virtue is bold, and goodness never fearful. (Shake-

speare)
889. Q: I have read that the value of a principle is equal to

the energy it takes to understand it. Please explain.
A : That which we acquire with the most difficulty we

retain the longest; as those who have earned a fortune are
usually more careful of it than those who have inherited one.
(Colton)
890. Q: I feel that these ideas sometimes fall on rocky

ground within me, which I do not want to happen. How can I
prepare myself for them?
A: Men must love the truth before they thoroughly

believe it. (South)
891. Q: That is what I want — a stronger fondness for what

is right. Will my over-all studies develop this?
A: There is not only comfort and the ease of a burden

brought to us by the sight and consideration of these, but an
endeared affection. (Bunyan)
892. Q: We are told to examine exciting thoughts, and to

not accept them as necessarily accurate. Why?
A : Because by so doing we incur the danger of being

seduced, by mistaking our own imagination or perhaps
natural inclination for the divine light. (Baker)
893. Q: Some
friends and I have been studying a particular
idea, stressedby Emerson, which is the enmity of society to
individual freedom. Please add to our knowledge.
A: Culture, far from giving us freedom, only develops

as it advances, new necessities; the fetters of the physical
close more tightly around us, so that the fear of loss
quenches even the ardent impulse towards improvement, and
the maxims of passive obedience are held to be the highest
wisdom of life. (Schiller)
894. Q: What message do such slaves need?

A: Tell them they are men! (Gray)
How to make life easy for yourself
895. Q: Please supply an example of how we unconsciouly

make lifehard for ourselves.
A: We are upset at being deceived by our enemies, and

betrayed by our friends, and yet we are often content to be
deceived by ourselves. (La Rochefoucauld)
896. Q: What reply can we make when tempted to behave
against our true interests?
A : No, you can't deceive me. (Plautus)
897. Q: The mystics say we should never hesitate to give

ourselves surprises and shocks, for they aid in self-awakening.
What kind of a self-question can make us think twice?
A : Why should we be in such desperate haste to

succeed, and in such desperate enterprises? (Thoreau)
898. Q: Am I correct in concluding that self-study, while at

first challenging, turns out to be the easy road after all?
A When,
: by analysing his own mind, man comes face
to face, as were, with something which is never destroyed,
it
something which is, by its own nature, eternally pure and

perfect, he will no more be miserable, no more unhappy. All
misery comes from fear, from unsatisfied desire When he . . .
knows that he is perfect, he will have no more vain desires,

and both these causes being absent, there will be no more
misery — there will be perfect bliss, even while in this body.
(Vivekananda)
899. Q: How can we invite this naturalness into our hours?
A: Our individual life is but a phantom; make clear

your eyes and see Reality. (Sufism)
900. Q: We work frantically to achieve goals which we think

will make us happier, and not only is the labour agonizing,
but we are tense over results. If we become inwardly real, do
our necessary daily duties become easy?
A : The diamond
All natural results are spontaneous.
sparkles without effort, and the flowers open impulsively
beneath the summer rain. And true religion is a spontaneous
thing — as natural as it is to weep, to love, or to rejoice.
(Chapin)
901. Q: The best lesson I have learned in the last few days is
the folly of seeking fulfilment in mere activity.

THE PATH TO EASY AND NATURAL LIVING 183
A As soon
: seek roses in December. (Byron)
Q: Our study group is collecting basic facts about the

higher life. My task is to gather truths of an encour
nature. May I have one?
A : It is in men as in soils where sometimes there is a

vein of gold which the owner knows not of. S
903. O: If we uncover this spiritual gold, what changes will

it make in the way we live?
.4 : Afoot and light-hearted I take to the open road.
Healthy, free, the world before me . . . leading wherever I
choose. (Whitman!
904. Q: You are saying that as we find ourselves we also

find our lives agreeable and easy?
A : Give me health and a day, and I will make
ridiculous the pomp of emperors. (Emerson i
The easv way is the right way
905. Q: Please repeat a major truth which we need to

practise with more diligence.
A : 'Know thyself one of the most useful and

is
comprehensive precepts in the whole moral system, and it is

well known in how great a veneration this maxim was held bv
the ancients. (Mason)
906. Q: What knowledge about our minds would help
A As rain breaks through an ill-thatched house,

:
passion will break through an unreflecting mind. As rain does

not break through a well-thatched house, passion will not
break through a well-reflecting mind. (Buddh>
907. Q: What does it mean to h.: July functioning

mind?
A : The mind is never right but when it is at peace

within itself: the spirit is in heaven even while it is in the
flesh, if it be emptied of its imperfections, and taken up with
divine thoughts and contemplation. (Seneca)
908. Q: Is it we
true that possess an inner warning system
that signals us when we act unnaturally and with self-
damage?
A We : are sure to judge wrong if we do not feel right.
(Hazlitt)
909. Q: It was a revelation to me to be told that we cannot

try tobe natural, but that naturalness happens all by itself
when we drop all efforts. How would you say the same
thing?
A : Nothing so much prevents our being natural as the

desire of appearing so. (La Rochefoucauld)
910. Q: I have been helped by your advice to not tie myself

to either the past or the future. May I have further comment
on it?
A: The present alone is true and actual; it is the only

time which possesses full reality, and our existence lies in it
exclusively. Therefore we should always be glad of it, and
give it the welcome it deserves, and enjoy every hour.
(Schopenhauer)
911. Q: Will our understanding of this principle provide the

quiet contentment we seek?
A On : every mountain height is rest. (Goethe)
912. Q: I have heard that an accepted truth multiplies itself

naturally. Please explain.
A The right will produce more

: right and be its own
reward — in the end a reward altogether infinite, for God will
meet it with what is deeper than all right, namely, perfect
love. (MacDonald)
913. Q: How can a person begin to see that the easy way is
the right way?

A He can already rely on the laws of gravity, that

:
every stone will fall where it is due; the good globe is faithful,
and carries us securely through the celestial spaces ... we
need not interfere to help it on: and he will learn one day the
mild lesson they teach, that our own orbit is all our task, and
we need not assist the administration of the universe.
(Emerson)
914. Q: You say it is our anxious clinging to our false ideas

about ourselves that keeps us unnaturally tense, but what can
we do?
A: Let go! (Hinduism)
Lessons about easiness in review
a. By living simply and wisely, we also live easily.

b. To drop pretence is also to drop strain and anxiety.
c. Mental health is the same as spiritual understanding.
d. Nothing is more attractive than self-transforming truth.
e. Discover the secret power of inner quietness.
/. Genuine strength is easy, natural, gentle, effortless.
g. Self-defence unnecessary to the self -unified man.
is
h. Always choose in favour of your true interests.

i. Love the life-liberating truth, and you will have it.
j. Let go!
13. Solve These Mysteries and Enrich
Yourself
915. Q: There must be some magnificent secrets hidden

from us because of our own mental fog. How can we break
into the sunlight?
A: There no
with nature; it is always true,
is trifling
dignified, and always in the right, and the faults and
just; it is
errors belong to us. Nature defies incompetence, but reveals

its secrets to the competent, the truthful, and the pure.
(Goethe)
916. Q: If we could convince ourselves that self-delusion

and self-punishment are the same thing, we would have a
powerful force for waking up. Is that an accurate way of
stating it?
A Who : is more deluded than he who is careless of his

own welfare? (Shankara)
917. Q: I have seen a definite change and uplifting of my

mind since going into these higher principles. More and more
they seem to be the only things that really count. Do others
experience this?
A Those
: may, and often do,
that are inexperienced
call this and unprofitable cessation, as
a state of idleness
Martha complained against her sister, Mary; but those that
have attained to a taste of it know it to be the business of all
businesses. (Baker)
918. Q: Why do the mystic masters caution us against

superficial belief, and urge us to get the facts?
A: Everyone believes in virtue, but who is virtuous?

(Balzac)
SOLVE THESE MYSTERIES AND ENRICH YOURSELF 1 87
919. Q: Can you give us something which will explain and

reduce our fears of exploring the unknown? This is my major
roadblock.
A: Our life is like a journey in which, as we advance,

the landscape takes a different view from that which is
presented at first, and changes again, as we come nearer. This
is just what happens, especially with our desires. We often
find something else, no, something better than what we were

looking for Instead of finding, as we expected, pleasure,
. . .
happiness, joy, we get experience, insight, knowledge — a real

and permanent blessing, instead of a disappearing and
illusory one. In their search for gold, the alchemists dis-
covered other things — gunpowder, china, medicines, the laws
of nature. There is a sense in which we are all alchemists.
(Schopenhauer)
920. Q: But doesn't this discovery require great inner

power?
A: Do the thing and you shall have the power; but they
who do not do the thing have not the power. (Emerson)
921. Q: have rightly stated that most men and women

You
are quickly offended by the slightest thwarting of their
desires. Does the entrance of these principles give us a more
mature mind?
A Great peace have they which love thy law; and

:
nothing shall offend them. (Old Testament)
922. Q: I have completed a work project which you

suggested, with interesting results. You advised me to see that
I knew almost nothing about certain ideas of psychology on
which I prided myself. I now see that many of us are like a
hobo who discusses the stock market.
A: A man is not educated because he talks much; the

learned man is he who is patient, free from hatred and fear.
(Buddhism)
Mystic principles are understandable
923. Q: How can we recognize true spiritual principles when

we see them?
A The : principles of this authentic religion are entirely
natural to man, so that the instant they
are communicated to
him they are received as ideas long familiar and self-evident
These principles are quite simple, understandable, and
. . .
few in number. (Tolstoy)
924. Q: What is the explanation of all the cruelties and

stupidities which often masquerade as religion?
A If we subject everything to reason, our religion will

:
have nothing mysterious or supernatural. If we violate the

principles of reason, our religion will be absurd and ridicu-
lous. (Pascal)
925. Q: I can now see how the realistic principles of

mysticism lead to mental health.
A The root of sanctity is sanity. A man must be

:
healthy before he can be holy. We bathe first, and then

perfume. (Swetchine)
926. Q: How do you explain the persecution of genuinely

good men, like Jesus and Socrates and Eckhart?
A However
: evil men may be, they dare not appear to
be enemies of truth, so when they persecute it, they pretend
to believe that it is error, or say it is capable of crimes. (La
Rochefoucauld)
927. Q: What are the characteristics of a person who makes

self-transformation the first order of business in his life?
A He: reads much; he is a great observer, and he looks

quite through the deeds of men. (Shakespeare)
928. Q: How is an enlightened man unlike other people?
A : Earnest among the thoughtless, awake among the

sleeping, the wise man progresses like a racer. (Buddhism)
929. Q: What will keep us actively racing forward?
A : Let us beware of sleeping. (Bunyan)
930. Q: As a man climbs higher in the spiritual castle, will

he meet and know others at the same height?
A : All powerful souls have kindred with each other.

(Coleridge)
931. Q: What makes a mystic master the spiritual power

that he is? What special effort has he made, what unique
victory has he won which is a signpost for us?
A The : true critic strives for a clear vision of things as

they are ... his effort is to get free from himself, so that he
may in no way distort that which he wishes to understand or
reproduce. His superiority to the common herd lies in this
effort . . . He distrusts his own senses, he sifts his own
impressions, by returningupon them from different sides and
at different by comparing, moderating, shading,
times,
distinguishing, and so endeavouring to approach more and
more nearly to the formula which represents the maximum
of truth. (Amiel)
932. Q: Some people use idealistic ideas as a means of

hiding from their everyday responsibilities. What advice do
they need?
A: Be philosopher, but amidst

a. all your philosophy,
be stilla man. (Hume)
The truth about an esoteric school
933. Q: What is truth?
A: Truth is the agreement of the mind with itself.
(Plotinus)
934. Q: In other words, truth is the absence of self-
contradiction?
A: It is your own assent to yourself, and the constant

voice of your own reason, and not of others, that should
make you believe. (Pascal)
935. Q: Suppose we were fortunate enough to find a school

of esoteric philosophy. What would it be like? How would it
differ from common organizations which profess to help
people?
A: A philosopher's school is a hospital. You should

feel discomfort, not pleasure, in it, for on entering, no one is
well and whole. One has a disjointed shoulder, another a

wound, a third suffers from a
and a fourth has a cut,
headache. Am I then to sit down and
give you a treat of
pretty words and empty sentiments, so you may applaud me
and depart, with neither shoulder nor wound, cut nor
headache, any better for your visit? (Epictetus)
936. Q: Would it be correct to compare esoteric schooling

with the school of our childhood, for example, by learning to
spell short words we are qualified to work on longer ones?
A: Now understand me well -- it is provided in the

essence of things that from any fruition of success, no matter
what, shall come forth something to make a greater struggle
necessary the road is before us! It is safe ... I have tried
. . .
it. (Whitman)
937. Q: Since esoteric truths are available to all who really

want them, why does mankind remain in its miserable state?
A : Great truths do not take hold of the hearts of the

masses. (Chuang-tse)
938. Q: What a strange situation! Man is shipwrecked on a

desert island, and not only refuses to climb into the rescue
ship sent for him, but throws stones at his rescuers.
A We are accustomed to see men scorn what they do

:
not understand, and snarl at the good and the beautiful

because it lies beyond their sympathies. (Goethe)
939. Q: Why is it man loose from His

so difficult to shake a
foolish notions? You would
think he would gladly exchange
his sell -punishing illusions for reasonable reality.
1
A: It is useless to attempt to reason a man out of a

thing he was never reasoned into. (Swift)
940. Q: You say that a person of strong self-will has no

conscience, and is therefore a danger to himself and to
others. Please explain.
A Self-will is so ardent and active that it

: will break a
world to pieces to make a stool to sit on. (Cecil)
941. Q: A friend of mine is aware of his self-blocking, but

sees no way out.
A : There is one direction in which all space is open to

him. He has faculties silently inviting him thither to endless
exertion. He
a ship in a river; he runs against
is like
obstructions on
every side but one, on that side all
obstruction is taken away and he sweeps serenely over a
deepening channel into an infinite sea. (Emerson)
How gain comes through loss
942. Q: The men and women in my study group find it
helpful to hear the same truth repeated in different ways, so

may we have your explanation of why the average person
feels nervous and unhappy?
A Not
: satisfied with the needs of nature, he demands
the unneccessary. (Schiller)
943. Q: Please expand that thought.
A All the ills of mankind appear, according to Lao-tse,

:
not from man's neglect of the necessary, but because he does

what is unnecessary. If men would practise what Lao-tse calls
non-action, they would be free not only of their personal
difficulties, but also of those residing in every form of
government. (Tolstoy)
944. Q: Does not goodness consist in obeying the laws of

the land?
A : What narrow innocence it is for one to be good

only according to the law. (Seneca)
945. Q: Please help us solve the mystery of mental freedom.

A I call that mind free which is not passively framed
:
by outward circumstances, which is not swept away by the

torrent of events, which is not the creature of accidental
impulse, but which bends events to its own improvement,
and acts from an inward spring, from immutable principles
which it has deliberately espoused. (Channing)
946. Q: You teach that with the loss of false values we also
lose fear. What does that mean?
A: The man with an empty purse can sing before the
robber. (Juvenal)
947. Q: Will you please explain what is meant by psychic

deafness? What prevents us from receiving healthy words and
impressions?
A: Talkative people no one, for they are ever

listen to
speaking. And the surrounding those who do not
first evil
know the meaning of silence is that they hear nothing.
(Plutarch)
948. Q: If you have some especially strong medicine, we are

ready for the cure.
A Have you again forgotten? Don't you know that a

:
good man does nothing for the sake of appearances, only for
the sake of what is right? (Epictetus)
949. Q: What is the explanation of human cruelty?
A : Fear is the parent of cruelty. (Froude)
950. Q: By what means can we recognize an authentic

teaching?
A : It must give us an explanation of our opposition to

God and to our own good. must teach us the remedies for
It
these infirmities, and the means of obtaining these remedies.

(Pascal)
SOLVE THESE MYSTERIES AND ENRICH YOURSELF 193
951. Q: I would like assistance in understanding what you

mean by false happiness, plus a technique for avoiding it.
A A : political victory, a rise in rents, the recovery of

your sick or the return of your absent friend, or some other
favourable event raises your spirits, and you think good days
are preparing for you. Do not believe it. Nothing can bring
you peace but yourself. Nothing can bring you peace but the
triumph of principles. (Emerson)
You can escape the human jungle
952. Q: It would help me to understand a peculiar feature

about worldly success. Once we win a certain goal, like
wealth or popularity, it loses its great charm, and we feel as
empty as before. Why is this?
A: Ambition becomes displeasing once it is satisfied;

there a reaction. Our spirit endlessly aims towards some
is
object, then falls back on itself, having nothing else on which

to rest, and having reached the summit, it longs to descend.
(Corneille)
953. Q: We can never hear enough about the need for using
our own energies for our own progress towards happiness.
A The only elevation of a human being consists in the
:
exercise, growth, energy of the higher principles and powers

of his soul. A bird may be shot upwards to the skies by a
foreign force; but it rises, in the true sense of the word, only
when it spreads its own wings and soars by its own living
power. (Channing)
954. Q: What should be our attitude towards the childish

enthusiasms of society, for example, the enthusiasms of one
pressure group against another pressure group?
A : Reason shall prevail with me more than popular

opinion. (Cicero)
955. Q: We are told to depend upon ourselves and at the

same time are advised to depend only upon God, or cosmic
powers. May we have an explanation?
A These two things, contradictory as they may seem,
:
must go together — manly dependence and manly indepen-

dence, manly reliance and manly self-reliance. (Wordsworth)
956. Q: This will eventually become clear to us, will it not?
A : If we walk in the light. (New Testament)
957. Q: As a student of psychology, I would like to know

why a hard-hearted person is always the most easily fooled
by false promises of friendship and love?

A: The less tenderness a man has in his nature, the
more he requires it from others. (Rahel)
958. Q: It appears that what human beings call love is

merely the exchanging of mutual benefits or the hope of
gaining personal rewards. Is that an accurate conclusion?
A: He alone knows what love is who loves without

hope. (Schiller)
959. Q: I try to choose a better way for myself, I really

make an effort to select truth over falsehood, Tightness over
wrongness, love over hate, but my choice has no power
behind it. I guess you would say I have no will power
whatsoever. So if I cannot even choose Tightness and succeed
in my choice, how can I ever rescue myself?
A You have no freedom or power of will to assume

:
any holy temper, or take hold of such degrees of goodness, as

you have a mind to have But you have a true and full
. . .
freedom of will and choice, either to leave and give up your

helpless self to the operation of God on your soul This is . . .
the truth of the freedom of your will. (Law)
960. Q: Please summarize the philosophy of the person who

has resolved to escape the human jungle.
A : I did not wish to live what was not life. (Thoreau)
SOLVE THESE MYSTERIES AND ENRICH VOURSELE 195
How your new life becomes possible!
961. Q: You have made us aware of how we all ask

questions based in illusion, for example, we ask whether this
or that human method will stop wars. It is illusory because
we answer the question and then start a new war. What right
question can begin to wake us up?
A The question at stake is no common one.

: It is, 'Are
we in our right sense or are we not?' (Epictetus)
962. Q: That is what we really want — to be sane, sensible,

unpretentious men and woman. However, our own negative
nature deceives us into thinking this to be impossible. Show
us how to challenge this false counsel.
A : This power demands of us what alone is certain and

rational and possible which is possible only in the truth,
. . .
and, therefore, in the recognition of the truth revealed to us,

and the profession of that truth. (Tolstoy)
963. Q: By personal experience I know that it is a thousand

times easier to find a religious charlatan than to find a man
who truly knows what life is all about. Why is it like this?
A : It is — the true teachers of
natural for great minds
humanity — to about the constant company of
care little
others, just as little as the schoolmaster cares for joining in

the frolic of the noisy crowd of boys which surrounds him.
The mission of these great minds is to guide mankind over
the sea of error to the harbour of truth, to draw men back
from the dark abyss of barbarous crudeness into the light of
culture and refinement. Men of superior intellect live in the
world without really belonging to it they let no one . . .
approach them who is not in some degree freed from the

prevailing crudeness. (Schopenhauer)
964. Q: Will you please comment on the special kind of

communication existing between an esoteric teacher and his
pupil?
A : He teaches who gives, and he learns who receives.

There is no teaching until the pupil is brought into the same
196 THE MYSTIC MASTERS SPEAK:
state or principle in which you are; a transfusion takes place;
he is you and you are he; then is a teaching, and bv no
unfriendly chance or bad company can he ever quite lose the
benefit. (Emerson)
965. O: It seems that the more honest we get with

ourselves, the more we are attracted to esoteric philosophv,
which proves that like attracts like.
A: Philosophy is a modest profession; it is all reality

and plain dealing. I dislike solemnity and pretence, with
nothing but pride behind it. (Pliny)
966. O: I would like an example of what you mean by

self-damaging self-deception.
A The
: usual excuse of those who hurt others is that
they do it for their own good. (Vauvenargues)
96 7. 0: We seek so many things. What is an imperative goal?
A : I have sought to know myself. (Heraclitus)
968. 0: I finally see what you mean by courageously

discarding the false as a means of finding the true. It is like a
detective who willingly tosses out dozens of false clues in
order to find one right clue. But what a right one!
A When
: the heart weeps for what it has lost, the spirit
laughs for what it has found. (Sufism)
The secret of unlimited energy
969. Q: Since the universe is unlimited energy, and we are

one with the universe, we can never lose by letting go and
:ig of natural goodness. Is that a correct summary?
A
Suppose a neighbour should desire to light a candle
:
at your would it deprive your flame of light, because

fire,
another profits by it? (Lloyd)
970. Q: I wish to think deeply about a certain idea. Is it

true that we get into trouble with other people precisely
because we occupy the same troublesome psychic level that

they do?
A: As your enemies and your friends, so are you.

(Lavater)
971. Q: We are urged to go beyond ourselves. What is the

result of this?
A On: this road, therefore, to abandon one's own way

is to enter on the true way, speak more correctly, to
or, to
advance to the goal for the spirit which has courageously
. . .
resolved on passing, inwardly and outwardly, beyond the

limits of its own nature, enters the limitless higher world.
(Yepes)
972. Q: No matter what I do to achieve success, I am

thrown back in defeat.
A If you seek Truth, you will not seek to gain a

:
victory by every possible means; and when you have found

the Truth, you need not fear being defeated. (Epictetus)
973. Q: Since guidance is within, what inquiry can we make

of ourselves when in doubt about some contemplated
action?
A : Is this the way to the Celestial City? (Bunyan)
974. Q: What is the difference between happiness and

shallow pleasures?
A: Pleasure can be supported by illusion, while

happiness rests upon truth. (Chamfort)
975. Q: Does this new intelligence we receive from esoteric-

ism transfer itself to our business and home duties, I mean,
does a more skilful mind make a more skilful hand?
A: As physicians always have their instruments ready

for cases which suddenly require do you have
their skill, so
principles ready for insight into both divine and human
affairs, and for doing everything, even the smallest, with an
awareness of the bond which unites the divine and the
human. For you will not do anything well which pertains to
man without also doing well in the divine, and vice versa.
(Aurelius)
976. Q: What is the answer to human quarrels and disagree-

ment?
A Where God is,
: all agree. (Vaughan)
977. Q: Can esoteric wisdom brighten my future?
A : Step out of your cave; the world waits for you as a

garden. (Nietzsche)
978. Q: May we have some general information about the

various impulses and urges which cause us to act for good or
bad?
A The
: central secret is, therefore, to know that the
various passions and feelings and emotions in the human
heart are not wrong in themselves; only they have to be
carefully controlled and given a higher and higher direction,
until they attain the very highest condition of excellence.
(Vivekananda)
979. Q: I have made up my mind to never give up following

these esoteric guides, but what reminder can help a person
who feels he has taken a wrong turn?
A : Gradual practice makes him perfect, through a long

seriesof slips, blunders, and fresh starts. It is just the same as
in other things you learn. (Schopenhauer)
The miracle of self-awakening
980. Q: We are surrounded by misfortune, so it is encour-

aging to hear you say that a man in possession of these truths
possesses perfect protection.
A He: is like unto the lotus which grows in the water,

yet not a drop of water adheres to its petals. (Buddha)
981. Q: Please explain what the New Testament and other

spiritual sources mean by the new birth, by inner conversion.
A : Conversion is no repairing of the old building; but it
takes all down, and erects a new structure . . .Conversion is a

deep work, a heart-work; it turns all upside down, and makes
a man be in a new world. It goes throughout with
men — throughout the mind, throughout the members,
throughout the motions of the whole life. (Alleine)
982. Q: We are told of the existence of all kinds of

surrounding wonders, which we often fail to see. What is one
of them?
A : There are wonders in true affection. (Browne)
983. Q: I am impressed by the esoteric fact which says that

comfort cannot be found by running away from sorrow, but
sorrow can be dissolved by inner wisdom. This seems to be a
major truth.
A: There is no consolation except in truth alone.

(Pascal)
984. Q: So many people, both the successful and the

defeated, are sunk by feelings of futility towards it all.
A : Never say any man is hopeless, because he only
represents a character, a bundle of habits, and these can be
checked by new and better ones. (Vivekananda)
985. Q: Is it true that the great mystic masters can discern a

person's level of consciousness by only a glance or two?
A: Wise men read very sharply all of your private

history in your look and gait
and behaviour. (Emerson)
986. Q: When I first attended lectures on higher truths, I

heard about the practice of positive doubt. The principal
point was that a man must begin to doubt the Tightness of his
ways if he is ever to see the light. This connects with the idea
that man is unaware of his psychic sleep. May we hear more
about this helpful practice of honest doubt?
A : As a man in his sleep doubts the reality of his

nightmare and yearns to awaken and return to real life, so the
average man of our day cannot, in the depths of his heart,
believe the terrible condition in which he finds himself — and
which is growing worse and worse — to be a reality. He
yearns to attain to a higher reality, the consciousness of
which is him
already withinOur average man has but to
. . .
make a conscious effort and ask himself, 'Is not all this an
illusion?' in order to feel like an awakened sleeper, trans-
ported from a hypocritical and horrible nightmare-world into
a living, peaceful, and joyous world of reality. (Tolstoy)
987. Q: What is a particular mental newness of those who

have found their way out?
A : There is nothing for which they are so thankful as

for that cry, 'Awake, thou that sleepest.' (Ruskin)
988. Q: The great mystery to me how

I could have been
is
asleep to all this for so many can now see what

years. I
finally happened — I simply refused to go along with my old

and agonizing life any longer.
A : After a while comes the Great Awakening. (Chuang-

tse)
Let these answers work for you
a. Self-awakening is your great adventure in life.

b. With right effort, you can understand all these ideas.
c. As self-contradications vanish, happiness appears.
d. Detect and eliminate unnecessary actions from your day.
e. Refuse artificial pleasures; seek true contentment.
/. These truths bring sanity, intelligence, decency.
g. You possess the unlimited energy of the universe.
h. Always seek to go beyond yourself.
i. You can remain untouched by society's confusion.
j. Enter the miracle of self-awakening.
14. You Can Start a New Life as a New
Person
989. Q: It is obvious that only a totally new self can be free

of the confusion and the loneliness that makes up most of
our days. I am sure there must be a certain solution which
calls for our earnest attention.
A : Give yourself more diligently to reflection; come to

know yourself. (Epictetus)
990. Q: Since healing principles are available to all, why do

so many remain unhealthy?
A : Take a thorn-bush and sprinkle it for a whole year
with water — it will yield nothing but thorns. Take a
date-tree, leave it without culture, and it will always produce
dates. (Abd-el-Kader)
991. Q: Is this why the mystics call for a total transform-

ation of our inner nature, instead of performing mechanical
moralities for public show?
A The new
: birth, as signifying only a change of moral
behaviour, not only thus false and absurd in itself, but is
is
also exceeding prejudicial to true conversion, and saps the

foundation of our redemption. (Law)
992. Q: I am curious about a particular mystical teaching.

While praising good works towards others, it insists that
self-work must come first. Why?
A We: can only give what we have. (Amiel)
993. Q: What is the best course of action whenever we are

tempted to do or say something which is self-defeating?
A : The truth is always the strongest argument.
(Sophocles)
994. Q: Ineed such a truth whenever I feel tempted to slow

down my exploration of inner space.
A: As the soil, however rich it may be, cannot be

productive without culture, so the mind without cultivation
can never produce good fruit. (Seneca)
995. Q: It is evident how we must prove everything for

ourselves. May we have a technique we can prove in today's
activities?
A Take away your opinion and there is taken away

:
the complaint, 'I have been harmed.' Take away the

complaint, T have been harmed,' and the harm is taken away.
(Aurelius)
996. Q: I have made a list of all the sensible reasons why I

should be free of others, why I should never trade my inner
integrity for foolish rewards, why I must live my own life.
What might I add to the list?
A: There is one thing that, more than any other,
throws people absolutely off their balance — the thought that
you are dependent upon them. This is sure to produce an
insolent and domineering manner towards you they soon . . .
come to fancy that they can take liberties with you, and so
they try to transgress the laws of politeness. This is why there
are so few people with whom you care to become more
intimate, and why you should avoid familiarity with shallow
people. (Schopenhauer)
Your invitation to the new life
997. Q: I am impressed by the simple decency of these

teachings. Surely, decency and honesty is the only way out.
A To: be wiser than other men is to be honester than
they; and strength of mind is only courage to see and speak
the truth. (Hazlitt)
YOU CAN START A NEW LIFE AS A NEW PERSON 203
998. Q: was asked by someone to describe the essence of

I
esotericism. He wanted to know how it differed from the

mere religious oratory of those who do not really know.
What might I have told him?
A We: speak of definite truth which you can know by
experience. (Theologia Germanica)
999. Q: You have explained that most men possess only a

mechanical form of goodness, which is not true goodness at
all. What does this mean?
A Most people are so constituted that they can only

:
be virtuous in a certain routine; an irregular course of life

demoralizes them. (Hawthorne)
1000. Q: How can we have more than this morality of

personal convenience?
A The key to every man is his thought. Sturdy and

:
defying though he look, he has a helm which he obeys ... He

can only be reformed by showing him a new idea which
commands his own. (Emerson)
1001. Q: Please give us a new and uplifting idea.
A: Whenever evil befalls us, we ought to ask ourselves,

after the first suffering, how we can turn it into good. So
we take occasion, from one
shall bitter root, to raise perhaps
many flowers. (Hunt)
1002. Q: By what means can we prove the existence of a life
far superior to the one we now have?
A A man
: should learn to detect and watch that gleam
of light which flashes across his mind from within. (Emerson)
1003. Q: What should be a major purpose in watching our

thoughts?
A : To unmask falsehood, and bring truth to light.

(Shakespeare)
1004. Q: I am trying to think in a new way towards a chief

error of mine, which is the habit of blaming others for my
frustrations. I am aware of it, but need a plan for collecting
and retaining corrective thoughts.
A : A man would do well to carry a pencil in his
pocket, and write down the thoughts of the moment. Those
that come unsought for are commonly the most valuable, and
should be retained. (Bacon)
1005. Q: I would like to feel that I have something

worthwhile to do with my life.
A Every morning was a cheerful invitation to make

:
my of equal simplicity, and I may say innocence, with

life
Nature herself The morning, which is the most memor-
. . .
able season of the day, is the awakening hour some part . . .
of us awakes which slumbers all the rest of the day and night.
Little is to be expected of that day, if it can be called a day,
to which we are not awakened by our Genius, but by the
mechanical nudgings of some servitor, are not awakened by
our own newly acquired force and aspirations from within
... to a higher life. (Thoreau)
The truth is compassionate
1006. Q: Freedom from from the social

illusion, escape
madhouse, and key phrases in esoteric
spiritual liberty, are all
language. Will you please define the meaning of self-liberty?
A Our liberty, wisely understood, is but a voluntary

:
obedience to the universal laws of life. (Amiel)
1007. Q: How can we acquire the knowledge we need for

transforming our lives?
A: Truth becomes known through special exercises.

(Buddha)
I 008. Q: What is a principal purpose of these exercises?

1 : To know exactly our own nature. (Spinoza)
L009. Q: Please suggest a starting point.

A: False happiness is like false money; it passes for a

time as well as the true, and serves some ordinary occasions;
but when it is brought to the touch, we find the lightness and
alloy, and feel the loss. (Pope)
1010. Q: What if these exercises prove to be too much for us

at the start?
A : Practise yourself, for heaven's sake, in little things,

and then proceed to greater. (Epictetus)
1011. Q: If these teachings can change our hidden irritability

and resentment into open peacefulness and kindness, that
alone is enough reason for using them!
A: A good disposition I far prefer to gold, for gold is
the gift of fortune, while goodness of disposition is the gift of

nature. I prefer much rather to be called good than fortunate.
(Plautus)
1012. Q: In studying the messages of all the great teachers

and philosophers, I notice how firmly they speak against
human folly. Often they suddenly switch from speaking of
salvation and love to denounce human hypocrisy. Will you
discuss this?
A This resting in ignorance is a monstrous thing, and

:
they who pass their life in it must be made to feel its

extravagance and stupidity, by having it shown to them, so
that they may be confounded by the sight of their folly.
(Pascal)
1013. Q: As we advance inwardly, no doubt we more and

more see such seeming harshness for what it really is —
compassion.
A They : that be whole need not a physician, but they

that are sick. (Jesus)
1014. Q: I lead an active life, but underneath it all I sense a

vague dissatisfaction. None of my activities seem to have any
real meaning. Maybe I am trying to run away from myself.
Does life have an authentic purpose? How is it discovered?
A : I knew not
the light, and I thought there was no
sure truth in but when I perceived that only light enables
life;
men to live, I sought to find the sources of the light And . . .
when I reached this source of light I was dazzled with the

splendour, and I found there full answers to my questions as
to the purpose of the lives of myself and others. (Tolstoy)
1015. Q: How can we qualify ourselves for self-trans-

formation?
A This great, good light and comfort is inwardly

:
revealed only to those who are inwardly illuminated, and

. . .
who know how to dwell inwardly with themselves. (Tauler)
Dare to cross the river!
1016. Q: As a first principle of self-work, I have determined

to never protect a false position I discover in myself, but to
let it be replaced by whatever is truly right.
A Your
: setting out is good, for you have given credit
to the truth. (Bunyan)
1017. Q: May we hear more about the need for abandoning

our old and burdensome ideas? How would an enlightened
man explain it?
A He compares the world to a dry, scorched, and

:
barren wilderness, and celestial happiness to a most delicious

paradise, divided from this desert by a deep and tempestuous
river, which must necessarily be passed by swimming. The
securest way to pass over this river is by quitting one's
clothes; but few there are that have the courage to expose
themselves to the injuries of the weather for a while, and
therefore adventure over Some few others (such are
. . .
religious persons) seeing this danger, take a good resolution

to divest themselves of their clothes, and to make themselves
lighter and nimbler by casting away all impediments. (Baker)
1018. Q: Please challenge our esoteric efforts!
A : Do you earnestly ponder and sincerely try to

understand? (Kierkegaard)
1019. Q: How can we tell whether or not we are beginning to

work in earnest on ourselves?
A When a man tells you that you know nothing, and
:
you are not angry at him, you may be sure that you have
begun to work. (Epictetus)
1020. Q: After some intense self-investigation, I now see why

we must remain on our own grounds, and not lend ourselves
out to others.
A He who
: builds upon another man's ground, loses his
mortar and his stone. (Cahier)
1021. Q: May we hear of a spiritual practice for use when

meeting trouble of any kind?
A : Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with

good. (New Testament)
1022. Q: Please identify a specific evil or mistake.
A : Despair is the greatest of our errors. (Vauvenargues)
1023. Q: I am certainly in error with other people. I appear

to be at ease with others, but underneath I feel that the
smallest wrong word on my part will cause an explosion
between us. I would like esotericism to work for me in this
area.
A That is no reason for despair. You need not fancy it

:
is impossible to regulate your life in accordance with abstract

ideas and maxims . . . the first thing to do is to understand
the rule; the second thing is to learn the practice of it. The
theory may be understood at once by an effort of reason,
and yet the practice of it acquired only in the course of time.
(Schopenhauer)
1024. Q: I am now aware of a major problem to overcome.

Men and women secretly their unhappiness; it
cherish
provides a peculiar satisfaction to retreat into sorrow and
complaint.
A: To live we must conquer incessantly; we must have

the courage to be happy. (Amiel)
How to maintain inner poise
1025. Q: The speaker at our last group meeting said that the
answer to any problem is hidden in the problem itself. May
we have an example of what he meant?
A We: are not ourselves. (Shakespeare)
1026. Q: If we were shockingly aware of how little of

ourselves we actually possess, would that change things?
A : There is no thought in any mind, but it quickly

tends to convert itself into a power, and organizes a huge
instrumentality of means. (Emerson)
1027. Q: Please explain the values of a clear and alert mind.
A All that a man does outwardly is but the expression

:
and completion of his inward thought. To work effectually,

he must think clearly; to act nobly, he must think nobly.
Intellectual force is a principal element of the soul's life, and
should be proposed by every man as the principal end of his
being. (Channing)
1028. Q: We are timid towards new ideas because they

threaten our comfortable misery. What a test! We must
plunge into the storm if we are to come out on its other side.
A Thinkers are as scarce as gold, but he whose

:
thoughts embrace all his subject, and who pursues it

uninterruptedly and without fear of consequences, is a
diamond of enormous size. (Lavater)
1029. Q: How can we maintain inner correctness and not get

carried away by the mad rush of the world we must face
daily?
A Be sincere with yourself. Whether men love or hate,

:
admire or despise you, is of but little importance. Speak only

what is true, do only what is right. (Rousseau)
1030. Q: Surely there must be something much higher than

our petty desires and our chronic agitations.
AEvery great mind seeks to labour for eternity. All

:
men captivated by immediate advantage; great minds

are
alone are excited by the prospect of distant good. (Schiller)
1031. Q: How
can we become more gentle to others,
especially to those who cause us grief?
A only imperfection that complains of what is

: It is
imperfect.The more perfect we are, the more gentle and

quiet we become towards the defects of others. (Fenelon)
1032. Q: Since self-honesty is a first principle of mysticism,

letme speak my mind. I am tired of having others tell me
what to do, what to think, what to believe, and what to
follow. I want to follow myself, but I need more infor-
mation.
A: A simple and independent mind does not toil at the

bidding of any prince. (Thoreau)
1033. Q: I used to wrongly think that to be good meant to

do things we really did not want to do, but now I see it
means to do what is truly right for us. With this in mind, how
can we benefit ourselves with more healthy goodness?
A: Let no man think lightly of good, saying in his heart,
Tt will not benefit me.' As by the falling of raindrops ajar of
water is filled, so the wise man becomes full of good, even
though he collects it little by little. (Buddha)
1034. Q: This changes our psychic weather from cloudy to

clear?
A :There are divine things more beautiful than words

can tell. (Whitman)
Here is the way back home
1035. Q: All of us are like the Prodigal Son, separated from

our spiritual home, and bewildered about the way back. What
makes us wander?
A: To sum up all in a word: Nothing has separated us
from God but our own will, or rather our own will is our
separation from God. All the disorder and corruption, and
malady of our nature, lies in a certain fixedness of our own
will, imagination, and desires, wherein we live to ourselves,
are our own centre and circumference, act wholly from
ourselves, according to our own will, imagination and desires.
There is not the smallest degree of evil in us, but what arises
from this selfishness, because we are thus all in all to
ourselves. (Law)
1036. Q: It would be heaven on earth if we could harmonize

our own will with what actually happens to us. Can it be
done?
A : If a difficult to be accomplished by you, do
thing is
not think that impossible for man, but if anything is

it is
possible for men and conformable to his nature, think that

this can be attained by yourself, too. (Aurelius)
1037. Q: What is the specific process for winning this

harmony?
A: We must follow, not force Providence. (Shake-
speare)
1038. Q: And this provides a totally new life in the here and
now?
A The
: true heaven is everywhere, even in the very
place where you stand and go. (Boehme)
1039. Q: I do not understand why the mystics say that a

favourable change in exterior circumstances has no corrective
effect on a person's internal state.
A The seed of the oak produces oaks, and is never

:
converted by circumstances into a beech tree. (Lotze)
1040. Q: Since opening my mind to what is truly right and

honest, I have noticed a special change in myself. Less and
less do I need to publicly prove myself, as I used to do, and

as many people need to do.
1
A: Secrecy is for the happy — misery, hopeless misery,

needs no veil; under a thousand suns it dares act openly.
(Schiller)
1041. Q: It would help me understand my past mistakes
better if you would expand on this thought. Are you saying

that every attempt of a man to prove himself only increases
his self-doubt?
A: He destroys his health by the pains he takes to

preserve it. (Virgil)
1042. Q: Looking around at the frantic world, it seems that

very few human beings understand this fact.
A : People of passionate temperament never understand

this . . They can only be impressed by acts and effects, by
.
noise and effort. They have no instinct of contemplation, no

sense of the pure cause, the fixed source of all movement, the
principle ofall effect, the centre of all light, which does not
need to spend itself in order to be sure of its own wealth, nor

to throw itself into violent motion to be certain of its own
power. (Amiel)
1043. Q: We are instructed to observe and dismiss wrong

feelings. Please expose one of them which we may be
unconsciously hiding.
A : The worst kind of shame is being ashamed of

frugality or poverty. (Livy)
A great mystical truth
1044. Q: The trouble with everything we have tried in the

past is that it simply does not work. In spite of both
individual effort and social planning, we are still bewildered.
A : We must approach this matter in an entirely

different manner. It is and mystical; it is no common
great
thing, nor is it given to every man. Wisdom alone is not
enough; a man needs a certain degree of readiness.
(Epictetus)
1045. 0: If we make ourselves ready, what might we see?
.4 : It is a secret man quickly
which every intellectual
learns, that beyond the energy of
possessed and conscious
his
intellect he is capable of a new energy ... by abandonment
to the nature of things; that beside his privacy of power as an
individual man, there is power on which he can
a great public
draw, by unlocking, and suffering the ethereal
at all risks,
tides to roll and circulate through him; then he is caught up
into the life of the Universe. (Emerson)
1046. Q: What is a basic difference between a wise individual

and an unaware person?
A : The wise man recognizes the idea of the Good

within him. (Plotinus)
1047. Q: Up until a short time ago I had not appreciated

these true teachers and teachings. How can I speed up my
appreciation?
A : In proportion as our own mind is enlarged, we

discover a greater number of men of originality. Common-
place people see no difference between one man and another.
(Pascal)
1048. O: My
main difficulty in achieving a better life is lack
of clear knowledge of the way. I have tried all sorts of
systems, but end up just as confused as before. Are there
definite steps which anyone can take to transform his life?
A: True, there are, by the direction of the Lawgiver,

certain good and substantial steps, placed even through the
very midst of this Slough these steps are hardly seen
. . . . . .
notwithstanding the steps be there; but the ground is good

when they are once got in at the Gate. (Bunyan)
1049. Q: Please give us an advanced spiritual truth to think

about.
.The individual soul should seek for an intimate

1 :
union with the soul of the universe. (Novalis)

VOL' CAN START A NEW LIFE AS A NEW PERSON 21 3
1050. Q: Is it correct to say that a man in self-harmony is the

same as a man in self-honesty? By honesty I mean the seeing
of himself as being one with the whole of the universe, and
not as a separate ego which must battle with other egos.
A An : honest heart possesses a kingdom. (Seneca)
1051. O: I am trying to see the difference between human

power and power residing in union with spiritual principles. I
believe it is accurate to say that spiritual power has none of

the public screaming and general insanity we see in the news.
A Power
: rests in tranquillity. (Cecil)
1052. O: If we could onlv feel the existence of something

higher than us working for us!
A : I am by Nature made for my own good, not for my

own evil. |
Epictetus)
Take this heroic forward step
1053. O: It is incredible how asleep I have been to my own

self-splitting. How will self-healing make things different?
A All who have conscience say whatever they say

:
from the heart, and do whatever they do from the heart; for
not having a divided mind they speak and act according to
what they understand and believe to be true and good.
(Swedenborg)
1054. Q: So we must refuse to compromise, we must choose

genuine self-change over the mere appearance of goodness?
A Men.
: attached by habit to the existing order, shrink
from attempting to change it, therefore they agree to
consider this doctrine as a mass of revelations and laws that
may be accepted without making any change in one's life:
whereas the doctrine .... is not a doctrine of rules for men
to obey, but unfolds a new life-conception, meant as a guide
for men who are now entering upon a new life, one entirely
different from the past. (Tolstoy)
1055. Q: So we can happily conclude that nothing is more
practical than to return to our true self!
A There is nothing more useful to man than that

:
which most agrees with his own nature. (Spinoza)
1056. Q: Please discuss inner refreshment.
A: I have given you the refreshing drink called the

perception of truth, and he who drinks of it becomes free
from excitement, passion, and wrong-doing. (Buddha)
1057. Q: A friend of mine is becoming more and more

interested in higher truth, but has trouble understanding why
his progress is so slow. What might I tell him?
A: When a farmer is irrigating his field the water is
already in the canals, only there are gates which keep the
water in. The farmer opens these gates, and the water flows
inby itself, by the law of gravitation. So, all human progress
and power are already in everything; this perfection is every
man's nature, only it is barred in and prevented from taking
its proper course. If anyone can take the bar off, in rushes
nature. Then the man attains the powers which are his
already. (Vivekananda)
1058. Q: Then our happiness depends upon how much we

permit ourselves to be our real selves?
A We make
: for ourselves, in truth, our own spiritual
world. (Amiel)
1059. Q: Suppose a man

reaches the point where he sees, at
least dimly, the angerand the terror and the frustration he
has concealed so long from himself and others. Suppose his
suffering has also given him a glimpse of the light at the exit
of his cave. What forward step can he take?
A : time to undervalue what he has valued, to
It is
dispossess himself of what he has acquired, and with Caesar

to take in his hand the army, the empire and Cleopatra, and
say, 'All these will I relinquish, if you will show me the
fountains of the Nile.' (Emerson)
5
1060. Q: That is the heroism we all need.
A : I know that they go towards the best — towards

something great. (Whitman)
Methods for changing your life
a. Anyone can become a totally new individual.

b. Self-transformation comes through esoteric self-work.
c. Life invites you to discover its true brightness!
d. The nature of truth is kindness and compassion.
e. Have the courage to be a new and a happy person.
/. Refuse to be carried away by exterior confusion.
g. Your new life is beautiful beyond all description.
h. Determine to return home to your true nature.
i. The truth always works, if we let it.
/. Something new and great is just ahead of you.
15. How to Swiftly Awaken Your Hidden
Powers
1061. Q: Do I understand correctly that we actually possess

all the strength we need, but have failed to draw from it?
A: Beast, birds, and insects, even to the minutest and
meanest of their kind, act with the unerring providence of
instinct; man, the while, who possesses a higher faculty, abuses
it, and therefore goes blundering on. (Southey)
1062. Q: What is a common way in which people abuse their

natural powers?
A: To pursue trifles is the lot of humanity; and

whether we bustle in a pantomime or strut at a coronation,
whether we shout at a bonfire or harangue in a senate-house
— whatever object we follow, it will at last surely conduct us
to futility and disappointment. (Goldsmith)
1063. Q: You seem to be saying that we beat upon a

thousand exciting drums in a frantic attempt to drown out
the noise of our own pains.
A: For my part, I would rather there were less of such

excitement and transport, less of mere thrilling emotion, so
that a man were diligent and rightly manful in working and in
virtue, for in such exercises do we learn best to know
ourselves. (Tauler)
1064. Q: What prevents people from making clear and

thinking a permanent power for self-guidance?
realistic
A : With a large number of people, it is quite evident

that their power of sight wholly predominates over their
power of thought; they seem to be conscious of their
HOW TO SWIFTLY AWAKEN YOUR HIDDEN POWERS 21 7
existence only when they are making a noise. (Schopenhauer)
1065. Q: I do not see how the restoration of our inner

faculties connects with vital spiritual matters.
A When
: everything is in its right place within us, we
ourselves are in balance with the whole work of God. (Amiel)
1066. Q: Some people like the kind of power that tyrannizes

and hurts other people. This is obviously false and evil power,
based on deceitful appearances, and backed up by the lunatic
mob. What is true power?
A: Power obeys reality, and not appearances; power is
according to quality, and not quantity. (Emerson)
1067. Q: Sometimes we get so involved with our own

thinking that we forget the simplest of rules for successful
living. Please remind us of one.
A We : should not act and speak as if we were asleep.

(Aurelius)
1068. Q: Esotericism teaches that men dwell in a peculiar

dreaming that they are awake.
state of spiritual sleep, while
What information can begin to shake us awake?
A Reality surpasses imagination, and we see breathing,
:
brightening and moving before our eyes some sights dearer to

our hearts than any we ever beheld in the land of sleep.
(Goethe)
1069. Q: My husband and I would appreciate having an

exercise we can work out together.
A: Every night we should call ourselves to account:

'What weakness have I overcome today? What passions
opposed? What temptations resisted? What virtue acquired?'
Our weaknesses will decrease of themselves if they are
brought every day to the light. (Seneca)
How to awaken fresh energy
1070. Q: I feel more and more attracted to these ideas

because they have a certain charm and radiance found in no
other place. Is my experience shared by others?
A It is only through the morning gate of the beautiful

:
that you can penetrate into the realm of knowledge. That

which we feel here as beauty, we shall one day know as truth.
(Schiller)
1071. Q: You
have said that many of these ideas may seem
negative at but turn out to be the very map to the
first,
treasure. Will you please cite an instance of this?
A The precept, 'Know yourself was not solely

:
intended to abolish the pride of men, but also that we might

understand our own value. (Cicero)
1072. Q: The talent for turning negative impulses into

constructive forces seems like true magic to me. It would be
valuable, for example, to turn a strong feeling of persecution
into the feeling that there is truly another way to live.
A Strong impulses are but another name for energy.

:
Energy may be turned to bad uses, but more good may

always be made of an energetic nature, than of an indolent
and impassive one. (Mill)
1073. Q: Do I understand correctly that fresh energy

develops as we actually engage in the battle for inner
rightness?
A: Our energy is in proportion to the resistance we

meet. (Hazlitt)
1074. Q: I am wondering if this is why self-reliance is so

highly prized by those who have found their way out of the
cave? I mean, if we cease to lean on others, we must lean on
ourselves, which forces our slumbering energies to awaken.
A : A man is best off if he is thrown upon his own
resources, and can be all in all to himself, and Cicero goes so
far as to say that a man who is in this condition cannot fail to
be very happy. (Schopenhauer)
HOW TO SWIFTLY AWAKEN YOUR HIDDEN POWERS 219
1075. Q: Does self-dependence have a limit?
A No: bird soars too high, if he soars with his own

wings. (Blake)
1076. Q: You say that our faithful study of these messages

produces a change in our feeling towards them. By this I
believe you mean that we value them more and therefore
make them more and more welcome.
A : Welcome as kindly showers to the long parched
earth. (Dryden)
1077. Q: How can we release our psychic forces in the

shortest possible time?
A The greatest loss of time is delay and expectation,

:
which depends upon the future. We let go of the present,

which we have in our power, and look forward to that which
depends upon chance — and so relinquish a certainty for an
uncertainty. (Seneca)
1078. Q: I am delighted at how my clear understanding of

even one idea has power to solve a dozen problems. It is like
having a single clear window, which is enough to see
everything immediately outside.
A A new
: principle is an inexhaustible source of new
views. (Vauvenargues)
Your map for the esoteric journey
1079. Q: All of us realize the need for independent mental

work, but it is so tempting to simply adopt the poisonous
notions manufactured by the masses. Give an antidote for
maintaining total mental health.
A: Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. (New

Testament)
1080. Q: I need a simplified explanation of why we are

working to see ourselves as we really are, instead of seeing
ourselves through our vanities. What is the value in this
disturbing of ourselves?
A : I am in the process of bringing all my defects into
the light for the purpose of getting rid of them. We never
know how rich we are until we break up housekeeping!
(Henault)
1081. Q: May we have general information about our hidden

powers?
A Although men are accused for not knowing their

:
own weakness, yet perhaps as few know their strength. It is

in men as in soils, where sometimes there is a vein of gold
which the owner knows not of. (Swift)
1082. Q: And we will be aware of the actual rising of these

new forces?
A : These you shall see. (Epictetus)
1083. Q: What power do we have over those discomforts we

meet as we circulate among people and events?
A: If you
by any external thing, it is not
are pained
this thing that disturbs own judgment about it.
you, but your
It is in your power to erase this judgment now. If anything in
your own nature gives you pain, who hinders you from
correcting your opinion? (Aurelius)
1084. Q: I have run out of excuses, so I must now take up

these ideas as a major task in life. Please show me where I
have failed to unite with my own powers for self-rescue.
A : We
never present with, but always beyond
are
ourselves. and hope are always pushing us
Fear, desire,
towards the future. (Montaigne)
1085. Q: Is this why esotericism stresses the need for

self-unity, for being one with ourselves?
A : Philosophy is, to tell the truth, a homesickness, an

effort to return home. (Novalis)
1086. Q: Please provide a map for those who want to make

the return trip.
A The custom of frequent reflection will keep their

:
minds from running adrift, and call their thoughts home from
useless, inattentive roving. (Locke)
1087. Q: Insight into our desires is no doubt very valuable to

us,but specifically, how can an understanding of our desires
keep us out of trouble?
A We would
: desire few things ardently if we had a
perfect knowledge of what we were desiring. (La Roche-
foucauld)
1088. Q: Our aim is to become real. What is your definition

of a real person?
A The most
: virtuous of all men is he who contents
himself with being virtuous without seeking to appear so.
(Plato)
Anyone can recover his natural powers
1089. Q: W e are collecting a rich harvest of ideas for our

T
mental storehouse. May we have a procedure for using them

for maximum value?
A We
: ought never to be afraid to repeat an ancient
truth when we
feel that we can make it more striking by a
neater turn, or bring it alongside of another truth, which may
make it clearer, and thereby accumulate evidence. It belongs
to the inventive faculty to see clearly the relative state of
things, and to be able to place them in connection, but the
discoveries of past ages belong less to their first authors than
to those who make them practically useful to the world.
(Vauvenargues)
1090. Q: I would like assurance that nothing — absolutely

nothing — can prevent a sincere man from recovering the
original powers he lost by choosing fancy over fact.
A A
sublime soul can rise to all kinds of greatness, but
:
by his own
effort; it can tear itself loose from all bondage, to
all that limits and restrains it, but only by the strength of
determination. (Schiller)
1091. Q: It seems that right aspirations are important.
A A : good intention clothes itself with sudden power.

(Emerson)
1092. Q: I am aware that we must make the venture towards

the higher life, but half the time we are not sure of what we
are doing.
A : If a man is he not elevated? Did

constantly aspires,
ever a man magnanimity, truth, sincerity, and
try heroism,
find that there was no advantage in them — that it was a vain
endeavour? (Thoreau)
1093. Q: Our receptivity to truth is a cause which produces

an effect. What is that effect?
A: The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace. (New

Testament)
1094. Q: We feel the painful consequences of our faults, yet

are so reluctant to work at self-purification. At what point
willwe be able to admit more faults as a first step towards
ending them?
A Why
: does no man confess his vices? Because he is
still them.
in It is for a waking man to tell of his dreams.
(Seneca)
1095. Q: You teach that our approach towards true life must
be dynamically different from the methods used in every day-
business. What is that difference?
A Human things must be known to be loved, but

:
Divine things must be loved to be known. (Pascal)
1096. Q: May
review? Esotericism teaches that our only
I
real task is to awaken from our terrible psychic

in life
slumber, to become conscious and aware men and women. In
this newness we have no more problems, because we have
banished the cause of problems — our own unconsciousness,
our unawareness.
A Men must
: be aware of the wisdom and the strength
that is in them if their understanding is to be expanded.

(Vauvenargues)
1097. Q: Awareness, consciousness, is everything?
A : Man finds joy in himself, and, safe in the

inaccessible sanctuary of his personal consciousness,becomes
almost a god. He is himself principle, motive, and the end of
his own destiny; he is himself, and that is enough for him.
(Amiel)
Look in an entirely new direction!
1098. Q: You are teaching us to look in an entirely new

direction, which know is
I the only right way. As an aid,
please illustrate how we look in the wrong direction.
A: Suppose that, with the exception of some sore or

painful spot, we are physically in a sound and healthy
condition. The pain of
this one spot will completely absorb
our attention, causing us to lose the sense of general
well-being, and destroying our comfort in life. In the same
way, when all our affairs but one turn out as we wish, the
single instance in which our aims are frustrated is a constant
trouble to us, even though it is something quite trivial.
(Schopenhauer)
1099. Q: How can this fault be corrected?
A Today
: I have escaped from all trouble, or rather, I
have cast out all trouble, for it was not outside me, but
within, and in my opinions. (Aurelius)
1100. Q: Why do many public authorities have the facts

about inner power, but show by their private lives that they
lack the power itself?
A The walls of rude minds are scrawled all over with

:
facts,with thoughts. They shall one day bring a lantern and

read the inscriptions. (Emerson)
1101. Q: Then a fact and an understanding of that fact are

different things?
A: It is the understanding that sees and hears; it is the
understanding that improves everything, that orders every-
thing, and that acts, rules, and reigns. (Epicharmus)
1102. Q: What kind of person can receive these powers of

understanding?
A He
: that hath ears to hear, let him hear. (Jesus)
1103. Q: What new message might we hear from our

awakened understanding?
A: W hat
T
a brave privilege it is to be free from all
contentions, from envying or being envied, from receiving

all
or paying all kinds of ceremonies! (Cowley)
1104. Q: I wonder whether we will ever really learn. We

always follow human idols and we always pay the price.
A: The great are only great because we are on our

knees. Let us rise up. (Proudhon)
1105. Q: Though it makes us uncomfortable at first, it seems

like a good idea to remember what we are missing by not
pursuing truth. May we have such a reminder?
A The man who

: has no refuge in himself, who lives, so
to speak, in his front rooms,
in the outer whirlwind of things
and opinions, is not properly speaking a personality at all; he
isnot distinct, free, original, a cause — in a word, someone.
He is one of the crowd, a taxpayer, an elector, an anonymity,
but not a man. (Amiel)
1106. Q: Why are we so careless of our spiritual prosperity?
A: Our indifference to the truth is due to our

determination to follow our desires. 'It is of no importance,'
men say, 'to know where the truth is, since we know whal
will give us pleasure/ (Vauvenargues)
Explore beyond your present boundaries
1 107. Q: Man has been compared to a ship without a rudder.

which every wind catches and drives back and forth, up and
down. How can we take charge of our psychic ship, so that it
is not at the mercy of another person's frown or of unwanted
news?
A: Man is obviously made to think. It is his whole
dignity and his whole merit and his whole duty to think as he
ought. (Pascal)
1 108. O: How can we increase our mental powers?
ANothing has such power to broaden the mind as the

:
ability to investigate systematically and truly all that comes

under your observation in life. (Aurelius)
1109. Q: I would like to investigate the principle which

proclaims man's ability to know both the cause and cure of
his own disaster.
A : All things are known to the soul. It is not to be

surprised by any communication. Nothing can be greater
than it, let those fear and those fawn who will. The soul is in
her native realm; and it is wider than space, older than time,
wide as hope, rich as love. Pusillanimity and fear she refuses
with a beautiful scorn; they are not for her who putteth on
her coronation robes, and goes out through universal love to
universal power. (Emerson)
1110. Q: Why do many people, including ourselves, hesitate

to explore beyond our present boundaries of life?
A: Narrowness of mind is the cause of obstinacy — we

do not easily believe what is beyond our sight. (La
Rochefoucauld)
llll.Q: But why should people change their minds? It is
supposed to be noble to stand by one's convictions.
A : Stubbornness is not firmness. (Schiller)
1112. Q: I realize the need for giving these wisdoms an

opportunity to change me in a new way. How can I do so?
A: It is love that asks, that seeks, that knocks, that

finds, and that is faithful to what it finds. (Augustine)
1113. Q: Sometimes we feel that the only good things are

those we can see or touch. What is the answer to this
misleading temptation?
A The
: true harvest of my daily life is somewhat as
intangible and indescribable of morning or evening.
as the tints
It is a little star-dust caught, a segment of the rainbow which
I have clutched. (Thoreau)
1114. Q: All of us sense that whatever is natural is always

right and healthy, so please tell us how to recognize both the
natural and the unnatural.
A : Where there is much pretence, much has been

borrowed — nature never pretends. (Lavater)
1115. Q: I find it helpful to see our inner forces as servants

which work for us silently and efficiently.
A : Untwisting all the chains that tie the hidden soul of

harmony. (Milton)
Absorb these vital facts about life
1116. Q: Of we have un-

the hundreds of interesting facts
covered, one of the most surprising man's immersion in is
illusions about his identity. He falsely thinks he has a sepa-

rate self, with separate self-wisdom and self-control, instead
of seeing that he lives in Cosmic Oneness, in Universal Mind.
Please confirm this.
A : is more hidden from us than the illusion

Nothing
which with us day by day, and our greatest illusion is to
lives
believe that we are what we think ourselves to be. (Amicl)
1117. Q: What is meant by Universal Mind?

A : There is one mind common to all individual men.
Every man an inlet to the same and to all of the same. He
is
that is once admitted to the right of reason is made a freeman

of the whole estate. What Plato has thought, he may think;
what has felt, he may feel; what at any time has

a saint
befallen any man, he can understand. Who hath access to this
universal mind is a party to all that is or can be done, for this
is the only and sovereign agent. (Emerson)
1118. Q: Your teaching about the Oneness of man with his

universe is both practical and fascinating. How might a
scientist explain it?
A There : is no man alone, because every man is a

microcosm, and carries the whole world about him. (Browne)
1119. Q: I once heard a most interesting remark at a lecture.

The speaker said that the greater the neurosis, the greater can
be the swing over to the side of mental health, providing the
individual works hard on himself. Where might this swing to
sanity start?
A: If you are content with the old world, try to pre-

serve it; it is sick .But if you can no longer live in the
. .
eternal conflict between your convictions and life, thinking

one way and acting another, take it upon yourselves to leave
the shelter of the pale and ruinous arches. (Herzen)
1120. Q: This calls for a personal declaration of freedom.
A : It is time to explain myself — let us stand up.

(Whitman)
1121. Q: I want to leave the disastrous battleground of

society, but need more power than I now possess.
A How great is the power of truth! Of its own power

:
itcan easily defend itself against all the ingenuity of cunning

and wisdom of men, and against the treacherous plots of all
the world. (Cicero)
1 122. Q: What fundamental understanding can establish us in

new powers in the most efficient manner?
A: Men have but to understand this: they must cease

and external matters ... let them apply
to care for material
one hundredth part of the energy now used by them in out-
ward concerns to those in which they are free — to the recog-
nition and profession of the truth that confronts them, to the
deliverance of themselves and others from the falsehoods
which conceal the truth. Then the false system of life which
now torments us, which threatens us with still greater suffer-
ing, be destroyed at once without struggle, then the
will
Kingdom of Heaven, at least in that first stage will be . . .
established. (Tolstoy)
The way out of the wilderness
1123. Q: Please explain the difference between a receptive

mind and a gullible mind.
A There is an old simile in India that if you place a

:
cup of milk before a Raja Hamsa (swan) with plenty of water

in it, he will take all the milk and leave the water. In that way
we should take what is of value in knowledge, and leave the
dross. (Vivekananda)
1124. Q: My study has revealed a definite connection

between self-responsibility and self -happiness.
A To
: be happy means to be self-sufficient. (Aristotle)
1125. Q: My aim is to toss aside everything useless, and to

cut a straight path through the mental wilderness, to break
out into clear ground. Will you provide a way?
A Many
: have puzzled themselves about the origin of
evil. I am
content to observe that there is evil, and that there
is a way to escape from it; and with this I begin and end.
(Newton)
1126. Q: It is unfortunately true that many of us are like

forged paintings; we look good, but are often valueless. What
original values can we reclaim?
A How are we constituted by Nature?

: To be free, to
be noble, to be modest. (Epictetus)
1127. Q: You have said that a truly spiritual man has a
certain indifference about him, which radiates itself as

strength. What is an example?
A : The only way to get the confidence of the world is
to show the world that you do not want their confidence.

(Haydon)
1128. Q: Is it better for us to stick to one authentic teacher

or to see what all of them have to say?
A : Does not a bee gather honey out of many flowers?

(Boehme)
1129. Q: I am gradually awakening to the need to break out

of my self-centred World, and also sense the power to do it.
Apparently, an authentic need creates the very capacity for

fulfilling the need.
A The
: first breath of spiritual life is indeed, in one
sense, the realization of this capacity, but in another sense, it
isonly the beginning of a realization which is itself incapable

of limitation we have in us the power to transcend the
. . .
bounds of our narrow individuality, and to find ourselves in

that which seems to lie beyond us. (Caird)
1130.Q: My best achievement up to now is to clearly see

that there are a thousand reasons for wrestling with these
ideas and not one good reason for ignoring them.
A: Pure gold! (Blake)
Profitable principles in summary
a. Every person possesses a storehouse of hidden power.

b. As our deeper mind awakens, our sleeping energies emerge.
c. Every unhappy event can be used to discover new powers.
d. Place a supreme value on all these principles.
e. Awareness of a negativity provides power over it.
/. Nothing can prevent you from becoming a new person.
g. Look in an entirely new direction for a refreshed life!
h. Take very good care of your spiritual prosperity.

i. Naturalness is an available and a supreme power.
/. Think of all the good reasons for seeking self-newness.
16. You Can Now Conquer Fear and
Depression
1131. Q: I am a far more frightened person than 1 appear to

be before others. How can I dissolve my fears?
A If men who do not understand life would only

:
approach nearer to the phantoms which alarm them, and

would examine them, they would see that they are only
phantoms, and not realities. (Tolstoy)
1132. Q: I feel depressed because I am unable to correct all
the mistakes I have made.
.4 : Do not cumber yourself with fruitless pains to

mend and remedy remote effects; let the soul be erect, and
all things will go well. (Emerson)
1133.Q: Please make us aware of a negative influence we

should guard against.
A Let not that which in another is contrary to nature

:
be an evil to you, for you are not made by nature to be

depressed with others, nor to be unhappy with others, but to
be happy with them. (Epictetus)
1134. Q: Sometimes I feel cut off from everything that is
right and good and necessary. Is that a false feeling
.1 : We are not cast away, not separate. (Plotinus)
1 135. Q: How can we put more life into our livr.
.1: The millions arc awake enough for physical labour;

but only one in a million is awake enough for effective intel-
lectual exertion, only one m ahundred millions to a poetic or
YOU CAN NOW CONQUER FEAR AND DEPRESSION 231
divine life. To be awake is to be alive We must learn to . . .
reawaken and keep ourselves awake, not by mechanical aids,

but by an infinite expectation of the dawn. (Thoreau)
1136. Q: We
are unable to get to the point about anything,
especially our problems. How can we live simply, directly,
without fuss and without discussion?
A: A cucumber is bitter? Throw it away. There are

briars in the road? Turn aside from them. This is enough. Do
not add, 'Why were such things made in the world?'
(Aurelius)
1137. Q: So a main problem is our own mental wanderings!
A: W e must
f
get rid of all this nonsense. (Kierkegaard)
1138. Q: May we have a specific instance of wasteful

thinking?
A: The individual fears ridicule above all things, and

ridicule is the certain result of originality. No one, therefore,
wishes to make a pa^ty of his own; everyone wishes to be on
the side of all the world. (Amiel)
1 139. Q: Please provide a basic fact about genuine happiness.
A The happiness we receive from ourselves is greater

:
than that which we obtain from our surroundings. (Metro-

dorus)
1140. Q: It is sometimes discouraging to see how many

things we do not know.
A: The only useful question in this matter is this: how
a man may know that he is in the way of regeneration, that
he is spiritually alive, and growing in the inward and new
man. (Law)
There is no fear in love
1141. Q: I feel myself almost in possession of lasting

contentment, but the secret is still inches from my grasp.
A: Whether we are in a pleasant or a painful state
depends, finally, upon the kind of matter that pervades and
engrosses our consciousness. (Schopenhauer)
1142. Q: Then authentic peace can come only from

authentic spirituality?
A: In the highest stage of divine comfort is that peace

which is said to pass all understanding. (Tauler)
1143. Q: We have been advised to root out fear in order to

love and be loved. Please explain.
A: No man loves the man whom he fears. (Aristotle)
1144. Q: Authentic love conquers all things, including fear

and trembling?
A: There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out
fear. (New Testament)
1145. Q: It is said that psychic power is altogether different

from the power of human authority. Will you please clarify?
A: The man who fears nothing is as powerful as he

who is feared by everybody. (Schiller)
1146. Q: Much
of our enthusiasm is like a boomerang that
falls back to strike us as depression. Please provide us with an
enthusiasm that goes places.
A: I pray thee, O God, that 1 may be beautiful within.

(Socrates)
1147. Q: I feel a particular kind of frustration. For years I

have tried to succeed by imitating the methods of people
who have already won their objectives. I sometimes hope that
tomorrow will be the turning point, but another part of me
senses that I am going about it all wrong.
A : Is it not then high time to look out for some better

ground to stand upon, than such learning as this? (Law)
1 148. Q: But I do not know any other way.

A: There is a kind of elevation which does not depend

on fortune. It is a certain air which distinguishes us, and
seems to destine us for great things; it is a price which we set
upon ourselves. (La Rochefoucauld)
1149. Q: And this sets us free of the anxiety involved in

wanting things from others?
A : I care not so much what I am in the opinion of

others, as what I am in my own. I would be rich of myself,
and not by borrowing. (Montaigne)
1 150. Q: I can express my problem clearly.

wonder whether I
My mind me to think stupid and useless

takes over and forces
thoughts. I am like a man swept along by a raging river,
battered and miserable, with no way out. Do you understand
my condition?
A Man
: is so made
that by continually telling him he is
a fool and by continually telling it to himself
he believes it,
he makes himself believe it. For man holds an inward talk

with himself, which it pays him to regulate We must keep . . .
silent as much as possible, and talk with ourselves only of

God, whom we know to be true, and thus we convince our-
selves of the truth. (Pascal)
Have no anxiety over results
1151. Q: Our study group is at present exploring false

escapes from fear and tension. I believe you include most
social activities as a wrong route.
A have said that people are rendered sociable by

: 1
their inability to endure solitude, that is to say, their own

society. They become sick of themselves. Their mind is
wanting in flexibility; it has no movement of its own, so they
try to give it some — by drink, for instance . . . They are
always looking for some form of excitement, of the stron
kind they can bear — the excitement of being with people ol
like nature with themselves; and if they Fail in this, theii
mind sinks by its own weight, and they fall into grievous
lethargy. (Schopenhauer)
1152. Q: What is the matter with people who constantly
chase from one place to another, from one activity to the
next, in a vain attempt to find satisfaction?
A They
: see not good so near. (Pythagoras)
1153. Q: Why do we fail to see how easily we are fooled by

the outer world?
A : Oh, the difficulty of fixing the attention of men on

the world within them! (Coleridge)
1 154. Q: What idea can fix our attention on our inner riches?
A: Why do you look without for that which is within

you? (Eckhart)
1155. Q: I would appreciate having a thought to call upon

whenever I feel discouraged over my self-work.
A : Nothing is more delightful than the light of truth.

(Cicero)
1156. Q: What truth would help a person who feels he has

be a success in his career or work?
failed to
A : Nature has not said to me, 'Be not poor,' still less,
'Be rich.' She calls out to me, 'Be independent!' (Chamfort)
1157. Q: What does a man gain by following this counsel?
A He is independent of everybody and everything.

:
Always do your duty, but without attachment to it. That is

how a man reaches ultimate truth — by working without
anxiety about results. (Hinduism)
1158. Q: There is a certain fear which many people never

speak about, probably because they are unaware of it. What
is your comment on the fear of being alone?
A : A wise man is never less alone than when he is
alone. (Swift)
1159. Q: What is the way of the wise man?

Ai I cannot break myself any longer

must be myself. 1
for vou, or you. If you can love me

for what I am, we shall
be the happier. If will not hurt you and
you cannot ... I
myself by hypocritical attentions. If you are true, but not in
the same truth with me, cleave to your own companions; I
will seek my own. I do this not selfishly but humbly and
truly. It is alike your interest, and mine, and all men's, how-
ever long we have dwelt in lies, to live in truth. Does this
sound harsh today? You will soon love what is dictated by
your nature as well as mine, and if we follow the truth it will
bring us out safe at last. (Emerson)
1 160. Q: Can we really escape our anxieties?
A : Like birds escaped from the net. (Buddhism)
How to be free of all fears
1161. Q: Sometimes I feel like a man adrift in a boat in a

foggy sea. I don't know where I am going or what is happen-
ing to me.
A : Fear not . . for you. There is a

. there is no danger
way and by this way the
to cross over the ocean of the world,
wise men have reached the shore. This same way I point out
to you, for it is the way to destroy the world's fear. Crossing
the ocean of the world by this way, you will win perfect
peace. (Shankara)
1162. Q: In a single sentence, why does humanity go from

one disaster to another?
A : If you are surprised at the number of our maladies,

count our cooks. (Seneca)
1163. Q: But public leaders seem so sure of themselves.
A: Nothing is so firmly believed as what we least

know. (Montaigne)
1164. Q: Then there must be no hero-worship, even in spirit-
ual matters?
A : None are superior to what you might become.
(Bah
1165. Q: My studies are beginning to lift certain kinds of

depression which haunted me for years. What esoteric law
explains this?
A : Apprehensions are greater in proportion as things

are unknown, Livv i i
1166. Q: I wish to be totally free of fear. Can spiritual

mental health, in its highest form, provide this perfection?
A: God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of

power, and of love, and of a sound mind. (New Testament)
1167. Q: Does our climb to these peaks of truth save us from

a secret fear of punishment?
A: He who ascends to this height has all things under

nis feet. (Ruysbroecki
1168. Q: I would like to start climbing.
A Come forth, and bring with you

: a heart that
watches and receives. (Wordsworth)
1169. Q- I notice that the sages call out for personal recep-
tivity, honest receptivity, while cautioning us against merely
toying with the truth. Please comment.
A : If a foolish man is associated with a wise man, even

all his life, the foolish man will understand truth as little as a
spoon understands the taste of soup. (Buddhism)
1170. Q: The mystics point out that unenlightened man i*

split into dozens of separate and contradictory parts which
battle endlessly with each other. Observation proves the truth
of this. What technique can brin^ a man together into
oneness, wholeness?
A : Man need not perform any acts or exploits, but has

only to make an intense effort at consciousness. (Tolstoy)
1171. Q: It is certain that our frenzied activities — even our

so-called noble ones — are self-deceiving attempts to escape
from our miserable selves, but what else can we do?
A : I will not move until I have the highest command
. . . Your virtuous projects, so called, do not cheer me. I
know that which shall come will cheer me. If I cannot work,
at least I need not lie. All that is clearly due today is not to
lie. (Emerson)
Be your own good fortune!
1172. Q: As all oi know by experience, the truth seems

i-s
frightening, but at the same time it is the only force capable

of banishing fear. Will you go into this?
A A : little boy wearing the mask of a lion looks quite

fierce. He runs out where his little sister is playing and shrieks
out in a horrible voice, which shocks and terrifies his sister,
making her cry out in terror, and making her attempt to
escape from the frightening creature. But when her brother
takes off his mask, she runs back to exclaim, 'It is my nice
brother after all!' (Ramakrishna)
1173. Q: I am apprehensive that others won't like me.
A : From a distance it is something; nearby it is
nothing. (La Fontaine)
1174. Q: How can I quickly recover from an upset or a

depression?
A When you have been compelled by circumstances to

:
be disturbed in any manner, quickly return to yourself, and

do not continue out of tune longer than the compulsion lasts.
You will have increasing control over your own harmony by
continually returning to it. (Aurelius)
1175. Q: What can create self-encouragement?
A : There is always hope in a man that actually and

earnestly works. In idleness alone is there perpetual despair.
(Carlyle)
1176. Q: Please point out a cause of anxiety of which we
may be unaware.
A: We often try to banish the gloom and despondency
of the present by speculating upon our chances of success in
the future; a process which leads us to invent a great many
unreal hopes. Every one of them contains the seed of illusion,
and disappointment is inevitable when our hopes are shat-
tered. (Schopenhauer)
1177. Q: You say that man lives almost entirely in flattering

self-pictures of being good, rather than in the genuine article.
This would seem to be a major cause of tension, for he must
endlessly try to protect his illusory images.
A : That virtue which requires to be ever guarded is
scarcely worth the sentinel. (Goldsmith)
1178. Q: I have been both startled and helped by realizing

how much we live from unrealistic self-pictures of ourselves.
How would you describe a man living like this?
A The
: slave and prisoner of his own opinion of him-
self. (Thoreau)
1179. Q: Please show us how to be free from the chains of

opinion.
A : I call that mind free which protects itself against

the usurpations of society, which does not cower to human
opinion, which feels itself accountable to a higher tribunal
than man's, which respects itself too much to be the slave or
tool of the many or the few. (Channing)
1180. Q: You have said that the man who knows the truth
from himself has no need for frantic belief. Please explain.
.1: Would it not be absurd and disrespectful if you

were in the presence of a king to say to him, 'Sir, 1 1)0110X1-
your majesty is here'? (Molinos)
1 181. Q\ So we need only to see what we already possess?

.1: Henceforth I ask not good-fortune, I myself am
good-fortune. (Whitman)
How to erase secret faults
1182. Q: I feel myself capable of winning this new life, but at

the same time I possess secret faults which threaten to rise up
and expose me. This frustrates my efforts.
A: Let nothing, therefore, deter a well minded soul

from persevering with fervour in this firm resolution. No, not
the sight of her daily defect, imperfections, or sins, or
remorses for them; but rather let her increase in courage even
from her falls, and from the experience of her own
impotency let her be incited to run more earnestly she . . .
will be enabled to do all things and conquer all resistances.

(Baker)
1183. Q: What can we ask of life without fearing that it will

answer with a no ?
A He who
: asks of life nothing but the improvement of
his own nature, and a continuous good progress towards
inner contentment and spiritual submission, is less likely than
anyone else to miss and waste life. (Amiel)
1184. Q: I am increasingly aware of the error of compro-

mising with what is truly right for me. What esoteric principle
covers this?
A No man
: can serve two masters. (Jesus)
1185. Q: We could use detailed advice for not compromising,

for standing up for ourselves in the right way.
A The characteristic of heroism is its persistency. All

:
men have wandering impulses, fits and starts But when . . .
you have chosen your part, abide by it, and do not weakly
try to reconcile yourself with the world. The heroic cannot be
the common, nor the common the heroic. (Emerson)
1186. Q: My work at the business office is a major cause of

tension and pressure.
A : Carry religious principles into common life . . .
Soon business, with all its cares and anxieties, the whole
'unprofitable stir and fever of the world' will be to us a thing
of the past. (Caird)
1187. Q: I am highly encouraged by realizing that we can be
in the world but not snared by it.
A: Heaven is under our feet as well as over our heads.

(Thoreau)
1188.0: Our false activities are evident enough, for our

inner nature suffers from them constantly. Please recommend
a healthy activity which serves our true needs.
A To build up that strength of mind which appre-

:
hends and cleaves to great universal truths, is the highest

intellectual culture. (Channing)
1189. Q: The great teachers say that evil is really a state of

hypnosis, of ignorance and unconsciousness. How can a
person tell whether he dwells in this psychic sleep?
A: No evil man is happy. (Juvenal)
1190. Q: I never mention it to anyone, but 1 am secretly

afraid of angry people. I go out of my way to please others so
as to not arouse their hostility. I hope something can be done
about this uncomfortable condition.
A: The man who is just and resolute will not be moved
from purpose, either by the misdirected rage of his

his settled
fellow citizens, or by the threats of an imperious tyrant.
(Horace)
Secrets for self-success
1191. Q: As a school teacher, I wish to show my students

how immodesty and arrogance bring self-punishment. Do you
have a lesson might use?I
1: It is the tall pine which is cruelly shaken by the

.
wind, and the lofty towers that fall so heavily, and the high-
est peaks which are struck by the storm. (Schopenhauer)
1192. Q: How can I avoid getting upset over the unpleasant

words and acts of others?
A : Inquire of yourself as soon as you awaken from

sleep whether it will make any difference to you, if another
does or does not do what is just and right. It will make no
difference. (Aurelius)
1193. Q: You teach that inner dawning comes only after we

have been disillusioned, when we start to doubt our tradition-
al beliefs, and when we have lost our supposed securities. Will
you please review this?

A To understand things we must have been once in
:
them and then have come out of them; so that first there
must be captivity and then deliverance, illusion followed by
disillusion, enthusiasm by disappointment. He who is still
under the spell, and he who has never felt the spell, are
equally incompetent. We only know well what we have first
believed, then judged. To understand we must be free, yet
not have been always free. (Amiel)
1194. Q: What happens to a man as a result of this

experience?
A How: changed from him whom we knew! (Virgil)
1195. Q: I have collected and studied mystical books for

twenty years. There is a definite difference and superiority in
them, unlike anything found in books of ordinary religion
and psychology. W hat causes the difference?
r
A : If a book comes from the heart, it will contrive to

reach other hearts. (Carlyle)
1196. Q: Nervous people are usually advised to get invoked

with something, or to forget themselves by helping others.
While this does seem to be stale and mechanical advice,
doesn't it work for people?
A : Take away their diversion, and you will see them

dried up with weariness. They feel then their nothingness
without knowing it If our condition were truly happy, we
. . .
would not need diversion. (Pascal)
1197. Q: If diversion fails, what succeeds?

A : Gently, but with undeniable will, divesting myself
of the holds that would hold me. (Whitman)
1198. Q: What is the cause of suddenly finding ourselves in

trouble?
A The cause is sleep or forgetfulness: some sleep when

:
they should keep awake, and some forget when they should
remember. And this is the very cause why often at the
resting-places some pilgrims, in some things, come off losers.
Pilgrims should watch, and remember what they have already
received. (Bunyan)
1199. Q: I have already received so much valuable aid I am

eager to push on with the inner journey.
A I applaud your devotion to philosophy, I rejoice to

:
hear that your spirit has set sail, like the returning Ulysses,
for its native land — that glorious, that only real country —
the world of unseen truth. (Plotinus)
The truth is a solid rock
1200. Q: Please comment on right and wrong attitudes to-

wards these principles.
A : It is clear that the first step in the new birth is a

reception of truths by the understanding, and the second is
the will to act in accordance with truths, and finally to
practise them. No one, however, can be said to be reformed
by mere knowledge of truth; for man is able to acquire these
and to talk about, teach, and preach them But he is a . . .
reformed man who has an affection for truth for the sake of
truth. (Swedenborg)
1201. Q: How does an awakened man show affection for

what is right?
A : The subject on which I meditate is truth. The

practice to which I devote myself is truth. The topic of my
conversation is truth. My thoughts are always in the truth.
For lo! my self has become the truth. (Buddha)
1202. Q: You teach that self-knowledge and cosmic know-

ledge dissolve all conflict, but I can't get over the notion
that I must fight fiercely against a hostile world.
A : Cast away your opinion and you are saved. Who

hinders you from casting it away? (Aurelius)
1203. Q: Nothing is clearer to me than that the man who

masquerades as a policeman will be afraid of meeting a real
policeman. I want to drop pretence and be a real person,
which I believe is a right desire.
A Now
this is nothing else but the superior light giving
:
understanding, so that the human understanding

light to the
becomes divine, made one with the divine. (Yepes)
1204. Q: And this oneness is the same as love?
A Egotism erects its centre in itself; love places it out

:
of itself in the axis of the universal whole. Love aims at

unity, egotism at solitude. Love is the citizen ruler of a flou-
rishing republic, egotism is a despot in a devastated land.
(Schiller)
1205. Q: We are afraid because we seem so small when com-

pared to the mighty universe.
A What frightens you? Stand then and be free. If the

:
sun come down, the moons crumble into dust, systems after
systems are hurled into annihilation, what is that to you?
Stand as a rock; you are indestructible ... so break this chain
and be free for ever. What frightens you, what holds you
down? It is only ignorance and delusion; nothing else can
bind you Therefore, if you dare, stand on that. (Vive-
. . .
kananda)
1206. Q: So by daring to stand, a man actually learns to

stand?
A I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his
:
house upon a rock. And the rain descended, and the floods
came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it
fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. (Jesus)
1207. Q: When does this become our state?
A When we
: rise above ourselves. (Caird)
1208. Q: These ideas are new to me, but at the same time are
interesting and refreshing.
A Come
: on, then, and let us go together, and let us
spend our time in discoursing of things that are profitable.
(Bunyan)
Think about the following guides
a. You can completely dissolve all kinds of fears.

b. The self-awakened person is the unafraid person.
c. Depression is merely a misunderstanding of your nature.
d. Chase out negative thoughts the moment they try to enter.
e. You need have no concern over results in exterior affairs.
/. Nature has not made you to be anxious about anything.
g. All we need to do is to be courageously honest.
h. You can become your own good fortune!
i. Never be influenced by another man's negativity.
j. Practise at standing unafraid and you will stand unafraid.
17. Cosmic Principles for Help and
Guidance
1209. Q: Your invitation to explore the new and the

unknown has aroused me to new life. What is the single most
helpful fact about our exploration of inner space?
A : It is good to love the unknown. (Lamb)
1210. Q: What is the principal power a man needs for living

his own life, for being independent of the quarrels and the
neuroses of others?
A: A singular strength of mind is therefore required to

enable a man to live among others consistently with his own
ideas and convictions, to be master of himself, and not fall
into the habits or exhibit the same passions as those with
whom he associates. (Spinoza)
1211. Q: Please refresh our minds on the overwhelming need

for self-examination and self-study.
A He that knows himself, knows others; and he that is

:
ignorant of himself, could not write a very profound lecture

on other men's heads. (Colton)
1212. Q: How much time should we put into self-study?
A : Can one desire too much of a good thing?

(Cervantes)
1213. Q: Please explain the process by which these ideas be-

come a man's own living truths.
A The bees visit the flowers here and there, but they
:
make honey of them which is all their own; it is no longer

thyme or marjoram: so the pieces borrowed from others he
will transform and mix up into a work all his own.
(Montaigne)
1214. Q: Now that you have made me aware of the artificial

contentment in which most people live, I no longer want to
bear its burden. Please provide some basic information about
this false peace.
A Many
: are secretly seeking their own ends in what
they do, yet know it not. They seem to live in good peace of
mind so long as things go well with them, and according to
their desires, but if their desires be frustrated, immediately
they are shaken and displeased. (Kempis)
1215. Q: To review, esoteric medicine is ready for the patient

as soon as the patient is ready for it.
A What
: is the use of the most sovereign of medicines
while they stand on the sick man's table? What is the
mightiest of truths so long as not believed? The
it is
spiritually sick still mocks at the medicine offered; he will

not know its cure. (MacDonald)
1216. Q: All of us know that something is wrong, but we are

heartened by hearing that healing is available.
A Seeking the way, you must exert yourselves and

:
strivewith diligence free yourselves from the tangled net

. . .
of sorrow. Walk in the path with steadfast aim. A sick man

may be cured by the healing power of medicine and will be
rid of all his ailments without beholding the physician.
(Buddha)
Esoteric teachings are courageous
1217. Q: I now realize that things like fame or a college

education are not automatic signs of a man's intelligence, but
I still do not know how to judge a man's mental level, inclu-
ding my own.
A: It is no proof of a man's understanding to be able
to confirm whatever he pleases; but to be able to discern that

COSMIC PRINCIPLES FOR HELP AND GUIDANCE 247
what is true is true, and that what is false is false; this is the
mark and character of intelligence. (Emerson)
1218. Q: It is apparent that foolish and incompetent men

often receive the greatest public honours. Why?
A The: world more often rewards the appearances of
merit than it does merit itself. (La Rochefoucauld)
1219. Q: Please comment upon the winning of spiritual

insight.
A: As to the thirst after knowledge, it is an old law

that we all we want. None of us can get any-
get whatever
thing other than what we fix our hearts upon The success . . .
sometimes may come immediately, but we must be ready to

wait patiently even for what may look like an infinite length
of time. The student who sets out with such a spirit of per-
severance will surely find success and realization at last.
(Vivekananda)
1220. Q: Esotericism seems to call for a totally new kind of

rebellion; not the usual rebellion which asserts itself egotistic-
ally in public for selfish gains, but rebellion against all forms
of falsehood, including our own self-punishing errors. Please
confirm.
A : I have no inclination to assault myself; it would be

of no use. You may do it yourselves if you choose — I refuse.
(Tolstoy)
1221. Q: News reports usually consist of the foolish and the

bad actions of men. Please give us some cheerful news.
A Money
: is not required to buy one necessity of the
soul (Thoreau)
1222. Q: There is and honesty about

a refreshing courage
these teachings. They are not hiding anything, as many man-
made doctrines do. They tell us to take no one's word for
anything, but to prove all things for ourselves.
A : You may proceed at once with the proof, as I

readily grant you this. (Plato)
1223. Q: I have noticed how

people usually ask the same
questions, for instance, everyone wants to know how to up-
lift his fortunes. Will you please discuss another often-asked
question?
A : I may be asked what I mean by Inward Spiritual

Freedom . . . Spiritual freedom is the attribute of a mind in
which reason and conscience have begun to act, and which is
free through its own energy, through fidelity to the truth,

through resistance to temptation We are in the midst of . . .
influences which menace the intellect and heart; and to be

free is to withstand and conquer these. (Channing)
1224. Q: As we toss out false maps in life, what takes their

place?
A : Directions for leading a happy life. (Horace)
1225. Q: Most of us are so timid about changing our ways,

even our unhappy ways. We wonder what will happen to us if
we dare to go against the lashing waves of social custom to
launch out on our own voyage.
A You
: have no business with consequences; you are
to tell the truth. (Johnson)
Your psychic sight is everything
1226. Q: We are told that self-newness comes as we practise

self-awareness, as we observe ourselves. What does this mean?
A: Whatever you do, act always in full presence of
mind. Be thoughtful in eating and drinking, in walking or
standing, in sleeping or waking, while talking or being silent.
(Buddha)
1227. Q: We are advised to concentrate our powers of mental

attention on worthwhile objects, like noticing the nature of
our passing thoughts. What is a type of wasted attention?
A How much
: trouble he avoids who does not look to
sec what his neighbour says or does or thinks, but only what
he does himself, that it may be just and pure. (A melius)
1228. Q: 1 find it helpful to write down and think about a

new principle each day. May I have one for tomorrow?
A: It is the mind that makes us rich and happy, in

whatever conditions we are, and money signifies no more to
it than it does to the gods. (Seneca)
1229. Q: Then the correction of our psychic sight is every-

thing? For example, will we then see the availability of all we
need for the lofty life?
A What man
: is there of you, whom if his son asks for
bread, will he give him a stone? (Jesus)
1230. Q: We have a problem. People say they are hungry, but

cannot find bread. Mysticism says people are hungry all right,
but refuse to recognize and accept bread. What can be done?
A : Open up your inward sense, and see and hear.

(Suso)
1231. Q: It would be much easier for me if I understood

human nature better. Is it true that like attracts like, and if
so, how does it work?
A Take the case of a large number of people who have

:
gathered together for the purpose of carrying out some

practical project. If there are two rascals among them, they
will recognize each other quickly, as if each wore a similar
badge, and they will at once conspire for some selfishness or
treachery ... It is really curious to see how two such men,
especially they are morally and intellectually inferior, will
if
recognize each other at first sight, with what zeal they will
try to become friends, how affably and cheerfully they will
rush to greet each other. (Schopenhauer)
1232. Q: Why is it so many people can attract our attention,

but lew can win our affection?
.1: Hearts may be attracted by assumed qualities, but

the affections are only to be fixed by those which are real.
(Moy)
1233. Q: a great relief from false responsibility towards

It is
others hear that a man must place his own mental

to
maturity before everything else. I believe you mean that we
can never give more goodness than that which we actually
possess in ourselves.
A You
: will be of as much worth to others as you are
to yourself. (Cicero)
1234. Q: Mankind seems unable to see the benefit in being

and to the universal plan surrounding him.
true to himself
A: It's wiser being good than bad . . . It's fitter being

sane than mad. (Browning)
How to know what you need to know
1235. Q: The mystic masters state that we stand in our own

way, but also say we can cease to be self-blocked. Please
provide an example of these two points.
A: So long, therefore, as we are not agitated by pas-

sions which are contrary to our nature, so long is the power
of the soul by which it seeks to understand things not
impeded; and so long, therefore, has it the power of forming
clear and distinct ideas. (Spinoza)
1236. Q: In a few words, how can we rescue ourselves from

ourselves?
A We: can only cure our tendency downwards by the

power that leads upwards ... by a total conversion to the
divine law. (Hierocles)
1237. Q: How can we practise authentic self-interest?
A By: neglecting self-interest we achieve self-interest.

(Lao-tse)
1238. Q: I don't understand this.

A: Self-interest is but the survival of the animal in us.

Humanity only begins for man with self-surrender. (Amiel)
1239. Q: That resembles the New Testament idea that wc

must first lose ourselves in order to find ourselves. It seems
paradoxical.
A The
: truest sayings are paradoxical. (Taoism)
1240. Q: It is fascinating to hear that we can know every-

thing we need to know for an abundant life. How does this
come about?
A: The more a man has unity and simplicity in himself,
the more things and the deeper things he understands, and
that without labour, because he receives the light and
understanding from above. (Kempis)
1241. Q: Our class in esotericism is compiling a list of basic

spirituallaws which we intend to study with special care.
Please contribute a fundamental principle for human
relations.
A The
: slanderer is like one who flings dust at another
when the wind iscontrary; the dust does but return on him
who threw it. The virtuous man cannot be hurt and the
misery that the other would inflict comes back on himself.
(Buddha)
1242. Q: You have said that the desire for inner awakening
starts the good work. What is the end of this healthy yearn-
ing?
A: When this desire is alive, and breaks forth in any

creature under heaven, then the lost sheep is found. (Law)
1243. Q: What a fantastic victory would be ours if we could

avoid problems and defeats before they occur! Does the
regaining of our psychic sight confer on us the power to
foresee and escape misfortune?
A The
: tempest threatens before it rises upon us; build-
ings creak before they fall to pieces. (Seneca)
1244. Q: Is it true that the truth is always trying to attract
our attention, but we fail to see it because of our trifling
distractions?
A: I always feel as if someone was calling me, and I
must look around, and I keep looking around. (Auerbach)
1245. Q: What do the mystics see that we do not?

A Great men are they who see that spiritual is
:
stronger than any material force, that thoughts rule the

world. (Emerson)
Esotericism provides true mental health
1246. Q: When we see public authorities squabbling with

each other from opposite corners, it is apparent that most
human beings do not really understand what life is all about.
How can an individual seeker refuse all this childishness and
advance to a conscious perception of life?
A : The worst of human errors spring in most cases

from the fact that men who
stand on a low intellectual level,
when they encounter events of a higher order, instead of
trying to rise to the higher level from which these events can
be rightly viewed, and making an effort to understand them,
judge them by their own low standards, and the less they
know of what they speak, the more arrogant and fixed are
their judgments. (Tolstoy)
1247. Q: I notice how you repeatedly urge us to work for a

clear and an understanding mind. Please start us in the right
direction.
A : Whatsoever things are whatsoever things are

true,
honest, whatsoever things whatsoever things arc
are just,
pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of
good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise,
think on these things. (New Testament)
1248. Q: Because I now see that our major aim is to have a

clearmind, my inner work is much easier and smoother.
A: To see clearly is poetry, prophecy, and relig

all in one. (Ruskin)
1249. Q: May we have an example of a sorrow which a

to exist to a highly conscious human being?
A: The happy never say, and never hear said, farewell.
(Landor)
1250. Q: What should we do with our lives?
A : The truth is the end and aim of all existence, and

the worlds originate so that the truth may come and dwell
therein. Those who fail to aspire for the truth have missed
the purpose of life. Blessed is he who rests in the truth.
(Buddhism)
1251. Q: What lesson is needed by someone who is timid in

taking the initiative towards his own development?
A: The bell never rings of itself; unless someone
handles or moves it, it is silent. (Plautus)
1252. Q: 1 am surprised at a recent discovery I have made

while talking with people about truth and reality. Many
people get tense and defensive, as if they sec the truth as an
enemy, instead of as a friend.
. 1 : The man who comes into the world with the notion
that he is really going to instruct it in matters of the highest
importance, may thank his stars if he escapes with a whole
skin. (Schopenhauer)
1253. Q: This explains why we must depend upon ourselves

for spiritual advancement, not upon useless public organ-
izations.
A The : world is his who can see through its pretension.

(Emerson)
1254. Q: Mystical and religious teachers often use lofty terms

to describe the other kind oflife, such as referring to it as the
kingdom of heaven. Will you please describe this same state

in everyday language?
A: Health of mind. (Cicero)
How to have daily inspiration
1255. Q: I belong to a small group which studies these prin-

ciples. May I have an idea for discussion at our next meeting?
A : Public opinion is a weak tyrant compared with our

own private opinion. What a man thinks of himself, that it is
which determines, or rather indicates, his fate. (Thoreau)
1256. Q: So to be loyal to ourselves, we must cease to be

loyal toall the surrounding follies.
A A : hero must not allow himself to be outwardly

bound; he must resist everything by his inward strength.
(Auerbach)
1257. Q: I am like a tennis player who swings in the same

place every time, regardless of where the ball arrives. I need
to awaken my flexibility in handling daily events.
A Prudence is that virtue by which we discern what is

:
proper to be done under the various circumstances of time

and place. (Milton)
1258. Q: By prudence I believe you mean this higher kind of
spiritual insight which comes with self-knowledge.

A : Learning dissipates many doubts, and causes many
things otherwise invisible to be seen. (Sufism)
1259. Q: Esoterically, what is the life of personal safety?
A : You will never come to harm in the practice of

virtue. (Plato)
1260. Q: What can be done when we feel that the obstacles

to this new life are stronger than our powers for progress?
A: Cannot a strong interest turn difficulty into

pleasure? Let the love of truth, of which I have spoken, be
awakened, and obstacles in the way to it will whet, not dis-
courage, the mind, and inspire a new delight into its acquisi-
tion. (Charming)
1261. Q: What should we do if we stumble along the path?
A : Lose no time, get up and take the course again, for

he who rises quickly and continues his race makes it as if he
had never fallen. (Molinos)
1262. Q: There must be a wisely efficient way to achieve the

maximum benefit from these ideas in minimum time.
A: Ramakrishna used to tell a story of some men who
went into a mango orchard and busied themselves in counting
the leaves, the twigs, and the branches, examining their
colour, comparing their size, and noting down everything
most carefully, and then got up a learned discussion on each
of these topics But one of them, more sensible than the
. . .
others, did not care for all these things, and instead thereof,
began to eat the mango fruit. And was he not wisePSo leave
this counting of leaves and twigs and this notetaking to
others . You can never once see a strong spiritual man
. .
among these 'leaf-counters'. (Vivekananda)
1263. Q: It is an esoteric principle to use everything as a

means of regaining our self -authority. Please mention an area
we can use.
A What : is the true test of character, unless it be its
progressive development in the bustle and turmoil, in the

action and reaction of daily life? (Goethe)
1264. Q: It would help me to have a foremost rule to practise

in all circumstances.
A W hat:
r
is a man's first duty? The answer's brief: To
be himself. (Ibsen)
Influence yourself for good!
1265. Q: What determines whether we influence ourselves for

good or for defeat?
A: Your real influence is measured by your treatment

of yourself. (Alcott)
1266. Q: Please give us a self-treating thought for good.
.4 : Renouncing the honours at which the world aims, I

desire only to know the truth and to the maximum of my
. . .
power. I exhort all other men to do the same. (Plato)
1267. 0: What advice could I give to someone who is obses-

sed with the need to become popular and famous?
A: It matters not what you are thought to be, but
what you are. (Syrus I
1268. Q: Human optimism of one day is smashed by the
-:ers of the next day. What reliable optimism is offered

by the mystic masters?
A : Is Dot the truth the truth? (Shakespeare)
1269. 0: I about life cannot be found on

feel that the truth
either side of human
arguments, for instance, religious or
political arguments, but is located above them. Am I on the
track?
A Whenever opposite views are held with warmth by

:
religious-minded men, we may take it for -granted there is

some higher truth which embraces both. All high truth is the
union of two contradictions. (Robertson)
1270. O: Please confirm the following statement. We often

assume we have found the truth, when in fact, wc have
merely gazed once more upon our old and self-centred
opinions, for the truth is above our habitual thinking.
.4 : All men who know not where to look for truth,

save in the narrow well of self, will find their own image at
the bottom, and mistake it for what thev are seeking.
ell i
127; u say that honest awareness of self-division is the

ining of healing, of wholeness. I do not understand this,
but wish to do so.
A: The very emergence of the contradiction in our

consciousness is at the same time the silent prophecy oi its
COSMIC. PRINCIPLES FOR HELP AND GUIDANCE
solution that which knows or feels division or discord
. . .
must be unity which transcends division or discord ... it is

a
a consciousness in which the contradiction or discord
vanishes. (Caird)
1272. Q: When we have banished self-division, when ur

know our true nature, do we then truly understand what life
is all about?
A: When a man knows this, potentially he knows all
things. (MacDonald)
127.3. Q: And this new nature is the basis of authentic

compassion?
A: 1 love all men. I know that at bottom they cannot

be otherwise, and under all the false and overloaded and
glittering masquerade, there is. in every man, a noble nature
beneath; only they cannot bring it out, and whatever they do
that is false and cunning and evil, there still remains the
sentence of our Great Example: 'Forgive them, for they
know not what they do.' (Auerbach)
1274. Q: It is interesting how a truth suddenly strikes into

our consciousness. Yesterday, for the first time, saw why 1
only a self-unified man can reach down to help others.
A: When the full corn is in the ear, it bends down

because it is full. (Cecil)
A dynamic reminder for you
1275. Q: It seems we must concern ourselves with two major

facts — that something is very wrong, but right personal
effort can make everything right. Will von restate that in
your own words?
A: The world is built for the truth, but false combina-
tions of thought misrepresent the true state of things a\\^\
bring forth errors. Errors can be fashioned as it pleases those
who cherish them, therefore they are pleasant to look upon,
but they are unstable and contain the seeds of dissolution.
Truth cannot be fashioned . . . Truth is the essence oi~ lite
. . . Happy are those who walk in it. (Buddhism)
1276. Q: I sense that the mystics possess an unfailing confi-

dence. What is this solid foundation?
A : I possess the truth, and we shall see who will take it

away. (Pascal)
1277. Q: If we are ready for an authentic teacher, will we

find him? How does it happen?
A Does a philosopher seek people to come and hear

:
him? Does he not, rather, by his own nature, attract those

who will be enriched by him? He is like the warming sun.
What physician seeks for men to come and be healed?
(Epictetus)
1278. Q: Apparently it is not easy to describe this new life
which can be ours. What is the main difficulty?
A: That which is divine is invisible. (Philo)
1279. Q: How might a teacher attempt to describe it?
A My life
: is like a stroll upon the beach. (Thoreau)
1280. Q: Suppose a man becomes conscious of his division

intotwo contradictory selves — a right self and a wrong self.
How can he recognize the worthy part, which he can then
increase?
A : The precious, the living, the effectual part ... is
that of which he sees the reasonableness and excellence; that

which approves itself to his intelligence, his conscience, his
heart; that which answers to deep wants in his own soul, and
of which he has the witness in his own inward and outward
experience. (Channing)
1281. Q: Will you please remind us of our main aim — in

other words, why are we working with these principles?
A : There is an endless Kingdom to be inhabited.

(Bunyan)
1282. Q: If we read wise books with the wish to join our-

selveswith their higher facts, what response will the books
arouse in us?
A: The right feeling is, 'How strange this is! I never

thought of that before, and yet I see it is true.' (Ruskin)
1283. Q: May we have a truth which can arouse this feeling?
A: A man contains all that is needful to his govern-

ment within himself. He is made a law unto himself. All real
good or evil that can befall him must be from himself The . . .
purpose of life seems to be to acquaint man with himself. He

is not to live to the future as described to him, but to live in
the real future by living to the real present. The highest
revelation is that God is in every man. (Emerson)
1284. Q: You have made us conscious of the inner call, but it

often fades away in the duties and confusions of the day.
Please remind us of its message.
A: Let us begin life anew. (Wallace)
Ponder these teachings of mysticism
a. Have a fondness for exploring the esoteric world.

b. The healing you need is always available.
c. Notice the refreshing honesty of these principles.
d. Increase your psychic sight, for it is everything.
e. To live rightly indicates cosmic wisdom.
/. Spiritual power commands all earthly power.
g. These teachings make us sensible and happy.
h. Influence yourself towards a richer life.
i. A lofty consciousness banishes self-conflict.
j. The true and free man is a law unto himself.
18. Mystic Good News for Your Daily
Success
1285. Q: What is the good news of esoteric teachings?
A: You who suffer from the tribulations of life, you

who have to struggle and endure, you who yearn for a life of
truth, rejoice at the glad tidings! There is balm for the
wounded, and there is bread for the hungry. There is water
for the thirsty, and there is hope for the despairing. There is
light for those in darkness, and there is inexhaustible blessing
for the upright. (Buddhism)
1286. Q: Can we conclude that a spirit of authentic love will

attract all that we truly need in life?
A Those who come to seek truth with such a spirit of
:
love and veneration, to them the Lord of Truth reveals the

most wonderful things regarding Truth, Goodness, and
Beauty. (Vivekananda)
1287. Q: I feel compelled to do so many things which are
useless and boring. Need I submit to this mysterious pres-

sure?
A : Nothing will protect us from external compulsion

so much of ourselves, and, as Seneca says, to
as the control
submit yourself to reason is the way to make everything else
submit to you. (Schopenhauer)
1288. Q: Interior control provides exterior control! What an

astounding principle for us to grasp.
A He who
: is firm in will moulds the world to himself.
(Goethe)
MYSTIC GOOD NEWS FOR YOUR DAILY SUCCESS 261
1289. Q: Is it correct to say that a little light attracts more

light, until we see life clearly?
A: You have found something of the truth of these

testimonies upon you already, and more will immediately
follow; for now, as you see, you are almost out of the wilder-
ness. (Bunyan)
1290. Q: You have said we can use everything as an alarm

clock for self-awakening. How can I use my dissatisfaction
with myself?
A: Be dissatisfied with the life you are now leading,

but when you have rejected it, do not be in despair over
yourself Learn what the wrestling teachers do. Has the
. . .
boy fallen?'Rise,' they say, 'and wrestle again until your

strength is renewed.' That is how it should be with you.
Realize that there is nothing more flexible than the human
spirit. It needs but to will, and the thing is done; the spirit is
set on the right path. (Epictetus)
1291. Q: There are times when I practise these fundamentals,

yet see little difference in the way I feel or act. Perhaps I
need some esoteric good news for those times.
A : If you have built castles in the air, your work need

not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the found-
ations under them. (Thoreau)
1292. Q: The mystics teach that the attainment of a superior

psychic state makes everything right, including Tightness with
ourselves, with others, and with whatever life brings us.
Please describe this superior state.
A: He who is one with himself, is everything.

(Auerbach)
Good news about personal happiness
1293. Q: Apparently, as we advance inwardly, we change our

minds as to what constitutes good news in worldly events.
A : In every epoch of the world, the great event, parent

of all others, is it not the arrival of a Thinker in the world?
(Carlyle)
1294. Q: If we really want to know, will we eventually meet

those who can teach us?
A: No one is so accursed by fate, no one is so utterly

desolate, but some heart, though unknown, responds unto his
own. (Longfellow)
1295. Q: One teacher stated that spiritual gold can be gained

from an awakened man only after we have mined at least a
bit of gold on our own. What did he mean?
A: A man can understand what is similar to something

already existing in himself. (Amiel)
1296. Q: You
have declared that we are not hopelessly trap-
ped That is enough good news to keep me vaulting
in life.
forwards day and night.
A: Intellect annuls fate. So far as a man thinks, he is
free. (Emerson)
1297. Q: Please show us how we can turn a negative experi-

ence into a positive force.
A We owe
: a great debt to those who point out our
faults for they humiliate us They prepare for us the
. . .
exercise of correction and freedom from fault. (Pascal)
1298. Q: The members of our discussion group now under-

stand some of the elementary principles of clear thinking, so
may we have an advanced one?
A: How much
confusion of thought comes from our
and from our vanity when thinking 7 am so
interest in self,
great' or 7 have done this wonderful deed.' The thought of
your ego stands between your rational nature and truth,
banish it, and then you will see things as they are. He who
thinks correctly will rid himself of ignorance and acquire
wisdom. The ideas of T am' and 'I shall be' or 'I shall not be'
do not occur to a clear thinker. (Buddha)
1299. Q: The need for surrendering our fictitious self is

taught by every creed, but it arouses opposition within us,
because we misunderstand its meaning. May we have a clari-
fication?
A: For whilst in one sense we give up self to live the

universal and absolute life of reason, yet that to which we
thus surrender ourselves is in reality our truer self. The life of
absolute truth or reason is not a life that is foreign to us. If it
is above us, it is also within us. In yielding to it we are not
submitting to an outward and arbitrary law or to an external
authority, but to a law that has become our own law, an
authority which has become enthroned in the inmost essence
of our being. (Caird)
1300. Q: I know
these teachings are true by the way they
force me beyond my habitual self. At least I realize
to look
that rescue must come from a new and different source with-
in myself.
A : As cold waters to a thirsty soul, so is good news

from a far country. (Old Testament)
1301. Q: Please remind us of the need to be right, not merely

to appear right.
A: Houses are built to live in, and not to look on.

(Bacon)
Your relief from false guilt
1302. Q: I cannot accept any doctrine which excuses bad

behaviour, but I love any teaching which shows us how to
change our nature from bad to good. Esotericism shows the
right way, which is why it is a truly moral teaching.
A : This is the way of happiness. (Plato)
1303. Q: I have been thinking of how we fall for the most

obvious of lunacies, for example, trying to make people bet-
ter by giving them material goods.
A: Human improvement is from within outwards.

(Froude)
1304. Q: How can we get back to the healthy facts?
A: There nothing more flattering than the bare

is
truth, boldly uttered; but, all the same, those who can bear it
are the rare exceptions in human nature. (Swetchine)
1305. Q: Why do we resist our healing medicine?
A : Truth is too simple for us; we do not like those who

unmask our illusions. (Emerson)
1306. Q: I wonder whether

have drawn a correct conclusion
I
from all this? Do we

owe nothing to a sick society
really
except personal maturity and decency?
A : I do not give lectures or a little charity, when I give

I give myself. (Whitman)
1307. Q: If only we could see this! What a relief from false

guilt!
A: Who has hired you as a nurse to this sick society?

(Tolstoy)
1308. Q: I am amazed at my first glimpse of a particular

truth,which came as a faint flash, as you predicted it would.
I am now starting to realize that the evil and cruelty of other
people are, in reality, absolutely powerless to touch us.
A Do:they cast us out of the city? They cannot cast

us out of that which is in the heavens. If they who hate us
could do this, they would be doing something real against us.
So long, however, as they cannot do this, they are but pelting
us with drops of water or striking us with the wind.
(Nazianzen)
1309. Q: It is delightful how the truth changes us! Since

studying mystical teachings I have completely reversed my
idea of what it means to be a great person.
A The happy
: only are the truly great. (Young)
1310. Q: I have noticed that the more I study the more I
want to study.
A: The criterion of true beauty is that it increases on

examination, of false, that it lessens. (Greville)
1311. Q: I view esoteric teachings as a vast sea, upon which

we must bravely dare the voyage. What is the good news for
whoever sails all the way to the other side?
A: Nothing can trouble him more, nothing can move

him, for he has cut all the thousand cords of will which hold
us bound to the world as desire, fear, envy, anger, drag us
. . .
here and there in constant pain. He now looks back smiling

and at rest on the delusions of the world, which once were
able to move and agonize his spirit also. (Schopenhauer)
1312. Q: Can I personally achieve all this?
A : If self to self be true. (Calderon de la Barca)
Discover your inner miracle
1313. Q: Unless you have something to give other people,

they seem cold and indifferent. I don't mean this as a com-
plaint, but as a fact proven by personal experience.
Obviously, only this new life of esoteric experience can
deliver us from cold conditions.
A: Come near to this fire and you will soon be more

than warm enough. (Terence)
1314. Q: But must we not give credit to society for trying to

make it a warmer world through the administration of
justice?
A: Love of justice in most men is only the fear of

suffering from injustice. (La Rochefoucauld)
1315. Q: I have been helped enormously by hearing you say

we must never be offended by the truth, no matter how
badly it shakes our cherished beliefs about ourselves.
A: The courage of truth is the first qualification lor

philosophic studies. (Hegel)
1316. Q: I notice that the authentic mystics have nothing to
do with sensational psychic events, which attract crowds, and
which are often praised as miracles. They prefer to speak of
the miracle of a changed inner life. Please comment.
A Miracles are within us

: — natural facts which some
call supernormal. (Balzac)
1317. Q: 1 think we all sense that an inner change to psychic

health is all that really counts.
A The
: only miracle that can truly be called a miracle.
(Buddha)
1318. Q: A teacher stated that all forms of shame and dis-

grace are abolished through esoteric training. What did he
mean?
A What
: is natural is never disgraceful. (Euripides)
1319. Q: So often we find ourselves in the wrong place doing

the wrong thing. I would like to know something about find-
ing our rightful place in life.
A A true man never frets about his place in the world,

:
but just slides into it by the gravitation of his nature, and

swings there as easily as a star. (Chapin)
1320. Q: With personal trueness we find ourselves where we

should be, so now we must know how to become true.
A : Paradise is still in the world, but man is not in
Paradise unless he isborn again of God; in that case he stands

in his new birth. (Boehme)
1321. Q: As I understand it, esotericism teaches two main

points — man is enslaved, but can free himself. Will you
review these?
A : We are free only so far as we are not dupes of

ourselves, our pretexts, our instincts, our temperament. We
by energy and the critical spirit — that is to
are freed say, by
detachment of soul, by self-government. So that we are en-
slaved, but susceptible of freedom; we are bound, but capable
of shaking off our bonds. (Amiel)
How truth becomes your own truth
1322. Q: For more effective self -work, I would like to con-

We hear the truth when it calls, but must then
firm a point.
overcome our fault of hesitation, and answer the truth in the
affirmative. Is that correct?
A Man stands in strict connection with a higher fact

:
never yet manifested. There is power over and behind us, and
we are the channels of its communications This open . . .
channel to the highest life is the first and last reality, so

subtle, so quiet, yet so tenacious, that although I have never
expressed the truth, and although I have never heard the
expression of it from any other, I know that the whole truth
is here for me. (Emerson)
1323. Q: I have been remarkably stimulated by these ideas to

ask questions I have never asked before. Perhaps this is a sign
of self-awakening.
A : Inspiration must find answering inspiration.

(Alcott)
1324. Q: May we have a helpful fact about self-trans-

formation?
A: The man himself must become other than he was if

he wants to comprehend truth — must become as true as
truth itself. (Stirner)
1325. Q: From all we have heard, we need not make detailed

plans for starting towards the richer life; we need only start
whenever we like.
A: The hour is not past. Why will you put off your
resolution? Arise, begin this very moment, and say, 'Now is
the time to do: now is the time to fight, now is the proper
time for amendment.' (Kempis)
1326. Q: I believe it is correct to say that the teachings of

mysticism and esotericism are open to all who truly want
self-liberty, to all who want to know for sure what life is all
about.
A : It is the religion of universal inspiration. (Hinduism)
1327. Q: It is satisfying to know that these higher principles

are available to all who really want them.
A : Like truths of science waiting to be caught. (Ten-
nyson)
1328. Q: A
group of us are now aware of how we were led
down false spiritual paths, but also realize that our gullibility
was our own fault. We want to be right,not seem right.
A: One ounce of the practice of righteousness and of
spiritual self-realization outweighs tons and tons of frothy
talk and nonsensical sentiments. Show us one, but one,
gigantic spiritual genius growing out of all this dry dust of
ignorance and fanaticism open the windows of your

. . .
hearts to the clear light of truth, and sit like children at the
feet of those who know what they are talking about Let . . .
us then listen attentively to what they say. (Vivekananda)
1329. Q: Please give us a message from their higher world.
A: With thinking we may be beside ourselves in a sane

sense. By a conscious effort of the mind we can stand aloof
from actions and their consequences, and all things, good and
bad, go by us like a torrent. (Thoreau)
1330. Q: I am encouraged by realizing the existence of a few

sell -liberated individuals who can show us the way.
A Really great minds seem to have
: dissipated the . . .
clouds which concealed the heaven from our view, and they
thus disclose to themselves and to us a clear and blissful
world of everlasting repose. (Richter)
Accept this magnificent invitation
1331. Q: In discussing self-change with friends, I find that

many of them arc deeply discouraged over their faults. They
feel that their hostilities and deceits are too deeply rooted to
ever be pulled out and replaced with flowers.
A Never let us be discouraged with ourselves. It is not

:
when we are conscious of our faults that we are the most

wicked, on the contrary, we are less so. We see by a brighter
light, and let us remember for our consolation, that we never
perceive our sins till we begin to cure them. (Fenelon)
1332. Q: What common weakness is removed by self-

exploration?
A : Individual character is in the right that is in strict

consistence with itself. Self-contradiction is the onlv wrong.
(Schiller)
1333. Q: Then absence of self-contradiction means the

presence of mental prosperity and genuine goodness?
A : Virtue is, like health, the harmony of the whole

man. (Carlyle)
1334. Q: Then psychic health includes insight into the

individual mind — its motives, its aspirations, its powers.
A : Who knows the mind has the kev to all things else.
(Alcott)
1335. Q: What is an example of a self-harming goal in a man?

A To be recognized by the world for that which he
:
had chosen as his idea of himself recognizing him as the

. . .
genius he must contrive to believe himself. (MacDonald)
1336. Q: The mystics say we have given ourselves false identi-

ties, that we tensely live from memorized selves, from which
we must free ourselves. Please explain this.
.1:1 call that mind free which resists bondage of habit,

which does not mechanically repeat itself and copy the p
which does not live on its old virtues, which does not enslave
itself to precise rules, but which forgets what is behind,
listens for new and higher monitions of conscience, and
rejoices to pour itself forth in fresh and higher exertions.
(Channing)
1337. Q: Your teachings have freed me from the strain and
the folly of trying to imitate goodness. I now see the differ-
ence between acting good and being good.
A : Rejoice in being yourself a beautiful work of

nature, and help yourself to further growth; that's the best
thing. (Auerbach)
1338. Q: I think I finally see where we go wrong in our

spiritual building. We try to compromise, we try to build a
castle on ground which is at present occupied by a haunted
house, which is an impossible task. I correct in believing Am
that our first task is to clear the ground by giving up our
precious nonsense?
A : Every step so downward, is a step upward. The man

who renounces himself, comes to himself. (Emerson)
1339. Q: What does it mean to come to ourselves?
A: There arises in us the dawn of a Knowledge of

Truth. (Lotze)
1340. Q: A new
realization has come to me. The invitations
we from surrounding society have some kind of a
receive
hidden price tag on them. But esotericism's invitation asks
only that we receive what is truly right for us.
A Come
: in! I will show thee that which will be profit-
able to thee. (Bunyan)
Be a student of esoteric facts
1341. Q: Members of our esoteric study group realize that

truth alone is valuable, regardless of how it differs from our
habitual ideas. Last night we discussed the pitiful thing which
society calls friendship, which is really not much more than
scared people huddling together against a threatening world.
A I have found that no exertion of the legs can bring

:
two minds much nearer to one another. (Thoreau)
1342. Q: I am confident that the esoteric path is the only

way to rise above the human nightmare, but so many people

think it is too far beyond them.
A: It can nevertheless be found. (Spinoza)
1343. Q: Sensing this, I would like the boldness needed for

success.
A Man, if you are anything at all, strive to walk alone

:
and hold communion with yourself, instead of hiding in the

chorus of men. Think, look around, arouse yourself, so that
you will know who you are! (Epictetus)
1344. Q: I am becoming conscious of the harm in seeking

approval from other human beings, but wish a scientific
explanation of this false desire.
A
If you let yourself be made out in the right by
:
another, you must no less let yourself be made out in the

wrong by him. If approval and reward come to you from
another, you must also expect his disapproval and punish-
ment. (Stirner)
1345. Q: How can we learn the difference between mere

human opinion and universal truth? There must be a special
sense by which we can separate truth from error.
A: As the great ocean has only one taste, the taste of

salt, so my
doctrine has only one flavour, the flavour of
emancipation. (Buddha)
1346. Q: You said that self-change also changes our attitude

towards men of truth, that we newly value those who disturb
us by giving us the blunt but life-saving truth about ourselves.
Will you review this?
A Dear to us are those who love us

: but dearer are. . .
those who reject us as unworthy, for they add another life:

they build a heaven before us whereof we had not dreamed,
and thereby supply to us new powers out of the recesses of
the spirit, and urge us to new and unattempted pcrformai
(Emerson)
1347. Q: Will you say something about right attitudes to-
wards an idea we may find difficult to understand?
A : If you are a lover of instruction, you will be well

instructed. (Isocrates)
1348. Q: What would be a favourable result of our studies?
A There is unspeakable pleasure attending the

: life of a
voluntary student. (Goldsmith)
1349. Q: My question is about future conditions. What feel-

ing should we have towards them?
A: The mood of one who, seeing himself carried
mighty import, has nothing to do
swiftly towards an event of
but wait — the mood in which philosophy vests an even-
minded man with the utmost calm, and is ever so serviceable.
(Wallace)
1350. Q: What encouraging thought can help us when we fall
short of our inner aims?
A : Begin wholly afresh. (Jefferies)
A far richer life awaits you!
1351. Q: We are beginning to see the need for a constructive

kind of self-influence, so will you please help us in this area?
A I know of no more encouraging fact than the

:
unquestionable ability of a man to elevate his life by a

conscious endeavour. It is something to be able to paint a
particular picture, or to carve a statue, and so to make a few
objects beautiful; but it is far more glorious to carve and
paint the very atmosphere and medium through which we
look, which morally we can do. To affect the quality of the
day, that is the highest of art. (Thoreau)
1352. Q: We are told that goodness is its own reward, which I

never used to believe, but now I am beginning to understand
what it means.
. J : What is virtue but repose of mind? (Thomson)
1353. Q: May we have a general rule for beneficial action?
A : Nothing leads to good which is not natural. (Schil-

ler)
1354. Q: I have recently solved an esoteric mystery. I now

see that what is truly right for me is also truly right for
everyone else. My false guilt about my duties towards others
has fallen away.
A : That is good news. (Bunyan)
1355. Q: These teachings reveal how we exhaust ourselves in

useless tasks, like trying to impress others. Please tell us
about a truly worthwhile task.
A : The decrease of the general cause of suffering —

illusion — is the only pleasant work which lies before a man,
and gives him that true happiness in which his life consists.
(Tolstoy)
1356. Q: Is it really true that a sudden flash of insight can

instantly banish all misery and reveal perfect peace? It sounds
too wonderful!
A Do you
: wish always to stray further? See, good lies
as near; learn only to grasp happiness, for happiness is always
here. (Goethe)
1357. Q: The mystics speak of the first dawning of under-

standing which comes to the sincere seeker. Will you please
discuss it?
A: This sentiment is divine and deifying. It is the

beatitude of man. It makes him illimitable. Through it, the
soul first knows itself. It corrects the capital mistake of the
infant man, who seeks to be great by following the great, and
hopes to derive advantages from another - by showing the
fountain of all good to be in himself, and that he, equally
with every man, is an inlet into the deeps of Reason then, . . .
deep melodies wander through his soul from Supreme-

Wisdom. (Emerson)
1358. Q: You are saying that if a man will only take care of
hisgarden he cannot fail to see the flowers.
A : All is right with him. (Theologia Germanica)
1359. Q: How does a truth understood by the mind become

a truth understood by the whole man?
A: Like a dreamer who, in the midst of a well-known
and ordinary landscape, comes without warning upon the
mighty cone of a mountain. (MacDonald)
1360. Q: Please supply a supreme principle for constant

guidance and encouragement.
A Higher, deeper, innermost, abides Another Life.

:
(Bhagavad-Gita)
Good news that remains good news
a. Authentic love attracts all that you really need.

b. We should cheerfully give up a false sense of self.
c. Esotericism is a genuinely moral and sensible teaching.
d. A changed inner life is a true miracle!
e. You were made to be free from all unhappiness.
/. We must become as true as truth itself.
g. Accept the invitation of mysticism to trueness.
h. Be a loyal student of these higher principles.
i. Working for self-liberation is pleasant work.
j. Good news about yourself is now coming your way.
f
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You are now on the interesting adventure of self-elevation.

You are doing what is right, for it is this journey which gives
a new and fresh meaning to life.
How do we rise above ourselves? If a man will only listen
to the truth with a quiet mind, he will hear an inspiring
message — the message of lasting happiness and authentic
freedom. Out of these hundreds of questions and answers, I
have selected twenty -five which shine with special brightness.
Each has a unique power to reveal a higher place for you, so
give them your glad attention: 7, 52, 78, 123, 174, 354, 466,
494, 852, 919, 935, 953, 986, 1078, 1119, 1156, 1172,
1198, 1200, 1254, 1269, 1275, 1299, 1325, 1351.
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AUTHOR AND SOURCE INDEX
Author and Source Index
This index can aid you in the programmes listed in the front
of the book. Let it also serve other methods of self-advance-
ment, for example, you may wish to read everything by a
particular author. The numbers refer to individual questions.
Abd-el-Kader, 990 1099, 1108, 1136, 1174, 1192,

Addison, Joseph, 589, 605, 850 1202, 1227
Agassiz, Louis, 136
Agathon, 290 Bacon, Francis, 74, 238, 278,
Alcott, A. Bronson, 1265, 1323, 582, 1004, 1301
1334 Baker, Augustine, 613, 806, 892,
Alleine, Richard, 981 917, 1017, 1182
Amiel, Henri Frederic, 7, 47, 76, Balzac, Honore de, 67, 95, 232,
115, 135, 150, 170, 175, 195, 282, 456, 574, 793, 810, 918,
222, 274, 286, 299, 325, 341, 1164, 1316
376, 391, 428, 451, 470, 486, Bhagavad-Gita, 53, 205, 397, 477,
498, 522, 533, 556, 578, 604, 515,541,657,840,859, 1360
617, 628, 663, 674, 693, 744, Blake, William, 44, 73, 97, 823,
821, 868, 931, 992, 1006, 1075, 1130
1024, 1042, 1058, 1065, 1097, Boehme, Jacob, 189, 314, 1038,
1105, 1116,1138,1183, 1193, 1128, 1320
1238, 1295, 1321 Boethius, 547
Anacharsis, 132 Bovee, Christian N., 472, 523
Aristotle, 295,857, 1124, 1143 Browne, Thomas, 982, 1118
Arnold, Matthew, 6, 17, 432 Browning, Robert, 392, 493,
Auerbach, Berthold, 673, 706, 1234
1244, 1256, 1273, 1292, 1337 Buddha, 9, 102, 289, 422, 564,
Augustine, 308, 585, 790, 1112 745, 817, 980, 1007, 1033,
Aurelius, Marcus, 42, 77, 108, 1056, 1201, 1216, 1226, 1241,
125, 131, 176, 180, 188, 196, 1298, 1317, 1345
237, 284, 321, 353, 383, 395, Buddhism, 61, 138, 213, 636,
401, 418, 480, 489, 531, 539, 679, 715, 735, 754, 831, 838,
560, 580, 586, 611, 622, 653, 906, 922, 928, 1160, 1169,
669, 702, 726, 737, 779, 785, 1250, 1275, 1285
794, 824, 827, 837, 858, 884, Bunyan, John, 28, 94, 185, 452,
975, 995, 1036, 1067, 1083, 575, 752, 815, 845, 891, 929,
1016, 1048,1198, 1208, 1281, 318,382, 694
1289, 1340, 1354 Diogenes, 163
Byron, George Gordon, 328, 901 Dryden, John, 326, 404, 552,
1076
Carrier, Charles, 1020 Duclos, CD., 701
Caird, John, 216, 291, 367, 447,
516, 592, 699, 712, 861, 876, Eckhart, Meister, 352, 499, 645,
1129, 1186, 1207, 1271, 1299 703, 763, 1154
Calderon de la Barca, Pedro, 1312 Eliot, George, 293, 883
Carlyle, Thomas, 24, 29, 50, 193, Emerson, Ralph Waldo, 13, 31,
268, 296, 413, 448, 624, 667, 52, 104, 109, 120, 141,
90,
690, 853, 1175, 1195, 1293, 158, 220, 224, 239, 256, 276,
1333 280, 316, 333, 347, 361, 370,
Castelar, Emilio, 368 380, 394, 411, 429, 442, 454,
Cato, 863 468, 473, 488, 495, 505, 520,
Caussin, N., 749 526, 549, 559, 571, 579, 597,
Cecil, Richard, 774, 940, 1051, 618, 641, 656, 671, 682, 696,
1274 705, 722, 743, 759, 772, 789,
Cervantes, Miguel de, 19, 508, 803, 818, 825, 841, 867, 886,
766, 1212 904, 913, 920, 941, 951, 964,
Chamfort, Sebastien, R.N., 127, 985, 1000, 1002, 1026, 1045,
974, 1156 1059, 1066, 1091, 1100, 1109,
Channing, William Ellery, 565, 1117,1132,1159,1171,1185,
792, 801, 945, 953^ 1027, 1217, 1245, 1253, 1283, 1296,
1179, 1188, 1223,1260, 1280, 1305, 1322, 1338, 1346,1357
1336 Epicharmus, 1101
Chapin, E.H., 900, 1319 Epictetus, 101, 297, 304, 324,
Chaucer, Geoffrey, 490 339, 371, 408, 424, 532, 554,
Cherbuliez, Victor, 355, 466, 631 567, 596, 599, 684, 719, 739,
Chuang-tse, 161, 483, 731, 937, 750, 765, 771, 846, 865, 878,
988 887, 935, 948, 961, 972, 989,
Cicero, Marcus Tullius, 2, 218, 1010, 1019, 1044, 1052, 1082,
384, 457, 542, 570, 655, 725, 1126, 1133, 1277, 1290, 1343
767, 834, 954, 1071, 1121, Epicuras, 10, 813
1155, 1233,1254 Erasmus, 227
Clarke,James Freeman, 875 Euripides, 244, 760, 1318
Clement, 58, 235
Coleridge, Samuel Taylor, 199, Fenelon, Francoise, 83, 126, 263,
402,632,930, 1153 389, 400, 421, 439, 728, 773,
Colton, Charles, 509, 670, 889, 1031, 1331
1211 Fielding, Henry, 201 , 441
952
Corneille, Pierre, 223, Fontenelle, Bernard, 540
Cowley, Abraham, 1103 Fox, George, 506, 598
Cowper, William, 69, 86, 527, France, Anatole, 228, 614
675,697 Froude, James, 114, 800, 949,
1303
DeCaussade,J.P.,558, 741
Demosthenes, 619 Gaultier, Philippe, 782
Descartes, Rene, 26, 157, 265, Gracian, Baltasar, 153, 357
AUTHOR AND SOURCE INDEX 281
Gray, Thomas, 894 Kierkegaard, Soren, 662, 1018,

1310
Greville, Charles, 1137
Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von, 2 7, Kotzebue, August von, 755
145, 167, 178, 231, 345, 419,
510, 536, 723, 808, 828, 862, La Bruyere, Jean de, 658, 872
885, 911, 915, 938, 1068, La Fontaine, Jean de, 1173
1263, 1288, 1356 Lamb, Charles, 1209
Goldsmith, Oliver, 534, 555, Landor, Walter Savage, 250, 43 7,
1062, 1177, 1348 500, 707, 784, 1249
Gurdjieff, George, 242 Lao-tse, 18, 75, 166, 243, 379,
Guyon, Madame, 55 7 425, 430, 455, 494, 685, 819,
874, 1237
Hamilton, William, 877 La Rochefoucauld, Francois, due
Hawthorne, Nathaniel, 251, 323, de, 45, 64, 81, 106, 130, 133,
678, 729,847,999 152, 160, 179, 191, 233, 281,
Haydon, Benjamin, 595, 1127 311, 337, 349, 434, 474, 548,
Hazlitt, William, 12, 128, 277, 640, 648, 665, 796, 816, 830,
329, 553, 654, 908,997, 1073 860, 882, 895, 909, 926, 1087,
Hegel, Georg W.F., 46, 1315 1110, 1148, 1218, 1314
Heine, Heinrich, 444 Lavater, Johann Caspar, 68, 123,
Henault, Charles Jean, 1080 173, 200, 207, 272, 369, 399,
Heraclitus, 967 460, 513, 713, 753, 768, 788,
Herbert, George, 84 869,970, 1028, 1114
Herzen, Alexander, 1119 Law, William, 22, 65, 100, 124,
Hierocles, 1236 165, 184, 217, 317, 377, 386,
Hinduism, 660, 914, 1157, 1326 403, 420, 433, 463, 563, 626,
Holmes, Oliver Wendell, 562, 851 634, 651, 762, 783, 797, 820,
Horace, 32, 358, 537, 615, 620, 848, 959, 991, 1035, 1140,
835, 1190, 1224 1147, 1242
Hugo, Victor, 525 Le Sage, Alain Rene, 204
Hume, David, 215, 932 Livy, 1043, 1165
Hunt, Leigh, 155,449, 1001 Lloyd, Robert, 969
Locke, John, 54, 111, 134, 279,
Ibsen, Henrik, 96, 1264 372,426, 1086
Isocrates, 1347 Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth,
40, 93, 119, 378, 431, 727,
Jefferies, Richard, 720, 1350 1294
.Jesus, 14, 37, 78, 107, 169, 319, Lotze, Rudolph, 1039, 1339
416, 467, 776, 799, 1013, Lowell, James Russell, 16, 545,
1102, 1184, 1206, 1229 711, 1270
Johnson, Samuel, 1225 Lucretius, 275
Junius, 287
Juvenal, 142,946, 1189 Mabie, Hamilton, W., 635
Macaulay, Thomas, 168
Kabir, 652 MacDonald, George, 62, 603, 637,
Kant, Immanuel, 396 738, 912, 1215, 1272, 1335,
Keats, John, 122 1359
Kempis, Thomas a, 30, 147, 181, Mason, J., 905
249, 1214, 1240, 1325 Melville, Herman, 38
Mencius, 342 584, 644, 1009
Metrodorus, 1139 Proudhon, Pierre, 1104
Michelangelo, 385 Pythagoras, 182, 1152
Mill, John Stuart, 1072
Milton, John, 356, 373, 544, 695, Quintus, 601
870, 1115, 1257
Moliere, Jean Baptiste, 112, 208 Rahel, I., 957
Molinos, Miguel, 629, 1180, 1261 Ramakrishna, 25, 672, 1172
Montaigne, Michel de, 117, 458, Richter, Jean Paul, 1330
683, 761, 1084, 1149, 1163, Robertson, Frederick W., 730,
1213 802, 1269
Montesquieu, Charles de Rousseau, Jean Jacques, 8, 105,
Secondat, 307 159, 236, 266, 305, 335, 351,
Moy, K. de, 1232 390, 568,687, 734, 1029
Nazianzen, Gregory, 1308 Rumi, Jalaluddin, 363, 781
New Testament, 33, 186, 259, Ruskin, John, 807, 843, 987,
491, 594, 717, 770, 864, 956, 1248,1282
1021, 1079, 1093, 1144, 1166, Ruysbroeck, John, 405, 1167
1247
Newton, John, 309, 1125 Saadi, 87, 348, 436, 476, 587,
Nietzsche, Friedrich, 49, 91, 187, 677,842
230,359,412,643,977 Sand, George, 330
Novalis, 221, 1049, 1085 Schiller,Friedrich von, 149, 427,
502, 893, 942, 958, 1030,
Old Testament, 63, 129, 172, 1040, 1070, 1090, 1111, 1145,
234, 590, 606, 704, 921, 1300 1204, 1332, 1353
Ouida, 202 Schopenhauer, Arthur, 15, 36, 66,
Ovid, 92, 183,517,659, 709,811 98, 140, 156, 171, 177, 192,
229, 240, 247, 258, 285, 310,
Pascal, Blaise, 39, 72, 164, 212, 331, 344, 388, 398, 410, 423,
248, 254, 262, 312, 320, 338, 438, 459, 469, 475, 482, 496,
360, 387, 435, 453, 492, 518, 507, 529, 535, 543, 573, 581,
551, 572, 588, 600, 607, 756, 610, 630, 698, 742, 778, 812,
769, 786, 829, 844, 924, 934, 910, 919, 963, 979, 996, 1023,
950, 983, 1012, 1047, 1095, 1064, 1074, 1098, 1141, 1151,
1107, 1150, 1196, 1276, 1297 1176,1191,1231,1252, 1287,
Periander, 332 1311
Petrarch, 511 Scott, Walter, 151,409,481
Philo,209, 1278 Segur, 791
P.,
Plato, 23, 56, 245, 616, 664, 856, Selden,John, 503
1088, 1222, 1259, 1266, 1302 Seneca, 1, 103, 146, 197, 210,
Plautus, 70, 211, 647, 795, 854, 246, 255, 288, 302, 322, 334,
880, 896, 1011, 1251 407, 514, 530, 566, 576, 642,
Pliny, 965 668, 805, 855, 907, 944, 994,
Plotinus, 3, 253, 271, 350, 381, 1050, 1069, 1077, 1094, 1162,
393, 406, 440, 933, 1046, 1228, 1243
1134, 1199 Shaftesbury, Anthony A.C., 718
Plutarch, 257, 269, 485, 700, 947 Shakespeare, William, 34, 57, 118,
Pope, Alexander, 51, 82, 85, 374, 148, 154, 162, 198, 206, 225,
AUTHOR AND SOURCE INDEX 283
241, 260, 327, 343, 417, 446, 346, 415, 484, 639, 646, 686,
471, 487, 497, 583, 612, 627, 751, 787, 836, 897, 960, 1005,
649, 833, 871, 888, 927, 1003, 1032, 1092, 1113, 1135, 1178,
1025,1037,1268 1187, 1221, 1255, 1279, 1291,
Shankara, 48, 116, 121, 194, 270, 1329,1341,1351
313,546, 681,916, 1161 Tolstoy, Leo, 55, 203, 264, 315,
Sidney, Philip, 550 445, 464, 519, 623, 661, 688,
Smith, Alexander, 214 714, 740, 775, 798, 814, 839,
Socrates, 80, 1146 879,923,943,962,986, 1014,
Sophocles, 993 1054, 1122, 1131, 1170, 1220,
South, Robert, 890 1246,1307, 1355
Southey, Robert, 1061
Spencer, Herbert, 569 Upanishads, 650
Spinoza, Baruch, 5, 41, 110,226,
252, 362, 504, 732, 1008, Vaughan, Henry, 976
1055,1210,1235, 1342 Vauvenargues, Luc de Clapiers,
Stael, Germaine de, 691 365, 462, 521, 538, 621, 666,
Stirner, Max, 692, 1324, 1344 724, 966, 1022, 1078, 1089,
Sufism, 43, 88, 144, 190, 336, 1096, 1106
479, 899,968, 1258 Virgil, 143, 1041, 1194
Suso, Henry, 303, 354, 866, 1230 Vivekananda, 59, 137, 219, 294,
Swedenborg, Emanuel, 139, 680, 366, 375, 443, 450, 512, 524,
710, 746, 764, 832, 881, 1053, 591, 602, 676, 689, 708, 733,
1200 748, 826, 852, 873, 898, 978,
Swetchine, Anne S., 925, 1304 984, 1057, 1123, 1205, 1219,
Swift, Jonathan, 902, 939, 1081, 1262,1286,1328
1158
Syrus, 804, 1267 Wallace, Lew, 60, 747, 1284,
1349
Taoism, 174, 561, 721, 736, 1239 Whitman, Walt, 20, 79, 113, 528,
Tauler, Johannes, 306, 414, 1015, 593, 609, 638, 757, 822, 903,
1063,1142 936, 1034, 1060, 1120, 1181,
Taylor, Jeremv, 465, 478, 608, 1197, 1306
849 Whittier, John Greenleaf, 777
Tennyson, Alfred, 11, 292, 1327 Wordsworth, William, 300, 633,
Terence, 273, 809, 1313 955, 1168
Thackeray, William Makepeace,
501 Xenophanes, 267, 364
Theologia Germanica, 625, 758,
998, 1358 Yepes, John, 971, 1203
Thomson, James, 1352 Young, Edward, 579, 1309
Thoreau, Henry David, 4, 35, 71,
89, 99, 261, 283, 298, 340, Zen, 21,301,461, 716, 780
About Vernon Howard
For many years Vernon Howard has written and lectured on

the one grand topic: 'There is a way out of the human
problem, and any earnest person can find it.' His inspiring
books have sold more than 3,000,000 copies, and the figure
mounts yearly. His simple but profound messages about
human happiness have been translated into several foreign
languages, including French, German, Spanish, Italian,
Portuguese and Japanese.
Vernon Howard Study Groups are located in various areas.
The groups read Mr Howard's books and listen to his taped
lectures. Some classes are taught personally by Mr Howard.
For information about study groups and the author's taped
talk,The Esoteric Path to a New Life, write to New Life
Books, Box 684, Boulder City, Nevada 89005, U.S.A.
AB0Ur THIS BOCK
.
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BOX 684
BOULDER CITY,
NEVADA 89005

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A Treasury of Cosm ic Wisdom

THE MYSTIC MfrSTERS SPEAK!

A Treasury of Cosmic Wisdom

For list of books & tapes

DISTRIBUTED IN U.S. BY:

This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by

ISBN 7225 0340 7

A Special Message for You 275

Programme 2: Join or form a study group. Great gain can

impressions from them. Write them out on separate slips of

Programme 5: This is the most important programme of your

VERNON HOWARD LIVES AND TEACHES

1. Q: May I come right to the point? What are mystical

A: If you devote your time to study, you will avoid all

2. Q: But do these lofty mystical principles help us in

A The contemplation of celestial things will make a

man both speak and think more sublimely and magnificently

3. Q: What about the control of personal habits? Can

A Even the food and drink necessary for restoration

4. Q: I don't have any large personal problems, but am

A: We are surrounded by a rich and fertile mystery.

5. Q: Then there is a definite answer regarding the

A : To be what we are, and to become what we are

6. Q: I have always yearned to simply be myself, but tell

me, how does it contribute to personal happiness?

A : Resolve to be thyself; and know, that he who finds

7. Q: What will be the signs that we are solving these

A: To be happy, to possess eternal life, to be in God,

unchangeable peace, an ever more profound depth of

8. Q: I want to work at self-transformation, but I have no

A We can be men without being sages. Without

spending our days in the study of morality, we possess at a

9. Q: What is this authentic guide?

A Be: a lamp unto yourself. (Buddha)

THE PRACTICAL POWER OF MYSTIC PRINCIPLES 1

You are wiser than you think!

10. Q: I would my fate is not

my present negative patterns and enter a new way.

A A strict belief in fate is the worst of slavery,

imposing upon our necks an everlasting lord and tyrant, who

11. Q: Then change and elevation of both self and

12. Q: In world of rapid changes, all of us seem to be

A One truth discovered is immortal, and entitles its

author to be so: for, like a new substance in nature, it cannot

13. Q: But maybe only certain types of people are able to

A: You think it is because I have an income which

me. If my debts, as they threaten, should consume what

14. Q: I am aware that we must make personal efforts, but

A: Ask, and be given you; seek, and ye shall

1 THE MYSTIC MASTERS SPEAK!

A On : the other hand, we we fancy

16. Q: But what if we have limited time for attending to

A: One day, with life and heart, is more than time

Your path to lasting delight

1 7. Q: Sometimes I find myself letting go of the mad rush

A : But often in the world's most crowded streets, but

18. Q: Will you please supply an example of a practical

A: Without going out of doors, one may know the

19. Q: I often fed enslaved by compulsive duties. I do

this, am a whirlpool of resentment and guilt. Is it wrong to