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Fourteen Lessons in Yogi Philosophy and Oriental Occultism200
be made clear to you—and to know him is to Love him, therefore learn
to Know Him.” And if you ask them what is one’s duty toward his fellowmen
they will answer, simply: “Be Kind—and you will be all the rest.” These
two precepts, if followed, will enable one to live the Perfect Life. They are
simple, but they contain all that is worth knowing concerning one’s relations
with the Infinite Power and with one’s fellow-men. All the rest is froth and
sediment—the worthless rubbish which has accumulated around the Divine
Flame of the Truth. We mention them in this place, because they sum up the
idea of the consciousness which all the race is striving hard to acquire. If you
are able to make them a part of yourself, you will have made great progress
on the Path—will have passed the Great Examination.
The doctrine of Spiritual Cause and Effect is based upon the great truth
that under the Law each man is, practically, the master of his own destiny—
his own judge—his own rewarder—his own awarder of punishment. That
every thought, word or action, has its effect upon the future life or lives
of the man—not in the nature of a reward or punishment (as these words
are generally understood)—but as the inevitable result of the great Law of
cause and effect. The operation of the Law in surrounding us with certain sets
of conditions in a new birth, is influenced by two great general principles:
(1) The prevailing desires, aspirations, likes and dislikes, and longing of the
individual at that particular stage of his existence, and (2) By the influence of
the unfolding Spirit, which, pressing forward eagerly for fuller expression and
less restraint, brings to bear upon the reincarnating soul an influence which
causes it to be governed in its selection of the desirable conditions of its new
birth. Upon the apparently conflicting influences of these two great forces
rests the whole matter of the circumstances and conditions surrounding
the rebirth of the soul, and also many of the conditions surrounding the
personality in the new life—for these conditions are governed greatly all
through life by these conflicting (or apparently conflicting) forces.
The urge of the desires, aspirations, and habits of the past life, is
strongly pressing the soul towards incarnation in conditions best fitted