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Advanced Course in Yogi Philosophy and Oriental Occultism256
prophets, seers, and leaders—exhausting first one strange teaching, and
then another. All this is useful—because it teaches us that that which we
seek is not to be found in this way. And you will never find what you seek,
in such ways. You may get a hint here, or a suggestion there—but the real
thing is right within yourself waiting patiently for that hour when you will
look within for it, confidently, hopefully, and lovingly. Oh, listen to the voice
of the soul—look for the light of the Spirit. You have them both within you—
why seek further for that which can never reach you from the outside.
“Desire only that which is beyond you.” “It is beyond you; because when
you reach it, you have lost yourself.” It is always just beyond you, and when
you become one with it, the old relative self has faded away, and a greater,
grander you has replaced it. Man must lose himself to find Himself. In this
sense, the great thing to be desired is beyond the to-day “you,” although it
is within you—it is really Yourself, as you will be. Can we make this plainer?
The child longs for manhood—it is beyond him, and yet the child is the
embryo man, and the elements of manhood are within him, awaiting the
hour of development. But when that child attains manhood, the child is
gone—he has lost himself, and a larger self has taken its place. So that the
thing for which the child longs, really causes him to lose his (child) self in
its attainment. The butterfly is within the caterpillar—but it is also beyond
him—and when he gains it he is no longer a caterpillar but a butterfly. These
are crude illustrations, but perhaps they may help you to understand the
matter more clearly.
“Desire only that which is unattainable.” This sounds discouraging, but,
when understood, it really gives renewed energy. The text goes on: “It is
unattainable, because it forever recedes. You may enter the light, but you
will never touch the flame.” As the soul gains in spiritual consciousness, it
becomes greater and grander, but it is traveling but the first steps in the
real journey—but that journey is becoming more and more pleasant. As
we climb the mountain side of Attainment, the view becomes grander at
each step. But the mountain top, which seemed so near at the beginning