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Advanced Course in Yogi Philosophy and Oriental Occultism262
by that which does not awaken the answering ring of the spiritual keynote
within you. This is a safe test, and rule. Apply it to all writings and teachings—
our own included. Be not disturbed by the apparently conflicting teachings
which you hear and read. Each teacher must teach in his own way, and every
teacher will reach some that the others will miss. All teachers have some of
the truth—none have all of it. Take your own wherever you find it—and let
the rest pass you by. Do not be a bigoted follower of teachers—listen to what
they say—but apply the test of your own soul to all of it. Do not be a blind
follower. Be an individual. Your soul is as good a judge as any other soul—
better, for you, in fact. For it knows what it needs, and is continually reaching
out for it. Teachers are useful—books are useful—because they suggest to
you—they supply missing links—they give you loose ends of thought, which
you may unwind at your leisure—they corroborate that which is lying halfawakened
in your mind—they aid in the birth of new thought within your
mind. But your own soul must do its own work—is the best judge of what
is best for you—is the wisest counsellor—the most skilled teacher. Heed
the voice of the Something Within. Trust your own soul, O student. Look
within confidently, trustingly, and hopefully. Look within—for there is the
spark from the Divine Flame.
“Seek the way by retreating within.” We have just spoken of this trust in the
Something Within. This precept emphasizes this phase of occult teaching.
Learn to retreat within the Silence, and listen to the voice of your soul—it
will tell you many great things. In the Silence the Spiritual Mind will unfold
and pass on to your consciousness bits of the great truths which lie buried
within its recesses. It will pass on to the Intellect certain fragments of truth
from its own great storehouse, and the Intellect will afterwards accept them,
and reason from the premises thus obtained. Intellect is cold—Spiritual
Mind is warm and alive with high feeling. The Spiritual Mind is the source of
much that is called “inspiration.” Poets, painters, sculptors, writers, preachers,
orators, and others have received this inspiration in all times, and do so today.
This is the source from which the seer obtains his vision—the prophet