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Advanced Course in Yogi Philosophy and Oriental Occultism264
while you retreat within—both are good—each in its place. Let your Inner
Sanctuary be your real resting place, but be not afraid to venture without.
Your retreat cannot be cut off. See the outer world, knowing that home is
always awaiting you. There is no contradiction between the eighteenth and
nineteenth precepts. Let us repeat them, that you may grasp them as but
the two sides of the same truth: “Seek the way by retreating within—seek
the way by advancing boldly without.” Do you not see that they are both
needed to form the whole statement of truth?
“Seek it not by any one road.” This is a necessary caution. As the writer of
the precepts says: “To each temperament there is one road which seems the
most desirable.” But there is a subtle temptation here—the student is very
apt to rest content with that one road which suits his particular temperament,
and, accordingly, is likely to shut his eyes to the other roads. He becomes
bigoted, narrow, and one-sided. He should explore all the lanes which
seem to lead to the truth, gaining a little here and a little there—holding
fast to that which appeals to his inner consciousness, and letting the rest
go—but condemning not that which he does not see fit to accept. Do not
be a partisan—or a bigot—or a sectarian. Because you favor any one form
of teaching, do not hastily conclude that all teachings that do not agree with
yours must be false. There are many forms of presentation of truth, each
suited to the understanding of certain people. Many forms of expression,
which at first sight appear contradictory, are afterwards seen to have the
same fundamental principle. Much of the apparent difference in teaching
may be seen to be merely a matter of the use (or misuse) of words. When
we understand each other’s words and terms, we often find that we have
much in common, and but little apart from each other.
20. Seek it not by any one road. To each temperament, there is one road which
seems the most desirable. But the way is not found by devotion alone, by religious
contemplation alone, by ardent progress, by self-sacrificing labor, by studious
observation of life. None alone can take the disciple more than one step onwards.