Great excitement last night. It was the regular night of ---- T.S. and
---- was to speak. We got there at 8:15, and it was full. He began and
had just been fifteen minutes when it was discovered that the building
was on fire. We stopped and let 1,000 people in the various halls get
out, then quietly went and none were hurt, only two, ---- and ----,
getting a few quarts of water from a burst hose.
It was a queer exit, for we went downstairs beside the elevator, and
glass, bricks and water were falling down the light well, while the
fire on the top stories of it roared and made a fine light, and streams
of fire ran down the oily elevator pipes on the other side; and firemen
pulled up hose neck or nothing as we got away. It was ----'s own
meeting, and it ended in fire! None of the great psychics present had
had the remotest premonition, but one invented afterwards an _ex post
facto_ sense of terror.
Tell ---- the time has passed for him to vacillate; he knows his guru:
she was and is H. P. B.; let him reflect ere he does that which, in
wrecking her life and fame, will wreck his own life by leaving him
where nothing that is true may be seen.... Silence is useful now and
then, but silence sometimes is a thing that speaks too loud. I am his
friend and will help. No one can hurt him but himself; his work and
sacrifice were noble and none can point at him.
See what I said in the opening vol. of _The Path_: that the study of
what is now called "practical occultism" was not the object of that
journal. "We regard it as incidental to the journey along the path.
The traveller, in going from one city to another, has perhaps to cross
several rivers; maybe his conveyance fails him and he is obliged to
swim, or he must, in order to pass a great mountain, know engineering
in order to tunnel through it, or is compelled to exercise the art of
locating his exact position by observation of the sun: but all that
is only incidental to his main object of reaching his destination. We
admit the existence of hidden, powerful forces in nature, and believe
that every day greater progress is made towards an understanding of
them. Astral body formation, clairvoyance, looking into the astral
light, and controlling elementals is all possible, but not all
profitable. The electrical current, which when resisted in the carbon
produces intense light, may be brought into existence by any ignoramus
who has the key to the engine-room and can turn the crank that starts
the dynamo, but is unable to prevent his fellow man or himself from
being instantly killed, should that current accidentally be diverted
through his body. The control of these hidden forces is not easily
obtained, nor can phenomena be produced without danger, and in our view
the attainment of true wisdom is not by means of phenomena, but through
the development which begins within. True occultism is clearly set
forth in the _Bhagavat Gita_ and _Light on the Path_, where sufficient
stress is laid upon practical occultism, but after all, Krishna says,
the kingly science and the kingly mystery is devotion to and study
of the light which comes from within. The very first step in true
mysticism and true occultism is to try and apprehend the meaning of
Universal Brotherhood, without which the very highest progress in the
practise of magic turns to ashes in the mouth.
"We appeal, therefore, to all who wish to raise themselves and their
fellow creatures--man and beast--out of the thoughtless jog-trot of
selfish everyday life. It is not thought that Utopia can be established
in a day: but through the spreading of the idea of Universal
Brotherhood, the truth in all things may be discovered. What is wanted
is true knowledge of the spiritual condition of man, his aim and
destiny. Such a study leads us to accept the utterance of Prajapati to
his sons: 'Be restrained, be liberal, be merciful,' it is the death of
selfishness."
This is the line for us to take and to persevere in, that all may in
time obtain the true light.
* * * * *
THE LIGHT OF THE EYE FADETH, THE HEARING LEAVETH THE EAR, BUT THE
POWER TO SEE AND TO HEAR NEVER DESERTETH THE IMMORTAL BEING, WHICH
LIVETH FOREVER UNTOUCHED AND UNDIMINISHED.--
_Book of Items._