OTHER BRANCHES OF THE WORK.
But turning back again now from the all-important work among the dead
to the consideration of the work among the living, we must briefly
indicate a great branch of it, without a notice of which our account
of the labours of our invisible helpers would indeed be incomplete,
and that is the immense amount which is done by suggestion--by simply
putting good thoughts into the minds of those who are ready to receive
them.
Let there be no mistake as to what is meant here. It would be perfectly
easy--easy to a degree which would be quite incredible to those who do
not understand the subject practically--for a helper to dominate the
mind of any average man, and make him think just as he pleased, and
that without arousing the faintest suspicion of any outside influence
in the mind of the subject. But, however admirable the result might
be, such a proceeding would be entirely inadmissible. All that may be
done is to throw the good thought into the person’s mind as one among
the hundreds that are constantly sweeping through it; whether the man
takes it up, makes it his own, and acts upon it, depends upon himself
entirely. Were it otherwise, it is obvious that all the good karma of
the action would accrue to the helper only, for the subject would have
been a mere tool, and not an actor--which is not what is desired.
The assistance given in this way is exceedingly varied in character.
The consolation of those who are suffering or in sorrow at once
suggests itself, as does also the endeavour to guide toward the truth
those who are earnestly seeking it. When a person is spending much
anxious thought upon some spiritual or metaphysical problem, it is
often possible to put the solution into his mind without his being at
all aware that it comes from external agency.
A pupil too may often be employed as an agent in what can hardly be
described otherwise than as the answering of prayer; for though it is
true that any earnest spiritual desire, such as might be supposed to
find its expression in prayer, is itself a force which automatically
brings about certain results, it is also a fact that such a spiritual
effort offers an opportunity of influence to the Powers of Good, of
which they are not slow to take advantage; and it is sometimes the
privilege of a willing helper to be made the channel through which
their energy is poured forth. What is said of prayers is true to
an even greater extent of meditation, for those to whom this higher
exercise is a possibility.
Besides these more general methods of help there are also special lines
open only to the few. Again and again such pupils as are fitted for
the work have been employed to suggest true and beautiful thoughts to
authors, poets, artists and musicians; but obviously it is not every
helper who is capable of being used in this way.
Sometimes, though more rarely, it is possible to warn persons of
the danger to their moral development of some course which they are
pursuing, to clear away evil influences from about some person or
place, or to counteract the machinations of black magicians. It is not
often that direct instruction in the great truths of nature can be
given to people outside the circle of occult students, but occasionally
it is possible to do something in that way by putting before the minds
of preachers and teachers a wider range of thought or a more liberal
view of some question than they would otherwise have taken.
Naturally as an occult student progresses on the Path he attains a
wider sphere of usefulness. Instead of assisting individuals only,
he learns how classes, nations and races are dealt with, and he is
entrusted with a gradually increasing share of the higher and more
important work done by the adepts themselves. As he acquires the
requisite power and knowledge he begins to wield the greater forces of
the mental and the astral planes and is shown how to make the utmost
possible use of each favourable cyclic influence. He is brought into
relation with those great Nirmânakâyas who are sometimes symbolized as
the Stones of the Guardian Wall, and he becomes--at first of course
in the very humblest capacity--one of the band of their almoners, and
learns how those forces are dispersed which are the fruit of their
sublime self-sacrifice. Thus he rises gradually higher and higher
until, blossoming at length into adeptship, he is able to take his full
share of the responsibility which lies upon the Masters of Wisdom, and
to help others along the road which he has trodden.
On the mental plane the work differs somewhat, since teaching can
be both given and received in a much more direct, rapid and perfect
manner, while the influences set in motion are infinitely more
powerful, because acting on so much higher a level. But (though it is
useless to speak of it in detail at present, since so few of us are
yet able to function consciously upon this plane during life) here
also--and even higher still--there is always plenty of work to be
done, as soon as ever we can make ourselves capable of doing it; and
there is certainly no fear that for countless æons we shall ever find
ourselves without a career of unselfish usefulness open before us.