The Washington herald., 1914-11-22
BY DR.. w. w. BAKER.

more annoying In the minds of many, "a
the dropping Of all forms of flesh food.
That does not poison In the same way
but II tends slightly TO coarsen the body,
have a body which will be very strong
and very resistent. while at the same time
lit Is very sensitive and very responsive
to vibrations from the subtler worlds OF
matter and Of life. You have to deal here
| with your nervous system and your brain
you have to build those up; and the build
ing depends on the kind of food that you
take; and. putting aside all questions OF
compassion Though they cannot be put
aside by those who would seek the Mas
ters OF Compassion), and taking only the
! physical results. apart from any question
I as to animal suffering and pain. you ind
| that unless your nerves, your brains, are
prepared then the vibrations OF subtler
matter beating upon them-and you are
| inviting that beating. remember will
tend to disorganize both and to render
| you liable to nervous disorder and to vari-
GUS forms OF hysteria-
This warning / am bound to give. II
YOU want to see 1t justified. turn back
| to the records of Mystics and Saints,
whose religions did not impose upon them
strict Discipline of Life. You will find
much of unbalanced thought and judg-
ment, much of hysterical emotion, mingled
with a splendid insight into the worlds
called invisible, and a marvellous response
| to the powers coming from beings Of the
higher world. That is so unchallenged, so
unchallengeable, that some psychologists
have used II as a proof that all religious
higher vision is really a form OF hysteria,
and that all great Saints and Prophets
and Teachers of religion are more or less
unbalanced, when they have come into
touch with the invisible worlds You
know how far Lombroso went in that.
and many OF his school go as far as he
did II you would search safely, II ySu
| would keep your balance, your nervous
system strong and sane and healthy, then
you must be willing to pay the price
that all have paid in the past and are
paying in the present, that when they
affront these keener vibrations, when they
allow them to play upon their body. and
especially on the brain and nervous sys-
TEN, they must then take up life dif-
ferent from that led by men and women
of the world. and must be willing to tune
up the instrument on which the melodies
of the Spirit presently are to be played
So you may take Yoga practically to
cover an application Of the laws Of mind
to swifter individual evolution, and a
discipline OF life.
Then the seeker finds that there are
certain Qualifications laid down for the
treading Of the earlier portion Of the
Path, that which the Roman Catholic
calls the Path OF Purgation. which the
Hindu and the Buddhist call The proba-
tionary or preparatory Path. Those
Qualifications are laid down quite plainly
and definitely, SO that any man may be-
gin to practise them, and the practice OF
them, with some slight restriction which
will give you in a moment, need not i'm
ply that Discipline of Life Of which
have been speaking, because il does not.
with one exception, lead into certain def
mite practice of meditation. These Queli-
fications are said to be four. First the
Power to Discriminate between the real
and the unreal shall go more fully into
these next week, but l want to run over
them now to show you the line Of the
preparation. You have learned to distin-
guish in everything around you, and III
everyone around you, between the perrna-
nent element and the impermanent, be-
tween the surface and the content, as II
were, between the eternal and the transit
tory. The second Qualification Is what
is called Dispassion, or Desirelessness,
the absence OF desire for the fieeting and
the changing. the, concentration Of desire
on the Eternal, on that which Is. The
third Qualification is made Of the Six
Jewels, mental qualities that you must
acquire. First. Control of the Mind, that
you may be able to fix 1t steadily on
single thing, to draw out all the contents
OF that thing, and also TO use II as an IN
strument, remember, whereby you can
create, re-create, yourself. As the NAL
let and the chisel in the hand OF the
sculptor. so is control OF the mind moved
by will the mallet and chisel in the hand
Of the man who would create out Of the
rough marble OF his own nature the per-
feet image Of the Divine, that he seeks
within that marble.
Then Control of Action, which grows
out of the mind and the great virtue OF
Tolerance. No one who is blgoted, mar
row-minded. illiberal, can enter on the
Path we seek. Tolerance, broad. sll-per-
vading, that Is one OF the Qualifications,
and it means far more than some OF you
think. 1t does not mean the spirit that
says: "Oh, yes, you are all wrong, but
you can go your own way" That is not
real tolerance; that is rather indifference
to your neighbor's welfare. The real toll
erance grows out of the recognition of
the Spirit in the heart of each. OF him
who knows his own way and takes il ''ac-
cording to the Word" recognizing in
each the Spirit that knows, seeing in
each the will of the Spirit that chooses,
never desiring in any way to compel any
more than to obstruct; to offer anything
we have OF value, but never to desire to
force It on the unwilling: to place what
we believe to be true before the eyes of
another, but to feel no vexation, no an
ger, no irritation, II to him 1t is not
true; to remember that truth is no truth
to any one until he sees 1t and embraces
It for himself, and that We are so built,
our inner nature is so true that the
moment we see a truth We embrace II.
That is what tolerance means, holding
your own, willing to share II, but ever
refusing to impose or to attack. The
fourth jewel is Endurance. that strong
power which can bear without giving
way. which can face all things in the
search for truth. and never fall back be-
cause of difficulty or OF peril; which
spair, which is sure t;Iat IrGssS is find
able, and resolute to md It. Then Fsith,
faith in the God within you, faith il. the
God manifested in the Master, faith in
the One Life whereof we all are ma nifes-
tations faith unshaken and unshal cable,
so that no doubt may arise. Then Bal
ance, equilibrium, absence OF excitement,
Of passion the transmutation of excite
ment and passion into the will that point
answering to its goal; the power of
standing serene while all around are
troubled: the power OF standing alone
where all others have left and have de-
serted. The fourth Qualification Is the
desire to be free, the VIII to be free of
all weakness, in order that you NAV
help.
These need not be wholly gained be-
fore you find the Master. else were the
search well-nigh impossible. All that IA
meant hy saving that these are fb. nua1