The Washington herald., 1914-11-01
OCCULTISM AND CHRISTIANITY
Mystic Path of Human Progress
First StepS--The Man of the World.

world to take. or what steps IL be TAX
ing?
| I have said that he need not know the
four great truths have mentioned, he
need not understand them or recognize
them. That is part Of the hopeful side
OF the subject, that there may be many
! among you who do not yet know the
truth Of these things, but yet, in the
course Of evolution. are treading onwards
towards the entrance to the Path. And
| though In time to come you will know
| more fully, though unconsciously, you
| are evolving, none the less the evolution
| Is a fact.
The first step Of all. absolutely neces-
sary, without which no approach is pos
sible may be summed up in four brief
| words: the Service Of Man.
That is the first condition. For the self
ish no such advance is possible; for the
unselfish such advance is certain. And
in whatever life the man begins to think
more OF the common good than of his
own individual gain, whether 1t be In
the service OF the town. OF the commu-
nifty, of the nation. OF the wider jOinings
Of nations together, right up to the serv-
ice Of humanity itself, every one Of those
is step towards the Path, and is pre-
pairing the man to set his feet thereon.
There Is no distinction here between the
AAAANS VI oGANANSt pIONluEo lDGg
selfish, strenuous moved by the ideal to
help and serve. It may be purely intel
lectual-the work Of the writer and the
author, trying to spread among others
the knowledge he has found, In order
that the world may be a little wiser. It
may be along the service Of Art where
In the musician. the painter, the sculptor
the architect puts before himself the
ideal OF making the world a little fairer
and more beautiful, life a little more
sweet, more full Of grace and culture for
humankind. II may be along the way of
Social Service, where the man, moved by
sympathy for the poor, the suffering,
pours out his life in the work OF helping.
tries to alter the constitution of Society
where II needs amendment, tries 20
change the environment where the en-
vironment Of the past. useful in the past
has become an anachronIsm. and is pre-
venting the better progress that human
kind should today be making in better
surroundings. 1t may be along the way
OF Political Work, where the life OF a
nation. internal and external, is the OBJ
ject Of service. II may be along the way
of Healing. where the doctor tries to
bring health in the place OF disease. and
TO make conditions good for the body, m
order that the body may be healthier and
longer-lived than otherwise II would be-
II may be as a member Of the Red Cross
ministering to the wounded and dying on
the field of battle. Anything that Is of
value to human life is included on that
way.
Evolution.
You may say that every one is en-
gagged in one or other of the things
have mentioned. or in similar vacations
in Fn Th0A
to the Path is set in human life and there
Is nothing necessary for the growth and
evolution Of that life which may not be
made a step toward the Path. But the
difference lies in the conditions Of the
work-what object. and moved by what
motive? There lies the difference be-
tween the man who is on the ordinary
road Of evolution, growing by his work
or his study. and the man who while
growing, is growing with the object of
Service and not Of personal success, with
the object Of lifting the world a little
higher and not only Of earning his live
hhood therein. 1t is well that men should
work for the fruit OF action. well that
men should be ambitious, IshOuId grasp
after power and place. after fame honor
and success. They are toys: but they
are the toys by which the children learn
to walk. the prizes in life's school by
which the boys are stimulated to exer-
ton, the crowns in the struggle Of life
by which strength and energy and fu-
ture possibilities are developed. Do not
despise the common world Of men. in
which men are striving and struggling.
making many an error and many a blum
der.' committing many a sin and even a
crime, for all these are lessons in life's
school. all these are stages through
which every man must pass As the
fierce struggle in the world of the brute
develops strength and cunning. so do the
nerce struggles among men develop the
power OF the will, the power of the mind,
the power Of the emotions. even the power
Of muscle and nerve. War. though to be
deeply regretted, is one OF the great
schools of life.
am satisfied that our man Of the world
Is beginning to realize that not in seek
ing pleasure. wealth, and honor for him
self can permanent joy be found: but in
the service OF his feIlow-men, in the
helping Of the miserable, the teaching
OF the ignorant, the uplifting OF the op-
pressed, the tightening OF the sorrow Of
the poor. And many there are among
us today who are well of and comfort
able, whose hearts are heavy for the
sorrow of the world. and who cannot
rest in comfort in luxury, while others
the burden of life. The waking of the
social conscience amongst US. the recog-
milton of social duty. OF social RESPONSE
bility. is the nOblest sign of the evolution
of man. proof of the coming of a new
race that shall have sympathy instead of
indifference. cooperation instead of COM
petition, as its rule in the outer life of
man You who would tread toward the |
entrance to the Path, must give yourself /
and not only what you possess. You must
feel the sorrow Of others as you feel your |
own pain; you must feel the grief of 9TH |
ers as you feel the piercing of your own |
heart. 1t must come to you as an intol- !
cradle goad to action. that presses you
along the Way Of Service, which YOU |
cannot deny nor resist.
That. then. is the first great step. |
There are some who are still in the twi- !
light of unbelief in the spiritual life. who
are nearer the entrance to the Path than
many sO-called religious men who know
the theory OF religion but do not follow
its practice.
There is one thing true Of the value
OF the training of passing through
period Of materialism-that in that there
Is absolutely no reward, no talkingl
about the joys of heaven, nothing about
he that hath pity on the poor lendeth
to the Lord, and 10, what he layeth out
il shall be paid him again" In the life
Of the unbeliever. he sacrifices himself
for man, and has no reward to look to, !
no return Of outpOUred riches to ex-
pect. and. in that. he gains a perfection