CHAPTER XII.

THE WRONG ROAD AND THE RIGHT ONE
Old sayings often contain great wis- dom. That is why they are old. If they were not the vehicles of wisdom they would have died young. They survive through the centuries because they are successful teachers. Their age is equal to their utility. One of these old maxims should have the re- spectful consideration of students of occultism. This ancient saying runs like this : "The longest way around is the shortest way home." It is a sage warning against injudicious haste. It is a concise statement of the fact that human experience has demonstrated that it is unwise to take "short cuts" to a given destination instead of fol-
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lowing the well established road; and that the desire to save time is liable in the end to lead not only to the loss of time but to invite disaster, also.
Now, there is probably no field of activity where this is so true as it is in the study of occultism. The stu- dent is likely to be strongly attracted towards psychic development and to find himself ardently desiring to pos- sess the power of clairvoyance, and this desire may tempt him to abandon the longer but safer way. It is well to desire the opening of the inner fac- ulties in order that one may become more efficient and useful in the great work of uplifting the race; but it is a sad misfortune to make it an end in itself and thus lose sight of more im- portant things in the effort to attain it. Such a desire may tempt the unwary into the by-way of artificial develop- ment— and the slough of despond and disaster that lies at the farther end of
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it. Be content with the upward path, though the hills are rugged and the climbing is slow and difficult. It is the shortest way home.
As a matter of simple fact there are more important things than clairvoy- ance to be developed by the student of occultism — things tremendously more important. Without them clairvoyance is but a dangerous instrument to pos- sess ; with them, the inner faculties will open as a matter of course, — will open as a flower unfolds before the rising sun.
The psyhcism that dazzles many peo- ple and appears so wonderful and de- sirable— the faculty that enables the psychic to describe another's character- istics, to trace a little of his past and to foretell a few future events — is of extremely small and uncertain value. It is rarely, if ever, under control and direction of the psychic and is no more like the higher clairvoyance used in oc-
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cult investigation than a flaw in a win- dow-pane that happens to magnify the stars seen through it, is like the astron- omer's telescope that sweeps the heavens with scientific accuracy. Such minor psychic faculty does not imply spirituality any more than the ability to hypnotize implies it, and may be pos- sessed by the good or the bad just as intellect is. Perhaps its chief merit lies in the fact that it has served to arouse many people to an interest in occultism and has impelled them to an investiga- tion that has led them away from ma- terialism.
Even if the occult student, at the peril of his health and at the risk of generating unfortunate karma that may retard his higher development for several incarnations, acquires this lower psychic faculty it will avail him little in added ability to gain knowl- edge. Lacking the training necessary for accurate observation and interpre-
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tation he is as helpless, for all prac- tical purposes, as an uneducated man would be in possession of a chemist's laboratory. He would have reached such minor psychic development only after giving it much time and attention that could have been turned to far bet- ter account in another direction where it would have resulted in permanent gain of the greatest value to him. The value of the slight psychic ability that is exhibited by the fortune-telling va- riety of clairvoyant, and that is chiefly used for commercial purposes, is very greatly exaggerated. Because a few things are accurately given us we get the erroneous impression that our whole future lies open to the psychic and that he could, with perfect ease, forecast any part of it. At the same time we pay but little attention to the things about which he is altogether in error, so strongly are we impressed with that which is correct. The actual
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value of this degree of clairvoyance, or of mediumship, as the case may be, is but little, if any above that of palm- istry. The skillful palmist, without possessing a trace of clairvoyance, can read from the open hand nearly as much of the life record of the past, and the life plan of the future, as can a person possessed of this minor psychic development, and with less liability of error. Of course the psychic gets a somewhat different class of facts, a little more of detail, perhaps, than the skilled palmist, yet nothing more re- markable and certainly not of greater accuracy or value than the capable palmist is able to give.
With nothing of real value to gain, but with the possibility of losing much in the effort to acquire that uncertain and impermanent little, it is clearly enough a foolish thing to give time and energy to such development. Many persons have tried this supposed
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"shorter way" to their sorrow, and by a certain kind of peculiar breathing ex- ercise, or other method, have succeeded in gaining astral sight and also in wrecking the nervous system and de- stroying health and happiness for the remainder of this life. Sometimes it happens that by such artificial devel- opment astral sight is gained on the lower levels of the astral region, only for the experimenter to find to his hor- ror that he cannot then control it and must, against his will, remain conscious of unpleasant things. He finds, when it is too late, that he has made haste unwisely and has done worse than merely waste time. He has not only failed to find what is truly the shortest way home but he may easily entangle himself in difficulties that may prove a handicap on the right road when he finally comes to a realization of his error and resolves to set out properly on the forward journey.
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But what is this longer way around that is really the shortest way home? It is the development of the spiritual nature, and it is only apparently the longer way on account of the delusion regarding the supposed shorter one. This method instead of dealing with psychism gives its attention entirely to spirituality; and instead of regarding the present life as the field of opera- tions its outlook is from the viewpoint of the ego's general and continuous welfare, and necessarily extends over many lives. In other words it takes into consideration the whole of the journey instead of a little fragment of it and refuses to sacrifice the welfare of the future to the whim of the pres- ent. And just here is one of the points that the student should keep always in mind, — the necessity of thinking of more than one incarnation at a time, for if he did only that his plans for his development would thus be greatly
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limited and narrowed. He should try to free himself from the idea that death is in any way the end of the program and endeavor to accustom himself to the thought that it is merely an inci- dent, a change, as finishing a given task or retiring for an afternoon nap is a change in the day's routine. He should keep it steadily in mind that there is no death; that there are only various states of consciousness and that one who is following out a consistent plan of evolutionary development may carry it along from life to life, thus moving forward with constantly accelerating speed. He should think of, and plan for, the far away future, — never alone for the few years that may perhaps re- main of the present incarnation.
With a view then to permanent, in- stead of temporary results, let the at- tention be turned to the work of spir- itual development, to the elimination of one's undesirable characteristics, to
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the purification of the lower nature, to the task of bringing the whole of the activities of the waking consciousness into harmony with the loftiest ideals one can conceive. This is the apparent- ly longer way around which is really the short and sure way home. On this road we may travel as rapidly as we choose. The rapidity of our progress will depend entirely upon the earnest- ness and the energy put into the work and when the right time comes, or, speaking more accurately, when the right inner condition is attained, astral sight will come as a natural result and be a blessing instead of a curse.
One thing that the aspirant for spir- itual development should never forget is that he does not work alone. He probably will, for a considerable time, be unconscious of the fact that any other being in the universe has the slightest interest in his efforts. And this is well; for one of the lessons he
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is learning is to stand alone and perse- vere. But the fact is that every as- piration is known and every effort is observed. Just as much help is given as the aspirant is able to receive, and long before he knows it in his waking consciousness the earnest student is, during the hours of sleep, receiving instruction on the inner planes. With- out such help spiritual progress would be practically impossible; and an ex- tremely important thing to remember is that we can get help only as we de- serve it. Now, we deserve it in pro- portion that we give it; and this is why it is that to "forget oneself in the service of others" is a wiser course than to give time and energy to de- veloping psychic faculties for our own satisfaction that are of no real value to anybody. Some of us have heard it said by others farther along on the road that "it is precisely when we are thinking least about ourselves that we
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are making the greatest progress/' Try hard to be useful, to deserve much, rather than to secure entertaining fac- ulties for the personal satisfaction it may give.
While the development of clairvoy- ance is so attractive to many we seldom hear questions asked about how to de- velop intuition, — a matter of very much greater importance. Developing the intuition is a process of illuminating the lower personality with the light of the higher self and it comes about by pure living and lofty thinking. Intui- tion is from a high level of the inner worlds — from the source of wisdom — and it is the ability of rising to such spiritual heights, of bringing into the physical consciousness such unerring insight, that the student of occultism should strive for instead of for the de- velopment of psychic faculties. When the art of thus controlling and purify- ing thought and desire is attained the
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awakening of the spiritual powers will follow. "All things come to him who waits'' — and works.