INVISIBLE HELPERS

C W. LEADBEATER

AMERICAN REVISED EDITION

WITH INDEX

CHICAGO:
THE THEOSOPHICAL BOOK CONCERN
“ Krotona,” Hollywood,
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA

____ LONDON:
THB THEOSOPHICAL PUBLISHING SOCIETY, 3 LANGHAM PLACE
BENARES: THE THEOSOPHICAL PUBLISHING SOCIETY
MADRAS, THE “ THBOSOPHIST* * OFFICE, ADYAR.
1915

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 CONTENTS.

PAGI.
CHAPTER I.— T h e U niversal B elief in T h em . . . 5
CHAPTER II.— Some M odern I n stan ces .................. 9
CHAPTER III.—A P ersonal E xperience ............. 18
CHAPTER IV.— T h e H elpers ................................... 25
CHAPTER V.— T h e R eality of S uperphysical
L i f e ............................................... 34
CHAPTER VI.—A T im ely I n t er v e n tio n ................ 39
CHAPTER VII.— T he “A ngel” S t o r y ..................... 42
CHAPTER VIII.— T h e S tory of a F i r e ...................... 50
CHAPTER IX.— M aterialization and R epercus­
sion ............................................... 56
CHAPTER X.— T h e T wo B rothers ....................... 63
CHAPTER XI.— W recks and C a t a s t r o p h e s ................ 72
CHAPTER XII.— W ork A mong th e D e a d .................. 78
CHAPTER XIII.— O ther B ranches of th e W ork . . . 92
CHAPTER XIV.— T h e Q ualifications R equired. . . . 97
CHAPTER XV.— T he P robationary P a t h .................. 108
CHAPTER XVI.— T he P ath P r o p er ........................ 118
CHAPTER XVII.— W h a t L ies B e y o n d ..................... 129
IN D E X ........................................................................ 135

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 INVISIBLE HELPERS
C H A P T E R I.
T he U niversal B elief in T hem .
I t is one of the most beautiful characteristics o f
Theosophy that it gives back to people in a more
rational form everything which was really useful
and helpful to them in the religions which they
have outgrown. M any who have broken through
the chrysalis of blind faith, and mounted on the
wings o f reason and intuition to the freer, nobler
mental life of more exalted levels, nevertheless feel
that in the process o f this glorious gain a some­
thing has been lost— that in giving up the beliefs
o f their childhood they have also cast aside much
o f the beauty and the poetry of life.
If, however, their lives in the past have been
sufficiently good to earn for them the opportunity
o f coming under the' benign influence of Theo­
sophy, they very soon discover that even in this
particular there has been no loss at all, but an ex­
s

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ceeding great gain— that the glory and the beauty
and the poetry are there in fuller measure than
they had ever hoped before, and no longer as a
mere pleasant dream from which the cold light of
common-sense may at any time rudely awaken them,
but as truths of nature which will bear investigation
— which become only brighter, fuller and more per­
fect as they are more accurately understood.
A marked instance of this beneficent action of
Theosophy is the w ay in which the invisible world
(which, before the great wave o f materialism en­
gulfed us, used to be regarded as the source o f all
living help) has been restored by it to modem life.
A ll the charming folk-lore o f the elf, the brownie
and the gnome, of the spirits o f air and water, of the
forest, the mountain and the mine, is shown by it to
be no more meaningless superstition, but to have a
basis of actual and scientific fact behind it. Its answer
to the great fundamental question “ If a man die,
shall he live again?” is equally definite and scien­
tific, and its teaching on the nature and conditions
of the life after death throws a flood of light upon
much that, for the Western world at least, was pre­
viously wrapped in impenetrable darkness.
It cannot be too often repeated that in this teach­
ing as to the immortality of the soul and the life
after death, Theosophy stands in a position totally

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 7
different from that o f ordinary religion. It does
not put forward these great truths merely on the
authority of some sacred book of long a g o ; in speak­
ing of these subjects it is not dealing with pious
opinions, or metaphysical speculations, but with
solid, definite facts, as real and as close to us as the
air we breathe or the houses we live in— facts o f
which many among us have constant experience—
facts among which lies the daily work of some o f our
6tudents, as. will presently be seen.
Am ong the beautiful conceptions which Theo­
sophy has restored to us stands pre-eminent that o f
the great helpful agencies of nature. The belief in
these has been world-wide from the earliest dawn o f
history, and is universal even now outside the nar­
row domains of protestantism, which has emptied
and darkened the world for its votaries by its at­
tempt to do away with the natural and perfectly true
idea o f intermediate agents, and reduce everything
to the two factors of man and deity— a device where­
by the conception of deity has been infinitely do-
graded, and man has remained unhelped.
A moment’s thought will show that the ordinary
view o f providence— the conception of an erratic
interference by the central power o f the universe
with the result of his own decrees— would imply the
introduction of partiality into the scheme, and there­

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 8
fore o f the whole train of evils which must neces­
sarily follow upon its heels. The Theosophical
teaching, that a man can be thus specially helped only
when his past actions have -been such as to deserve
this assistance, and that even then the help will be
given through those who are comparatively near his
own level, is free from this serious objection; and it
furthermore brings back to us the older and far
grander conception of an unbroken ladder o f living
beings extending down from the Logos Himself to
the very dust beneath our feet.
In the East the existence of the invisible helpers
has always been recognized, though the names given
and the characteristics attributed to them naturally
vary in different countries; and even in Europe
we have had the old Greek stories o f the constant in­
terference of the gods in human affairs, and the
Roman legend that Castor and Pollux led the legions
of the infant republic in the battle o f Lake Regillus.
N or did such a conception die out when the classical
period ended, for these stories have their legitimate
successors in mediaeval tales of saints who appeared
at critical moments and turned the fortune of war in
favour of the Christian hosts, or of guardian angels
who sometimes stepped in and saved a pious traveller
from what would otherwise have been certain de­
struction.

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 CHAPTER II.
S ome M odern I nstances .
E ven in this incredulous age, and amidst the full
whirl of our nineteenth-century civilization, in spite
of the dogmatism of our science and the deadly dull­
ness of our'protestantism, instances of intervention
inexplicable from the materialistic standpoint may
still be found by anyone who will take the trouble to
look for them; and in order to demonstrate this to
the reader I will briefly epitomize a few of the ex­
amples given in one or other of the recent collections
of such stories, adding thereto one or two that have
come within my own notice.
One very remarkable feature of these more recent
examples is that the intervention seems nearly always
to have been directed towards the helping or saving
o f children.
A n interesting case which occurred in London
only a few years ago was connected with the pre­
servation o f a child’s life in the midst of a terrible
fire, which broke out in a street near Holborn, and
entirely destroyed two of the houses there. The
flames had obtained such hold before they were dis-
9

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 IO

covered that the firemen were unable to save the

houses, but they succeeded in rescuing all the in­
mates except two— an old woman who was suffo­
cated by the smoke before they could reach her, and
a child about five years old, whose presence in the
house had been forgotton in the hurry and excite­
ment o f the moment.
The mother of the child, it seems, was a friend
or relative of the landlady of the house, and had left
the little creature in her charge for the night, because
she was herself obliged to go down to Colchester
on business. It was not until everyone else had been
rescued, and the whole house was wrapped in flame,
that the landlady remembered with a terrible pang
the trust that had been confided to her. It seemed
hopeless then to attempt to get at the garret where
the child had been put to bed, but one of the firemen
heroically resolved to make the desperate effort, and,
after receiving minute directions as to the exact
situation of the room, plunged in among the smoke
and flame.
He found the child, and brought him forth entirely
unharmed; but when he rejoined his comrades he
had a very singular story to tell. He declared that
when he reached the room he found it in flames, and
most of the floor already fallen; but the fire had
curved round the room towards the window in an

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unnatural and unaccountable manner, the like o f

which in all his experience he had never seen before,
so that the corner in which the child lay was wholly
untouched, although the very rafters of the frag­
ment of floor on which his little crib stood were half
burnt away. The child was naturally very much
terrified, but the fireman distinctly and repeatedly
declared that as at great risk he made his w ay to­
wards him he saw a form like an angel— here his
exact words are given— a something “ all gloriously
white and silvery, bending over the bed and smooth­
ing down the counterpane.” He could not possibly
have been mistaken about it, he said, for it was visible
in a glare o f light for some moments, and in fact dis-
• appeared only when he was within a few feet of it.
Another curious feature o f this story is that the
child’s mother found herself unable to sleep that
night down at Colchester, but was constantly har­
rassed by a strong feeling that something was wrong
with her child, insomuch that at last she was com­
pelled to rise and spend some time in earnest prayer
that the little one might be protected from the danger
which she instinctively felt to be hanging over him.
The intervention was thus evidently what a Christian
would call an answer to prayer; a Theosophist, put­
ting the same idea in more scientific phraseology,
would say that her intense outpouring of love consti­

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tuted a force which one of our invisible helpers was
able to use for the rescue of her child from a terrible
death.
A remarkable case in which children were ab­
normally protected occurred on the banks of the
Thames near Maidenhead a few years earlier than
our last example. This time the danger from which
they were saved arose not from fire but from water.
Three little ones, who lived, if I recollect rightly, in
or near the village of Shottesbrook, were taken out
for a walk along the towing-path by their nurse.
They rushed suddenly round a corner upon a horse
which was drawing a barge, and in the confusion two
of them got on the wrong side of the tow-rope and
were thrown into the water.
The boatman, who saw the accident, sprang for­
ward to try to save them, and he noticed that they
were floating high in the water “ in quite an un­
natural way, like,” as he said, and moving quietly
towards the bank. This was all that he and the nurse
saw, but the children each declared that “ a beautiful
person, all white and shining,” stood beside them in
the water, held them up and guided them to the
shore. Nor was their story without corroboration,
for the bargeman’s little daughter, who ran up from
the cabin when she heard the screams of the nurse,

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also affirmed that she saw a lovely lady in the water
dragging the two children to the bank.
W ithout fuller particulars than the story gives us,
it is impossible to say with certainty from what class
of helpers this “ angel” was drawn; but the prob­
abilities are in favour of its having been a developed
human being functioning in the astral body, as will
be seen when later on we deal with this subject from
the other side, as it were— from the point of view o f
the helpers rather than the helped.
A case in which the agency is somewhat more de­
finitely distinguishable is related by the well-known
clergyman, Dr. John Mason Neale. He states that
a man who had recently lost his wife was on a visit
with his little children at the country house of a
friend. It was an old, rambling mansion, and in
the lower part of it there were long, dark passages,
in which the children played about with great de­
light. But presently they came upstairs very grave­
ly, and two of them related that as they were run­
ning down one of these passages they were met by
their mother, who told them to go back again, and
then disappeared. Investigation revealed the fact
that if the children had run but a few steps farther
they would have fallen down a deep uncovered well
which yawned full in their path, so that the appari-

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tion o f their mother had saved them from almost
certain death.
In this instance there seems no reason to doubt
that, the mother herself was still keeping a loving
watch over her children from the astral plane, and
that (as has happened in some other cases) her in­
tense desire to warn them of the danger into which
they were so heedlessly rushing gave her the power to
make herself visible and audible to them for the mo­
ment— or perhaps merely to impress their minds
with the idea that they saw and heard her. It is
possible, o f course, that the helper may have been
someone else, who took the familiar form o f the
mother in order not to alarm the children; but the
simplest hypothesis is to attribute the intervention
to the action o f the ever-wakeful mother-love itself,
undimmed by the passage through the gates of death.
This mother-love, being one o f the holiest and
most unselfish of human feelings, is also one o f the
most persistent on higher planes. Not only does the
mother who finds herself upon the lower levels of the
astral plane, and consequently still within touch o f
the earth, maintain her interest in and her care for
her children as long as she is able to see them; even
after her entry into the heaven-world these little ones
are still the most prominent objects in her thought,
and the wealth o f love that she lavishes upon the

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images which she there makes o f them is a great out­
pouring o f spiritual force which flows down upon
her offspring who are still struggling in this lower
world, and surrounds them with living centres o f
beneficent energy which may not inaptly be described
as veritable guardian angels. A n illustration o f this
will be found in the sixth of our Theosophical man­
uals, p. 38.
N ot long ago the little daughter o f one o f our
English bishops was out walking with her mother
in the town where they lived, and in running heed­
lessly across a street the child was knocked down
by the horses o f a carriage which came quickly upon
her round a comer. Seeing her among the horses’
feet, the mother rushed forward, expecting to find
her very badly injured, but she sprang up quite mer­
rily, saying, “ Oh, mamma, I am not at all hurt, for
something all in white kept the horses from treading
upon me, and told me not to be afraid.”
A case which occurred in Buckinghamshire, some­
where in the neighbourhood of Burnham Beeches, is
remarkable on account o f the length o f time through
which the physical manifestation o f the succouring
agency seems to have maintained itself. It will have
been seen that in the instances hitherto given the in­
tervention was a matter o f but a few moments,

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 i6
whereas in this a phenomenon was produced which
appears to have persisted for more than half an hour.
T w o of the little children of a small farmer were
left to amuse themselves while their parents and their
entire household were engaged in the work of har­
vesting. The little ones started for a walk in the
woods, wandered far from home, and then managed
to lose their way. When the weary parents returned
at dusk it was discovered that the children were
missing, and after enquiring at some of the neigh­
bours’ houses the father sent servants and labourers
in various directions to seek for them.
Their efforts were, however, unsuccessful, and
their shouts unanswered; and they had reassembled
at the farm in a somewhat despondent frame of mind,
when they all saw a curious light some distance
away moving slowly across some fields towards the
road. It was described as a large globular mass of
rich golden glow, quite unlike ordinary lamplight;
and as it drew nearer it was seen that the two missing
children were walking steadily along in the midst of
it. The father and some others immediately set off
running towards it; the appearance persisted until
they were close to it, but just as they grasped the chil­
dren it vanished, leaving them in the darkness.
The children’s story was that after night came on
they had wandered about crying in the woods for

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some time, and had at last lain down under a tree to
sleep. They had been roused, they said, by a beauti­
ful lady with a lamp, who took them by the hand and
led them home; when they questioned her she smiled
at them, but never spoke a word. T o this strange
tale they both steadily adhered, nor was it possible
in any way to shake their faith in what they had
seen. It is noteworthy, however, that though all
present saw the light, and noticed that it lit up the
trees and hedges which came within its sphere pre­
cisely as an ordinary light would, yet the form o f the
lady was visible to none but the children.

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 CHAPTER III.
A P ersonal E xperience .
A ll the above stories are comparatively well-
known, and may be found in some of the books
which contain collections of such accounts— most
of them in Dr. Lee’s More Glimpses of t
Unseen; but the two instances which I am now about
to give have never been in print before, and both oc­
curred within the last ten years— one to myself, and
the other to a very dear friend of mine, a prominent
member of the Theosophical Society, whose ac­
curacy of observation is beyond all shadow of doubt.
M y own story is a simple one enough, though not
unimportant to me, since the interposition undoubted­
ly saved my life. I was walking one exceedingly wet
and stormy night down a quiet back street near
Westbourne Grove, struggling with scant success
to hold up an umbrella against the savage gusts of
wind that threatened every moment to tear it from
my grasp, and trying as I laboured along to think
out the details of some work upon which I was just
then engaged.
u

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W ith startling suddenness a voice which I know
well— the voice of an Indian teacher— cried in my
ear “ Spring back!” and in mechanical obedience I
started violently backwards almost before I had
time to think. A s I did so my umbrella, which had
swung forward with the sudden movement, was
struck from my hand, and a huge metal chimney­
pot crashed upon the pavement less than a yard in
front of my face. The great weight of this article,
and the tremendous force with which it fell, make
it absolutely certain that but for the warning voice
I should have been killed on the spot; yet the street
was empty, and the voice was that of one whom I
knew to be seven thousand miles away from me, as
far as the physical body was concerned.
N or was this the only occasion upon which I re­
ceived assistance o f this supernormal kind, for in
early life, long before the foundation of the Theo-
sophical Society, the apparition of a dear one who
had recently died prevented me from committing
what I now see would have been a serious crime,
although by the light of such knowledge as I then
had it appeared not only a justifiable but even a laud­
able act o f retaliation. Again, at a later date,
though still before the foundation o f this Society, a
warning conveyed to me from a higher plane amid
most impressive surroundings enabled me to prevent

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another man from entering upon a course which I
now know would have ended disastrously, though I
had no reason to suppose so at the time. So it will
be seen that I have a certain amount of personal ex­
perience to strengthen my belief in the doctrine of in­
visible helpers, even apart from my knowledge of the
help that is constantly being given at the present
time.
The other case is a very much more striking one.
One of our members, who gives me permission to
publish her story, but does not wish her name men­
tioned, once found herself in very serious physical
peril. Owing to circumstances which need not be de­
tailed here, she was in the very centre of a dangerous
street fracas, and seeing several men struck down
and evidently badly hurt close to her, was in mo­
mentary expectation of a similar fate, since escape
from the crush seemed quite impossible.
Suddenly she experienced a curious sensation of
being whirled out of the crowd, and found herself
standing quite uninjured and entirely alone in a
small bye-street parallel with the one in which the
disturbance had taken place. She still heard the
noise of the struggle, and while she stood wonder­
ing what on earth had happened to her, two or three
men who had escaped from the crowd came run­
ning round the corner of the street, and on seeing

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her expressed great astonishment and pleasure, say­
ing that when the brave lady so suddenly disappeared
from the midst of the fight they had felt certain that
she had been struck down.
A t the time no sort of explanation was forthcom­
ing, and she returned home in a very mystified con­
dition; but when at a later period she mentioned
this strange occurrence to Madame Blavatsky she
was informed that, her karma being such as to en­
able her to be saved from her exceedingly dangerous
position, one of the Masters had specially sent some
one to protect her in view of the fact that her life was
needed for the work.
Nevertheless the case remains a very extraordi­
nary one, both with regard to the great amount of
power exercised and the unusually public nature of
its manifestation. It is not difficult to imagine the
modus operandi; she must have been lifted bodily
over the intervening block of houses, and simply set
down in the next street; but since her physical body
was not visible floating in the air, it is also evident
that a veil of some sort (probably of etheric matter)
must have been thrown round her while in transit.
If it be objected that whatever can hide physical
matter must itself be physical, and therefore visible,
it may be replied that by a process familiar to all
occult students it is possible to bend rays of light

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(which, under all conditions at present known to
science, travel only in straight lines unless refracted)
so that after passing round an object they may re­
sume exactly their former course; and it will at
once be seen that if this were done such an object
would to all physical eyes be absolutely invisible
until the rays were allowed to resume their normal
course. I am fully aware that this one statement
alone is sufficient to brand my remarks as nonsense
in the eyes of the scientist of the present day, but I
cannot help that; I am merely stating a possibility
in nature which the science of the future will no
doubt one day discover, and for those who are not
students of occultism the remark must wait until then
for its justification.
The process, as I say, is comprehensible enough to
anyone who understands a little about the more oc­
cult forces o f nature; but the phenomenon still re­
mains an exceedingly dramatic one, while the name
o f the heroine of the story, were I permitted to give
it, would be a guarantee of its accuracy to all my
readers.
Another recent instance of interposition, less strik­
ing, perhaps, but entirely successful, has been re­
ported to me since the publication of the first edition
o f this book. A lady, being obliged to undertake a
long railway journey alone, had taken the precaution

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to secure an empty compartment; but just as the
train was leaving the station, a man of forbidding
and villainous appearance sprang in and seated him­
self at the other end o f the carriage. T he lady was
much alarmed, thus to be left alone with so doubtful-
looking a character, but it was too late to call for
help, so she sat still and commended herself earnestly
to the care o f her patron saint.
Soon her fears were redoubled, for the man arose
and turned toward her with an evil grin, but he had
hardly taken one step when he started back with a
look o f the most intense astonishment and terror.
Following the direction of his glance, she was start­
led to see a gentleman seated directly opposite to her,
gazing quietly but firmly at the baffled robber— a
gentleman who certainly could not have entered the
carriage by any ordinary means. Too much awed
to speak, she watched him as though fascinated for
a full half-hour; he uttered no word, and did not
even look at her, but kept his eyes steadily upon the
villain, who cowered trembling in the furthest cor­
ner o f the compartment. The moment that the train
reached the next station, and even before it came to
a standstill, the would-be thief tore open the door
and sprang hurriedly o u t T he lady, deeply thank­
ful to be rid o f him, turned to express her gratitude
to the gentleman, but found only an empty seat,

r
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though it would have been impossible for any physi­
cal body to have left the carriage in the time.
T he materialization was in this case maintained
for a longer period than usual, but on the other hand
it expended no force in action of any kind— nor in­
deed was it necessary that it should do so, as its
mere appearance was sufficient to effect its purpose.
But these stories, all referring as they do to what
would commonly be called angelic intervention,
illustrate only one small part of the activities of our
invisible helpers. Before, however, we can profitably
consider the other departments of their work it will
be well that we should have clearly in our minds the
various classes of entities to which it is possible that
these helpers may belong. Let that, then, be the
portion of our subject to be next treated.

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 CHAPTER IV.
T he H elpers .
H elp , then, may be given by several of the many
classes o f inhabitants of the astral plane. It may
come from devas, from nature-spirits, or from those
whom we call dead, as well as from those who func­
tion consciously upon the astral plane during life—
chiefly the adepts and their pupils. But if we ex­
amine the matter a little more closely we shall see
that though all the classes mentioned may, and some­
times do, take a part in this work, yet their shares in
it are so unequal that it is practically left almost en­
tirely to one class.
The very fact that so much of this work of help­
ing has to be done either upon or from the astral
plane goes far in itself towards explaining this. T o
anyone who has even a faint idea of what the powers
at the command of an adept really are, it will be at
once obvious that for him to work upon the astral
plane would be a far greater waste of energy than
for our leading physicians or scientists to spend thr ir
time in breaking stones upon the road.
a

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T he work o f the adept lies in higher regions—
chiefly upon the arupa levels o f the devachanic plane
or heaven-world, where he may direct his energies
to the influencing o f the true individuality of man,
and not the mere personality which is all that can
be reached in the astral or physical world. The
strength which he puts forth In that more exalted
realm produces results greater, more far-reaching
and more lasting than any which can be attained
by the expenditure of even ten times the force down
here; and the work up there is such as he alone can
fully accomplish, while that on lower planes may be
at any rate to some extent achieved by/those whose
feet are yet upon the earlier steps of the great stair­
way which will one day lead them to the position
where he stands.
The same remarks apply also in the case o f the
devas. Belonging as they do to a higher kingdom
of nature than ours, their work seems for the most
part entirely unconnected with humanity; and even
those of their orders— and there are some such—
which do sometimes respond to our higher yearnings
or appeals, do so on the mental plane rather than on
the physical or astral, and more frequently in the
periods between our incarnations than during our
earthly lives.
It may be remembered that some instances o f such

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help were observed in the course o f investigations
into the subdivisions of the devachanic plane which
were undertaken when the Theosophical manual on
the subject was in preparation. In one case a deva
was found teaching the most wonderful celestial
music to a chorister; and in another one of a dif­
ferent class was giving instruction and guidance
to an astronomer who was seeking to comprehend
the form and structure o f the universe.
These two were but examples o f many instances in
which the great deva kingdom was found to be help­
ing onward the evolution and responding to the
higher aspirations of man after death; and there are
methods by which, even during earth-life, these great
ones may be approached, and an infinity of know­
ledge acquired from them, though even then such
intercourse is gained rather by rising to their plane
than by invoking them to descend to ours.
In the ordinary events of our physical life the deva
very rarely interferes— indeed, he is so fully occu­
pied with the far grander work of his own plane that
he is probably scarcely conscious o f this; and though
it may occasionally happen that he becomes aware
o f some human sorrow or difficulty which excites his
pity and moves him to endeavour to help in some
way, his wider vision undoubtedly recognizes that at
the present stage of evolution such interpositions

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would in the vast majority of cases be productive of
infinitely more harm than good.
There was indubitably a period in the past— in the
infancy of the human race— when it was much more
largely assisted from outside than is at present the
case. A t the time when all its Buddhas and Manus,
and even its more ordinary leaders and teachers, were
drawn either from the ranks of the deva evolution
or from the perfected humanity of a more advanced
planet, any such assistance as we are considering in
this treatise must also have been given by these ex­
alted beings. But as man progresses he becomes
himself qualified to act as a helper, first on the physi­
cal plane and then on higher levels; and we have now
reached a stage at which humanity ought to be able
to provide, and to some slight extent does provide,
invisible helpers for itself, thus setting free for still
more useful and elevated work those beings who are
capable of it.
It becomes obvious then that such assistance as
that to which we are here referring may most fitly
be given by men and women at a particular stage
of their evolution; not by the adepts, since they are
capable of doing far grander and more widely useful
work, and not by the ordinary person of no special
spiritual development, for he would be unable to be
of any use. Just as these considerations would lead

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us to expect, we find that this work of helping on
the astral and lower mental planes is chiefly in the
hands of the pupils of the Masters— men who,
though yet far from the attainment of adeptship,
have evolved themselves to the extent of being able
to function consciously upon the planes in question.
Some of these have taken the further step of com­
pleting the links between the physical consciousness
and that of the higher levels, and they therefore have
the undoubted advantage of recollecting in waking
life what they have done and what they have learnt
in those other worlds; but there are many others
who, though as yet unable to carry their conscious­
ness through unbroken, are nevertheless by no
means wasting the hours when they think they are
asleep, but spending them in noble and unselfish
labour for their fellow-men.
W hat this labour is we will proceed to consider,
but before we enter upon that part of the subjett we
will first refer to an objection which is very fre­
quently brought forward with regard to such work,
and we will also dispose of the comparatively rare
cases in which the agents are either nature-spirits or
men who have cast off the physical body.
People whose grasp of Theosophical ideas is as
yet imperfect are often in doubt as to whether it is
allowable for them to try to help some one whom

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they find in sorrow or difficulty, lest they should
interfere with the fate which has been decreed for
him by the absolute justice o f the eternal law of
karma. “ The man is in his present position,” they
say in effect, “ because he has deserved i t ; he is now
working out the perfectly natural result o f some evil
which he has committed in the past; what right have
I to interfere with the action of the great cosmic law
by trying to ameliorate his condition, either on the -
astral plane or the physical ?”
N ow the good people who make such suggestions
are really, however unconsciously to themselves, ex­
hibiting the most colossal conceit, for their position
implies two astounding assumptions; first, that they
know exactly what another man’s karma has been,
and how long it has decreed that his sufferings shall
la st; and secondly, that they— the insects of a day—
could absolutely override the cosmic law and prevent
the due working-out o f karma by any action of
theirs. W e may be well assured that the great
karmic deities are perfectly well able to manage their
business without our assistance, and we need have
no fear that any steps we may take can by any pos­
sibility cause them the slightest difficulty or un­
easiness.
If a man’s karma is such that he cannot be helped,
then all our well-meant efforts in that direction will

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fail, though we shall nevertheless have gained good
karma for ourselves by making them. W hat the
man’s karma has been is no business o f ours; our
duty is to give help to the utmost of our power, and
our right is only to the a ct; the result is in other and
higher hands. H ow can we tell how a man’s account
stands? For all we know he may just have ex­
hausted his evil karma, and be at this moment at the
very point where a helping hand is needed to give
relief and raise him out of his trouble or depression;
w hy should not we have the pleasure and privilege
o f doing that good deed as well as another? I f we
can help him, then that fact o f itself shows that he
has deserved to be helped; but we can never know
unless we try. In any case the law of karma will
take care o f itself, and we need not trouble ourselves
about it.
The cases in which assistance is given to man­
kind by nature-spirits are few. The majority o f
such creatures shun the haunts of man, and retire
before him, disliking his emanations and the per­
petual bustle and unrest which he creates all around
him. Also, except some o f their higher orders, they
are generally inconsequent and thoughtless— more
like happy children at play under exceedingly favour­
able physical conditions than like grave and responsi­
ble entities. Still it sometimes happens that one o f

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them will become attached to a human being, and do
him many a good turn; but at the present stage of
its evolution this department of nature cannot be
relied upon for anything like steady co-operation in
the work o f invisible helpers. For a fuller account
of the nature-spirits the reader is referred to the fifth
of our Theosophical manuals.
Again, help is sometimes given by those recently
departed— those who are still lingering on the astral
plane, and still in close touch with earthly affairs, as
(probably) in the above-mentioned case of the
mother who saved her children from falling down a
well. But it will readily be seen that the amount of
such help available must naturally be exceedingly
limited. The more unselfish and helpful a person is,
the less likely is he to be found after death lingering
in full consciousness on the lower levels of the astral
plane, from which the earth is most readily access­
ible. In any case, unless he were an exceptionally
bad man, his stay within the realm whence alone any
interference would be possible would be compara­
tively short; and although from the heaven-world
he may still shed benign influence upon those whom
he has loved on earth, it will usually be rather of the
nature of a general benediction than a force capable
of bringing about definite results in a specific case,
such as those which we have been considering.

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Again, many o f the departed who wish to help
those whom they left behind, find themselves quite
unable to influence them in any way, since to work
from one plane upon an entity on another requires
either very great sensitiveness on the part of that
entity, or a certain amount of knowledge and skill
on the part o f the operator. Therefore, although in­
stances of apparitions shortly after death are by no
means uncommon, it is rare to find one in which the
departed person has really done anything useful, or
succeeded in impressing what he wished upon the
friend or relation whom he visited. There are such
cases, o f course— a good many of them when we
come to put them all together; but they are not nu­
merous compared to the great number of ghosts who
have succeeded in showing themselves. So that but
little help is usually given by the dead— indeed, as
will presently be explained, it is far more common
for them to be themselves in need o f assistance than
to be able to accord it to others.
A t present, therefore, the main bulk o f the work
which has to be done along these lines falls to the
share of those living persons who are able to function
consciously on the astral plane.

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 CHAPTER V.
T he R eality of S uperphysical L ife .
I t seems difficult for those who are accustomed
only to the ordinary and somewhat materialistic
lines of thought of the nineteenth century, to believe
in and realize fully a condition of perfect conscious­
ness apart from the physical body. Every Christian,
at any rate, is bound by the very foundations of his
creed to believe that he possesses a soul; but if you
suggest to him the possibility that that soul may be a
sufficiently real thing to become visible under certain
conditions apart from the body either during life or
after death, the chances are ten to one that he will
scornfully tell you that he does not believe in ghosts,
and that such an idea is nothing but an anachronistic
survival of an exploded mediaeval superstition.
If, therefore, we are at all to comprehend the work
o f the band of invisible helpers, and perchance our­
selves to learn to assist in it, we must shake ourselves
free from the trammels of contemporary thought on
these subjects, and endeavour to grasp the great
truth (now a demonstrated fact to many among us)
M

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that the physical body is in simple truth nothing but
a vehicle or vesture of the real man. It is put off
permanently at death, but it is also put off tempora­
rily every night when we go to sleep— indeed the
process o f falling asleep consists in this very action
of the real man in his astral vehicle slipping out of
the physical body.
A gain I repeat, this is no mere hypothesis or in­
genious supposition. There are many among us who
are able to perform (and do perform every day of
their lives) this elementary act of magic in full con­
sciousness— who pass from one plane to the other at
w ill; and if that is clearly realized, it will become
apparent how grotesquely absurd to them must ap­
pear the ordinary unreasoning assertion that such a
thing is utterly impossible. It is like telling a man
that it is impossible for him to fall asleep, and that
if he thinks he has ever done so he is under a
hallucination.
N ow the man who has not yet developed the link
between the astral and physical consciousness is un­
able to leave his denser body at will, or to recollect
most of what happens to him while away from it; but
the fact nevertheless remains that he leaves it every
time he sleeps, and may be seen by any trained clair­
voyant either hovering over it or wandering about at
a greater or less distance from it, as the case may be.

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 T he entirely undeveloped person usually floats
close above his physical body, scarcely less asleep
than it is, and comparatively shapeless and inchoate,
and it is found that he cannot be drawn away from
the immediate neighbourhood o f that physical body
without causing serious discomfort which would in
fact awaken i t A s the man evolves, however, his
astral body grows more definite and more conscious,
and so becomes a fitter vehicle for him. In the case
of the m ajority of intelligent and cultured people the
degree o f consciousness is already very considerable,
and a man who is at all spiritually developed is as
fully himself in that vehicle as in this denser body.
But though he may be fully conscious on the astral
plane during sleep, and able to move about on it free­
ly if he wishes to do so, it does not yet follow that he
is ready to join the band o f helpers. Most people at
this stage are so wrapped up in their own train o f
thought— usually a continuation of some line taken
up in waking hours— that they are like a man in a
brown study, so much absorbed as to be practically
entirely heedless of all that is going on about them.
And in many ways it is well that this is so, for there
is much upon the astral plane which might be un­
nerving and terrifying to one who had not the cour­
age bom of full knowledge as to the real nature o f
all that he would see.

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Sometimes a man gradually rouses himself out o f
this condition— wakes up to the astral world around
him, as it were; but more often he remains in that
state until someone who is already active there takes
him in hand and wakens him. This is, however, not
a responsibility to be lightly undertaken, for while it
is comparatively easy thus to wake a man up on the
astral plane, it is practically impossible, except by a
most undesirable exercise of mesmeric influence, to
put him to sleep again. So that before a member of
the band of workers will thus awaken a dreamer, he
must fully satisfy himself that the man’s disposition
is such that he will make good use of the additional
powers that will then be put into his hands, and also
that his knowledge and his courage are sufficient to
make it reasonably certain that no harm will come
to him as a result of the action.
Such awakening so performed will put a man in a
position to join if he will the band of those who help
mankind. But it must be clearly understood that
this does not necessarily or even usually bring with
it the power of remembering in the waking conscious­
ness anything which has been done. That capacity
has to be attained by the man for himself, and in
most cases it does not come for years afterwards—
perhaps not even in the same life. But happily this
lack o f memory in the body in no way impedes the

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work out o f the body; so that, except for the satis­
faction to a man of knowing during his waking hours
upon what work he has been engaged during his
sleep, it is not a matter of importance. W hat really
matters is that the work should be done— not that we
should remember who did it.

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 CHAPTER VI.
A T im ely I ntervention .
V aried as is this work on the astral plane, it is all
directed to one great end— the furtherance, in how­
ever humble a degree, of the processes of evolution.
Occasionally it is connected with the development of
the lower kingdoms, which it is possible slightly to
accelerate under certain conditions. A duty towards
these lower kingdoms, elemental as well as animal
and vegetable, is distinctly recognized by our adept
leaders, since it is in some cases only through con­
nection with or use by man that their progress takes
place.
But naturally by far the largest and most impor­
tant part o f the work is connected with humanity
in some w ay or other. The services rendered are
of many and various kinds, but chiefly concerned
with man’s spiritual development, such physical in­
terventions as are recounted in the earlier part of
this book being exceedingly rare. They do, how­
ever, occasionally take place, and though it is my
wish to emphasize rather the possibility of extending
mental and moral help to our fellow-men, it will per­
haps be well to give two or three instances in which
38

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friends personally known to me have rendered phys­
ical assistance to those in sore need of it, in order that
it may be seen how these examples from the experi­
ence of the helpers gear in with the accounts given by
those who have received the supernormal aid— such
stories, I mean, as those which are to be found in the
literature of so-called “ supernatural occurrences.”
In the course o f the recent rebellion in Matabele­
land one of our members was sent upon an errand
o f mercy which may serve as an illustration o f the
way in which help upon this lower plane has occa­
sionally been given. It seems that one night a cer­
tain farmer and his family in that country were sleep­
ing tranquilly in fancied security, quite unaware
that only a few miles away relentless hordes of sav­
age foes were lying in ambush maturing fiendish
plots o f murder and rapine. Our member’s business
was in some w ay or other to arouse the sleeping fam­
ily to a sense o f the terrible danger which so unex­
pectedly menaced them, and she found this by no
means an easy matter.
A n attempt to impress the idea of imminent peril
upon the brain o f the farmer failed utterly, and as
the urgency of the case seemed to demand strong
measures, our friend decided to materialize herself
sufficiently to shake the housewife by the shoulder
and adjure her to get up and look about her. The

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moment she saw that she had been successful in at­
tracting attention she vanished, and the farmer’s wife
has never from that day to this been able to find out
which o f her neighbours it was who roused her so
opportunely, and thus saved the lives o f the entire
family, who but for this mysterious intervention
would undoubtedly have been massacred in their
beds half an hour later; nor can she even now under­
stand how this friend in need contrived to make her
way in, when all the windows and doors were found
so securely barred.
Being thus abruptly awakened, the housewife was
half inclined to consider the warning as a mere
dream; however, she arose and looked round just to
see that all was right, and fortunate it was that she
did so, for though she found nothing amiss indoors
she had no sooner thrown open a shutter than she saw
the sky red with a distant conflagration. She at once
roused her husband and the rest of her family, and
ow ing to this timely notice they were able to escape
to a place o f concealment near at hand just before the
arrival o f the horde of savages, who destroyed the
house and ravaged the fields indeed, but were disap­
pointed o f the human prey which they had expected.
T he feelings o f the rescuer may be imagined when
she read in the newspaper some time afterwards an
account of the providential deliverance of this family.

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 CHAPTER VII.
T he " A ngel S tory."
. A nother instance of intervention on the physical
plane which occurred a short time ago makes a very
beautiful little story, though this time only one life
was saved. It needs, however, a few words of pre­
liminary explanation. Am ong our band of helpers
here in Europe are two who were brothers long ago
in ancient Egypt, and are still warmly attached to
one another. In this present incarnation there is a
wide difference in age between them, one being ad­
vanced in middle life, while the other was at that
time a mere child in the physical body, though an ego
o f considerable advancement and promise. Naturally
it falls to the lot of the elder to train and guide the
younger in the occult work to which they are so
heartily devoted, and as both are fully conscious and
active on the astral plane they spend most of the time
during which their grosser bodies are asleep in la­
bouring together under the direction of their com­
mon Master, and giving to both living and dead such
help as is within their power.
is

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I will quote the story of the particular incident
which I wish to relate from a letter written by the
elder o f the two helpers immediately after its oc­
currence, as the description there given is more vivid
and picturesque than any account in the third person
could possibly be.
“ W e were going about quite other business, when
Cyril suddenly cried, ‘W hat’s that?’ for we heard a
terrible scream of pain or fright. In a moment we
were on the spot, and found that a boy of about
eleven or twelve had fallen over a cliff on to some
rocks below, and was very badly hurt. He had
broken a leg and an arm, poor fellow, but what was
still worse was a dreadful cut in the thigh, from
which blood was pouring in a torrent. Cyril cried,
‘Let us help him quick, or he’ll d ie !’
“ In emergencies of this kind one has to think
quickly. There were clearly two things to be done;
that bleeding must be stopped, and physical help
must be procured. I was obliged to materialize
either Cyril or myself, for we wanted physical hands
at once to tie a bandage, and besides it seemed better
that the poor boy should someone standing by
him in his trouble. I felt that while undoubtedly he
would be more at home with Cyril than with me, I
should probably be more readily able to procure help

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than Cyril would, so the division o f labour was ob­
vious.
"T h e plan worked capitally. I materialized Cyril
instantly (he does not know yet how to do it for
him self), and told him to take the boy’s neckerchief
and tie it round the thigh, and twist a stick through
i t ‘W on’t it hurt him terribly?’ said C yril; but he
did it, and the blood stopped flowing. The injured
boy seemed half unconscious, and could scarcely
speak, but he looked up at the shining little form
bending so anxiously over him, and asked, ‘Be you
an angel, master?’ Cyril smiled so prettily, and re­
plied, ‘No, I’m only a boy, but I ’ve come to help
you;’ and then I left him to comfort the sufferer
while I rushed off for the boy’s mother, who lived
about a mile away.
“ The trouble I had to force into that woman’s
head the conviction that something was wrong, and
that she must go and see about it, you would never
believe; but at last she threw down the pan she was
cleaning, and said aloud, ‘W ell, I don’t know what’s
come over me, but I must go and find the boy.’
When she once started I was able to guide her with­
out much difficulty, though all the time I was hold­
ing Cyril together by will-power, lest the poor
child’s angel should suddenly vanish from before his
eyes.

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“ Y o u see, when you materialize a form you are
changing matter from its natural state into another
— temporarily opposing the cosmic will, as it were;
and if you take your mind off it for one half-second,
back it flies into its original condition like a flash of
lightning. So I could not give more than half my
attention to that woman, but still I got her along
somehow, and as soon as she came round the corner
o f the cliff I let Cyril disappear; but she had seen
him, and now that village has one o f the best-at­
tested stories of angelic intervention on record!
“ T he accident happened in the early morning, and
the same evening I looked in (astrally) upon the
fam ily to see how matters were going on. The poor
boy’s leg and arm had been set, and the great cut
bandaged, and he lay in bed looking very pale and
weak, but evidently going to recover in time. The
mother had a couple o f neighbours in, and was tell­
ing them the story; and a curious tale it sounded to
one who knew the real facts.
“ She explained, in very many words, how she
couldn’t tell what it was, but something came over
her all in a minute like, making her feel something
had happened to the boy, and she must go out and
see after h im ; how at first she thought it was non­
sense, and tried to throw off the feeling, ‘but it

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w am ’t no use— she just had to go.’ She told how
she didn’t know what made her go round by that
cliff more than any other way, but it just happened
so, and as she turned round the comer there she saw
him lying propped up against a rock, and kneeling
beside him was the ‘beautifullest child ever she saw,
dressed all in white and shining, with rosy cheeks
and lovely brown eyes;’ and how he smiled at her
‘so heavenly like,’ and then all in a moment he was
not there, and at first she was so startled she didn’t
know what to think; and then all at once she felt
what it was, and fell on her knees and thanked God
for sending one of his angels to help her poor boy.
“ Then she told how when she lifted him to carry
him home she wanted to take off the handkerchief
that was cutting into his poor leg so, but he would
not let her, because he said the angel had tied it and
said he was-not to touch it; and how when she told
the doctor this afterwards he explained to her that
if she hadunfastened it the boy would certainly
have died.
“ Then she repeated the boy’s part o f the tale—
how the moment after he fell this lovely little angel
came to him (he knew it was an angel because he
knew there had been nobody in sight for half a
mile round when he was at the top of the cliff just

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before— only he could not understand why it hadn't
any wings, and why it said it was only a bo y)—
how it lifted him against the rock and tied up his
leg, and then began to talk to him and tell him he
need not be frightened, because somebody was gone
to fetch mother, and she would be there directly;
how it kissed him and tried to make him comfort­
able, and how its Soft, warm, little hand held his all
the time, while it told him strange, beautiful stories
which he could not clearly remember, but he knew
they were very good, because he had almost for­
gotten he was hurt until he saw mother coming;
and how then it assured him he would soon be well
again, and smiled and squeezed his hand, and then
somehow it was gone.
“ Since then there has been quite a religious re­
vival in that village! Their minister has told them
that so signal an interposition of divine providence
must have been meant as a sign to them, to rebuke
scoffers and to prove the truth of holy scripture
and of the Christian religion— and nobody seems
to see the colossal conceit involved in such an aston­
ishing proposition.
“ But the effect on the boy has been undoubtedly
good, morally as well as physically; by all accounts
he was a careless enough young scamp before, but
now he feels ‘his angel’ may be near him at any

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time, and he will never do or say anything rough or
coarse or angry, lest it should see or hear. The one
great desire of his life is that some day he may see
it again, and he knows that when he dies its lovely
face will be the first to greet him on the other side.”
A beautiful and pathetic little story, truly. The
moral drawn from the occurrence by the village and
its minister is perhaps somewhat o f a non sequitur;
yet the testimony to the existence o f at least some­
thing beyond this material plane must surely do
the people more good than harm, and after all the
mother’s conclusion from what she saw was a per­
fectly correct one, though more accurate knowledge
would probably have led her to express it a little
differently.
A n interesting fact afterwards discovered by the
investigations of the writer of the letter throws a
curious side-light upon the reasons underlying such
incidents. It was found that the two boys had met
before, and that some thousands of years ago the
one who fell from the cliff had been the slave of the
other, and had once saved his young master’s life at
the risk o f his own, and had been liberated in con­
sequence; and now, long afterwards, the master not
only repays the debt in kind, but also gives his for­
mer slave a high ideal and an inducement to moral­
ity of life which will probably change the whole

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course of his future evolution. So true is it that no
good deed ever goes unrewarded by karma, how­
ever tardy it may seem in its action— that
Though the mills of God grind slowly,
Yet they grind exceeding small;
Though with patience stands He waiting;
With exactness grinds He alL

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 CHAPTER VIII.
T he S tory of a F ire.
A nother piece o f work done by the same boy
Cyril furnishes an almost exact parallel to some of
the stories from the books which I have given in
earlier pages. H e and his older friend, it seems,
were passing along in the prosecution of their usual
work one night, when they noticed the fierce glare
of a big fire below them, and promptly dived down
to see if they could be of any use.
It was a great hotel which was in flames, a huge
caravanserai on the edge of a great lake. The
house, many stories in height, formed three sides
o f a square round a sort of garden, planted with
trees and flowers, while the lake formed the fourth
— side. The two wings ran right down to the lake,
the big bay windows which terminated them almost
projecting over the water, so as to leave only quite a
narrow passage-way under them at the two sides.
T he front and wings were built round inside
wells, which contained also the lattice-work shafts
o f the lifts, so that when once the fire broke out, it
(0

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 5i
spread with almost incredible rapidity, and before
our friends saw it on their astral journey all the
middle floors in each of the three great blocks were
in flames. Fortunately the inmates— except one lit­
tle boy— had already been rescued, though some
of them had sustained very serious burns and other
injuries.
This little fellow had been forgotten in one of the
upper rooms of the left wing, for his parents were
out at a ball, and knew nothing of the fire, while
naturally enough no one else thought of the lad till
it was far too late. The fire had gained such a hold
on the middle floors of that wing that nothing could
have been done, even if anyone had remembered
him, as his room faced on to the inner garden which
has been mentioned, so that he was completely cut
off from all outside help. Besides, he was not even
aware of his danger, for the dense, suffocating
smoke had so gradually filled the room that his sleep
had grown deeper and deeper, till he was all but
stupefied. *
In this state he was discovered by Cyril, who
seems to be specially attracted towards children in
need or danger. He first tried to make some of the
people remember the boy, but in vain; and in any
case it seemed scarcely possible that they could have
helped him, so that it was soon evident that this was

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merely a waste o f time. The older helper then ma­
terialized Cyril, as before, in the room, and set him
to work to awaken and rouse up the more than half­
stupefied child. A fter a good deal of difficulty this
was accomplished to some extent, but the boy re­
mained in a half-dazed, semi-conscious condition
through all that followed, so that he needed to be
pushed and pulled about, guided and helped at every
turn.
The two boys first crept out of the room into the
central passage which ran through the wing, and
then, finding that the smoke and the flames begin­
ning to come through the floor made it impassable
for a physical body, Cyril got the other boy back
into the room again and out of the window on to a
stone ledge, about a foot wide, which ran right along
the block just below the windows. A lon g this he
managed to guide his companion, half balancing him­
self on the extreme edge of the ledge, and half float­
ing on air, but always placing himself outside of the
other, so as to keep him from dizziness and prevent
him from feeling afraid of a fall.
Towards the end of the block nearest the lake, in
which direction the fire seemed less developed, they
climbed in through an open window and again
reached the passage, hoping to find the staircase at
that end still passable. But it, too, was full of flame

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and smoke; so they crawled back along the passage,
Cyril advising his companion to keep his mouth close
to the ground, till they reached the latticed cage of
the lift running down the long well in the centre of
the block.
The lift o f course was at the bottom, but they man­
aged to clamber down the lattice work inside the
cage till they stood on the roof of the elevator itself.
Here they found themselves blocked, but luckily
Cyril discovered a doorway opening from the cage
o f the lift on to a sort of entresol just above the
ground floor. Through this they reached a passage,
which they crossed, the little boy being half-stifled by
the smoke; then they made their way through one of
the rooms opposite, and finally, clambering out of
the window, found themselves on the top of the ve­
randa which ran along in front of the ground floor,
between it and the garden.
Thence it was easy enough to swarm down one of
the pillars and reach the garden itself; but even there
the heat was intense, and the danger, when the walls
should fall, very considerable. So Cyril tried to
conduct his charge round the end first o f one, then
of the other w ing; but in both cases the flames had
burst through, and the narrow, overhung passages
were quite impassable. Finally they took refuge in
one of the pleasure boats which were moored to the

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steps of the quay at the side of the garden next the
lake, and, casting loose, rowed out on to the water.
Cyril intended to row round past the burning wing
and land the boy whom he had saved; but when they
got some little way out, they fell in with a passing
lake steamer, and were seen— for the whole scene
was lit up by the glare of the burning hotel, till every­
thing was as plain as in broad daylight. The steamer
came alongside the boat to take them off; but in­
stead of the two boys they had seen, the crew found
only one— for his older friend had promptly allowed
Cyril to slip back into his astral form, dissipating the
denser matter which had made for the time a material
body, and he was therefore now invisible.
A careful search was made, of course, but no trace
of the second boy could be found, and so it was con­
cluded that he must have fallen overboard and been
drowned just as they came alongside. The child
who had been rescued fell into a dead faint as soon
as he was safe on board, so they could get no in­
formation from him, and when he did recover, all
he could say was that he had seen the other boy the
moment before they came alongside, and then knew
nothing more.
The steamer was bound down the lake to a place
some two days’ sail distant, and it was a week or so
before the rescued boy could be restored to his par­

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ents, who of course thought that he had perished
in the flames, for though an effort was made to im­
press on their minds the fact that their son had been
saved, it was found impossible to convey the idea
to them, so it may be imagined how great was the
jo y of the meeting.
The boy is still well and happy, and is never weary
o f relating his wonderful adventure. M any a time
he has regretted that the kind friend who saved him
should have perished so mysteriously at the very mo­
ment when all the danger seemed over at last. In­
deed, he has even ventured to suggest that perhaps
he didn’ t perish after all— that perhaps he was a fairy
prince; but o f course this idea elicits nothing but tol­
erant smiles of superiority from his elders. The kar­
mic link between him and his preserver has not yet
been traced, but no doubt there must be one some­
where.

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 CHAPTER IX.
M a t e r ia l iz a t io n a n d R e p e r c u s s io n .

O n meeting with a story such as this, students of­

ten enquire whether the invisible helper is perfectly
safe amidst these scenes of deadly peril— whether,
for example, this boy who was materialized in order
to save another from a burning house was not him­
self in some danger— whether his physical body
would not have suffered in any way by repercussion
if his materialized form had passed through the
flames, or fallen from the high ledge on the edge of
which he walked so unconcernedly. In fact, since
we know that in many cases the connection between
a materialized form and a physical body is sufficiently
close to produce repercussion, might it not have oc­
curred in this case?
Now this subject of repercussion is an exceedingly
abstruse and difficult one, and we are by no means
yet in a position fully to explain its very remarkable
phenomena; indeed, in order to understand the mat­
ter perfectly, it would probably be necessary to com­
prehend the laws of sympathetic vibration on more
M

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planes than one. Still, we do know by observation
some o f the conditions which permit its action, and
some which definitely exclude it, and I think we are
warranted in saying that it was absolutely impossible
here.
T o see why this is so we must first remember that
there are at least three well-defined varieties of ma­
terialization, as anyone who has at all an extended
experience o f spiritualism will be aware. I am not
concerned at the moment to enter upon any explana­
tion as to how these three varieties are respectively
produced, but am merely stating the indubitable fact
of their existence.
1. There is the materialization which, though
tangible, is not visible to ordinary physical sight. O f
this nature are the unseen hands which so often clasp
one’s arm or stroke one’s face at a seance, which
sometimes carry physical objects through the air or
make raps upon the table— though o f course both
these latter phenomena may easily be produced with­
out a materialized hand at all.
2. There is the materialization which though
visible is not tangible— the spirit-form through
which one’s hand passes as through empty air. In
some cases this variety is obviously misty and im­
palpable, but in others its appearance is so entirely

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normal that its solidity is never doubted until some
one endeavours to grasp it.
3. There is the perfect materialization which is
both visible and tangible— which not only bears the
outward semblance of your departed friend, but
shakes you cordially by the hand with the very clasp
that you know so well.
N ow while there is a good deal of evidence to
show that repercussion takes place under certain con­
ditions in the case of this third kind of materializa­
tion, it is by no means so certain that it can occur
with the first or second class. In the case of the boy-
helper it is probable that the materialization would
not be of the third type, since the greatest care is al­
ways taken not to expend more force than is abso­
lutely necessary to produce whatever result may be
required, and it is obvious that less energy would be
used in the production of the more partial forms
which we have called the first and second classes.
The probability is that only the arm with which the
boy held his little companion would be solid to the
touch, and that the rest of his body, though looking
perfectly natural, would have proved far less pal­
pable if it had been tested.
But, apart from this probability, there is another
point to be considered. When a full materialization
takes place, whether the subject be living or dead,

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physical matter of some sort has to be gathered to­
gether for the purpose. A t a spiritualistic seance
this matter is obtained by drawing largely upon the
etheric double of the medium— and sometimes even
upon his physical body also, since cases are on record
in which his weight has been very considerably de­
creased while manifestations of this character were
taking place.
This method is employed by the directing entities
of the seance simply because when an available me­
dium is within reach it is very much the easiest way
in which a materialization can be brought about; and
the consequence is that the very closest connection
is thus set up between that medium and the material­
ized body, so that the phenomenon which (although
very imperfectly understanding it) we call repercuss­
ion, occurs in its clearest form. If, for example, the
hands of the materialized body be rubbed with chalk,
that chalk will afterwards be found on the hands of
the medium, even though he may have been all the
time carefully locked up in a cabinet under circum­
stances which absolutely preclude any suspicion of
fraud. If any injury be inflicted upon the material­
ized form, that injury will be accurately reproduced
upon the corresponding part of the medium’s body;
while sometimes food of which the spirit-form has
partaken will be found to have passed into the body

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o f the medium— at least that happened in one case
at any rate within my own experience.
It would be far otherwise, however, in the case
which we have been describing. Cyril was thou­
sands of miles from his sleeping physical body, and
it would therefore be quite impossible for his friend
to draw etheric matter from it, while the regulations
under which all pupils of the great Masters of W is­
dom perform their work of helping man would as­
suredly prevent him, even fon the noblest purpose,
from putting such a strain upon any one else’s body.
Besides, it would be quite unnecessary, for the far
less dangerous method invariably employed by the
helpers when materialization seems desirable would
be ready to his hand— the condensation from the cir­
cumambient ether, or even from the physical air, of
such an amount of matter as may be requisite. This
feat, though no doubt beyond the power of the aver­
age entity manifesting at a seance, presents no diffi­
culty to a student of occult chemistry.
But mark the difference in the result obtained.
*
In the case of the medium we have a materialized
form in the closest possible connection with the phys­
ical body, made out of its very substance, and there­
fore capable of producing all the phenomena of re­
percussion. In the case of the helper we have indeed
an exact reproduction of the physical body, but it is

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created by a mental effort out o f matter entirely for­
eign to that body, and is no more capable of acting
upon it by repercussion than an ordinary marble
statue of the man would be.
Thus it is that a passage through the flames or
a fall from a high window-ledge would have had no
terrors for the boy-helper, and that on another oc­
casion a member o f the band, though materialized,
was able without any inconvenience to the physical
body to go down in a sinking vessel (see p. 7 7 ).
In both the incidents o f his work that have been
described above, it will have been noticed that the
boy Cyril was unable to materialize himself, and
that the operation had to be performed for him by an
older friend. One more o f his experiences is worth
relating, for it gives us a case in which by intensity
of pity and determination of will he able to sjiow
himself— a case somewhat parallel to that previously
related of the mother whose love enabled her some­
how to manifest herself in order to save her chil­
dren’s lives.
Inexplicable as it may seem, there is no doubt
whatever o f the existence in nature of this stupen­
dous power of will over matter of all planes, so that
if only the power be great enough, practically any
result may be produced by its direct action, without
any knowledge or even thought on the part of the

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man exercising that will as to it is to do its work.
W e have had plenty of evidence that this power holds
good in the case of materialization, although ordi­
narily it is an art which must be learnt just like any
other. Assuredly an average man on the astral plane
could no more materialize himself without having
previously learnt how to do it than the average man
on this plane could play the violin without having
previously learnt i t ; but there are exceptional cases,
as will be seen from the following narrative.

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 CHAPTER X.
T he T w o B rothers.
This story has been told by a pen of far greater
dramatic capability than mine, and with a wealth of
detail for which I have here no space, in The Theo-
sophical Review of November, 1897, p. 229. T o that
account I would refer the reader, since my own de­
scription of the case will be a mere outline, as brief
as is consistent with clearness. The names given are
o f course fictitious, but the incidents are related with
scrupulous accuracy.
Our dramatis personae are two brothers, the sons
o f a country gentleman— Lancelot, aged fourteen,
and W alter, aged eleven— very good boys o f the or­
dinary healthy, manly type, like hundreds of others
in this fair realm, with no obvious psychic qualifica­
tions of any sort, except the possession o f a good
deal o f Celtic blood. Perhaps the most remarkable
feature about them was the intensity of the affection
that existed between them, for they were simply in­
separable— neither would go anywhere without the
a

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other, and the younger idolized the elder as only a
younger boy can.
One unlucky day Lancelot was thrown from his
pony and killed, and for W alter the world became
empty. The child’s grief was so real and terrible
that he could neither eat nor sleep, and his mother
and nurse were at their wits’ end as to what to do for
him. H e seemed deaf alike to persuasion and blatne;
when they told him that grief was wicked, and that
his brother was in heaven, he simply answered that
he could not be certain o f that, and that even if it
were true, he knew that Lancelot could no more be
happy in heaven without him than he could on earth
without Lancelot.
Incredible as it may sound, the poor child was ac­
tually dying of grief, and what made the case even
more pathetic was the fact that, all unknown to him,
his brother stood at his side all the time, fully con­
scious o f his misery, and himself half-distracted at
the failure of his repeated attempts to touch him or
speak to him.
Affairs were still in this most pitiable condition
on the third evening after the accident, when C yril’s
attention was drawn to the two brothers— he can­
not tell how. “ H e just happened to be passing,” he
says; yet surely the will of the Lords of Compassion
guided him to the scene. Poor W alter lay exhausted

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yet sleepless— alone in his desolation, so far as he
knew, though all the time his sorrowing brother
stood beside him. Lancelot, free from the chains of
the flesh, could see and hear Cyril, so obviously the
first thing to do was to soothe his pain with a prom­
ise o f friendship and help in communicating with his
brother.
A s soon as the dead boy’s mind was thus cheered
with hope, C yril turned to the living one, and tried
with all his strength to impress upon his brain the
knowledge that his brother stood beside him, not
dead, but living and loving as o f yore. But all his
efforts were in va in ; the dull apathy o f grief so filled
poor W alter’s mind that no suggestion from with­
out could enter, and Cyril knew not what to do. Y e t
so deeply was he moved by the sad sight, so intense
was his sympathy and so firm his determination to
help in some w ay or other at any cost o f strength to
himself, that somehow (even to this day he cannot
tell how) he found himself able to touch and speak
to the heart-broken child.
Putting aside W alter’s questions as to who he was
and how he came there, he went straight to the point,
telling him that his brother stood beside him, trying
hard to make him hear his constantly repeated as­
surances that he was not dead, but living and yearn­
ing to help and comfort him. Little W alter longed

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to believe, yet hardly dared to hope; but C yril’s eager
insistance vanquished his doubts at last, and he said,
“ O h ! I do believe you, because you’re so kin d; but
if I could only see him, then I should know, then I
should be quite sure; and if I could only hear his
voice telling me he was happy, I shouldn’t mind a bit
his going away again afterwards.”
Y o u n g though he was at the work, Cyril knew
enough to be aware that W alter’s wish was one not
ordinarily granted, and was beginning regretfully
to tell him so, when suddenly he felt a Presence that
all the helpers know, and though no word was spoken
it was borne in upon his mind that instead o f what
he had meant to say, he was to promise W alter the
boon his heart desired. “ W ait till I come back,” he
said, “ and you shall see him then.” And then— he
vanished.
That one touch from the Master had shown him
what to do and how to do it, and he rushed to fetch
the older friend who had so often helped him before.
This older man had not yet retired for the night, but
on hearing C yril’s hurried summons, he lost no time
in accompanying him, and in a few minutes they
were back at W alter’s bedside. The poor child was
ju st beginning to believe it all a lovely dream, and
his delight and relief when Cyril reappeared were
beautiful to see. Y e t how much more beautiful was

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the scene a moment later, when, in obedience to a
word from the Master, the elder man materialized
the eager Lancelot, and the living and the dead stood
hand in hand once m ore!
N ow in v e r y truth for both the brothers had sor­
row been turned into jo y unspeakable, and again and
again they both declared that now they should never
feel sad any more, because they knew that death
had no power to part them. N or was their gladness
damped even when Cyril explained carefully-to them,
at his older friend’s suggestion, that this strange
physical reunion would not be repeated, but that all
day long Lancelot would be near W alter, even
though the latter could not see him, and every night
W alter would slip out of his body and be consciously
with his brother once more.
Hearing this, poor weary W alter sank to sleep at
once and proved its truth, and was amazed to find
with what hitherto unknown rapidity he and his
brother could fly together from one to another o f
their old familiar haunts. Cyril thoughtfully warned
him that he would probably forget most o f his freer
life when he awoke next d a y ; but by rare good for­
tune he did not forget, as so many o f us do. Perhaps
the shock of the great jo y had somewhat aroused the
latent psychic faculty which belongs to the Celtic
blood; at any rate he forgot no single detail of all

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that had happened, and next morning he burst upon
the house o f mourning with a wondrous tale which
suited it but ill.
H is parents thought that grief had turned his
brain, and, since he is now the heir, they have been
watching long and anxiously for further symptoms
of insanity, which happily they have not found. They
still think him a monomaniac on this point, though
they fully recognize that his “ delusion” has saved his
life; but his old nurse (who is a Catholic) is firm in
her belief that all he says is true— that the Lord Je­
sus, who was once a child himself, took pity on that
other child as he lay dying o f grief, and sent one of
H is angels to bring his brother back to him from the
dead as a reward for a love which was stronger than
death. Sometimes popular superstition gets a good
deal nearer to the heart of things than does educated
scepticism!
N or does the story end here, for the good work
begun that night is still progressing, and none can
say how far the influence o f that one act may ramify.
W alter’s astral consciousness, once having been
thus thoroughly awakened, remains in activity; every
morning he brings back into his physical brain the
memory o f his night’s adventures with his brother;
every night they meet their dear friend Cyril, from
whom they have learned so much about the wonder­

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 *9
ful new world that has opened before them, and the
other worlds to come that lie higher yet. Under Cyr­
il’s guidance they also— the living and the dead alike
— have become eager and earnest* members o f the
band o f helpers; and probably for years to come—
until Lancelot’s vigorous young astral body disinte­
grates— many a dying child will have cause to be
grateful to these three who are trying to pass on to
others something of the jo y that they have them­
selves received.
Nor is it to the dead alone that these new converts
have been o f use, for they have sought and found
some other living children who show consciousness
on the astral plane during sleep; and one at least of
those whom they have thus brought to Cyril has al­
ready proved a valuable little recruit to the children’s
band, as well as a very kind little friend down here
on the physical plane.
Those to whom all these ideas are new sometimes
find it very difficult to understand how children can
be o f any use in the astral world. Seeing, they would
say, that the astral body of a child must be undevel­
oped, and the ego thus limited by childhood on the
astral as well as the physical plane, in what w ay could •
such an ego be of use, or be able to help towards the
spiritual, mental and moral evolution o f humanity,
which we are told is the chief concern o f the helpers?

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W hen first such a question was asked, shortly af­
ter the publication o f one o f these stories in our mag­
azine, I sent it to Cyril himself, to see what he would
say to it, and his answer was th is:
“ It is quite true, as the writer says, that I am only
a boy, and know very little yet, and that I shall be
much more useful when I have learnt more. But I
am able to do a little even now, because there are so
many people who have learnt nothing about Theo­
sophy yet, though they may know very much more
than I do about everything else. And you see when
you want to get to a certain place, a little boy who
knows the way can do more for you than a hundred
wise men who don’t know it.”
It may be added that when even a child had been
awakened upon the astral plane the development of
the astral body would proceed so rapidly that he
would very soon be in a position upon that plane but
little inferior to that o f the awakened adult, and
would of course be much in advance, so far as useful­
ness is concerned, of the wisest man who was as yet
unawakened. But unless the ego expressing himself
through that child-body possessed the necessary qual­
ification o f a determined yet loving disposition, and
had clearly manifested it in his previous lives, no
occultist would take the very serious responsibility
o f awakening him upon the astral plane. When, how­

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ever, their karma is such that it is possible for them
to be thus aroused, children often prove most efficient
helpers, and throw themselves into their work with a
whole-souled devotion which is very beautiful to see.
And so is fulfilled once more the ancient prophecy
“ a little child shall lead them.”
Another question that suggests itself to one’s mmd
in reading this last story o f the two brothers is this :
Since Cyril was somehow able to materialize himself
by sheer force o f love and pity and strength o f will,
is it not strange that Lancelot, who had been trying
so much longer to communicate, had not succeeded
in doing the same thing?
W ell, there is of course no difficulty in seeing w hy
poor Lancelot was unable to communicate with his
brother, for that inability is simply the normal con­
dition o f affairs; the wonder is that Cyril was able
to materialize himself, not that Lancelot was not.
N ot only, however, was the feeling probably stronger
in C yril’s case, but he also knew exactly what he
wanted to do— knew that such a thing as materializa­
tion was a possibility, and had some general idea as
to how it was done— while Lancelot naturally knew
nothing of all this then, though he does now.

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 CH APTER XL
W recks an d C atastroph es.

S o m e t im e s it is possible for members o f the band

o f helpers to avert impending catastrophes o f a some­
what larger order. In more than one case when the
captain o f a vessel has been carried unsuspecting far
out o f his course by some unknown current or
through some mistaken reckoning, and has thereby
run into serious danger, it has been possible to pre­
vent shipwreck by repeatedly impressing upon his
mind a feeling that something was w rong; and al­
though this generally comes through into the cap­
tain’s brain merely as a vaguely warning intuition,
yet if it occurs again and again he is almost certain
to give it some attention and take such precautions
as suggest themselves to him.
In one case, for example, in which the master o f
a barque was much nearer in to the land than he sup­
posed, he was again and again pressed to heave the
lead, and though he resisted this suggestion for some
time as being unnecessary and absurd, he at last gave
the order in a somewhat hesitating way. The result
w

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astounded him, and he at once put his vessel about
and stood off from the coast, though it was not until
morning came that he realized how very close he had
been to an appalling disaster.
Often, however, a catastrophe is karmic in its na­
ture, and consequently cannot be averted; but it must
not therefore be supposed that in such cases no help
can be given. It may be that the people concerned
are destined to die, and therefore cannot be saved
from death; but in many cases they may still be
to some extent prepared for it, and may certainly
be helped upon the other side after it is over. In­
deed,. it may be definitely stated that wherever a great
catastrophe o f any kind takes place, there is also a
special sending o f help.
T w o recent cases in which such help was given
were the sinking of the Drummond Castle off Cape
■ Ushant, and the terrible cyclone which devastated the
city o f S t Louis in America. On both these occa­
sions a few minutes' notice was given, and the help­
ers did their best to calm and raise men’s minds, so
that when the shock came upon them it would be less
disturbing than it might otherwise have been. Natu­
rally, however, the greater part o f the work done
with the victims in both these calamities was done
upon the astral plane after they had left their phys­
ical bodies; but o f this we shall speak later.

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It is sad to relate how often when some catastro­
phe is impending the helpers are hindered in their
kindly offices by wild panic among those whom the
danger threatens— or sometimes, worse still, by a
mad outburst o f drunkenness among those whom
they are trying to assist. M any a ship has gone to
her doom with almost every soul on board mad with
drink, and therefore utterly incapable of profiting
by any assistance offered either before death or for
a very long time afterwards.
I f it should ever happen to any of us to find our­
selves in a position of imminent danger which we
can do nothing to avert, we should try to remember
that help is certainly near us, and that it rests entirely
with ourselves to make the helper’s work easy or dif­
ficult. I f we face the danger calmly and bravely,
recognizing that the true ego can in no w ay be af­
fected by it, our minds will then be open to receive
the guidance which the helpers are trying to give,
and this cannot but be best for us, whether its object
be to save us from death or, when that is impossible,
to conduct us safely through it.
Assistance of this latter kind has not infrequently
been given in cases of accidents to individuals, as well
as o f more general catastrophes. It will be sufficient
to mention one example as an illustration o f what is
meant. In one o f the great storms which did so much

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damage around our coasts a few years ago, it hap­
pened that a fishing boat was capsized far out at sea.
The only people on board were an old fisherman and
a boy, and the former contrived to cling for a few
minutes to the overturned boat. There was no phys­
ical help at hand, and even if there had been in such
a raging storm it would have been impossible for
anything to be done, so that the fisherman knew well
enough that there was no hope o f escape, and that
death could only be a question of a few moments.
H e felt great terror at the prospect, being especially
impressed by the awful loneliness o f that vast waste
of waters, and he was also much troubled with
thoughts o f his wife and family, and the difficulties
in which they would be left by his sudden decease.
A passing helper seeing all this endeavoured to
comfort him, but-finding his mind too much dis­
turbed to be impressionable, she thought it advisable
to show herself to him in order to assist him the bet­
ter. In relating the story afterwards she said that
the change which came over the fisherman’s face at
sight of her was wonderful and beautiful to see; with
the shining form standing upon the boat above him
he could not but think that an angel had been sent to
comfort him in his trouble, and therefore he felt that
not only would he himself be carried safely through
the gates o f death, but his family would assuredly be

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looked after also. So, when death came to him a few
moments later, he was in a frame of mind very differ­
ent from the terror and preplexity which had previ­
ously overcome him; and naturally when he recov­
ered consciousness upon the astral plane and found
the “ angel” still beside him he felt himself at home
with her, and was prepared to accept her advice as
regards the new life upon which he had entered.
Some time later the same helper was engaged in
another piece of work of very similar character, the
story o f which she has since told as follow s:
“ Y o u remember that steamer that went down in
the cyclone at the end of last November; I betook
myself to the cabin where about a dozen women had
been shut in, and found them wailing in the most pit­
iful manner, sobbing and moaning with fear. T he
ship had to founder— no aid was possible— and to
go out o f the world in this state of frantic terror is
the worst possible w ay to enter the n e x t So in
order to calm them I materialized myself, and of
course they thought I was an angel, poor souls; they
all fell on .their knees and prayed me to save them,
and one poor mother pushed her baby into my arms
imploring me to save that at least They soon grew
quiet and composed as we talked, and the wee baby
went to sleep smiling, and presently they all fell
asleep peacefully, and I filled their minds with

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thoughts o f the heaven-world, so that they did not
wake up when the ship made her final plunge down­
wards. I went down with them to ensure their sleep­
ing through the last moments, and they never stirred
as their sleep became death.”
Evidently in this case, too, those who were thus
helped had not only the enormous advantage o f be­
ing enabled to meet death calmly and reasonably, but
also the still greater one of being received on its far­
ther shore by one whom they were already disposed
to love and trust— one who thoroughly understood
the new world in which they found themselves, and
could not only reassure them as to their safety, but
advise them how to order their lives under these
much altered circumstances. And this brings us to
the consideration of one o f the largest and most im­
portant departments of the work of invisible helpers
— the guidance and assistance which they are able to
give to the dead.

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 CHAPTER XII.
W o r k A m o n g t h e D ea d .

I t is one o f the many evils resulting from the ab­

surdly erroneous teaching as to conditions after death
which is unfortunately current in our western world,
that those who have recently shaken off this mortal
coil are usually much puzzled and often very seri­
ously frightened at finding everything so different
from what their religion had led them to expect. The
mental attitude of a large number of such people was
pithily voiced the other day by an English general,
who three days after his death met one of the band of
helpers whom he had known in physical life. A fter
expressing his great relief that he'had at last found
someone with whom he was able to communicate, his
first remark w a s: “ But if I am dead, where am I ?
F or if this is heaven I don’t think much of i t ; and if
it is hell, it is better than I expected.”
But unfortunately a far greater number take things
less philosophically. They have been taught that all
men are destined to eternal flames except a favoured
few who are superhumanly good; and since a very
w

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small amount o f self-examination convinces them
that they do not belong to that category, they are
but too often in a condition o f panic terror, dreading
every moment that the new world in which they find
themselves may dissolve and drop them into the
clutches of the devil, in whom they have been sedu­
lously taught to believe. In many cases they spend
long periods of acute mental suffering before they
can free themselves from the fatal influence of this
blasphemous doctrine of everlasting punishment—
before they can realize that the world is governed,
not according to the caprice of a hideous demon who
gloats over human anguish, but according to a be­
nevolent and wonderfully patient law of evolution,
which is absolutely just indeed, but yet again and
again offers to man opportunities o f progress, if he
will but take them, at every stage o f his career.
It ought in fairness to be mentioned that it is only
among what are called protestant communities that
this terrible evil assumes its most aggravated form.
The great Roman Catholic Church, with its doc­
trine of purgatory, approaches much more nearly to
a conception of the astral plane, and its devout mem­
bers at any rate realize that the state in which they
find themselves Shortly after death is merely a tem­
porary one, and that it is their business to endeavour
to raise themselves out of it as soon as m ay be by

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intense spiritual aspiration, while they accept any suf­
fering which may come to them as necessary for the
wearing away of the imperfections in their char­
acter before they can pass to higher and brighter
regions.
It will thus be seen that there is plenty o f work
for the helpers to do among the newly dead, for in
the vast m ajority of cases they need to be calmed and
reassured, to be comforted and instructed. In the
astral, just as in the physical world, there are many
who are but little disposed to take advice from those
who know better than th ey; yet the very strangeness
of the conditions surrounding them renders many of
the dead w illing to accept the guidance of those to
whom these conditions are obviously familiar; and
many a man’s stay on that plane has been consider­
ably shortened by the earnest efforts of this band of
energetic workers.
Not, be it understood, that the karma o f the dead
man can in any w ay be interfered w ith ; he has built
for himself during life an astral body of a certain
degree of density, and until that body is sufficiently
dissolved he cannot pass on into the heaven-world
beyond; but he need not lengthen the period neces­
sary for that process by adopting an improper
attitude.
A ll students ought clearly to grasp the truth that

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th f length of a man’s astral life after he has put off
his physical body depends mainly upon two factors—
the nature o f his past physical life, and his attitude
o f mind after what we call death. During his earth-
life he is constantly influencing the building of mat­
ter into his astral body. He affects it directly by the
passions, emotions, and desires which he allows to
hold sway over him; he affects it indirectly by the
action upon it o f his thoughts from above, and o f
the details of his physical life— his continence or his
debauchery, his cleanliness or his uncleanliness, his
food and his drink— from below.
I f by persistence in perversity along any o f these
lines he is so stupid as to build for himself a coarse
and gross astral vehicle, habituated to responding
only to the lower vibrations of the plane, he will
find himself after death bound to that plane during
and long and slow process o f that body’s disintegra­
tion. On the other hand if by decent and careful
living he gives himself a vehicle mainly composed
o f finer material, he will have very much less post­
mortem trouble and discomfort, and his evolution
will proceed much more rapidly and easily.
This much is generally understood, but the second
great factor— his attitude of mind after death—
seems often to be forgotten. The desirable thing is
for him to realize his position on this particular

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little arc of his evolution— to learn that he is at this
stage withdrawing steadily inward towards the plane
of the true ego, and that consequently it is his busi­
ness to disengage his thoughts as far as may be from
things physical, and to fix his attention more and
more upon those spiritual matters which will occupy
him during his life in the heaven-world. B y doing
this he will greatly facilitate the natural astral disin­
tegration, and will avoid the sadly common mistake
o f unnecessarily delaying himself upon the lower
levels o f what should be so temporary a residence.
But many of the dead very considerably retard
the process of dissolution by clinging passionately to
the earth which they have le ft; they simply will not
turn their thoughts and desires upward, but spend
their time in struggling with all their might to keep
in full touch with the physical plane, thus causing
great trouble to any one who may be trying to help
them. Earthly matters are the only ones in which
they have ever had any living interest, and they cling
to them with desperate tenacity even after death.
Naturally as time passes on they find it increas­
ingly difficult to keep hold of things down here, but
instead of welcoming and encouraging this process
of gradual refinement and spiritualization they resist
it vigorously by every means in their power.
O f course the mighty force of evolution is event-

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ually too strong for them, and they are swept on
in its beneficent current, yet they fight every step o f
the way, thereby not only causing themselves a vast
amount of entirely unnecessary pain and sorrow, but
also very seriously delaying their upward progress
and prolonging their stay in astral regions to an
almost indefinite extent. In convincing them that
this ignorant and disastrous opposition to the cosmic
will is contrary to the laws of nature, and persuading
them to adopt an attitude o f mind which is the exact
reversal of it, lies a great part of the work of those
who are trying to help.
It happens occasionally that the dead are earth-
bound by anxiety— anxiety sometimes about duties
unperformed or debts undischarged, but more often
on account of wife or children left unprovided for.
In such cases as this it has more than once been ne­
cessary, before the dead man was satisfied to pursue
his upward path in peace, that the helper should to
some extent act as his representative upon the
physical plane, and attend on his behalf to the settle­
ment of the business which was troubling him. A n
illustration taken from our recent experience will
perhaps make this clearer.
One of the band of pupils was trying to assist a
poor man who had died in one of our western cities,
but found it impossible to withdraw his mind from

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earthly things because o f his anxiety about two
young children whom his death had left without
means o f support. H e had been a working man o f
some sort, and had been unable to lay by any money
for them; his w ife had died some two years previ­
ously and his landlady, though exceedingly kind-
hearted and very w illing to do anything in her power
for them, was herself far too poor to be able to adopt
them, and very reluctantly came to the conclusion
that she would be obliged to hand them over to the
parish authorities. This was a great grief to the
dead father, though he could not blame the landlady,
and was himself unable to suggest any other course.
Our friend asked him whether he had no relative
to whom he could entrust them, but the father knew
of none. He had a younger brother, he said, who
would certainly have done something for him in this
extremity, but he had lost sight of him for fifteen
years, and did not even know whether he was living
or dead. When last heard of he had been appren­
ticed to a carpenter in the north, and he was then
described as a steady young fellow who, if he lived,
would surely get on.
The clues at hand were certainly very slight, but
since there seemed no other prospect of help for the
children, our friend thought it worth while to make
a special effort to follow them up. T aking the dead

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man with him he commenced a patient search after
the brother in the town indicated ; and after a great
deal o f trouble they were actually successful in
finding him. H e was now a master carpenter in a
fairly flourishing w ay of business— married, but
without children though earnestly desiring them, and
therefore apparently just the man for the emergency.
The question now was how the information could
best be conveyed to this brother. Fortunately he
was found to be so far impressionable that the cir­
cumstances of his brother’s death and the destitu­
tion o f his children could be put vividly before him
in a dream, and this was repeated three times, the
place and even the name of the landlady being clearly
indicated to him. H e was immensely impressed by
this recurring vision, and discussed it earnestly with
his w ife, who advised him to write to the address
given. This he did not like to do, but was strongly
inclined to travel down into the west country, find
out whether there was such a house as that which
he had seen, and if so make some excuse to call there.
H e was a busy man, however, and he finally decided
that he could not afford to lose a day’s work for
what after all might well prove to be nothing but
the baseless fabric of a dream.
The attempt along these lines having apparently
failed, it was determined to try another method, sp .

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one o f the helpers wrote a letter to the man detailing
the circumstances of his brother’s death and the
position of the children, exactly as he had seen them
in his dream. On receipt of this confirmation he
no longer hesitated, but set off the very next day
for the town indicated, and was received with open
arms by the kind-hearted landlady. It had been
easy enough for the helpers to persuade her, good
soul that she was, to keep the children with her for
a few days on the chance that something or other
would turn up for them, and she has ever since
congratulated herself that she did so. The carpen­
ter of course took the children back with him and
provided them with a happy home, and the dead
father, now no longer anxious, passed rejoicing on
his upward way.
Since some Theosophical writers have felt it their
duty to insist in vigorous terms upon the evils so
frequently attendant upon the holding of spiritual­
istic stances, it is only fair to admit that on several
occasions good work similar to that o f the helper
in the case just described has been done through
the agency of a medium or of some one present at
a circle. Thus, though spiritualism has too often
detained souls who but for it would have attained
speedier liberation, it must be set to the credit o f its
account that it has also furnished the means

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 8 7
escape to others, and thus opened up the path o f
advancement for them. There have been instances
in which the defunct has been able to appear unas­
sisted to his relatives or friends and explain his
wishes to them; but these are naturally rare, and
most souls who are earth-bound by anxieties of the
kind indicated can satisfy themselves only by means
o f the services of the medium or the conscious
helper.
Another case very frequently encountered on the
astral plane is that o f the man who cannot believe
that he is dead at all. Indeed, most people consider
the very fact that they are still conscious to be an
absolute proof that they have not passed through
the portals of death; somewhat o f a satire this, if
one thinks of it, on the practical value of our much-
vaunted belief in the immortality of the soul! H ow­
ever they may have labelled themselves during life,
the great m ajority of those who die, in this country
at any rate, show themselves by their subsequent
attitude to have been to all intents and purposes
materialists at heart; and those who on earth have
honestly called themselves so are often no more
difficult to deal with than other? who would have
been shocked at the very name.
A very recent instance was that o f a scientific man
who, finding himself fully conscious, and yet under

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conditions differing radically from any that he had
ever experienced before, had persuaded himself that
he was still alive, and merely the victim o f a pro­
longed and unpleasant dream. Fortunately for him
there happened to be among the band of those able to
function upon the astral plane a son o f an old friend
o f his, a young man whose father had commissioned
him to search for the departed scientist and endeav­
our to render him some assistance. When after some
trouble the youth found and accosted him, he frankly
admitted that he was in a condition of great bewil­
derment and discomfort, but still clung desperately
to his dream hypothesis as on the whole the most
probable explanation o f what he saw, and even went
so far as to suggest that his visitor was nothing but
a dream-figure himself!
A t last, however, he so far gave w ay as to propose
a kind o f test, and said to the young man, “ I f you
are, as you assert, a living person, and the son o f
my old friend, bring me from him some message
that shall prove to me your objective reality.” N ow
although under all ordinary conditions o f the phys­
ical plane the givin g o f any kind of phenomenal
proof is strictly forbidden to the pupils o f the
Masters, it seemed as though a case o f this kind
hardly came under the rules; and therefore, when’
it had been ascertained that there was no objection’

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on the part of higher authorities, an application was
made to the father, who at once sent a message re­
ferring to a series o f events which had occurred
before the son’s birth. This convinced the dead
man o f the real existence of his young friend, and
therefore o f the plane upon which they were both
functioning; and as soon as he felt this established,
his scientific training at once reasserted itself, and
he became exceeding eager to acquire all possible
information about this new region.
O f course the message which he so readily ac­
cepted as evidence was in reality no proof at all,
since the facts to which it referred might have been
read from his own mind or from the records of the
past by any creature possessed of astral senses! But
his ignorance of these possibilities enabled this defi­
nite impression to be made upon him, and the T h e o
sophical instruction which his young friend is now
nightly giving to him will undoubtedly have a stu­
pendous effect upon his future, for it cannot but
greatly modify not only the heaven-state which lies
immediately before him, but also his next incarna­
tion upon earth.
T he main work, then, done for the newly dead
by our helpers is that of soothing and comforting
them— of delivering them when possible from the
terrible though unreasoning fear which but too often

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seizes them, and not only causes them much unne­
cessary suffering, but retards their progress to higher
spheres— and of enabling them as far as may be to
comprehend the future that lies before them.
Others who have been longer on the astral plane
may also receive much help, if they will but accept
it, from explanations and advice as to their course
through its different stages. They may, for exam­
ple, be warned of the danger and delay caused by
attempting to communicate with the living through
a medium, and sometimes (though rarely) an entity
already drawn into a spiritualistic circle may be
guided into higher and healthier life. Teaching
thus given to persons on this plane is by no means
lost, for though the memory of it cannot of course
be directly carried over to the next incarnation, there
always remains the real inner knowledge, and there­
fore the strong predisposition to accept it immedi­
ately when heard again in the new life.
A rather remarkable instance of service rendered
to the dead was the first achievement o f a very recent
recruit to the band of helpers— one who is hardly as
yet a fully-fledged member. This young aspirant
had not long before lost an aged relation, for whom
he had felt an especially warm affection; and his
earliest request was to be taken by a more exper­
ienced friend to visit her in the hope that he might

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be of some service to her. This was done and the
effect of the meeting of the living and the dead was
very beautiful and touching. The older person’s
astral life was already approaching its end, but a con­
dition o f apathy, dullness and uncertainty prevented
her from making any immediate progress.
But when the boy, who had been so much to her in
earth-life, stood once more before her and dissolved
by the sunlight of his love the grey mist of depression
which had gathered around her, she was aroused
from her stupor; and soon she understood that he
had come in order to explain to her her situation,
and to tell her of the glories o f the higher life toward
which her thoughts and aspirations ought now to be
directed. But when this was fully realized, there was
such an awakening of dormant feeling in her and
such an outrush of devoted affection towards her
earnest young helper, that the last fetters which
bound her to the astral life were broken, and that
one great outburst of love and gratitude swept her
forthwith into the higher consciousness of the heav­
en-world. T ru ly there is no greater and more bene­
ficent power in the universe than that o f pure, unself­
ish love. *

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 CHAPTER XIII.
O ther B ranches or th e W ork .
B ut turning back again now from the all-impor­
tant work among the dead to the consideration of
the work among the living, we must briefly indi­
cate & 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.
L et 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 under­
stand the subject practically— for a helper to dom­
inate the mind o f 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 o f the subject. But, however admirable
the result might be, such a proceeding would be
entirely inadmissible. A ll that may be done is to
throw the good thought into the person’s mind as
n

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one among the hundreds that are constantly sweep­
ing through i t ; whether the man takes it up, makes
it his own, and acts upon it, depends upon himself
entirely. W ere 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. W hen a person
is spending much anxious thought upon some spir­
itual 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 sup­
posed to find its expression in pftyer, 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

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poured forth. W hat is said o f 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 obvi­
ously it is not every helper who is capable o f being
used in this way.
Sometimes, though more rarely, it is possible to
warn persons of the danger to their moral develop­
ment 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 out­
side 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 o f some
question than they would otherwise have taken.
Naturally as an occult student progresses on the
Path he attains a wider sphere of usefulness. In­
stead 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

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higher and more important work done by the adepts
themselves. A s he acquires the requisite power and
knowledge he begins to wield the greater forces o f
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 relatiqn with
those great Nirmanakayas who are sometimes sym­
bolized as the Stones of the Guardian W all, 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
o f the responsibility which lies upon the Masters
o f Wisdom, and to help others along the road which
he has trodden.
On the mental plane the work differs some­
what, 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

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capable o f doing it; and there is certainly no fear
that for countless aeons we shall ever find ourselves
without a career o f unselfish usefulness open be­
fore us.

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 CHAPTER XIV.
T he Q ualifications R equired.
H ow , it may be asked, are we to make ourselves
capable of sharing in this great work ? W ell, there
is no mystery as to the qualifications which are
needed by one who aspires to be a helper; the dif­
ficulty is not in learning what they are, but in devel­
oping them in oneself. T o some extent they have
been already incidentally described, but it is never­
theless as well that they should be set out fully and
categorically.
i. Single-mindedness. The first requisite is that
we shall have recognized the great work which the
Masters would have us do, and that it shall be for
us the one great interest of our lives. W e must
learn to distinguish not only between useful and
useless work, but between the different kinds of use­
ful work, so that we may each devote ourselves to
the very highest of which we are capable, and not
fritter away our time in labouring at something
which, however good it may be for the man who can­
not yet do anything better, is unworthy of the know-
si

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 9«
ledge and capacity which should be ours as Theo-
sophists. A man who wishes to be considered eligi­
ble for employment on higher planes must begin by
doing the utmost that lies in his power in the w ay o f
definite work for Theosophy down here.
O f course I do not for a moment mean that we
are to neglect the ordinary duties o f life. W e should
certainly do well to undertake no new worldly duties
o f any sort, but those which we have already bound
upon our shoulders have become a karmic obliga­
tion which we have no right to neglect. Unless we
have done to the full the duties which karma has
laid upon us we are not free for the higher work.
But this higher work must nevertheless be to us the
one thing really worth living for— the constant back­
ground of a life which is consecrated to the service
o f the Masters of Compassion.
2. Perfect self-control. Before we can be safely
trusted with the wider powers of the astral life, we
must have ourselves perfectly in hand. Our temper,
for example, must be thoroughly under control, so
that nothing that we may see or hear can cause real
irritation in us, for the consequences of such irrita­
tion would be far more serious on that plane than
on this. The force of thought is always an enor­
mous power, but down here it is reduced and dead­
ened by the heavy physical brain-particles which

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it has to set in motion. In the astral world it is far
freer and more potent, and for a man with fully-
awakened faculty to feel anger against a person there
would be to do him serious and perhaps even fatal
injury.
Not only do we need control o f temper, but con­
trol o f nerve, so that none of the fantastic or terrible
sights that we may encounter may be able to shake
our dauntless courage. It must be remembered that
the pupil who awakens a man upon the astral plane
incurs thereby a certain amount of responsibility for
his actions and for his safety, so that unless his
neophyte had courage to stand alone the whole o f
the older worker’s time would be wasted in hovering
round to protect him, which it would be manifestly
unreasonable to expect.
It is to make sure of this control of nerve, and to
fit them for the work that has to be done, that candi­
dates are always made, now as in days of old, to
pass what are called the tests of earth, water, air and
fire.
In other words, they have to learn with that abso­
lute certainty that comes not by theory, but by prac­
tical experience, that in their astral bodies none of
these elements can by any possibility be hurtful to
them— that none can oppose any obstacle in the
way of the work which they have to do.

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 IOO
In this physical body we are fully convinced that
Are will burn us, that water will drown us, that the
solid rock forms an impassable barrier to our pro­
gress, that we cannot with safety launch ourselves
unsupported into the ambient air. So deeply is this
conviction engrained in us that it costs most men
a good deal o f effort to overcome the instinctive
action which follows from it, and to realize that in
the astral body the densest rock offers no impedi­
ment to their freedom o f motion, that they may leap
with impunity from the highest cliff, and plunge
with the most absolute confidence into the heart o f
the raging volcano or the deepest abysses o f the
fathomless ocean.
Y e t until a man knows this— knows it sufficiently
to act upon his knowledge instinctively and confi­
dently— he is comparatively useless for astral work,
since in emergencies that are constantly arising he
would be perpetually paralyzed by imaginary disa­
bilities. So he has to go through his tests, and
through many another strange experience— to .meet
face to face with calm courage the most terrifying
apparitions amid the most loathsome surroundings
— to show in fact that his nerve may be thoroughly
trusted under any and all of the varied groups of
circumstances in which he may at any moment find
himself.

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 IOI

Further, we need control o f mind and of desire*;’ "

o f mind, because without the power of concentration
it would be impossible to do good work amid all
the distracting currents o f the astral plane; o f de­
sire, because in that strange world to desire is very
often to have, and unless this part o f our nature
were well controlled we might perchance find our­
selves face to face with creations of our own of
which we should be heartily ashamed.
3. Calmness. This is another most important
point— the absence o f all worry and depression.
Much of the work consists in soothing those who
are disturbed, and cheering those who are in sor­
row ; and how can a helper do that work if his own
aura is vibrating with constant fuss and worry, or
grey with the deadly gloom that comes from per­
petual depression? Nothing is more hopelessly
fatal to occult progress or usefulness than our nine­
teenth century habit o f ceaselessly worrying over
trifles— o f eternally making mountains out o f mole­
hills. M any o f us simply spend our lives in magni­
fying the most absurd trivialities— in solemnly and
elaborately going to work to make ourselves miser­
able about nothing.
Surely we who are Theosophists ought, at any
rate, to have got beyond this stage o f irrational
w orry and causeless depression; surely we, who are

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'tid in g *to 'acq u ire some definite knowledge o f the
cosmic order, ought by this time to have realized
that the optimistic view of everything is always
nearest to the divine view, and therefore to the
truth, because only that in any person which is good
and beautiful can by any possibility be permanent,
while the evil must by its very nature be temporary.
In fact, as Browning said, “ the evil is null, is naught,
is silence implying sound,” while above and beyond
it all “ the soul of things is sweet, the Heart of Being
is celestial rest.” So They who know maintain
unruffled calm, and with Their perfect sympathy
combine the joyous serenity which comes from the
certainty that all will at last be w ell; and those who
wish to help must learn to follow Their example.
4. Know
ledge. T o be of use the man must at
least have some knowledge of the nature of the plane
on which he has to work, and the more knowledge
he has in any and every direction the more useful
he will be. He must fit himself for this task by
carefully studying Theosophical literature; for
he cannot expect those whose time is already so
fully occupied to waste some of it in explaining to
him what he might have learnt down here by taking
the trouble to read the books. No one who is not
already as earnest a student as his capacities and

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opportunities permit, need begin to think o f himself
as a candidate for astral work.
5. Unselfishness. It would seem scarcely need­
ful to insist upon this as a qualification, for surely
everyone who has made the least study o f Theosophy
must know that while the slightest taint o f selfishness
remains in a man, he is not yet fit to be entrusted
with higher powers, not yet fit to enter upon a work
o f whose very essence it is that the worker should
forget himself but to remember the good o f others.
H e who is still capable o f selfish thought, whose per­
sonality is still so strong in him that he can allow
himself to be turned aside from his work by feelings
o f petty pride or suggestions o f wounded dignity—
that man is not yet ready to show the selfless devo­
tion of the helper.
6. Love. This, the last and greatest o f the quali­
fications, is also the most misunderstood. Most
emphatically it is not the cheap, namby-pamby
backboneless sentimentalism which is always over­
flowing into vague platitudes and gushing gener­
alities, yet fears to stand firm for the right lest it
should be branded by the ignorant as “ unbrotherly.”
W hat is wanted is the love which is strong enough
not to boast itself, but to act without talking about
it— the intense desire for service which is ever on
the watch for an opportunity to render it, even

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though it prefers to do so anonymously— the feeling

which springs up in the heart o f him who has
realized the great work o f the Logos, and, having
once seen it, knows that for him there can be in the
three worlds no other, course but to identify him­
self with it to the utmost limit o f his power— to
become, in however humble a way, and at however
great a distance, a tiny channel o f that wondrous
love o f God which, like the peace o f God, passeth
man's understanding.
These are the qualities toward the possession of
which the helper must ceaselessly strive, and o f
which some considerable measure at least must be
his before he can hope that the Great Ones who
stand behind w ill deem him fit for full awakening.
The ideal is in truth a high one, yet none need
therefore turn aw ay disheartened, nor think that
while he is still but struggling toward it he must
necessarily remain entirely useless on the astral
plane, for short o f the responsibilities and dangers
o f that full awakening there is much that may safely
and usefully be done.
There is hardly one among us who would not
be capable o f performing at least one definite act
o f mercy and good will each night while we are
away from our bodies. Our condition when asleep
is usually one of absorption in thought, be it remem­

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bered— a carrying on o f the thoughts that have
principally occupied us during the day, and especially
o f the last thought in the mind when sinking into
sleep. N ow if we make that last thought a strong
intention to go and give help to some one whom
we know to be in need o f it, the soul when freed
from the body will undoubtedly carry out that inten­
tion, and the help will be given. There are several
cases on record in which, when this attempt has been
made, the person thought o f has been fully con­
scious of the effort o f the would-be helper, and has
even seen his astral body in the act o f carrying out
the instructions impressed upon i t
Indeed, no one need sadden himself with the
thought that he can have no part nor lot in this
glorious work. Such a feeling would be entirely
untrue, for every one who can think can help. . Nor
need such useful action be confined to our hours of
sleep. I f you know (and who does not?) o f some
one who is in sorrow or suffering, though you may
not be able consciously to stand in astral form by
their bedside, you can nevertheless send them lov­
ing thoughts and earnest good wishes; and be well
assured that such thoughts and wishes are real and
living and strong— that when you so send them
they do actually go and work your will in propor­
tion to the strength which you have put into them.

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Thoughts are things, intensely real things, visible
enough to those whose eyes have been opened to
see, and by their means the poorest man may bear
his part in the good work of the world as fully as
the richest. In this w ay at least, whether we can
yet function consciously upon the astral plane or
not, we all can join, and we all ought to join, the
army o f invisible helpers.
But the aspirant, who definitely desires to become
one of the band o f astral helpers who are working
under the direction of the great Masters o f Wisdom,
will make his preparation part of a far wider scheme
of development. Instead of merely endeavouring to
fit himself for this particular branch of their service,
he will undertake with high resolution the far greater
task of training himself to follow in their foot­
steps, o f bending all the energies of his soul to
attain even as they have attained, so that his power
o f helping the world may not be confined to the
astral plane, but may extend to those higher levels
which are the true home of the divine self of man.
For him the path has been marked out long ago
by the wisdom of those who have trodden it in
days of old— a path o f self-development which
sooner or later all must follow, whether they choose
to adopt it of their own free will, or to wait until,
after many lives and an infinity of suffering, the

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slow, resistless force o f evolution drives them along

it among the laggards of the human family. But
the wise man is he who eagerly enters upon it imme­
diately, setting his face resolutely toward the goal
o f adeptship, in order that, being safe for ever from
all doubt and fear and sorrow himself, he may help
others into safety and happiness also. W hat are the
steps o f this Path of Holiness, as the Buddhists call
it, and in what order they are arranged, let us see
in our next chapter.

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 CHAPTER XV.
T h e P robationary P at h .
E astern books tell us that there are four means
by which a man may be brought to the beginning
o f the path o f spiritual advancement: i. B y the
companionship of those who have already entered
upon it. 2. B y the hearing or reading o f definite
teaching on occult philosophy. 3. B y enlightened
reflection; that is to say, that by sheer force of hard
thinking and close reasoning he may arrive at the
truth, or some portion of it, for himself. 4. B y the
practice of virtue, which means that a long series
of virtuous lives, though it does not necessarily in­
volve any increase of intellectuality, does eventually
develope in a man sufficient intuition to enable him to
grasp the necessity o f entering upon the path, and
show him in what direction it lies.
When, by one or another of these means, he has
arrived at this point, the w ay to the highest adept­
ship lies straight before him, if he chooses to take
it. In writing for students o f occultism it is hardly
necessary to say that at our present stage o f develop-
us

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ment we cannot expect to learn all, or nearly all,
about any but the lowest steps o f this path; whilst
o f the highest we know little but the names, though
we may get occasional glimpses of the indescribable
glory which surrounds them.
According to the esoteric teachings these steps are
grouped in three great divisions:
1. T he probationary period, before any definite
pledges are taken, or initiations (in the full sense
o f the word) are given. This carries a man to the
level necessary to pass successfully through what in
Theosophical books is usually called the critical
period o f the fifth round.
2. The period of pledged discipleship, or the path
proper, whose four stages are often spoken of in
Oriental books as the four paths of holiness. A t
the end o f this the pupil obtains adeptship—-the level
which humanity should reach at the close of the
seventh round.
3. W hat we may venture to call the official period,
in which the adept takes a definite part (under the
great Cosmic L aw ) in the government of the world,
and holds a special office connected therewith. O f
course every adept— every pupil even, when once
definitely accepted, as we have seen in the earlier
chapters— takes a part in the great work of helping
forward the evolution of man; but those standing on

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the higher levels take charge of special departments,

and correspond in the cosmic scheme to the ministers
o f the crown in a well-ordered earthly state. It
is not proposed to make any attempt in this book to
treat of this official period; no information about
it has ever been made public, and the whole subject
is too far above our comprehension to be profitably
dealt with in print. W e will confine ourselves there­
fore to the two earlier divisions.
Before going into details of the probationary
period it is well to mention that in most of the
Eastern sacred books this stage is regarded as
merely preliminary, and scarcely as part of the path
at all, for they consider that the latter is really
entered upon only when definite pledges have been
given. Considerable confusion has been created by
the fact that the numbering of the stages occasionally
commences at this point, though more often at the
beginning of the second great division; sometimes
the stages themselves are counted, and sometimes the
initiations leading into or out of them, so that in
studying the books one has to be perpetually on one’s
guard to avoid misunderstanding.
This probationary period, however, differs con­
siderably in character from the others; the divisions
between its stages are less decidedly marked than
are those of the higher groups, and the requirements

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are not so definite or so exacting. But it will be

easier to explain this last point after givin g a list
of the five stages o f this period, with their respec­
tive qualifications. The first four were very ably
described by Mr. Mohini Mohun Chatterji in the
first Transaction of the London Lodge, to which
readers may be referred for fuller definitions of
them than can be given here. Much exceedingly
valuable information about them is also given by
Mrs. Besant in her books Path o f Discipleship
and In the Outer Court.
The names given to the stages will differ some­
what, for in those books the Hindu Sanskrit ter­
minology was employed, whereas the Pâli nomen­
clature used here is that o f the Buddhist system;
but although the subject is thus approached from
a different side, as it were, the qualifications exacted
will be found to be precisely the same in effect even
when the outward form varies. In the case o f each
word the mere dictionary meaning will first be given
in parentheses, and the explanation of it which is
usually given by the teacher will follow. T h e first
stage, then, is called among Buddhists.
i. M anodvâravajjana (the opening of the doors
of the mind, or perhaps escaping by the door o f the
m ind)— and in it the candidate acquires a firm intel­
lectual conviction of the impermanence and worth­

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 II 2

lessness o f mere earthly aims. This is often described

as learning the difference between the real and the
unreal; and to learn it often takes a long time and
many hard lessons. Y e t it is obvious that it must
be the first step toward anything like real progress,
for no man can enter whole-heartedly upon the path
until he has definitely decided to “ set his affection
upon things above, not on things on the earth,” and
that decision comes from the certainty that nothing
on earth has any value as compared with the higher
life. This step is called by the Hindus the acquire­
ment o f V iveka or discrimination, and Mr. Sinnett
speaks o f it as the giving allegiance to the higher
self.
2. Parikamma (preparation for action)— the
stage in which the candidate learns to do the righ t
merely because it is right, without considering his
own gain or loss either in this world or the future,
and acquires, as the Eastern books put it, perfect
indifference to the enjoyment o f the fruit of his
own actions. This indifference is the natural result
of the previous step; for when the neophyte has once
grasped the unreal and impermanent character o f
all earthly rewards, he ceases to crave for them;
when once the radiance o f the real has shone upon
the soul, nothing below that can any longer be an

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 U3
object o f desire. This higher indifference is called
by the Hindus Vairagya.
3. Upacharo (attention or conduct)— the stage
in which what are called “ the six qualifications” (the
' Shatsampatti o f the Hindus) must be acquired.
These are called in P a li:
(а ) Samo (quietude)— that purity and calmness
o f thought which cames from perfect control o f the
mind— a qualification exceedingly difficult o f attain­
ment, and yet most necessary, for unless the mind
moves only in obedience to the guidance o f the w ill
it cannot be a perfect instrument for the Master’s
work in the future. This qualification is a very
comprehensive one, ind includes within itself both
the self-control and the calmness which were de­
scribed in chapter xiv. as necessary for astral work.
(б ) Damo (subjugation)— a similar mastery
over, and therefore purity in, one’s actions and words
— a quality which again follows necessarily from its
predecessor.
(c) Uparati (cessation)— explained as cessation
from bigotry or from belief in the necessity o f any
act or ceremony prescribed by a particular religion
— so leading the aspirant to independence o f thought
and to a wide and generous tolerence.
(d ) Titikkha (endurance or forbearance)— by
which is meant the readiness to bear with cheerful-

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ness whatever one’s karma may bring upon one, and
to part with anything and everything worldly when­
ever it may be necessary. It also includes the idea
of complete absence o f resentment for wrong, the
man knowing that those who do him wrong are but
the instruments o f his own karma.
(e ) Samâdhâna (intentness)— one-pointedness
involving the incapability of being turned aside from
one’s path by temptation. This corresponds very
closely with the single-mindness spoken o f in the
previous chapter.
( f ) Saddhâ (fa ith )— confidence in one’s Master
and oneself: confidence, that is, that the Master is
a competent teacher, and that, however diffident the
pupil may feel as to his own powers, he has yet
within him that divine spark which when fanned into
a flame will one day enable him to achieve even as
his Master has done.
4. Anuloma (direct order or succession, signify­
ing that its attainment follows as a natural conse­
quence from the other three)— the stage in which
is acquired that intense desire for liberation from
earthly life, and for union with the highest, which
is called by the Hindus Mumukshatva.
5. Gotrabhu (the condition of fitness for initia­
tion) ; in this stage the candidate gathers up, as it
were, his previous acquisitions, and strengthens them

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to the degree necessary for the next great step, which
will set his feet upon the path proper as an accepted
pupil. The attainment of this level is followed very
rapidly by initiation into the next grade. In answer
to the question, “ W ho is the Gotrabhu?” Buddha
says, “ The man who is in possession of those con­
ditions upon which the commencement of sanctifi­
cation immediately ensues— he is the Gotrabhu.”
The wisdom necessary for the reception of the
path of holiness is called Gotrabhu-gnana.
N ow that we have hastily glanced at the steps of
the probationary period, we must emphasize the point
to which reference was made at the commence­
ment— that the perfect attainment of these accom­
plishments and qualifications is not expected at this
early stage. A s Mr. Mohini says, “ If all these are
equally strong, adeptship is attained in the same
incarnation.” But such a result is of course ex­
tremely rare. It is in the direction of these acquire­
ments that the candidate must easelessly strive, but
it would be an error to suppose that no one has been
admitted to the next step without possessing all o f
them in the fullest possible degree. Nor do they
necessarily follow one another in the same definite
order as the later steps; in fact, in many cases a
man would be developing the various qualifications

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all at the same time— rather side by side than in reg­
ular succession.
It is obvious that a man might easily be working
along a great part of this path even though he was
quite unaware o f its very existence, and no doubt
many a good Christian, many an earnest freethinker
is already far on the road that will eventually lead
him to initiation, though he may never have heard
the word occultism in his life. I mention these
two classes especially, because in every other religion
occult development is recognized as a possibility,
and would certainly therefore be intentionally
sought by those who felt yearnings for something
more satisfactory than the exoteric faiths.
W e must also note that the steps of this proba­
tionary period are not separated by initiations in
the full sense of the word, though they will cer­
tainly be studded with tests and trials of all sorts
and on all planes, and may be relieved by encourag­
ing experiences, and by hints and help whenever
these may safely be given. W e are apt sometimes
to use the word initiation somewhat loosely, as for
example when it is applied to such tests as have just
been mentioned; properly speaking it refers only to
the solemn ceremony at which a pupil is formally
admitted to a higher grade by an appointed official,
who in the name of the One Initiator receives his

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 il 7
plighted vow, and puts into his hands the new key
of knowledge which he is to use on the level to which
he has now attained. Such an initiation is taken at
the entrance to the division which we shall next con­
sider, and also at each passage from any one o f its
steps to the n e x t

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 CHAPTER XVI.
T he P ath P roper.
I t is in the four stages of this division of the path
that the ten Samyojana, or fetters which bind man
to the circle of rebirth and hold him back from
Nirvana, must be cast off. And here comes the
difference between this period of pledged disciple-
ship and the previous probation. No partial suc­
cess in getting rid of these fetters is sufficient n o w ;
before a candidate can pass on from one of the steps
to the next he must be entirely free from certain
of these clo g s; and when they are enumerated it will
be seen how far-reaching this requirement is, and
there will be little cause to wonder at the statement
made in the sacred books that seven incarnations are
sometimes required to pass through this division o f
the path.
Each of these four steps or stages is again divided
into four : for each has ( x) its Maggo, or way, dur­
ing which the student is striving to cast off the fet­
ters; (2 ) its Phala (result or fruit) when he finds
the results o f his action in so doing showing them­
. w

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selves more and more; (3 ) its Bhavagga or con­
summation, the period when, the result having cul­
minated, he is able to fufil satisfactorily the work
belonging to the step on which he now firmly stands;
and (4 ) its Gotrabhu, meaning, as before, the time
when he arrives at a fit state to receive the next initi­
ation. The first stage is :
I. Sotapatti or Sohan. The pupil who has at­
tained this level is spoken of as the Sowani or Sota-
panna— “ he who has entered the stream,”— because
from this period, though he may linger, though he
may succumb to more refined temptations and turn
aside from his course for a time, he can no longer
fall back altogether from spirituality and become
a mere worldling. He has entered upon the stream
o f definite higher human evolution, upon which all
humanity must enter by the middle o f the next
round, unless they are to be left behind as temporary
failures by the great life-wave, to wait for further
progress until the next chain of worlds.
T he pupil who is able to take this initiation has
therefore already outstripped the majority of human­
ity to the extent o f an entire round of all our seven
planets, and in doing so has definitely secured him­
self against the possibility of falling out of the
stream in the fifth round. H e is consequently some­
times spoken o f as “ the saved” or “ the safe one.”

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It is from a misunderstanding o f this idea that there
arises the curious theory o f salvation promulgated
by a certain section o f the Christian community.
The “ seonian salvation” o f which some of its docu­
ments speak is not, as has been blasphemously sup­
posed by the ignorant, from eternal torture, but sim­
ply from wasting the rest of this aeon or dispensation
by falling out of its line of progress. This also is
the meaning, naturally, of the celebrated clause in
the Athanasian Creed, “ Whosoever will be saved,
before all things it is necessary that he hold the
catholic faith” (See The Christian Creed, p. 9 1 ).
The fetters which he must cast off before he can pass
into the next stage a re :
1. Sakkayaditthi— the delusion o f self.
2. Vichikichchha— Hloubt or uncertainty.
3. Silabbataparamasa— superstition.
The first o f these is the “ I am I ” consciousness,
which as connected with the personality is nothing
but an illusion, and must be got rid of at the very
first step of the real upward path. But to cast off
this fetter completely means even more than this,
for it involves the realization of the fact that the
individuality also is in very truth one with the A ll,
that it can therefore never have any interests opposed
to those o f its brethren, and that it is most truly pro­
gressing when it most assists the progress o f others.

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For the very sign and seal o f the attainment o f
the Sotapatti level is the first entrance of the pupil
into the plane next above the mental— that which
we usually call the buddhic. It may be— nay, it
will be— the merest touch o f the lowest sub-plane of
that stupendously exalted condition that the pupil
can as yet experience, even with his Master’s help;
but even that touch is something that can never be
forgotten— something that opens a new world before
him, and entirely revolutionizes his feelings and con­
ceptions. Then for the first time, by means of the
extended consciousness of that plane, he truly real­
izes the underlying unity of all, not as an intellectual
conception merely, but as a definite fact that is patent
to his opened eyes; then first he really knows some­
thing o f the world in which he lives— then first he
gets some slight glimpse of what the love and com­
passion o f the great Masters must be.
A s to the second letter, a word o f caution is ne­
cessary. W e who have been trained in European
habits of thought are unhappily so familiar with the
idea that a blind unreasoning adhesion to certain
dogmas may be claimed from a disciple, that on
hearing that occultism considers doubt as an obstacle
to progress, we are likely to suppose that it also re­
requires the same unquestioning faith from its fol-

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lowers as modern superstitions do. N o idea could
be more entirely false.
It is true that doubt (or rather uncertainty) on
certain questions is a bar to spiritual progress, but
the antidote to that doubt is not blind faith (which
is itself considered as a fetter, as will presently be
seen) but the certainty of conviction founded on
individual experiment or mathematical reasoning.
W hile a child doubted the accuracy of the multipli­
cation table he would hardly acquire proficiency in ^ £
the higher mathematics; but his doubts could be
satisfactorily cleared up only by his attaining a com­
prehension, founded on reasoning or experiment,
that the statements contained in the table are true.
He believes that twice two are four, not merely
because he has been told so, but because it has become
to him a self-evident fact. And this is exactly the
method, and the only method, of resolving doubt
known to occultism.
Vichikichchha has been defined as doubt o f the
doctrines of karma and reincarnation, and of the
efficacy of the method of attaining the highest good
by this path of holiness; and the casting off of this
Samyojana is the arriving at absolute certainty, based
either upon personal first-hand knowledge or upon
reason, that the occult teaching upon these points is
true.

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T he third fetter to be got rid of comprehends all
kinds o f unreasoning or mistaken belief, all depend­
ence on the efficacy o f outward rites and ceremonies
to purify the heart. He who would cast it off must
learn to depend upon himself alone, not upon others,
nor upon the outer husk of any religion.
T he first three fetters are in a coherent series.
T he difference between individuality and personality
being fully realized, it is then possible to some extent
to appreciate the actual course of reincarnation, and
so as to dispel all doubt on that head. This done, the
knowledge of the spiritual permanence of the true
ego gives rise to reliance on one’s own spiritual
strength, and so dispels superstition.
II. Sakadagami. T he pupil who has entered
upon this second stage is spoken of as a Sakrida-
gamin— “ the man who returns but once”— signify­
ing that a man who has reached this level should need
but one more incarnation before attaining arahat-
ship. A t this step no additional fetters are cast off,
but the pupil is occupied in reducing to a minimum
those which still enchain him. It is, however, usu­
ally a period of considerable psychic and intellectual
advancement.
I f what are commonly called psychic faculties have
not been previously acquired, they must be developed
at this stage, as without them it would be impossible

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to assimilate the knowledge which must now be
given, or to do the higher work for humanity in
which the pupil is now privileged to assist. H e must
have the astral consciousness at his command during
his physical waking life, and during sleep the heaven-
world will be open before him— for the consciousness
of a man when away from his physical body is
always one stage higher than it is while he is still
burdened with the house of flesh.
III. Anâgâmi. The Anâgâmin (he who does not
return) is so called because, having reached this
stage, he ought to be able to attain the next one in
the life he is then living. He enjoys, while moving
through the round of his daily work, all the splen­
did possibilities of progress given by the full pos­
session of the priceless faculties of the heaven-world,
and .when he leaves his physical vehicle at night he
enters once more into the wonderfully-widened con­
sciousness that belongs to the buddhi. In this step
he finally gets rid of any lingering remains of the
two fetters of
4. Kâmarâga— attachment to the enjoyment o f
sensation, typified by earthly love, and
5. Patigha— all possibility o f anger or hatred.
The student who has cast off these fetters can no
longer be swayed by the influence o f his senses either
in the direction of love or hatred, and is free from

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either attachment to or impatience of physical plane
conditions.
Here again we must guard against a possible mis­
conception— one with which we frequently m eet
The purest and noblest human love never dies away
— is never in any way diminished by occult training;
on the contrary, it is increased and widened until it
embraces all with the same fervor which at first
was lavished on one or two. But the student does
in time rise above all considerations connected with
the mere personality of those around him, and so is
free from all the injustice and partiality which or­
dinary love so often brings in its train.
N or should it for a moment be supposed that in
gaining this wide affection for all he loses the
especial love for his closer friends. The unusually
perfect link between Ananda and the Buddha, as
between S. John and Jesus, is on record to prove
that on the contrary this is enormously intensified;
and the tie between a Master and his pupils is
stronger far than any earthly bond. For the affec­
tion which flourishes upon the path of holiness is an
affection between egos, and not merely between per­
sonalities ; therefore it is strong and permanent, with­
out fear of diminution or fluctuation, for it is that
"perfect love which casteth out fear.”
IV . Arahat (the venerable, the perfect). On

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 I2Ô

attaining this level the aspirant constantly enjoys

the consciousness o f the buddhic plane, and is able
to use its powers and faculties while still in the
physical body; and when he leaves that body in sleep
or trance he passes at once into the unutterable glory
of the nirvanic plane. In this stage the occultist
must cast off the last remnants of the five remaining
fetters, which a re :
6. Ruparaga— desire for beauty o f form or for
physical existence in a form, even including that in
the heaven-world.
7. Aruparaga— desire for formless life.
8. Mano— pride.
9. Uddhachcha— agitation or irritability.
10. A v ijja — ignorance.
On this we may remark that the casting off o f
Ruparaga involves not only getting rid of desire for
earthly life, however grand or noble that life may
be, and astral or devachanic life, however glorious,
but also of all liability to be unduly influenced or
repelled by the external beauty or ugliness of any
person or thing.
Aruparaga— desire for life either in the highest
and formless planes o f the heaven-world or in the
still more exalted buddhic plane— would be merely
a higher and less sensual form of selfishness, and
must be cast off just as much as the lower. Uddha-

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 127
chcfia really means “ liability to be disturbed in
mind,” and a man who had finally cast off this fetter
would be absolutely unruffled by anything what­
ever that might happen to him— perfectly impervious
to any kind of attack upon his dignified serenity.
T he getting rid of ignorance of course implies
the acquisition of perfect knowledge— practical om­
niscience as regards our planetary chain. W hen all
the fetters are finally cast off the advancing tgo
reaches the fifth stage— the stage of full adeptship—
and becomes
V. Asekha, “ the one who has no more to learn,”
again as regards our planetary chain. It is quite
impossible for us to realize at our present level what
this attainment means. A ll the splendor of the
nirvanic plane lies oper^ before the waking eyes of the
adept, while when he chooses to leave his body he
has the power to enter upon something higher still—
a plane which to us is the merest name. A s Pro­
fessor Rhys Davids explains, “ H e is now free from
all sin; he sees and values all things in this life at
their true value; all evil being rooted from his mind,
he experiences only righteous desires for himself,
and tender pity and regard and exalted love for
others.”
T o show how little he has lost the sentiment o f
love, we read in the Metta Sutta of the state of mind

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 128
of one who stands at this level: “ A s a mother
loves, who even at the risk of her own life protects
her only son, such love let there be toward all beings.
Let goodwill without measure prevail in the whole
world, above, below, around, unstinted, unmixed
with any feeling of differing or opposing interests.
When a man remains steadfastly in this state of
mind all the while, whether he be standing or walk­
ing, sitting or lying down, then is come to pass the
saying which is written, ‘Even in this life has holi­
ness been found.’ ”

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 CHAPTER XVII.
W hat L ies B eyond.
B eyond this period it is obvious that we can know
nothing of the new qualifications required for the
still higher levels which yet lie before the perfect
man. It is abundantly clear, however, that when a
man has become Asekha he has exhausted all the
possibilities of moral development, so that further
advancement for him can only mean still wider
knowledge and still more wonderful spiritual powers.
W e are told that when man has thus attained his
spiritual majority, whether in the slow course o f ev­
olution or by the shorter path of self-development,
he assumes the fullest control of his own destinies,
and makes choice of his future line of evolution
among seven possible paths which he sees opening
before him.
Naturally at our present level we cannot expect
to understand much about these, and the faint out­
line of some of them which is all that can be sketched
m for us conveys very little to the mind, except that
most of them take the adept altogether away from
12»

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our earthnchain, which no longer affords sufficient

scope for his evolution.
One path is that o f those who, as the technical
phrase goes, “ accept Nirvana.” Through what in­
calculable aeons they remain in that sublime condi­
tion, for what work they are preparing themselves,
what will be their future line o f evolution, are ques­
tions upon which we know nothing; and indeed if
information upon such points could be given it is
more than likely that it would prove quite incom­
prehensible to us at our present stage.
But this much at least we may grasp— that the
blessed state of Nirvana is not, as some have igno­
rantly supposed, a condition of blank nothingness,
but on the contrary o f far more intense and benefi­
cent activity; and that ever as man rises higher in
the scale o f nature his possibilities become greater,
his work for others ever grander and more far-
reaching. and that infinite wisdom and infinite power
mean for him only infinite capacity for service, be­
cause they are directed by infinite love.
Another class chooses a spiritual evolution not
quite so far removed from humanity, foi though not
directly connected with the next chain of our system
it extends through two long periods corresponding to
its first and second rounds, at the end of which time

yGoogle
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 they also appear to “ accept Nirvana,” but at a higher
stage than those previously mentioned.
Others join the deva evolution, whose progress
lies along a grand chain consisting of seven chains
like ours, each o f which to them is as one world.
This line of evolution is spoken of as the most grad­
ual and therefore the least arduous of the seven
courses; but though it is sometimes referred to in the
books as “ yielding to the temptation to become a
god,” it is only in comparison with the sublime height
of renunciation of the Nirmanakaya that it can be
spoken of in this half-disparaging manner, for the
q.dept who chooses this course has indeed a glorious
career before him, and though the path which he
selects is not the shortest, it is nevertheless a very
noble one.
Y e t another group are the Nirmanakayas— those
who, declining all these easier methods, choose the
shortest but steepest path to the heights which still
lie before them. They form what is poetically
termed the “ guardian wall,” and, as The Voice of
the Silence tells us, “protect the world from further
and far greater misery and sorrow,” not indeed by
warding off from it external evil influences, but by
devoting all their strength to the work of pouring
down upon it a flood of spiritual force and assist-

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ance, without which it would assuredly be m far
more hopeless case than now.
Y e t again there are those who remain even more
directly in association with humanity, and continue
to incarnate among it, choosing the path which leads
through the four stages o f what we have called
above the official period; and among these are the
Masters of Wisdom— those from whom we who
study Theosophy have learnt such fragments as we
know o f the mighty harmony of evolving Nature.
But it would seem that only a certain comparatively
small number adopt this course— probably only so
many as are necessary for the carrying on of this
physical side o f the work. ‘
In hearing of these different possibilities, people
sometimes exclaim rashly that there could of course
be no thought in a Master’s mind o f choosing any
but that course which most helps humanity— a re­
mark which greater knowledge would have pre­
vented them from making. W e should never for­
get that there are other evolutions in the solar system
besides our own, and no doubt it is necessary for
the carrying out o f the vast plan o f the Logos that
there should be adepts working on all the seven lines
to which we have referred. Surely the choice o f the
Master would be to go wherever his work was most
needed— to place his services with absolute selfless-

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 133
ness at the disposal of the Powers in charge o f this
part of the great scheme of evolution.

This then is the path which lies before us, the

path which each one of us should be beginning to
tread. Stupendous though its heights appear we
should remember that they are attained but gradually
and step by step, and that those who now stand near
the summit once toiled in the mire of the valleys,
even as we are doing. Although this path may at
first seem hard and toilsome, yet ever as we rise our
footing becomes firpier and our outlook wider, and
thus we find ourselves better able to help those who
are climbing beside us.
Because it is at first thus hard and toilsome to the
lower self, it has sometimes been called by the very
misleading title of “ the path of w oe;” but, as Mrs.
Besant has beautifully written, “ through all such
suffering there is a deep and abiding joy, for the
suffering is o f the lower nature, and the jo y of the
higher. When the last shred o f the personality is
gone all that can thus suffer has passed away, and
in the perfected Adept there is unruffled peace and
everlasting joy. H e sees the end toward which
all is working, and rejoices in that end, knowing
that earth's sorrow is but a passing phase in human
evolution.

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 »34
“ That o f which little has «been said is the pro­
found content which comes from being on the path,
from realizing the goal and the way to it, from
knowing that the power to be useful is increasing,
and that the lower nature is being gradually extir­
pated. And little has been said o f the rays of jo y
which fall upon the path from loftier levels, the
dazzling glimpses o f the glory to be revealed, the
serenity which the storms o f earth cannot ruffle.
T o any one who has entered on the path all other
ways have lost their charm, and its sorrows have a
deeper bliss than the best joys of the lower world.”
(Vahan, vol. v., No. 12.)
L et no man therefore despair because he thinks
the task too great for him; what man has done
man can do, and just in proportion as we extend our
aid to those w„hom we can help, so will those who
have already attained be able in their turn to help
us. So from the lowest to the highest we who are
treading the steps of the path are bound together
by one long chain o f mutual service, and none need
feel neglected or alone, for though sometimes the
lower flights of the great staircase may be wreathed
in mist, we know that it leads up to happier regions
and purer air, where the light is always shining.

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 IN D E X .

A d e p t.................................................... 26, 95, 109, 127, 129, 133

Adeptship.................................................................. 109, 115, 127
An&gftml................................................................................... 124
Ananda and the Buddha......................................................... 125
Angels and Gods, Hierarchies of.............................................. 7, 8
Angel Story ............................................................................. 42
Anuloma ................................................................................. 114
Arahat, consciousness o f ......................................................... 126
Arflpar&ga ............................................................................... 126
Asekha ..............................................................................127, 129
Astral body ...................... 36, 37
of children ...................................................................... 69
after death ...................................................................81, 82
active consciousness in...................................................37, 67
physical elements, no obstacle to................................ 99, 100
Astral world, power of thought i n ......................................... 99
Athanasian Creed .................................................................... 120
Avijjft ...................................................................................... 126
Awakening pupils on the astral plane, tests for.................... 99-100
Bhavagga ............................................................. 119
Black magicians .................................................. 94
Bodies, effect of coarse ones, after death............. 81
Buddha and Ananda............................................. 125
Buddhas, some in early races, from deva evolution 28
Calmness, a requirement on the Path.. ........................ 101
Children, useful as helpers................... .................. 69, 70
Consciousness, apart from physical body -----29,33-37, 124
active a str a l.................................. .............37, 67, 68
of the Arahat................................ ..................... 126
buddhlc......................................... ------121, 124, 126
Cyril, Angel Story .............................. .................... 42-48
. Fire Story .................................... .................... 50-55
Two Brothers................................ .................... 63-71
materialized form .......................... .56, 58, 59, 60, 71
Dead entity, not realizing his death......................... ............. 87
Devas. kinds of help given by, between Incarnations ...........26, 27
help on the mental plane.................. ................ ............. 27
supplied Buddhas in early races....................... ............. 28
evolution o f ...................................................... ............... 131
Dlsdpleship.............................................................. 109r lie, 118
Dreams, Impressed on livin g .................................... ............. 85
Earthbound entitles .............................................................83, 87
Story of a fa th er............................................................. 84
E go............................................................................................. 74.82, 125
1*

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 136
Eternal punishment, belief in, after death..., . . . . 79
Evil, counteracting effects of black magicians, . . . . 94
Evolution, accelerated in lower kingdoms.... . . . . 39
d eva..................................................... . __ 131
current of, too strong to resist.............. .83, 103
Faith, true meaning o f .............................. . __ 122
Fifth Round, critical period o f .................... 109, 119
Gotrabhû .......................................................................... 114, 119
Guardian Wall ..................................................................95, 131
Hell, effect of belief In, after d eath ....................................... 78
Holiness, four paths o f ........................................................... 109
Immortality of the S o u l......................................................6 , 7, 87
Initiation........................................................... 109, 114, 116, 119
Invisible Helpers, classes of.................................................... 25, 28
pupils or the Masters....................................................... 29
danger of repercussion.............................................58, 60, 61
work with the dead......................) ............................73, 83, 89
work hindered by fear................................................ 74, 78, 80
methods of Impressing the living....................................
........................................... 14, 40, 73, 75, 85, 86, 92, 93, 94
spiritual instruction, given b y ................................ 89, 93, 94
qualifications necessary for becoming............................... 97
Jesus and S. J o h n ................................................................... 125
Kamaloka, factors deciding length of stay in....................... 81, 83
entity in, not realizing d eath........................................... 87
K&marfiga................................................................................ 124
Knowledge, kind required on the P a th ..................... 100, 102
Karma, interference with another’s, impossible....................30, 80
Illustrated by Angel S to ry ................................................ 48
how carried out by Masters............................................. 21
determines possibilities of becoming helpers.................... 70
inevitable catastrophes .................................................... 73
ties of karma, in astral work......................................... 48, 55
after death ...................................................................... 81
of the Invisible Helpers................................................ 93, 98
C o v e........................................................................... 103, 125, 128
Maggo .......................................................... 118
Manus, some from deva evolution............................................. 28
Manodv&ravajjana ................................................................... I l l
Materialists, after death ....................................................... 87
Materialization, three kinds o f ............................................... 57
production of, at séances.............................................. 59, 60
matter for, where drawn from ....................................... 59
economy in using force for.............................................. 58
exceptional cases o f ......................................61, 62, 65, 67, 71
knowledge necessary f o r ......................, ............................ T1
in cabin of sinking s h ip .................................................... 76
in railway carriage ....................... «............................... 23
Materialized body not injured by fire or water....................... 61, 77
Masters training Helpers......... 28,60,95,97,102,106,121,125, 132
guarding an advancing so u l............................................... 21
Lords or Compassion ....................................................... 64
felt as a Presence ........................................................... 66

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 137
restrictions placed upon Helpersby.................................. 88
confidence In ...................................................................... 114
and pupils, love between.................................................. 125
Medium, possibilities of repercu/Mton....................................59, 50
occasional good work done by ......................................». 88
dangers of communication through ............................ 87, 90
Memory, waking, of night's experience.................................... 87
waking, caused by great shock.............................. .....6 .7 , 68
of teachings received after death...................................... 90
Mental plane, work upon ....................................................... I l l
Mind, effect of attitude of, after death......................81, 82, 87, 89
how easily influenced....................................................... 92
helps in problems of study............................................... 98
Mother love, value of .................................................. 14, 32, 128
Mumukshatva ................................................................... 114
Nature spirits, help to man, rare............................................ 81
Nirmânakftyas....................................................................... 95, 181
Nirvâria............................................................ 118, 126, 127, 180
Parlkamma.............. ................................................................ 112
Path, T h e ....................................................... 94, 97, 106, 107, 118
four means of reaching .................................................. 108
three divisions of ............................................................... 109
of holiness, four stages o f ................................................ 109
probationary ............................................................... 110, 116
official period o f ............................................ 109,182
P a tlgh a.................................................................................... 124
Personality................................................................ 128, 125, 133
Phala ....................................................................................... 118
Prayer, answer t o ........................................................... 11, 12, 93
Proofs, phenomenal, forbidden................................................ 88
Psychic faculties........................ 123
Purgatory, teaching of, helpful, after death........................... 79
Qualifications for becoming Invisible Helpers........................97-106
Repercussion, when possible......................................56, 58, 59, 60
Rounds, critical period of Fifth.........................................109, 119
Seventh............................................................................. 109
Rûparâga................................................................................ 126
Baddhft ........ 114
Sakadfigâm!................................................................................ 123
Sakkfiyaditthl........................................................................... 120
Salvation, origin of Christian Id ea......................................... 120
Samâdh&na............................................................................... 114
S am o........................................................................................ 113
Saipyojana...........................................................................118, 122
Séances.............................................................57, 59, 60, 86, 90
Self-control, qualification required . ........................................ 98
Seventh Round ........................................................................ 109
Shatsampatti ........................................................................... 113
SUabbataparfimfisa .................................................................. 120
Slnglemlndedness, qualification required.................................. 97
Sotlpattl or Sohan ........................................................... 119, 121
Stories of Invisible Helpers, saved from fire...............9, 10, 11, 48
saved from falling Into a well........................................... 14
saved from drowning....................................................... 12
saved from being Injured by horses.................................. 15
saved from being lost in the woods.................................... 16

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 138
raved from massacre.................... .. 40
help given In cabin of sinking ship .. 76
help given an earthbound father .. .. 84
help given materialistic scientist . ..72, 88
help given in catastrophes ........... 73
help given drowning m an............... .. 75
rescue from a m ob.........................
rescue from falling over a c liff.......
..
.. 43
20
warnings given the author........... . .. 19
warnings to captain of a boat......... . 72
the two brothers ........................... .. 63
protection in railway carriage......... .. 23
release from astral w orld.............. .. 90
Suggestion, power of ........................... .92-93
Teachings given by Invisible Helpers after death. .82, 83, 89, 90, 91
During life .................................................................... 92, 93
Tests of earth, water, air and fire............................................. 99
Thought, power of, on astral p la n e ....................................... 99
Titikkhft .................................................................................. 113
Uddhachcha . __ 126
Upachfiro . . . __ 113
Uparat l ....... __ 113
Valrftgya . . . . . . . . 113
Vlchikichchhfi 120, 122
Vlveka ......... ___112
Warnings given by Helpers......................................19, 72, 90, 94
Will, power of. over m atter...................................................... 61
man’s, never dominated by Helpers.................................... 92
cosmic, not to be overcome.............................................83, 103
free, of the Asekha........................................................... 129

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