|
|
|
LETTER XVIII
A MASTER OF COMPASSION
In my former book I reminded you that your
friends who had passed into the astral world did not know everything; that
though their sight was longer than before and their eyes less clouded by
matter, they yet could not always prophesy as glibly as fortune-tellers—or
at least that they were wiser not to attempt it. Now I have in mind an
illustration of that very point, only the subjects are much more exalted
than the ordinary dwellers on the astral plane.
There is, for instance, not perfect unanimity in our minds as to
all the details of the end of this war. There are two of us who often
discuss ways and means, who, while desiring the same result of peace, have
slightly varying views as to the best possible way to bring that result to
pass.
One of our Brothers, who is still occupying
his physical body most of the time, has a great desire to soften so far as
possible the blow that is to fall upon one of the nations in this war. We
all want to soften so far as possible the blow for that nation; but he has
in his mind a plan which would, if put into effect, very materially soften
it. He knows that he could perhaps bring it about in the way he wishes; yet
he is far too wise to force the issue. He will not force the issue. He tries
softly to inspire those who have it in their power to suggest the beginnings
of peace according to his ideas. We do nothing to deflect the current of his
loving thoughts, for he is the only one among us—and by us I mean the
Brothers of a certain development—he is the only one among us who has a
greater tenderness for one race than for all the others. He is not so old as
some of us, but he is one of the greatest.
He may be able to do what he wishes, but I personally am not
sure. In one way he is wiser than I am; but my judgment is not at all
influenced by tenderness for my own native land, which is not yet directly
concerned, and so I may be a safer judge than he.
Do not take this as an admission of
weakness in my Brother. Love is not a weakness.
This brother wrote a prediction through the hand of a pupil of
his not long ago. Perhaps it will be verified. Nothing will be thrown by any
of us in the way of its verification. In fact, if it is the best way it will
have the support of all.
Even a Master does not know everything, though to the blind eyes
of lesser men he seems to know everything. And a Master is too wise to
attempt to force his individual will upon the world. The black magician is
willing to bring things to pass by the power of his will, and often he can
do it; but he does not always count on the reaction. The White Master always
counts on the reaction. He works with the Law.
There is arising now in America a school of
magic, for it is a form of magic that they practise, and the teachers of
this school instruct their followers how to bring events to pass, how to
demonstrate in the material world the material desires of their hearts. They
can do it, the strong ones can, if their desires are not against the great
stream of desire that carries the race forward. But often these material
desires are not in strict accord with the karma of the person desiring; that
is, the balance of karma being worked out now may be so violently drawn upon
in one direction, that for the following life there will be left only a lot
of unhappy karma, weak karma, which has not been wisely distributed over
that time in which they have been operating with this new plaything, this
magic power which they are using to make their present lives one glad sweet
song.
The way to get what you want is to will what the great Law
decides. That is what the Masters do. And I am not denying the greatness of
my Brother whom I mentioned a few pages back. He wills the will of the great
Law, the same as all of us do; and if his tenderness for his native land has
inspired him to devise a plan which seems in harmony with the great Law, he
would not put the plan into effect if he could, should he realize that it
was not in accordance with that law.
There is always danger for the man who is
not a Master in pitting his judgment against the law of karma. If a poor man
wants to be rich, and if he wills hard enough, he can become rich; but he
may miss by the way other things that his soul needs far more than it needs
riches.
One of the greatest dangers that face America in the future is
the danger of black magic. Among a hundred men or women who take up New
Thought, Christian Science, ceremonial magic, and certain philosophies with
even loftier verbal aims, there may be one whose desire is perfectly
pure and unselfish.
There is great power in America. The untrodden hills and
mountains are full of fresh new forces that man may draw upon. Also the
astral world above America—that layer of the astral which lies immediately
outside the physical continent, as the aura of man extends beyond his
body—that layer of the astral world above America is full of forces,
elemental and astral forces, which can be used consciously by those who know
how to use them, and which are used unconsciously by those whose personal
desires are so strong that the more or less impersonal forces are obliged to
follow them—swung into line by the power of desire or will.
Great danger lies that way for those who use such forces for
evil, and between selfish desire and evil the veil is very thin.
There are seeking incarnation in this new
race many of those whose magical work along dark lines was interrupted in
the old days of Atlantis. Yes, that story of Atlantis is true. Many of these
souls are now coming in, some here and some in other countries; but their
main course is in the direction of the New World. More and more the forces
of magic will be used in the New World. It is for you and for others who
know that magic used for selfish purposes is always black magic, to warn
those who are too much fascinated by the idea that they can be the makers of
their own fortunes at the expense of others.
This warning is much needed. And I want to say to those whose
only desire for occult knowledge is that they may use it for their own
selfish ends, that if they stand in the way of the Law that works for
unselfishness in the new race, they will be destroyed again as they
were destroyed in ancient Atlantis. And I do not mean that their souls will
be destroyed, but that their lives will be cut short and their influence for
evil nullified.
Do not be shocked when I tell you that
there have been working in Europe during and before the present war
“artificial elementals” that were created in the time of Atlantis. Those
beings, for they have a force and a pseudo-individuality, have been used in
this war by those (now reincarnated) who created them ages ago. They have
drifted to their creators by the power of attraction.
One such creature was destroyed last July, and I assisted in its
destruction.
At the time of the birth of a new race,
will has great dynamics. Use your will with the Law, not against it.
Do you realize, you who put your desires above all things, that
each of you is but a drop in the stream of souls? The drop that would
isolate itself from the stream may be sucked up by the sun in the form of
vapor and wait a long time before entering the stream again.
Now do not take any of this as applying to my Brother who wants
to soften the blow for his native land. I want to soften the future of my
native land, and that is why I am writing about the new race that is going
to be born in America. But if I should learn, through counsel with my
Brothers or through individual inspiration, that it was best that the new
race should be born elsewhere, I would work with the same devotion to bring
it into being in that other place. And so would my Brother. We who work with
the Law put the welfare of the human race above our own individual loves.
All races are one race—the human race—and we work together as one.
April 10.
Letter XIX.
|
