Everything else being equal, the more thought a man bas given any subject the more apt is he to be right thereon. But far more important than thought itself is an honest desire to know the truth, free from bias and without preference. The man who seeks for truth with a selfish motive will never find it, for his desires will pervert his judgment and befog his reason. Truth is pure and undefiled, and none but the pure in heart and mind can see it in all its beauty. The greatest cause of error in the world is that prejudice which distorts facts to make them fit with preconceived opinions, and prejudice has its root in self. Remembering my motto—"Forget self,"— I had instantly chosen the path which seemed to bring more arduous labor. Trusting to the love of truth and right within me, I had chosen with hardly a second thought. Had I chosen right? St. Germain soon dispelled my doubt by saying: "Brother, you and your noble sister are most "And has every man a fixed time for his bodily dissolution?" I asked. "Every organism has a time fixed for its dissolution," he replied, "but as man changes his organism, so also does he change the time for its death. The astrological conditions which meant death to your constitutional combination previous to the time when modified by your will, have no power over your organism as it now is. During life you have, by the power of will, so modified your form that its dissolution comes under different planetary aspects. Esoteric astrology does not preclude free-will or the power of man to modify his nature." "Then destiny is a variable quantity?" I asked. "Every conscious act of will brings a modification in your so-called destiny; but only a few men consciously will, most following blindly the impulses or tendencies of their nature. Therefore, most men's lives are fixed and subject to only slight variations. But there are exceptions, and "And you say my life-term is short?" I asked. "Your bodily combination of early life would not have come under death-dealing influences until it had reached its sixtieth year, but your body, as it now is, will meet the influences which mean its dissolution in four years. It so happens that it will then be at the mystic age of thirty-three. You have shortened your earth life, but you will enter that much sooner into the higher life." "Only four years to labor, yet, oh! so much to do!" I exclaimed, as an all-encompassing love welled up in my heart. A loving smile lit up the face of St. Germain, and he said: "It will then be permitted you to labor as an invisible or be reborn; now turn thy mind within." As he uttered this command a heavenly rapture filled my soul, it seeming to expand until all beings and creatures were included in its wondrous love, and an unutterable peace took possession of me. Looking at St. Germain I saw that his face was radiant with light, and his features seemed angelic in their beauty as he gave the command—"Return!" "Hast thou returned?" she asked in thought, for no words were spoken. "Yes, sister, go thou with the Master to the East; when my life-term is up we will meet again." Thus speaking I saw that a thread of violet light An awful, demoniacal shriek rang in my ears; a groan of despair, and the form was sucked back toward the fire. It struggled and pulled toward me, its fiery eyes looking from their sunken depths with a wild, satanic glare; but a white form now stood before me, and with outstretched hand pushed the monster into the flames. With one last wild shriek, it fell into the fire, and as though "Only the Iole in thyself can be thy savior; only the Christ, Krishna, God or Master within can save thee," answered her mind to mine. "Thou hast just now slain the last shadow of thy demon nature formed in lives gone by; and now thou art absolutely pure. All men must meet and slay their demon before they can pass on, for this demon shadow ever awaits them at the threshold, and unless they conquer they cannot pass through. When you called for me you called upon your God, for I am but a symbol of the God within your soul." "With this, thy last experience, thou canst realize the condition of those men who are completely imbued in matter," interrupted another voice-mind, and St. Germain stood before us. Before I could reply he continued: "The great hierophant sends me to call thee to the East, and as I leave with thy sister, in peace retire to sleep; when the morning comes start on thy journey. Thy sister will meet thee at Calcutta and journey with thee through the forbidden passes to Teshee Lumbo." "We leave you with our bodies, but we are with you in our souls," said Iole, and as she spoke a "And Napoleon?" I asked. "He lives for many years yet, until, by his now mighty genius, the republic makes all past ideals a fact." "And may I now ask you of your parents?" "That I will answer," interrupted St. Germain. "But for your sister you would not have passed beyond Lhassa in this life. Iole has made several incarnations in one life. When the Princess Louise of England died, before her body was marked for dissolution, she whom you know as Iole incarnated "Yes," I replied, "I see that far back I was a Brahmin monk of adept power, but for lack of certain experiences I took western incarnations." "All things are then made clear, are they?" said Iole. "The past is now an open book," I answered; for all my lives were now linked into one. "Then we are ready for our great labor," she replied. "And can I accomplish more here than in the West?" I asked. "Much more," she answered, "for here we labor day and night; in the day-time in our material bodies, and at night, in that natural trance called sleep, we labor invisibly in our astrals among our brothers in the West. The superficial world thinks we have left them for selfish solitude, We now entered a cyclopean-like chamber of white granite, and were in the presence of the dark Oriental we had seen at Paris. "Brother," he said, addressing me, "after many weary incarnations the wanderer has returned; gladly we welcome his now purified and illuminated soul. He has seen misery and suffering; he has seen and experienced pain and woe; now can his soul realize divine compassion and labor for mankind. Go with our sister Iole and learn to employ the powers it is now your privilege to use. Another crisis is approaching in the new Atlantis of the West, and as we never idle, you must be prepared. No, the question in your mind concerning your approaching disembodiment will not keep you from this labor. You have joined the immortals, and if your body is deemed fit for another life, when its hour of dissolution comes we will place it in a trance-like state in which life and its inimical influences cannot act; for life is death, and the vital activity disintegrates the body. That which in life works as a unit in all the atoms of the body, at death assumes an individual and separate activity in each. No, you will not die; both you and Iole shall have self-conscious astrals and live immortal in the world of mind and æther, until you choose to pass into the two degrees that lie stillBROTHER OF THE "THIRD DEGREE."
