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1We will now proceed to explain, as far as permissible, “the modus operandi” by which adeptship is actually attained. But, first, it will be necessary to consider who may and who may not possess the necessary qualifications; since the adept is, of a truth, like the poet, “bom and not made.” The adept is a bom king of his kind. He is a spiritual and mental giant of his race, and cannot be made without possessing these royal qualities, in a very highly developed state from his birth. External life is too short, and the antagonistic forces to be overcome too great, during the present cycle, for the adept to be manufactured out of the rudimentary forces and embryonic soul qualities of the average mortal. It has been asserted by one who claims the honor of adeptship, that “the adept is the rare efflorescence of an age.” This is, however, only figuratively correct, as in real truth, there are several such flowers in each race during the course of a single generation. Each family plant or race of mankind ultimately produces the rare flower of its line, and then becomes exhausted for that cycle. “It has run to seed.” Not all of these rare flowers of the royal line may attain adeptship; since they often exhaust their forces in other directions for the good of humanity; but such souls alone possess the possibilities; or, in other words, they have the necessary primary inborn qualifi¬ cations.
2Therefore, when these primary qualifications exist in a person, the first course to be pursued is to devote as much time as possible to the study of spiritual subjects obtainable in the outside world, and to master each and every branch of Occultism. Simultaneously with this study, the body must be trained in regard to matters of diet and the sexual relations. In other words; the human soul must be evolved entirely above the animal soul; i.e., the sphere of unc iooqle IZBA 168 THE LIGHT OF EGYPT developed good in man’s constitution must be developed. The animal forces, passions and appetites, must be gradually developed, and transformed or evolved, into human qualities, instead of being con¬ quered and chained, like wild beasts, as taught by oriental mystics. The problem of good and evil must be solved by the student, in each individual case. And right here consists the vital point of failure or success, defeat or triumph. Can the student train his physical desires to work in harmony with his spiritual desires?
3We have labored, over and over again, to impress upon the student, that man is a composite being, and that perfection consists in harmonious evolution. It ought by this time to be self-evident to any candid mind, that those fearful practices in the East, of asceticism, celibacy, self-multilations, etc., are criminally wrong. They simply starve and chain the animal into subjection, instead of developing it into a useful, obedient and most highly important factor of the perfect man’s seven-fold nature. In regard to the question of diet, the first aim should be to remove gradually and yet as rapidly as possible the desire for animal food. In the flesh of animals, the particles of vegetable matter have been completely polarized toward the animal soul, hence, when taken into the human system, they tend at once to build up and fortify that very portion which we wish to transform and eliminate. Fish, however, are sufficiently removed from the human to be allowed to the beginner, yet, as he progresses, vegetables, grains, and lastly, fruits, will furnish the requisite amount of physical nourishment.
The source text as printed, transcribed diplomatically. Where the source language uses a non-Latin script that reaches us only through a Victorian romanisation, this layer is labelled transliteration, because that is what we hold.
1We will now proceed to explain, as far as permissible, “the modus operandi” by which adeptship is actually attained. But, first, it will be necessary to consider who may and who may not possess the necessary qualifications; since the adept is, of a truth, like the poet, “bom and not made.” The adept is a bom king of his kind. He is a spiritual and mental giant of his race, and cannot be made without possessing these royal qualities, in a very highly developed state from his birth. External life is too short, and the antagonistic forces to be overcome too great, during the present cycle, for the adept to be manufactured out of the rudimentary forces and embryonic soul qualities of the average mortal. It has been asserted by one who claims the honor of adeptship, that “the adept is the rare efflorescence of an age.” This is, however, only figuratively correct, as in real truth, there are several such flowers in each race during the course of a single generation. Each family plant or race of mankind ultimately produces the rare flower of its line, and then becomes exhausted for that cycle. “It has run to seed.” Not all of these rare flowers of the royal line may attain adeptship; since they often exhaust their forces in other directions for the good of humanity; but such souls alone possess the possibilities; or, in other words, they have the necessary primary inborn qualifi¬ cations.
2Therefore, when these primary qualifications exist in a person, the first course to be pursued is to devote as much time as possible to the study of spiritual subjects obtainable in the outside world, and to master each and every branch of Occultism. Simultaneously with this study, the body must be trained in regard to matters of diet and the sexual relations. In other words; the human soul must be evolved entirely above the animal soul; i.e., the sphere of unc iooqle IZBA 168 THE LIGHT OF EGYPT developed good in man’s constitution must be developed. The animal forces, passions and appetites, must be gradually developed, and transformed or evolved, into human qualities, instead of being con¬ quered and chained, like wild beasts, as taught by oriental mystics. The problem of good and evil must be solved by the student, in each individual case. And right here consists the vital point of failure or success, defeat or triumph. Can the student train his physical desires to work in harmony with his spiritual desires?
3We have labored, over and over again, to impress upon the student, that man is a composite being, and that perfection consists in harmonious evolution. It ought by this time to be self-evident to any candid mind, that those fearful practices in the East, of asceticism, celibacy, self-multilations, etc., are criminally wrong. They simply starve and chain the animal into subjection, instead of developing it into a useful, obedient and most highly important factor of the perfect man’s seven-fold nature. In regard to the question of diet, the first aim should be to remove gradually and yet as rapidly as possible the desire for animal food. In the flesh of animals, the particles of vegetable matter have been completely polarized toward the animal soul, hence, when taken into the human system, they tend at once to build up and fortify that very portion which we wish to transform and eliminate. Fish, however, are sufficiently removed from the human to be allowed to the beginner, yet, as he progresses, vegetables, grains, and lastly, fruits, will furnish the requisite amount of physical nourishment.
The source text as printed, transcribed diplomatically. Where the source language uses a non-Latin script that reaches us only through a Victorian romanisation, this layer is labelled transliteration, because that is what we hold.
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