PREFACE ix 



like the bigots of old theology, feel and think differently 

 from what they say : they deal out their theories to 

 others, but do not desire to use them themselves. Doubt, 

 the great enemy of true faith, is also the enemy of dog- 

 matic ignorance; it destroys all self-confidence, and 

 therefore impedes not only the power to do good in those 

 that are good, but it also weakens the poison of those 

 that do evil. The eyes of a world that stepped out from 

 a night of bigotry into the light of day were dazzled and 

 blinded for a while by the vain glitter of a pile of rubbish 

 and broken pots that had been collected by the advocates 

 of material science, who palmed it off for diamonds and 

 precious stones; but the world has recovered from the 

 effect of the glare, and realised the worthlessness of the 

 rubbish, and it again seeks for the less dazzling but 

 priceless light of the truth. Treasures that have long 

 been buried and hidden away from the sight of those 

 that were neither able to realise nor to appreciate their 

 value are now brought to light ; pearls of ancient wisdom 

 are brought from the East ; fountains of knowledge that 

 have been for centuries closed up are again opened, and a 

 flood of light is thrown over things that appeared impos- 

 sible, mysterious, and occult. 



As we dive into the ancient mysteries a new world 

 opens before us. The more we begin to understand the 

 language of the Adepts, the more grows our respect for 

 their wisdom. The more we become able to grasp their 

 ideas, the more grows our conception of man. The ana- 

 tomy, physiology, and psychology which they teach make 

 of man something immeasurably greater than the puny 

 and impotent being known to modern science as a com- 

 pound of bones, muscles, and nerves. Modem science 

 attempts to prove that man is an animal ; the teachings 



