PHILOSOPHY AND THEOSOPHY 285 



mind by rising above it, they would be able to control 

 their own nature and the nature by which their forms 

 are surrounded. 



But mortal man has no power to control the powers 

 of Nature in him, unless that power becomes manifested 

 in him. " We mortals are not from heaven, but from 

 the earth ; we did not drop down from heaven, but grew 

 from the earth. Terrestrial powers are moving in us; 

 but if we are reborn in the spirit, then will we move in 

 celestial power. What is this aid, these powers of which 

 I am writing, but celestial powers ? Who gives and 

 distributes them but God alone ? " {Morh. Invisib., v.). 

 He who trusts in his own power will fail, and become a 

 victim of his own vanity ; he who expects salvation from 

 others will be disappointed. There is no god, no saint, 

 and no power in which we can put any confidence, faith, 

 or trust for the purpose of our salvation, except the 

 power of divine wisdom acting within ourselves. Only 

 when man realises the presence of God within himself 

 will he begin his infinite life, and step from the realm 

 of evanescent illusions into that of permanent truth. 



The realisation of eternal truth is caused by the 

 " Holy Ghost," this being the light of self-knowledge, 

 the spirit of truth. No man can create within himself 

 that light, nor drag the spirit of truth down to his level, 

 nor push himself by his own will into that light ; he can 

 only wait in peace until that spirit descends and becomes 

 manifest in his soul. Thus the acquisition of wisdom 

 consists in passively receiving the light from above, and 

 in actively resisting the influences from below which 

 hinder its manifestation. 



Unselfishness 



" Theosophy " is the wisdom of God in man, and 

 therefore cannot be appropriated by any person. It cannot 

 become manifested in man as long as there exists in him 



