ore and more, and makes you ever meeker in your
own eyes; then you may infer from this sign that it is of God and comes
from the presence and action of a good angel, and comes from the goodness
of God, either for comfort to simple pious souls to increase their trust
in and longing for God, and because of such a strengthening to seek more
thoroughly for the knowledge and love of God. Or if they are perfect that
perceive such a pleasure, it appears to them somewhat like a foretaste and
shadow of the transfiguration of the body which it may expect in the
celestial bliss." However, I do not know whether such a man can be found
on earth.

"He continues: Of this method of distinguishing between the works of the
spirits, Saint John (I John IV, 3) speaks in his epistle: 'Every spirit
that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God'
(or as it is translated by Luther: 'Who does not recognize that Jesus
Christ is come into the flesh'). This union and connection of Jesus with
the human soul is caused by a good will and a zealous striving toward him,
which alone desires to possess him and to view him spiritually in his
blessedness. The greater this longing the more closely is Jesus united
with the soul, and the less the longing, the more loosely is he bound to
him. So every spirit or every sensation that diminishes this longing, and
draws it away from the steadfast contemplation of Jesus Christ and from
sighing and longing like a child for him, this spirit will release Jesus
from the soul, and therefore it is not from God but the activity of the
Enemy. But if a spirit or a sensation increases this desire, fastens the
bonds of love and devotion closer to Jesus, raises the eyes of the soul to
spiritual knowledge more and more, and makes the heart ever meeker, this
spirit is from God."

In many of the modern theosophic introversion methods, borrowed from the
Hindu yoga doctrines, we find the exhortation to attach no importance to
the marvels appearing beside the real prize, indeed to regard them as a
pernicious by-product. The Hindu doctrine calls them Siddhi. Walter Hitton
speaks of them as "inferior subordinate matters." From the description of
them it appears that they are phantastic appearances, which partly flatter
the wish for power, partly other wishes. [See Note E at the end of this
volume.] The Siddhi are qualified to captivate weak minds with their
jugglery. Erotic experiences are connected very easil