e who permits his feelings of reverence and devotion
to kill his healthy self-consciousness and self-confidence, is guilty of
sinning against the laws of balance and equilibrium. The occult student
must work constantly in order to mature his own nature; then indeed he may
well have confidence in his own personality, and believe that its powers
are increasing more and more. Any one arriving at the right feeling in
this respect will say to himself: "There are within me hidden powers, and
I am able to call them forth from within. If, therefore, I see something
which fills me with reverence because it is above me, I need no longer
merely venerate it, but I may confidently assume that, if I develop all
that is in me, I may raise myself to the level of the object of my
veneration."

The more capable a man is of fixing his attention upon these events of
life with which he is not directly familiar, the greater will be the
possibility of providing himself with a foundation for development in
higher worlds. The following example will make this evident. Let us assume
that some one is placed in a position in which it rests with him either to
do, or leave undone, a certain thing. His judgment bids him "Do this,"
while at the same time there may be a certain indefinite something in his
feelings which deters him from the deed. It may so happen that the person
in question will pay no heed to this inexplicable something, carrying out
the action in accordance with his judgment. But it may also be that the
person so placed will yield to this inner impulse and not perform the act.
Now, pursuing the matter further, he may find that mischief would have
resulted from his following the dictates of his reason, and that a
blessing awaited him through the omission of the act. An experience of
this nature may lead a man's thoughts into quite a definite channel, and
then he will put the matter to himself in this way: "There is something
within me that is a surer guide than that measure of judgment of which I
am at present possessed: I must therefore retain an open mind toward this
inner something, to the height of which my own capacity for judgment has
not yet attained."

The soul derives much benefit when it directs its attention to occurrences
in life such as these, for they demonstrate that man's healthy
premonitions bear something in them which is of greater moment than he,
with his present degree of judgment, is able to perceive. Attention in