s it were, the
relation of man, "the known," the manifested, the phenomenon, to "the
unknown," the unmanifested, the noumenon. It shows the student what
ideal to contemplate and how to rise up to it. It places before him the
nature of the inner capacities of man and how to develop them. To a
superficial reader, this may, perhaps, appear as the acme of
selfishness. Reflection will, however, show the contrary to be the
case. For it teaches the student that to comprehend the noumenal, he
must identify himself with Nature. Instead of looking upon himself as
an isolated being, he must learn to look upon himself as a part of the
Integral Whole. For, in the unmanifested world, it can be clearly
perceived that all is controlled by the "Law of Affinity," the
attraction of the one for the other. There, all is Infinite Love,
understood in its true sense.

It may now not be out of place to recapitulate what has already been
said. The first thing to be done is to study the axioms of Occultism
and work upon them by the deductive and the inductive methods, which is
real contemplation. To turn this to a useful purpose, what is
theoretically comprehended must be practically realized.

--Damodar K. Mavalaukar

Chelas and Lay Chelas

A "chela" is a person who has offered himself to a master as a pupil to
learn practically the "hidden mysteries of Nature and the psychical
powers latent in man." The master who accepts him is called in India a
Guru; and the real Guru is always an adept in the Occult Science. A
man of profound knowledge, exoteric and esoteric, especially the latter;
and one who has brought his carnal nature under the subjection of the
WILL; who has developed in himself both the power (Siddhi) to control
the forces of Nature, and the capacity to probe her secrets by the help
of the formerly latent but now active powers of his being--this is the
real Guru. To offer oneself as a candidate for Chelaship is easy
enough, to develop into an adept the most difficult task any man could
possibly undertake. There are scores of "natural-born" poets,
mathematicians, mechanics, statesmen, &c. But a natural-born adept is
something practically impossible. For, though we do hear at very rare
intervals of one who has an extraordinary innate capacity for the
acquisition of occult knowledge and power, yet even he has to pass the
self-same tests and probations, and go through the self-same training as
any less endo