ess an "average" of all the virtues, and
the ordinary "saint" an "average" of all the vices. Concerning these it
was said, "I would have you either hot or cold, but because ye are neither
hot nor cold, I have spewed you out of my mouth." No lukewarm soul ever
entered the Kingdom of Heaven.

But a time at last comes when the soul of man, enmeshed in the "lusts of
the flesh and the deceitfulness of riches," _must make his choice_. He
_realizes_ that he can no longer "serve two masters." He will make his
choice knowingly, deliberately, and voluntarily. Happy and blessed will be
he if with his whole soul, and with every impulse of his being, he
declares, "I know not what others may do, _but as for me and my house, we
will serve the Lord_."

If there are real Masters (and there are), they have to work under both
Natural and Divine Law, and in strict harmony with the higher evolution of
the whole human race.

It is only a low, feeble, and undeveloped intelligence that finds God and
Nature at cross-purposes.

He who has found "the place of peace," harmonized his own nature, purified
his own life, and elevated all his desires and aspirations, has discerned
the "harmony of the morning stars," and caught the symphony of the
heavenly hosts. In other words, he is already functioning on the Spiritual
Plane.

This would seem to make clear the ethical problem raised, the stress
placed upon it, and how it is met and answered by every genuine Initiate
throughout the ages.

It has to be solved _first_ in each individual case. Only "he who _lives
the life_ shall know the doctrine," or advance to power.

CHAPTER XV

THE SCIENCE OF PSYCHOLOGY AS A KNOWLEDGE OF THE HUMAN SOUL

The writer of the present treatise is quite well aware that the great
majority of intelligent and educated people at the present day will deny
that any real knowledge of the human soul as a spiritual entity, separable
from the physical body during life and demonstrably surviving its death,
exists now, has heretofore existed, or, if possible for man, is likely to
exist for some time to come. Some will unhesitatingly declare such a thing
_unknowable_ for man.

I hold the firm _conviction_ that this knowledge has been for ages the
possession of certain individuals, few in number in any age or country,
and that this knowledge has resulted through conformity to certain
definite and specific requirements, formulated under well-known laws of
man's spiritu