the remedy is in his own hands. Regular
exercise of the right kind will develop a certain muscle, and regular
mental exercise of the right kind will develop a missing quality in a man's
character. The ordinary man does not realize that he can do this, and even
if he sees that he can do it, he does not see why he should, for it means
much effort and much self-repression. He knows of no adequate motive for
undertaking a task so laborious and painful.

The motive is supplied by the knowledge of the truth. One who gains an
intelligent comprehension of the direction of evolution feels it not only
his interest but his privilege and his delight to co-operate with it. One
who wills the end wills also the means; in order to be able to do good work
for the world he must develop within himself the necessary strength and the
necessary qualities. Therefore he who wishes to reform the world must first
of all reform himself. He must learn to give up altogether the attitude of
insisting upon rights, and must devote himself utterly to the most earnest
performance of his duties. He must learn to regard every connection with
his fellow-man as an opportunity to help that fellow-man, or in some way to
do him good.

One who studies these subjects intelligently cannot but realize the
tremendous power of thought, and the necessity for its efficient control.
All action springs from thought, for even when it is done (as we say)
without thought, it is the instinctive expression of the thoughts, desires
and feelings which the man has allowed to grow luxuriantly within himself
in earlier days.

The wise man, therefore, will watch his thought with the greatest of care,
for in it he possesses a powerful instrument, for the right use of which he
is responsible. It is his duty to govern his thought, lest it should be
allowed to run riot and to do evil to himself, and to others; it is his
duty also to develop his thought-power, because by means of it a vast
amount of actual and active good can be done. Thus controlling his thought
and his action, thus eliminating from himself all evil and unfolding in
himself all good qualities, the man presently raises himself far above the
level of his fellows, and stands out conspicuously among them as one who is
working on the side of good as against evil, of evolution as against
stagnation.

The Members of the great Hierarchy, in whose hands is the evolution of the
world, are watching always for such men in orde