In the Light of Truth

30. Man and his free will

To give a complete exposition of this problem, much that is extraneous and yet that more or less influences the question, must be taken into consideration.

Free Will: this is a subject which has been a puzzle to many a great thinker.

If man is a responsible being, it is but just that he have an absolutely free choice of decision.

From all sides the question re-echoes: wherein lies this free will, for it is evident that man really is subject to, or dependent on Providence, guidance, determination, astral influences and Karma. Man gets pushed, planed and moulded, whether he wish it or not.

It is quite easy to understand that serious thinkers eagerly seize upon all that is said on the subject of free will, as they are quite right in thinking this a question sorely needing explanation. As long as this is wanting, man cannot attune himself and take his right place in Creation. If then he is not attuned, he will remain a stranger there, will wander about and have to allow himself to be pushed, planed, and moulded, because he is not sure of his standing, his aim and his object!

Thus one thing leads to another, and the natural consequence is that man has become what he now is; but that is not what he should be.

The great difficulty lies in his not knowing wherein his will is free. This fact alone shows that he has completely lost the way to his free will and does not know how to find it. The entrance to the path of knowledge is so blocked by the drifting sand, that it is no longer visible; all traces are effaced, and man runs around irresolute and tired out, till a fresh breeze comes at last to make the path clear. It is evident that in so doing, the sand-drift will first be whirled up and, in descending again, fly into the eyes of many, blinding them, and these will still continue to seek the path they long to find.

For this reason, every one must be careful to keep his eyes fixed and steady, until the last grain of sand be blown away. Else it may well happen that, although the way lies just before him, being blinded by the sand, he may step aside, stumble and be lost.

The inability to conceive that free will really exists, comes from lack of understanding of what free will is.

The explanation lies in the words themselves, but here, as elsewhere, its very simplicity stands in the way of man's recognising how simple the answer to the question is. The search is conducted in a wrong direction, and so there is no possibility of arriving at the truth.

Most men consider free will to be spontaneous activity of the physical brain in response to a decision of the intellect as to the direction that the feelings and thoughts are to take in a special case. However, that is not free but earthbound enslaved will!

Confounding the two has led to great mistakes, and has erected an impediment that makes it impossible to recognise and grasp the truth. Then man is surprised to find the arguments full of gaps and contradictions and absolutely wanting in logic.

The free will, whose all-powerful influence on life reaches far away into the invisible world, the free will that puts its stamp upon the soul and is able to form it, is of a quite different nature, much too vast in importance to be limited to earth alone. Hence, it has no connection whatever with the physical body, nor with man's brain. It belongs to the spirit alone and lies in the soul of man.

If man would not persist in making his intellect his master, the free will of his spiritual ego, which can see much further into the future, could influence his physical brain by means of his intuition. Then that so-called free will that is limited to time and space, and is indispensable for the settling and carrying out of mundane matters, would very often work in another sense. That fate then would also be different is easily comprehensible, because Karma would spin other threads and bring about a different reaction.

This explanation is naturally not sufficient to give a right understanding of what free will is. It is necessary to know how free will evidenced itself in the past; also how the many intricate complications of an existing Karma came about, and how it has been possible to conceal and put aside free will so effectively, that it is hardly possible to recognise its presence at all.

Again it is only possible to explain this, if one goes back to the very beginnings of spiritual existence, and starts from the moment in which the spirit-spark descended and clothed itself in a body of finer substance on the very outskirts of the material world!

Then we see that man is in no way that which he often imagines himself to be: i. e. a being who has an absolute right to immortality and to eternal, individual existence.*(Lecture No. 20: The Day of Judgment) The expression : we are all God's children is wrong in the sense that man uses it. Not every man is a child of God; he is only a child of God when he has developed himself so far as to be one.

Man began by being a germ of spiritual substance which was implanted in Creation. This germ contained all that was necessary to develop into a child of God, conscious of its personality. But the condition was, that the corresponding abilities were to be developed and cultivated and not allowed to degenerate.

Grand and sublime as the process is in its every stage, still it is quite natural and simple. Logic is in all Divine work, for Divine work is perfect and what is perfect cannot be illogical. One spirit-germ has exactly the same abilities as the other, as they all issue from the same spirit, and what each of these separate abilities promises will certainly be attained, if the ability is developed, but not otherwise. That is what each germ has in prospect when it is sown. And yet. . . A Sower went forth to sow.

It is as if the Holy Ghost, eternal Divinity, ever hovering over Creation, were scattering seed.

It is as if sparks were flying out like lightning and striking the earth.

The seed-field is where invisible matter borders on the substance of the animistic kingdom.

Small sparks go over the boundary and sink into the virgin soil of the very finest part of material substance in Creation.

There the seed should slowly ripen against the harvest. Many seeds, however, are lost. These do not germinate, which means that they fail to develop their higher qualities (faculties) and decay, disintegrate, and perish.

But those that have germinated and work up above the surface are strictly sifted at the harvest, and again after the harvest is gathered in, when the chaff is carefully separated from the wheat.

This is a general outline of the scheme of evolution, but to come to a full understanding of human free will it is necessary to go into the problems of man's development more thoroughly.

The first principle is Divinity unsubstantiate in all its everlasting glory, the Origin of all things, the Beginning and the End; it is surrounded by pure spiritual substance.

Now when a spark flies over from this spiritual substance into the soil of the (ethereal) invisible part of the world of matter, a transparent covering of the delicate ether of this region closes round it. With this, the spirit-germ has begun its life in the world of matter where all is subject to transformation and decay. It is as yet free from Karma and awaits future events.

Now, the stirring events happening amidst the constant comings and goings in Creation, send their vibrations to the uttermost parts of that ethereal region, and, though they may be but the faintest of vibrations that pass like a breath into this most ethereal part of matter, they are sufficient to rouse or awaken the inclination or will lying latent in the spirit-germ. It will feel attracted by this or that vibration, and will follow it, or rather, let itself be drawn by it. This is the first occasion for an act of volition on the part of the many-sided spirit-germ. It is then led in the direction that it has itself chosen, and here the first delicate threads of Karma are knotted which are later woven into the many-coloured tapestry of man's later life.

Now, it is in the power of the rapidly developing germ, at any moment, to follow other vibrations which are constantly crossing its path. As soon as it wishes, or determines to do so, it changes its course and follows the newly chosen one or rather allows itself to be drawn into it.

Its wish is the rudder, by which it can steer its course into a different current as soon as the one it is in no longer pleases it, and thus it can taste new sensations.

By these new experiences its character develops, it learns to distinguish, and acquires judgment. It becomes more and more conscious and assured, and finally determines on taking a definite direction. The class of vibrations that it intends to follow makes a deep impression on it and it is but natural that the vibrations with which it is its pleasure to be surrounded should in return influence it by their nature.

The spirit-germ itself has only noble and pure qualities. These are the talents with which it is to trade in the world. If it entrusts itself to the influence of pure vibrations, they will arouse its latent good qualities and will strengthen and cultivate them, so that they may, in time, bear good fruit and dispense blessings in the world. Thus a man developing spiritually becomes a good house-holder.

If, however, he mostly determines in favour of ignoble vibrations they can, in time, influence him so powerfully that their evil nature remains clinging to him, and over-rules his own good qualities, suffocating all purity and not permitting it to awaken and bring forth good fruit. These then are the buried talents and he is the slothful servant of the parable. A spirit-germ itself cannot be impure as it comes from the realms of purity. But after it has been sunk in matter, it can sully its outer garment by voluntarily following impure vibrations and by listening to temptation and allowing evil to overpower the good qualities it has brought with it.

The soul belongs exclusively to material Creation, it is but the most ethereal, gaseous covering of the spirit. After eventually returning to the higher regions of pure spirituality, the soul being but the garment is cast aside and only the spirit remains, for only the spirit can cross the border of the material world and enter the spiritual world. Whereas it entered Creation as an unconscious spirit-germ, it returns to the spiritual world as a self-conscious spirit.

All sin and Karma belong to the world of matter and do not exist elsewhere. Nor can they affect the spirit: they only weigh on it, therefore, it is possible to wash away all sin! This truth does not upset, but only confirms what religion and the church say symbolically. Above all we recognise more and more clearly the great truth that Christ brought to man.

It is only natural that a spirit-germ, having burdened itself with impurity in the material world, is not able to return to the spiritual world with this burden, and it must stay in the material world until it has rid itself of this weight. Indeed it must remain in that region to which the weight it bears, forcibly chains it — the greater or less impurity of its burden will decide the exact spot. If the soul does not succeed in ridding itself of its burden before the Day of Judgment, it will not be able to rise. For though the spirit-germ has retained its original purity within, this has been overlaid by impurity and has not been able to develop. Impurity detains it by its weight and draws it along to dissolution.*(Lecture No. 20: The Day of Judgment)

The more self-conscious a spirit-germ becomes in the course of its development, the more pronounced will be the resemblance its outer covering will bear to its inner characteristic, exposing its tendency to what is noble or ignoble, to the beautiful or to the ugly. At every turn it takes, it makes a knot in the threads dragging behind it. In the many wrong turns and ups and downs the threads become looped, the loops again become an intricate network in which the spirit-germ is caught and perishes, or from which it must forcibly extricate itself.

The vibrations which it was man's pleasure to follow and enjoy in the course of his life, remain attached to him and drag after him like threads, continually influencing him. If his course has lain in the same direction for some time, the older and the newer threads will all retain their vigour unimpaired. If he changes his course, the influence of the former vibrations will be weakened by being crossed, for they must first pass through the knot; this hinders them, because, in making the knot, they joined with new vibrations of quite different nature. They will further weaken, decompose and annul the influence, if the new course pursued is dissimilar to the old one, and so the process goes on and on. . .

As the spirit-germ grows, the threads become thicker and stouter and form Karma, the effect of which becomes so powerful that it gives the spirit a certain tendency which in time makes it incapable of exercising its free will and gives it a permanent predetermined direction. Free will is disabled in this way and can no longer operate unconstrainedly.

Thus, in the beginning, the will of man was free, but, in many cases, it later became so overburdened that it lost its independence in the aforesaid manner. In the process of developing itself the spirit-germ must come nearer to the earth, for there the vibrations are strongest. Steering more and more consciously, the spirit-germ follows these, or lets itself be attracted by them so as to enjoy those which give it the most pleasure. It begins by nipping, then it goes on to tasting and then to enjoying them.

The reason why the vibrations coming from the earth are so strong, is, that a new and very powerful adjunct is added to them, that is, physical, material sex-power.*(Lecture No. 62: Generative Power and its Significance for Spiritual Advancement)

This latter has the mission and also the power to send an ardent glow through all spiritual life by means of which the spirit gets into the right connection with matter in Creation. Only then can it work there to the full extent of its power.

Then the spirit unites and embraces all that is requisite to strengthen and establish its position, from which again, it can penetrate matter and coerce it, and is armed and protected against danger.

Hence mighty waves of strength are sent out from man during his life on earth. It is true they only go as far as material substance in Creation, but there they penetrate to the uttermost regions.

Though a man's feelings on earth were filled with lofty, spiritual love for his fellow-men, he would remain a stranger to them and would be unable to approach them if his sex-power were missing. Neither could he understand them nor inwardly sympathise with their feelings, as there would be no bridge over the gulf between them and him.

As soon, however, as this spiritual love enters into an immaculate union with sex-power and becomes animated by it, its emanation changes in character. The warmth radiating from this source being actual and mundane can influence men and their surroundings better and can be realised by them. It will be generally accepted and understood, and man can carry and distribute its blessings throughout Creation which is the office of the human spirit.

There is something stupendous in this union. And it is indeed the purpose, at least it is the principal purpose, of this natural instinct (so inexplicable to many) that by this union it should enable the spirit to unfold its full activity in the material world. Without it the spirit would be too distinct from matter to be able to work in it. The purpose of procreation comes in the second place. The principle thing is that this union gives the soul of man the power to soar upwards. By this means the soul attains to its full strength, warmth, and life and, so to speak, is perfected. For this reason (or as a result of this) man becomes a fully responsible being!

At this turning point in his existence, the wisdom and justice of God gives man not only the possibility, but also the wish to shake off all the burden Karma has laid on his free will. Man can again liberate his will, is then able to stand in Creation fully conscious of his power, and becomes a child of God, to do his will and soar up to that region to which he will be attracted when he has cast off his material body.

If man does not profit by this, it is his fault, for when sex-power sets in, he receives an immense impulse upwards to the ideal, the beautiful and the pure. This is distinctly visible in pure, unsullied youth. Hence the enthusiasms and sentimental fits, that call forth the smiles of their elders and have nothing to do with childhood's moods.

Incomprehensible melancholy and gloomy moods oppress the young in these years of development. There are hours in which the young man or girl seems burdened with the sorrows of all the world, where they suffer from profound and serious presentiments. It should not be difficult to find out what gives rise to such sentiments. There is likewise much truth in their complaint when they say they are misunderstood.

It is just that from time to time they get a glimpse of the truth that makes them see that the world surrounding them is somehow wrong. It is a world that cannot and will not understand their soul's wish to soar. The worldly-minded are not satisfied till this grave, warning instinct of youth becomes dulled as the soul develops. They want it to be dragged down to what they can better understand, to the “realities” and sobrieties of this world which they consider better suited to man and which, in their narrow intellectuality, they consider his normal state.

In spite of this, there are many crass materialists who have felt the same grave warnings in their youth. They will now and then enjoy speaking of the golden days of their first love. They will do so with a slight tinge of sentiment, even melancholy. Thus they unconsciously express a certain grief at having lost something they cannot define more closely. And, indeed, they are quite right. The most precious treasure has been taken from them; or, they themselves may have carelessly cast it away or shamefacedly buried it, whilst engrossed in the dull routine of daily work, or they may have done so because of the sneers of their men or women “friends”, or again by reading bad books or by bad example. And still the light shines forth from time to time and for a moment makes the hungering heart beat faster, oppressed and bewildered by an inexplicable feeling of sadness and longing.

Even if these sentiments be soon pushed aside and laughed and sneered at in self-contempt, they still prove the existence of the treasure, and fortunately there are but few who can assert that they never had such sentiments. Such men would indeed but excite pity, for they show they have never, properly speaking, been alive.

But even fallen ones, or let us rather call them pitiable beings, feel a longing when, by chance, they meet a man who uses this wonderful motive power in the right way. When a man feels this longing, he mostly begins, quite against his will, to recognise his own inferiority and remissness, then he proceeds to detest the good man, and this culminates in blind hatred.

It often happens that a man whose soul has attained to an exceptionally high degree of enlightenment attracts the hatred of the masses without his having given them any visible cause and the masses reiterate the cry: Crucify him! Crucify him! This feeling of senseless hatred was the incentive for the long series of martyrs in the history of man.

The feeling originates in their wild grief at seeing others possess a treasure they have lost. Their pain takes the form of hatred. With those who have more inner warmth, those who have only been kept down or dragged in the mud by the bad example of others, the longing for what they have not attained themselves, would show itself in unbounded love and veneration when they meet such a saintly man. Wherever he goes, he will excite love or hatred, but never indifference.

The magic charm that emanates from a pure virgin or a pure youth is nothing but the ebullition of the awaking sex-power that, united with the spiritual power of the mind, strives upwards to the purest regions.

The Creator in His Divine wisdom has provided that this awakening should come at a period in the life of man, when he is mature enough to be fully aware of what he is doing and of what he intends to do. That is a time when he can easily shake off the past, indeed it will fall off of itself, if he will but carry out his intentions to be really good, of which he is at that time unceasingly being reminded. Then, as his inner voice tells him, he could ascend without any trouble to the sphere to which man rightly belongs. If innocent youth or maiden appears to be dreaming, know that they are but under the influence of a sensation of rapture, of transport, of the wish to be free from impurity and the ardent longing for the ideal. Their unceasing restlessness too is a warning not to lose time, but energetically to cast off Karma and to start on the upward path.

Here we have another reason why a life on earth, a great turning-point, is of such stupendous importance to man!

How glorious it is to have such a great gift to work with, provided always that we do not abuse this power and squander it in fits of blind sexual passion, and by doing so, enfeeble the spirit, depriving it of the motive power that it needs to uplift itself.

And yet in most cases man fails to profit by this priceless period of transition and allows himself to be led astray by those already corrupted. They hinder him from rising and alas: only too often tempt him to fall. Thus he is unable to cast aside the evil vibrations clinging to him; on the contrary these only attract reinforcements and at last his free will gets more and more entangled, till it can no longer be recognised as free.

This is what accompanies man's first incarnation on earth. In later, necessary incarnations, man brings a load of more serious Karma with him. But the possibility of shaking it off recurs in each life and no Karma can be stronger than the human spirit when fully developed; that is, when by means of sex-power it amalgamates union with matter, to which Karma belongs.

And even if man should have neglected making use of these periods by casting off his load of Karma and regaining his free will, and should moreover have further entangled himself, perhaps even degraded himself, still he has a mighty ally to stand by, and help him fight Karma and rise. This magic power which the Creator in His wisdom has conferred on matter and which man has at his command throughout his life is love. It is always at hand ready to help; it is generated by the union of sexual and spiritual power and can liberate from all Karma. It is not the physical attraction of the material body, but love in the highest, purest sense, whose every thought and wish is for the welfare of the beloved one, ever regardless of itself. This love also belongs to the world of matter, but it requires no renunciation, no asceticism; it only wishes for what is best for the other. It fears for the beloved, it suffers with him but also rejoices in his happiness.

This love is founded on the same longing for the ideal that characterises unsullied youth when it comes to puberty, and it also acts as a spur on a man, arrived at maturity, encouraging him to cultivate and practise all his abilities to the fullest extent, even to heroism, so that his powers develop to their utmost extent.

In this no limit is set as to age. As soon as man gives ear to pure love, whether it be man's love for a woman, or woman's love for a man, the love of friends, of parents, or of children, it is all the same; if only it is pure, it will bring, as its first gift, the opportunity of casting aside all Karma, that is to say Karma will then only be evident symbolically.*(Lecture No. 37: Symbolism in the Fate of Man) Free will will once again awake to activity, man will again be able to practise it consciously, with the natural result that he will begin his ascent, released from the unworthy chains that kept him down.

The first sentiment that stirs the heart at the awakening of pure love, is the feeling of being unworthy of the beloved one. In other words, this is the dawn of modesty and humility, two great virtues. To this comes the wish to protect the other so that no harm should come to him from any quarter. Flowers and sunshine are to be on his path! The self-denial and great desire to serve implied in this, would alone suffice to cast aside Karma in a short time, provided the good intention remains uppermost and does not make room for sexual passion. Then finally, genuine love has the ardent wish to do something great and noble for the beloved one, not to offend or hurt him by look, thought or word, much less by an unworthy action. The most delicate consideration will govern all the lover's actions.

The principal thing is to hold fast to these pure and noble sentiments and to put them before all else. Then no man will desire or do anything wrong. He simply will not be able to do so. On the contrary, he will enjoy the greatest protection and the greatest power by these sentiments that will give him the best advice and help.

For this reason, Christ again and again points out the supreme power of love. Love alone overcomes all things and can accomplish all things, always provided, however, that it is not the carnal-minded love of the world, accompanied as that is, by jealousy and kindred vices.

The Divine wisdom of the Creator gives each individual more than one opportunity in his life of saving himself. This help is offered to all. No distinctions are made, either in age or sex, between rich or poor, high or low. Therefore love is the greatest of God's gifts. He who grasps this fact, is safe under all conditions of life! He frees himself and frees his will in the shortest possible time and in the easiest possible way. His free will can now uplift him.

Even if he is in the depths of despair, let him take heart, for love can snatch him up with the impetuosity of a whirlwind and raise him to the Eternal Light, to God, who is Love Itself. Man comes into direct contact with God, the Source of all Love, as soon as genuine love (no matter what has caused it) awakes in him. This is the greatest help he can get. “For if a man possess all things and he have no love, he would be but sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal.” Without warmth, without life. A bubble!

But should he feel love for a fellow-creature, the love that strives to bring light and joy to the beloved one, not that love which would drag him down by foolish exactions, but which would protect and uplift him, he serves him unconsciously, he is the unselfish giver of good things and such service makes him free.

Here many will say: “This is exactly what I do, or strive to do! I summon up all my energy to make life easy for my wife and family and provide them with luxuries. I work to earn sufficient means for them to lead a comfortable and agreeable life, free from all anxiety. Thousands, in thus praising themselves, feel uplifted, and undeniably good and noble. But they are mistaken! That is not genuine love! Genuine love is not so onesided and material. The effect of genuine love is to incite and urge to higher, nobler ideals. Surely no man can neglect physical necessities unpunished, i. e. without detriment to himself, but in attending to them, he must not make them the principal aim of his thoughts and actions. Over and above this is the great, strong, mysterious longing to be really the character that he appears to be to those that love him. This longing is indeed justifiable. It indicates the right path that leads upwards.

True, pure love requires no explanation. Every man feels exactly what it is. He would willingly deceive himself when he sees his own faults and feels distinctly, how far he is from possessing genuine pure love. But he must pull himself together, must not stop, hesitate and acknowledge himself beaten, for without genuine love he cannot possess free will!

How many neglected opportunities are thus offered to men to pull themselves together and climb upwards. Their complaints and their seeking is in most cases not sincere, for as soon as they, themselves, are to contribute something, be it but a slight re-arrangement of their habits and views, they are unwilling to do so. For the most part their love is falsehood and self-deception. God shall come to them, they think, and lift them up to Himself, without their needing to give up any of their precious comforts and self-worship, in which case they might condescend to give in, not, however, without expecting special thanks from Him for so doing.

Let these drones remain behind on the road to destruction! They do not deserve that one should trouble about them, for they will continue to let their opportunities pass by, whilst they are lamenting and praying. And should such a man avail himself of such an opportunity, he would be sure to rob it of its most precious jewel — purity and unselfishness — and drag this priceless possession into the mire.

Those who seek and those who have understanding should make up their minds to pass such people by unnoticed. They should not think that they are doing the Almighty a favour by disseminating His Holy Word and commands. Proposing to expound His Will makes it appear as if the Creator were obliged to go a-begging through His faithful, to extend the circle of His adherents and add to their number. It is defilement to offer His Word to such as would grasp it with unclean hands. The Scripture should not be forgotten which forbids fearls to be cast to swine. And it is nothing else in such cases; unnecessary waste of time, that cannot fail to react harmfully. Help should only be given to those who seek.

The unrest evident in so many at the present time, the seeking for and enquiring after the whereabouts of free will is quite justified. It is a sure sign that it is high time for man to seek. This feeling is strengthened by an unconscious presentiment that it might soon be too late. This is what at present keeps the energy of the investigators always alert, but for the most part they work in vain. Most men of today no longer have free will at their command, because they have entangled themselves too gravely ! They have sold and bartered it for .... nothing.

They cannot make God responsible for this, although they often try to by all manner of misinterpretations. If a misgiving arises in their minds, that they might possibly later be called to account, they try to explain it away, instead of blaming themselves, as they should do. However bitter and painful this self-accusation must be, whatever deep-felt grief it may cause them, it could never, in the least degree, counterbalance the value of virtue lost, suppressed or senselessly wasted.

In spite of this, if the wish to do so comes from the very bottom of man's heart, he can find the lost path again as soon as he seriously endeavours to do so.

Certainly in this case the wish must live and never weary. His most ardent desire must be to find the path. And were he to devote his whole life on earth to this end, it would only be to his own advantage, for it is a matter of profoundest gravity and urgency to man to regain free will. Instead of regain one could say to unearth free will, for that would be the same.

As long as man only thinks and broods on the subject, he will attain nothing; thinking and brooding, however persistent and persevering he may be, will never get him beyond the limits of time and space to the sphere where he would be enlightened. At the present time thinking and brooding are considered the correct methods of investigation so there is no prospect of progressing except in things purely material. Unless indeed a great transformation takes place in man.

Make use of your time on earth! Think of life's great turning-point. Its coming makes a man a fully responsible human being.

A child is not responsible in the spiritual sense, for there the connection between spirit and matter has not been established, owing to the absence of sex-power.

The moment, however, sex-power awakens, the child's passions will be sufficiently strong to revolutionise and remodel matter. Thus it automatically becomes responsible for its actions. Before that time the operation of the law of returns is less incisive, because the sensitive faculty of a child is less developed. Hence Karma in a first incarnation cannot be so trenchant: the most it could do, would be to influence the circumstances and surroundings in which the child was born, so that they might help the child's spirit to throw off its Karma in its earth-life by pointing out its peculiar qualities and possibilities.

In this, the attraction of homogeneous species would play an important part, but all these influences would be but faint.

Powerful Karma proper begins its incisive effect with the union of sex-power with spiritual power. Thereupon man not only takes his proper place in the material world, but can, if he so desires, lift himself far above it in every way.

Until then the Powers of Darkness are not able to approach man directly. This gap between the child and the material world protects it; as the bridge is missing, it stands there as if detached.

Many readers will now understand how it comes that children are so much better protected from evil than grown-ups — this is even proverbial.

On this same path, i. e. the bridge spanned by sex-power, on which a man, having arrived at maturity, can sally forth armed for battle, influences from the other side, can in their turn, find their way to him and harm him, unless he be on the watch. In no case can this happen until he possesses adequate means of defence. The equal balance of power will never for a moment be disturbed; that there be inequality of power in this, could never serve him as an excuse.

This greatly increases the responsibility of parents. Woe unto those parents who rob their children of the opportunity of getting rid of Karma and of uplifting themselves by misplaced foolish ridicule, or by a wrong bringing up, or worse still, by giving all manner of bad example including that of unworthy place-hunting. The temptations of terrestrial life entice men hither and thither as it is. Young people are not enlightened as to their true power. The result is that, either they make no use or too little use of it, or they waste it in an irresponsible way, unless indeed they use it to their own detriment.

In cases where men are ignorant of the laws of Karma, they will operate with ever increasing power and where a man is predisposed in any way they can even influence his future decisions so that he will act under karmic compulsion.

Hence it comes, that most men of the present time no longer have free will at their command. They have tied, fettered and subjected themselves by their own folly. How childish and ignominious a man appears who refuses to entertain the thought of being in any way himself responsible, who prefers instead to accuse the Creator of injustice! How ridiculous of men to pretend that they never possessed free will, but were always led, pushed, planed and moulded, without possibility of resistance.

If they could but realise for a moment the pitiable role they play in so doing! Could they but once critically consider their position — the power given them — and notice how foolishly they squander it in trivialities and inanities and how they lend ridiculous importance to paltry nonsense, they would no longer pride themselves on achievements which appear utterly insignificant, when compared with what belongs to the proper office assigned to them as human beings.

Man of today may be likened to one to whom a kingdom is given but who prefers to pass his time playing with the most primitive of toys. It is quite comprehensible and indeed what one would naturally expect, that the mighty powers given to man will and must crush him if he cannot master them. It is high time to awake!

Man should utilise fully the time and the grace accorded him in each life. He has no conception how necessary it is to make haste. At the very moment that a man frees his encumbered will, everything that seemed against him, will serve him. Even the influences of the stars, so feared by many, are but there to serve and help him, no matter what the nature of their influence be. However, heavily Karma weighs on him, man can cast it aside, even if the stellar influences are for the most part unfavourable. Indeed their influence is only unfavourable where the will is bound. Even then they only appear so, for, in truth, all serves for man's salvation and help when he is at a loss how to help himself. The stars force him to be on the defensive, to awaken and to keep awake.

Fear of stellar rays is quite out of place, because it is but man's own Karma that they transmit. The ray of the star is but a channel into which all the Karma floating about a man (in as far as it is in harmony with that particular ray) is drawn. Should, therefore, the stellar ray be unfavourable, only that impending evil Karma which exactly corresponds to the nature of the ray, will travel with it (not otherwise), and the same is the case with favourable rays. Such rays have a more powerful influence on man and are more perceptible. §

Where no evil Karma is in question, no unfavourable rays will have effect. Karma and stellar rays cannot be separated, they work together.

In this also the great love of the Creator can be seen. As the stars supervise and direct the results of Karma, evil Karma cannot continue in activity without interruption. Man has time between whiles to breathe. Good rays succeed bad rays, and evil Karma cannot have effect while the good rays are active, it must be quiescent till such time as unfavourable rays set in again; hence man cannot so easily be utterly crushed. Should a man have no good and only evil Karma, then, at least, when the rays are benevolent, his troubles will be less grievous to bear.

Here again there are wheels within wheels. One wheel controls the other and impels it, irregularities are, therefore, impossible. And thus it runs on — a huge mechanism. From all sides, the teeth of the wheels exactly fit into one another and propel the whole forward to its completion.

Right in the centre stands man, clothed with the immense power entrusted to him, and his will decides in what direction the huge mechanism is to work. But only for himself! The machine can propel him upwards or downwards. The direction given alone decides the result.

But the mechanism of Creation is not a setting together of inflexible parts; here living forms and beings cooperate. The purpose of this wonderful network of vibrations is but to help and to serve man so long as he does not childishly squander or misuse the power given him and thus himself form the impediment. He must readjust himself to become what he should be. To obey really means to understand! To serve is to help, but to help means to govern.

Every man can, in a short time, make his will free as it should be. And with that, all things will change for him, as he himself, has undergone an inner transformation to begin with.

But for thousands, for hundreds of thousands, indeed for millions, it will be too late, because they have no wish to alter. It is but natural that the driving power, wrongly applied, will destroy the mechanism and not help it to do the benevolent and charitable work it otherwise would.

And when the time of tribulation comes, all the laggards will suddenly bethink themselves of prayer, without, however, perceiving the right way to pray, which alone is able to bring help. When they notice that they cannot pray, they will turn to cursing and complain loudly that there can be no God, if He permits such tribulation. They will believe neither in immutable justice, nor that they had the power given them in time to readjust everything. Moreover they were warned often enough.

With childish obstinacy, they demand a loving and all-forgiving God; then only will they acknowledge His greatness. How then should this Deity of their imaginings deal with those who have always seriously sought Him, and who for this very seeking were downtrodden, scorned and persecuted by those who now expect mercy?

Fools — who in their self-elected blindness and deafness rush to their self-determined doom. Let them be abandoned to the Powers of Darkness for that is where their perverse self-sufficiency leads them. They must suffer in order to learn, and that will be the best school for them. But the day and the hour will come when this path will no longer be open to them, for when, self-taught by experience, they have at last acquired understanding, there will not be time enough left to tear themselves out of the clutches of Darkness and soar upwards.

It is therefore high time to apply close and profound attention to the study of truth.

[Grail Message by Abdrushin]  [Resonances to the Grail Message]