mixed up with so many crude and false positions, it nevertheless contains the truth that the intermediate state must in a purely spiritual sense be a purgatory designed for the purifying of the soul. If we inquire what hints Scripture gives regarding the nature of this Kingdom, we find that the New Testament calls it Hades (Luke XVI. 23), thus reminding us of the Old Testament representation of Sheol, or the kingdom of shades." Dr. Stone (p. 272) favors the opinion "that the condition of the faithful departed is one of training for the Beatific Vision, and of perfecting the movements towards goodness which have begun in this life." He also favours the opinion "that the extirpation of evil and the development of good will involve suffering" in the intermediate state. There is nothing in this which does not harmonize perfectly with the teachings of Theosophy. It is not all of the truth, as we see it. But it provides for the development of the soul hereafter, and, once that principle has been assimilated, there is only one step from Martensen's "realm of progressive development," to the realization, with Dante, that this "realm," consisting of Hell, Purgatory, Paradise, exists on earth as well as hereafter, and that every one of us, whether living or "dead," dwells always in one of the subdivisions of one of those three states, depending upon where our consciousness is centred at any given moment. Reincarnation is a fact. In Palestine, in the time of Christ, it was believed in and taught by the sect of Pharisees and by the Scribes. But the Christian Master seems to have kept it as part of his esoteric teaching, saying to his disciples, "it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them (to the multitude) it is not given ... to others in parables." "And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. I have fed you with milk, and not with meat for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able. For ye are yet carnal." The ingenuity of man in perverting truth to his own undoing, is stupendous. The unknown still has some terrors for him, but if he imagines that he "knows all about it," and that the worst that can happen to him is to return to earth and to pay for his misconduct here, in conditions which he thinks he can gauge, there is grave risk that his wobbly moral backbone will be deprived of the only support which still keeps it, at intervals, perpendicular. Theosophy is for all men; but it should be administered in minute doses, with plenty of water, until the system has learned to accommodate itself to something so startlingly foreign to it, as the truth. E. T. H. QUESTION NO. 267.—When one is having a siege of negativeness, it seems impossible to know even what is the trouble until one is half way out. What are the danger signals of negativeness and how overcome them at the first sign? ANSWER.-Negativeness, broadly speaking, is the result of considering ourselves when we ought to be thinking about and doing our next duty. Naturally it has many forms. Perhaps the most common and one of the most harmful is self-pity. Any feeling that we are overburdened, or that we have a hard lot in life or are unappreciated and misunderstood, ought to be watched for and overcome at the first indication. Instead of sorrow for our hard lot, we should insist on expressing gratitude for the training we are receiving and the marvellous opportunity given us to obtain qualities which we need-and, in our souls, ardently desire and which the right performance of our duties will give us. Our lives are arranged by Infinite Compassion and Infinite Wisdom to give us through our duties exactly those qualities we most need and in the measure that is best for us. This same thought may be used to dispel those other breeders of negativeness,-dis couragement, depression, or the feeling of inadequacy to our work. Nine times out of ten these feelings are due to vanity, to the fear that we cannot do our work as well as we should like to see ourselves or have others see us-doing it. They are rarely due to any fear on our part that our failure will throw out the divine harmony of the universe. All of these moods yield to action and are cured by the steady effort to do our best with humble and grateful hearts at our opportunity to serve and to learn. J. QUESTION NO. 268.—If one is conscious of a number of faults all of which seem to need immediate correction, ought one to concentrate on the one that seems to be the most serious, letting the others go for the time being, or ought one to make an effort to overcome every fault that one can see? It does not seem right to let any fault that I can see go on, and yet when I try to work on so many I get nowhere. ANSWER.—Is it not best to take up all the faults as they are presented to one's perception and deal with them as they are presented? But really the problem is like that of some disease which presents many local evidences, all proceeding from some more deeply seated focus. No cure unless you get at the focus. In the same way these many faults surely arise from some common root which should be searched for more deeply, and the attention so given will correct and eradicate many of the overlying faults at one time. But the many faults point to and emphasize the need of attention and correction, and that, while searching for the root-cause, none of the evidences should be neglected. K. ANSWER.-Several are the answers that I have written to this question. Each one has gone into the waste paper basket. The trouble is that this question was for so long a time my own question, that I find it makes me too much like Kipling's "Bemi”, which had "too much ego in its cosmos". Is not the real answer to develop a desire for discipleship? "Abstain because it is right to abstain-not that yourself shall be kept clean" is a searching challenge from Light on the Path. But, can one be one's own lawyer in "celestial litigation”, so-to-speak? Are we not wise to seek counsel-perhaps through the Secretary T. S., or some other spiritual agency with which we may contact. The Voice of the Silence helped me to see my own danger in just such a situation. Is there no older student to whom the querent may turn? G. W. ANSWER. By all means concentrate. A general desire to do better and to overcome our faults gets us nowhere. This does not mean that we must abandon all effort to do better in any direction other than the one selected, but that our main effort is to be centered on one point. Suppose, for instance, that we realize that we are untidy, unpunctual and irritable. One of these should be chosen, say unpunctuality, for particular attack for a specific period, say a week. Even that is not definite enough. We should next go over our past experience to see the times when we are most likely to be late or those where our lateness causes the most inconvenience to others, and make a specific resolve to be on time for that particular thing every day that week. And then do it. is of more value than twenty good ones that are strengthens the will and gives us courage to go on. also more tidy and less irritable as a result of our more positive attitude toward punctuality. It is not wise to keep too long on any one thing. The mind needs change. The great thing is to carry out our resolve whatever it may be. For this, definiteness is essential. One resolution carried out not kept. Accomplishment We shall find that we are J. To the Branches of The Theosophical Society: 1. The Annual Convention of The Theosophical Society will be held at 64 Washington Mews, New York, on Saturday, April 29, 1922, beginning at 10.30 a. m. 2. Branches unable to send delegates to the Convention are earnestly requested to send proxies. These may be made out to the Secretary T. S., or to any officer or member of the Society who is resident in New York or is to attend the Convention. These proxies should state the number of members in good standing in the Branch. 3. Branch Secretaries are asked to send their annual reports to the Secretary T. S. These reports should cover the significant features of the year's work and should be accompanied by a complete list of officers and members with the full name and address of each; also a statement of the number of members gained or lost during the year; also a record of the place and time of Branch meeting. These reports should reach the Secretary T. S. by April 1st. 4. Members-at-large are invited to attend the Convention sessions; and all Branch members, whether delegates or not, will be welcome. 5. Following the custom of former years, the sessions of the Convention will begin at 10.30 a. m. and 2.30 p. m. At 8.30 p.m. there will be a regular meeting of the New York Branch of the T. S., to which delegates and visitors are cordially invited. On Sunday, April 30th, at 3.30 p. m., there will be a public address, open to all who are interested in Theosophy. P. O. Box 64, Station O, New York, N. Y. February 15, 1922. ISABEL E. PERKINS, INDEX TO VOLUME XIX AKHNATON THE "HERETIC" PHARAOH OF EGYPT; Hetep en Neter Aspects of Discipline; Stuart Dudley C. R. A. Beginner PAGE .148, 220, 329 142 211 27 IN THE HOUSE OF DEATH, Katha Upanishad; C. J.....16, 111, 204, 301 244 Dante; Jefferson B. Fletcher 67 67 67 Death and Its Mystery: Before Death; Camille Flammarion.... 188 Mystic Vision in the Grail Legend and in the Divine Comedy, 67 Ruin of the Ancient Civilization and the Triumph of Christianity, 376 Selections from the Rubayat and Odes of Hafiz; A Member of the Persia Society of London 66 Spiritual Message of Dante, The; Rt. Rev. W. Boyd Carpenter. ... Treasure of the Isle of Mist, The; W. W. Tarn 67 283 377 .. 186 ..... |