th a
favourable natural growth. It appears to be always a matter of grave
consideration with the Adepts whether they will take the responsibility
of encouraging any person who may not have it in him to succeed, to
expose himself to these dangers. For any one who is determined to face
them and is permitted to do so, the considerations put forward above in
regard to the optional character of personal physical training fall to
the ground. Those ascetic practices which a candidate for nothing more
than the best natural evolution may undertake if he chooses, with the
view of emphasizing his spiritual Karma to the utmost, become a sine qua
non in regard to the very first step of his progress. But with such
progress the present explanation is not specially concerned. Its
purpose has been to show the beneficial effects which may flow to
ordinary people living ordinary lives, from even that moderate devotion
to occult philosophy which is compatible with such ordinary lives, and
to guard against the very erroneous belief that occult science is a
pursuit in which it is not worth while to engage, unless Adeptship is
held out to the student as its ultimate result.

--Lay Chela

Some Inquiries Suggested by Mr. Sinnett's "Esoteric Buddhism"

The object of the following paper is to submit certain questions which
have occurred to some English readers of "Esoteric Buddhism." We have
had the great advantage of hearing Mr. Sinnett himself explain many
points which perplexed us; and it is with his sanction that we now
venture to ask that such light as is permissible may be thrown upon some
difficulties which, so far as we can discover, remain as yet unsolved.
We have refrained from asking questions on subjects on which we
understand that the Adepts forbid inquiry, and we respectfully hope
that, as we approach the subject with a genuine wish to arrive at all
the truth possible to us, our perplexities may be thought worthy of an
authorized solution.

We begin, then, with some obvious scientific difficulties.

1. Is the Nebular Theory, as generally held, denied by the Adepts? It
seems hard to conceive of the alternate evolution from the sun's central
mass of planets, some of them visible and heavy, others invisible,--and
apparently without weight, as they have no influence on the movements of
the visible planets.

2. And, further, the time necessary for the manvantara even of one
planetary chain, much more of all seven