obably one of the first considerations which move the worldly-minded
at present to solicit initiation into Theosophy is the belief, or hope,
that, immediately on joining, some extraordinary advantage over the rest
of mankind will be conferred upon the candidate. Some even think that
the ultimate result of their initiation will perhaps be exemption from
that dissolution which is called the common lot of mankind. The
traditions of the "Elixir of Life," said to be in the possession of
Kabalists and Alchemists, are still cherished by students of Medieval
Occultism--in Europe. The allegory of the Ab-e Hyat or Water of Life,
is still credited as a fact by the degraded remnants of the Asiatic
esoteric sects ignorant of the real GREAT SECRET. The "pungent and fiery
Essence," by which Zanoni renewed his existence, still fires the
imagination of modern visionaries as a possible scientific discovery of
the future.

Theosophically, though the fact is distinctly declared to be true, the
above-named conceptions of the mode of procedure leading to the
realization of the fact, are known to be false. The reader may or may
not believe it; but as a matter of fact, Theosophical Occultists claim
to have communication with (living) Intelligences possessing an
infinitely wider range of observation than is contemplated even by the
loftiest aspirations of modern science, all the present "Adepts" of
Europe and America--dabblers in the Kabala--notwithstanding. But far
even as those superior Intelligences have investigated (or, if
preferred, are alleged to have investigated), and remotely as they may
have searched by the help of inference and analogy, even They have
failed to discover in the Infinity anything permanent but--SPACE. ALL
IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE. Reflection, therefore, will easily suggest to the
reader the further logical inference that in a Universe which is
essentially impermanent in its conditions, nothing can confer
permanency. Therefore, no possible substance, even if drawn from the
depths of Infinity; no imaginable combination of drugs, whether of our
earth or any other, though compounded by even the Highest Intelligence;
no system of life or discipline though directed by the sternest
determination and skill, could possibly produce Immutability. For in
the universe of solar systems, wherever and however investigated,
Immutability necessitates "Non-Being" in the physical sense given it by
the Theists-Non-Being which is not