ges
would immediately flow in upon him; but a little common-sense will at
once expose the absurdity of such a position. However good a child
may be, if he wants to know the multiplication table he must set to
work and learn it; and the case is precisely similar with the capacity
to use spiritual faculties. The faculties themselves will no doubt
manifest as the man evolves, but he can learn how to use them reliably
and to the best advantage only by steady hard work and persevering
effort.

Take the case of those who wish to help others while on the astral
plane during sleep; it is obvious that the more knowledge they possess
here, the more valuable will their services be on that higher plane.
For example, the knowledge of languages would be useful to them, for
though on the mental plane men can communicate directly by
thought-transference, whatever their languages may be, on the astral
plane this is not so, and a thought must be definitely formulated in
words before it is comprehensible. If, therefore, you wish to help a
man on that plane, you must have some language in common by means of
which you can communicate with him, and consequently the more
languages you know the more widely useful you will be. In fact there
is perhaps no kind of knowledge for which a use cannot be found in the
work of the occultist.

It would be well for all students to bear in mind that occultism is
the apotheosis of common-sense, and that every vision which comes to
them is not necessarily a picture from the akashic records, nor every
experience a revelation from on high. It is better far to err on the
side of healthy scepticism than of over-credulity; and it is an
admirable rule never to hunt about for an occult explanation of
anything when a plain and obvious physical one is available. Our duty
is to endeavour to keep our balance always, and never to lose our
self-control, but to take a reasonable, common-sense view of whatever
may happen to us; so shall we be better Theosophists, wiser
occultists, and more useful helpers than we have ever been before.

As usual, we find examples of all degrees of the power to see into
this memory of nature, from the trained man who can consult the record
for himself at will, down to the person who gets nothing but
occasional vague glimpses, or has even perhaps had only one such
glimpse. But even the man who possesses this faculty only partially
and occasionally still finds it of the deepest interest. T