nt, and equally low degrees of suffering; while there are others
which permit the most intense enjoyment, but also the most intense
suffering. The rule is that the capacity for pain and pleasure, in each
individual, are balanced. The Law of Compensation is in full operation
here.

But the Hermetists go still further in this matter. They teach that
before one is able to enjoy a certain degree of pleasure, he must have
swung as far, proportionately, toward the other pole of feeling. They
hold, however, that the Negative is precedent to the Positive in this
matter, that is to say that in experiencing a certain degree of pleasure
it does not follow that he will have to "pay up for it" with a
corresponding degree of pain; on the contrary, the pleasure is the
Rhythmic swing, according to the Law of Compensation, for a degree of
pain previously experienced either in the present life, or in a previous
incarnation. This throws a new light on the Problem of Pain.

The Hermetists regard the chain of lives as continuous, and as forming a
part of one life of the individual, so that in consequence the rhythmic
swing is understood in this way, while it would be without meaning
unless the truth of reincarnation is admitted.

But the Hermetists claim that the Master or advanced student is able, to
a great degree, to escape the swing toward Pain, by the process of
Neutralization before mentioned. By rising on to the higher plane of the
Ego, much of the experience that comes to those dwelling on the lower
plane is avoided and escaped.

The Law of Compensation plays an important part in the lives of men and
women. It will be noticed that one generally "pays the price" of
anything he possesses or lacks. If he has one thing, he lacks
another--the balance is struck. No one can "keep his penny and have the
bit of cake" at the same time Everything has its pleasant and unpleasant
sides. The things that one gains are always paid for by the things that
one loses. The rich possess much that the poor lack, while the poor
often possess things that are beyond the reach of the rich. The
millionaire may have the inclination toward feasting, and the wealth
wherewith to secure all the dainties and luxuries of the table, while he
lacks the appetite to enjoy the same; he envies the appetite and
digestion of the laborer who lacks the wealth and inclinations of the
millionaire, and who gets more pleasure from his plain food than the
millionaire could obta