________________
164
THE POWER OF KARMA
C
The common cry, "Tis fate !' of men after defeat is nothing but the cry, 'Oh, misery,' that men will utter after suffering. It only expresses the fact that the past evil Karma has prevailed in that one instance. How does it forbid, or make impossible, all future effort?
"Then let the man tread under foot relentlessly the thought that his past fate is driving him. It is not stronger than his present feeling of ability to resist. Let him labour hard to gain deliverance from his bonds. Let him look always on his house of flesh as something that will pass away some day. And let him therefore strenuously avoid the actions and indulgences that mark the beast, and strive to live the life that marks him man. Let him not delay, saying, 'I will do so later,' for the chance may not come soon again. Let him associate with the good, and study hard, and let him never fear his labour will be vain, for there are great examples that have gone before him. So shall he free himself from helpless births and deaths, and so attain the endless joy of peace, wherein all things are equal, which the Wise Ones say is the highest end of human effort. . . So should the earnest seeker, when the mood of grace is on him, take advantage of it to the utmost; and when the evil mood asserts itself, then let him battle strongly with it as he can, and so attend unto the Science of Deliverance that I expound to thee, as it was given of yore to me by Brahm." [Translated by General Pike. Published by the Supreme Council of
...
