Power of Karma

Author(s): Alexander Cannon
Publisher: Rider and Co

Page 24

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THE POWER OF KARMA us to set our mind on the attainment of any object or the realization of any ideal, so is the amount of effort we are willing to exert towards that end.
If we take the case of a man in love with a woman, or a woman in love with a man, we find that such a one is ready to make the greatest effort of which he or she is capable in order to fulfil the demands of the urge called love. From this we see that the full power of the will is only called into action by a definite and overwhelming incitement. This truth furnishes the key to Adeptship. Once we have grasped the meaning and purpose of existence, and have convinced ourselves that the greatest goodthe summum bonum of the old philosophers-is within our reach, “the power and the glory and the Kingdom”, then it becomes possible to achieve our purpose by the steadfast exercise of will. And here we come upon a paradox: that the greatest achievement of the will is to subordinate the individual will to the Divine or Universal will. The prayer, “Thy will be done," if sincere, implies a tremendous effort of determination to make our individual Will conform to the ideal we have accepted. This effort has been successfully made by every great Master, and by the host of the Saints triumphant. The