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OCCULT POWERS
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unless the force which clogs or darkens or obscures that force is gotten rid of. The idea that we were born only a short time ago as new beings and therefore it is possible to evolve these powers all at once, is a mistake, Life is eternal, as I have said. The soul is eternal; it lives many lives, generates many forces, all sorts of forces, good, bad and indifferent, and some of them act as enemies to the nature of the soul and we must get rid of these. Then only, the soul and the system itself are free to exercise, to show and to experience the higher powers of the soul itself. The body must become a fit vehicle to receive these. The powers themselves will act in an evil way if this is not the case. Unless the machinery is pure and in good condition, no work can be done through it and if we try to do work with it some parts will be broken. All the parts must therefore be clear and free from obstacles. The human body does not exist merely on the physical plane. These powers will, when the soul is pure, become part and parcel of its nature. These powers are found among the monks and the Yogis of India and among the hermits. A Bengali gentleman had arrived in Bombay, as I have been informed in a recent letter from one of my friends there, and it was thought by his friends that he would die in a short time. As he was passing through the city one day, he met a person who in America would not be considered respectable, As he was clad in very poor and even dirty clothes. This poor person said to him, "What is the matter p" and
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