My Library

him with an eye, which, piercing every obstacle of time and space, will dispel the illusion of distance, size, and form. Nature will begin to recognize the sovereign right to knowledge, which his aspiring soul has won. She will reveal Herself and lay Her secrets bare. The next stage in the development of human consciousness will have begun. “The way of knowledge is the way of light, and ere the final illumination is bestowed, the knight of wisdom must perform his accolade; when at last he shall have drawn aside the veil, he must kneel before the altar of the God within himself and swear the vow which never may be broken. He must pledge himself that all the knowledge which he gains, and every power which his will evokes, shall be dedicated utterly and irrevocably to the service of the great ideal of the progress and perfection of the life in every form. He must become a builder in the service of the Great Architect of the Universe, destroying only when the form has been outgrown, and then with divine compassion and selfless desire to serve. With his new-found power he must become a protector, preserver, and regenerator, using knowledge only to these ends. Then, and then alone, may he grow in wisdom and be consecrated as a knight in the service of the King and a steward of the wisdom of the Great Scientist or the Universe. “He shall rise from kneeling with the humility of one who, having seen the great light within the sanctuary, knows himself but a minute speck, illumined by its beams. His new-found powers will grow as he learns to use them. He will develop a new technique of research, will enter virgin fields of knowledge, the fruits of which he will employ for the upliftment and refinement of human life. In the field of interior illumination alone are to be found the sovereign remedies for every human ill, and when men learn to live according to the law which, by his new-found knowledge, he will teach, disease will be banished from the minds and bodies of those who live in obedience to its behests. The earth will be made more fruitful; the powers of the air will be discovered and turned to human use. Inexhaustible sources of power will be released. Light, heat, and energy will be discovered in the air. The vital forces of the human body may be studied, and the secret of life, maturity, and longevity may be known. The stone of the philosopher and his vital elixir are the bread and wine served upon the altar of truth, set up in that holy of holies, which is the deepest and truest self of man. He that would partake of that most precious sacrament must tread the way of service. “The newly-consecrated knight will bear upon his shield the emblem of a cup