{"product_id":"2940014107938","title":"The Masters And The Path","description":"THE existence of Perfected Men is one of the most important of the many\u003cbr\u003enew facts which Theosophy puts before us. It follows logically from the\u003cbr\u003eother great Theosophical teachings of karma and evolution by reincarnation.\u003cbr\u003eAs we look round us we see men obviously at all stages of their evolution--\u003cbr\u003emany far below ourselves in development, and others who in one way or\u003cbr\u003eanother are distinctly in advance of us. Since that is so, there may well be\u003cbr\u003eothers who are very much further advanced; indeed, if men are steadily\u003cbr\u003egrowing better and better through a long series of successive lives, tending\u003cbr\u003etowards a definite goal, there should certainly be some who have already\u003cbr\u003ereached that goal. Some of us in the process of that development have\u003cbr\u003ealready succeeded in unfolding some of those higher senses which are latent\u003cbr\u003ein every man, and will be the heritage of all in the future; and by means of\u003cbr\u003ethose senses we are enabled to see the ladder of evolution extending far\u003cbr\u003eabove us as well as far below us, and we can also see that there are men\u003cbr\u003estanding upon every rung of that ladder.\u003cbr\u003e2. There is a considerable amount of direct testimony to the existence of these\u003cbr\u003ePerfected Men whom we call Masters, but I think that the first step which\u003cbr\u003eeach one of us should take is to make certain that there must be such men;\u003cbr\u003eonly as a later step will it follow that those with whom we have come into\u003cbr\u003econtact belong to that class.\u003cbr\u003e3. The historical records of every nation are full of the doings of men of genius\u003cbr\u003ein all the different departments of human activity, men who in their special\u003cbr\u003elines of work and ability have stood far above the rest-- indeed, so far that at\u003cbr\u003etimes (and probably more often than we know) their ideals were utterly\u003cbr\u003ebeyond the comprehension of the people, so that not only the work that they\u003cbr\u003emay have done has been lost to mankind, but their very names even have not\u003cbr\u003ebeen preserved. It has been said that the history of every nation could be\u003cbr\u003ewritten in the biography of a few individuals, and that it is always the few,\u003cbr\u003etowering above the rest, who initiate the great forward steps in art, music,\u003cbr\u003eliterature, science, philosophy, philanthropy, statecraft, and religion. They\u003cbr\u003estand high sometimes in love of God and their fellow-men, as great saints\u003cbr\u003eand philanthropists; sometimes in understanding of man and Nature, as great\u003cbr\u003ephilosophers, sages and scientists; sometimes in work for humanity, as great\u003cbr\u003eliberators and reformers. Looking at these men, and realizing how high they\u003cbr\u003estand among humanity, how far they have gone in human evolution, is it not\u003cbr\u003elogical to say that we cannot see the bounds of human attainment, and that\u003cbr\u003ethere may well have been, and even now may be, men far further developed\u003cbr\u003eeven than they, men great in spirituality as well as knowledge or artistic\u003cbr\u003epower, men complete as regards human perfections-- men precisely such as\u003cbr\u003ethe Adepts or Supermen whom some of us have had the inestimable privilege\u003cbr\u003eto encounter?\u003cbr\u003e4. This galaxy of human genius that enriches and beautifies the pages of\u003cbr\u003ehistory is at the same time the glory and the hope of all mankind, for we\u003cbr\u003eknow that these Greater Ones are the forerunners of the rest, and that They\u003cbr\u003eflash out as beacons, as veritable light-bearers to show us the path which we\u003cbr\u003emust tread if we wish to reach the glory which shall presently be revealed.\u003cbr\u003eWe have long accepted the doctrine of the evolution of the forms in which\u003cbr\u003edwells the Divine Life; here is the complementary and far greater idea of the\u003cbr\u003eevolution of that Life itself, showing that the very reason for that wondrous\u003cbr\u003edevelopment of higher and higher forms is that the ever-swelling Life needs\u003cbr\u003ethem in order to express itself. Forms are born and die, forms grow, decay\u003cbr\u003eand break; but the Spirit grows on eternally, ensouling those forms, and\u003cbr\u003edeveloping by means of experience gained in and through them, and as each\u003cbr\u003eform has served its turn and is outgrown, it is cast aside that another and\u003cbr\u003ebetter form may take its place.\u003cbr\u003e5. Behind the evolving form burgeons out ever the Life eternal, the Life\u003cbr\u003eDivine. That Life of God permeates the whole of nature, which is but the\u003cbr\u003emany-coloured cloak which He has donned; it is He who lives in the beauty\u003cbr\u003eof the flower, in the strength of the tree, in the swiftness and grace of the\u003cbr\u003eanimal, as well as in the heart and soul of man. It is because His will is\u003cbr\u003eevolution that all life everywhere is pressing onward and upward; and it is\u003cbr\u003etherefore that the existence of Perfected Men at the end of this long line of\u003cbr\u003eever-unfolding power and wisdom and love is the most natural thing in the\u003cbr\u003eworld. Even beyond Them-- beyond our sight and our comprehension--\u003cbr\u003estretches a vista of still greater glory; some hint of that we may endeavour to\u003cbr\u003egive later, but it is useless to...","brand":"All classic book warehouse","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47069103128816,"sku":"2940014107938","price":0.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940014107938_p0.jpg?v=1763600752","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940014107938","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}