PUTO CORO OEE F, :CHAPTER XXII. THE PATH. *Thou wilt show me the path of life."—Psalma, EVI, 11. “Now for the fourth prepare, the portal of temptations which do ensnare the inner man.” . . “Man is a erystal ray; a beam of light immac- ulate within, a form of clay material upon the lower surface. That beam is thy life-guide and thy true Self, the Watcher and the silent Thinker, the victim of thy lower Self."—The Voice of the Silence, Blavatsky, Fragment III, Every student who has earnestly sought associa- tion with this Order has done so because of an inner urge, which, whether verbally expressed or not, manifests as a determination to set out in earnest upon the Path of Discipleship which leads to the goal of final liberation. Yet few there be who are aware of the many snares and delusions and the many requirements necessary to attain that great end. Many think this Path but a figure of speech, and that all that is necessary is to live an average life, to have good intentions, to be honest whenever cir- cumstances permit, to be true whenever it seems to pay, saying with a shrug of the shoulders “No one is perfect and I am doing the best I can under the circumstances.” Such persons have not only not entered the Path but have no conception of what the Path is. How many, many there are who earnestly and sincerely believe they have entered the Path, yet who after years of earth-life, years of striving and296 The Voice of Isis study and meditation, find themselves apparently no further advanced than when they set out. Hence, many become discouraged and turn back, saying it is a hopeless task, or that only after many lives—some say at least seven more—they may begin to attain. But the truth is that unless you begin to attain today, this present moment, you have not entered the Path; for this Path is made up of regular steps, each one a definite attainment. These attainments are not mystical dreams of a far-away perfection to be attained in the dim future, but something that belongs to your every-day life. The first step in Mas- tery must be taken now, in a definite practical way; for until this is done the greater steps will forever remain untaken, The Path is the Path of Renunciation, yet it is also a Path of glorious achievement. Upon it you will find many things to comiort you during the long nights of darkness and the days of combat, many resting-places, many joys. The renunciation does not mean the renunciation of all human sym- pathy, all natural human traits; for you must be “all things unto all men,” and this you cannot be if you become what the world calls a “crank.” The renunciation must be the renunciation of the domin- ion of the lower self and the disciplining and train- ing of its desires and appetites; the self you have built up out of false conceptions of the events through which you have gained the experience which entitles you to enter upon this definite step. Those who have chosen this step are like soldiers who have donned their armor and are waiting to go forth to victory. The goal is reached through definite attainments, spoken of as Gates opening into new stages of the