when, presto! we are the thing we would be! It is quite true that we
must realize their existence before we can call the latent powers into
expression; but the work of arousing the latent into the active is a
process of growth, of actual evolutionary change. The physical body as
it is now is not sensitive enough to respond to subtle vibrations. Its
brain is not capable of receiving and registering the delicate
vibrations sent outward by the ego, and the task of changing it so
that it can do so is not a trifling or easy one. But every effort
produces its effect and to the persistent and patient devotee of
self-development the final result is certain. But it is not a matter
of miraculous accomplishment. It is a process of inner growth. There
are, it is quite true, cases in which people who have entered upon
this method of self-development have, in a short time, attained
spiritual illumination, becoming fully conscious of the invisible
world and its inhabitants while awake in the physical body; extending
the horizon of consciousness to include both worlds, and coming into
possession of the higher clairvoyance that enables one to trace past
causes and modify impending effects. But such people are those who
have given so much attention to self-development in past lives that
they have now but little more to do in order to come into full
possession of occult powers. Sometimes it requires little more than
the turning of their attention to the matter. Becoming a member of the
Theosophical Society or seriously taking up theosophical studies is
sometimes the final step that leads to the opening of the inner sight.

But how can one know to what point he may have advanced in the past
and where he now stands? How may we know whether there is but a little
work ahead or a great deal? We cannot know; nor is it important to
know. The person who should take up the task merely because he thinks
there is little to do would certainly fail. The very fact that he