entire oblivion of Self, are the most efficacious means of obtaining
knowledge and preparing for the reception of higher wisdom.

12. It is only by virtue of a strict observance of the foregoing rules
that a Lanoo can hope to acquire in good time the Siddhis of the
Arhats, the growth which makes him become gradually One with the
Universal ALL.

* * * * *

These 12 extracts are taken from among some 73 rules, to enumerate which
would be useless as they would be meaningless in Europe. But even these
few are enough to show the immensity of the difficulties which beset the
path of the would-be "Upâsaka," who has been born and bred in Western
lands.[B]

All western, and especially English, education is instinct with the
principle of emulation and strife; each boy is urged to learn more
quickly, to outstrip his companions, and to surpass them in every
possible way. What is mis-called "friendly rivalry" is assiduously
cultivated, and the same spirit is fostered and strengthened in every
detail of life.

With such ideas "educated into" him from his childhood, how can a
Western bring himself to feel towards his co-students "as the fingers on
one hand"? Those co-students, too, are not of his _own selection_, or
chosen by himself from personal sympathy and appreciation. They are
chosen by his teacher on far other grounds, and he who would be a
student must _first_ be strong enough to kill out in his heart all
feelings of dislike and antipathy to others. How many Westerns are ready