indulges, after having pledged himself to_ OCCULTISM, _in the
gratification of a terrestrial love or lust_, must feel an almost
immediate result; that of being irresistibly dragged from the impersonal
divine state down to the lower plane of matter. Sensual, or even mental
self-gratification, involves the immediate loss of the powers of
spiritual discernment; the voice of the MASTER can no longer
be distinguished from that of one's passions or _even that of a Dugpa_;
the right from wrong; sound morality from mere casuistry. The Dead Sea
fruit assumes the most glorious mystic appearance, only to turn to ashes
on the lips, and to gall in the heart, resulting in:--

Depth ever deepening, darkness darkening still;
Folly for wisdom, guilt for innocence;
Anguish for rapture, and for hope despair.

And once being mistaken and having acted on their mistakes, most men
shrink from realizing their error, and thus descend deeper and deeper
into the mire. And, although it is the intention that decides primarily
whether _white_ or _black_ magic is exercised, yet the results even of
involuntary, unconscious sorcery cannot fail to be productive of bad
Karma. Enough has been said to show that _sorcery is any kind of evil
influence exercised upon other persons, who suffer, or make other
persons suffer, in consequence_. Karma is a heavy stone splashed in the
quiet waters of Life; and it must produce ever widening circles of
ripples, carried wider and wider, almost _ad infinitum_. Such causes
produced have to call forth effects, and these are evidenced in the just
laws of Retribution.

Much of this may be avoided if people will only abstain from rushing
into practices neither the nature nor importance of which they