Chapter XVII (part 2)

We do not therefore exceed the possibilities given by the reliable evidence of observation and experience, when we assert that the physical or intellectual perception of the human being is capable of extending beyond the limits of ordinary judgments and sensations; and that in the transcendental regions which it can attain it is susceptible of more or less certitude in its impressions. This assertion opens new fields for human knowledge, an hierarchy of new immediate causes, and the prospect of an indefinite progress in science. Now Theosophy inspires man with the enthusiasm which enables him to draw near to these transcendent regions of perception, whilst it guards him from illusion, through the forces and the new beings which he will meet there: it is this instruction which constitutes Initiation . The slight sketch which will now follow will at least give some idea of the principles by which Religion and Philosophy, Wisdom and Science, are united in Theosophy. Any defects which the reader way find in it must be attributed to want of skill on the part of the student who has undertaken it. * * * Initiation comprises two different but united sections. The Theory of the resources and necessities of his enterprise, which the neophyte always receives as an inheritance which leaves him absolute liberty of thought--and the Practice in which he exercises, under the direction of his masters, the physical, intellectual, and moral self-control which will render him an Initiate . The Theory , the primary instruction of Theosophy, is a preliminary definition, consisting almost exclusively of the contents of the Theosophical publications; but a student should not fancy himself one of the Initiate because he possesses these public works; the knowledge of them is an excellent preparation, but nothing more. This theory is found scattered throughout a number of more or less well-known and accessible books; but there are very few of them which explain it as a whole, simply and methodically enough to satisfy a beginner. This first difficulty, chiefly due to the actual state of many minds, which will not admit regular instruction, also corresponds to the numerous varieties of intelligence which examine them. Some, previously opened to theosophical doctrines, approach every detail with equal profit to themselves; others, on the contrary, who cannot at first accept them as a whole, willingly examine them by means of a secondary door which especially suits them, but which often forces them to make enormous digressions through our sciences and philosophies. The first steps are consequently very varied, and they require guidance from some more advanced brother, who is capable of discerning the intellectual and moral state of the neophyte. This is why no work on the subject can be especially recommended here. An excellent bibliography of theosophic works will be found in the Traité Élémentaire de Science Occulte , by Papus. We now add to it an excellent list of a series of studies, long but reliable, which will form a gradual transition from Positivism to Theosophy: For facts. Study: Richet, d'Assier, Liebault, Philipps, Dupotet, Reichenbach, Mesmer, &c. Hypothesis of the whole: Comte, Stuart Mill, Bain, Ribot, Spencer, Taine, &c. Philosophers: Du Prel, Hartmann, Schopenhauer, Hegel. Great profit can then be derived from older works: Spinoza, Leibnitz, and even from the ancients: Aristotle, Plato, the Neoplatonists, the Pythagorists; then the modern mystic scientists: Wronski, Fabre d'Olivet, Lucas, &c. The student will then fully understand Theosophy. This series will, however, require further modifications, according to the character and the scientific aptitudes of the student.