The Equinox (Volume I, Number III)

THE TEMPLE OF SOLOMON THE KING Adept, when once the Siddhis were attained, by a self-control (a still higher concentration) refused to expend these occult powers,* by degrees he accumulated within himself a terrific force; charged like a Leyden jar, instantaneously could he transmute this power into whatever he willed; but the act brought with it a recoil, and caused an exhaustion and a void which nullified the powers gained. Ultimately he proved that it was rather by the restraint of these occult (mental) powers than that of the bodily ones that Ojas is produced. By now he was beginning to learn that there was more than one way of opening the Lion’s jaws; and that gentleness and humility would often succeed where brutality and much boasting were sure to fail. The higher he ascended into the realms of the Ruach the more he realized the irrational folly of performing wonders before a mob of gargoyle-headed apes, of pulling the strings of mystical marionettes and reducing himself to the level of an occult Punch and Judy showman. He had attained to powers that were beyond the normal, and now he carried them secretly like some precious blade of Damascus steel, hidden in a velvet sheath, concealed from view, but ever ready to hand. He did not display his weapon to the wanton, neither did he brandish it before the * Nearly all the Masters have been cautious how they handled this power; generally refusing to expend it at the mere caprice of their followers or oppon- ents. The Siddhis are like the Gold of the Alchemist. Once discovered it is kept secret, and the more secretly it is kept and the more it is hoarded the richer becomes the discoverer, and then one day will come wherein he will be able to pay his own ransom, and this is the only ransom that is acceptable unto God. + Possibly the restraint of Brahmacharya produced the Siddhis, and that further restraint in its turn produced an accumulation of these occult powers, the benefit accruing from which is again placed to the credit of the bodily powers. 195