In Search of the Miraculous

are thrown into the general vortex of life, are intermixed with influences created in life itself, and are equally subject to the law of accident. Influences of the third kind can

never be subject to the law of accident; they are themselves outside the law of accident

and their action also is outside the law of accident. Influences of the second kind can

proceed through books, through philosophical systems, through rituals. Influences of

the third kind can proceed only from one person to another, directly, by means of oral

transmission.

"The moment when the man who is looking for the way meets a man who knows

the way is called the first threshold or the first step. From this first threshold the stairway begins. Between 'life' and the 'way' lies the 'stairway.' Only by passing along this 'stairway' can a man enter the 'way.' In addition, the man ascends this stairway

with the help of the man who is his guide; he cannot go up the stairway by himself.

The way begins only where the stairway ends, that is, after the last threshold on the stairway, on a level much higher than the ordinary level of life.

"Therefore it is impossible to answer the question, from what does the way start?

The way starts with something that is not in life at all, and therefore it is impossible to say from what. Sometimes it is said: in ascending the stairway a man is not sure of

anything, he may doubt everything, his own powers, whether what he is doing is right,

the guide, his knowledge and his powers. At the same time, what he attains is very unstable;

even if he has ascended fairly high on the stairway, he may fall down at any moment

and have to begin again from the beginning. But when he has passed the last threshold

and enters the way, all this changes. First of all, all doubts he may have about his

guide disappear and at the same time the guide becomes far less necessary to him than

before. In many respects he may even be independent and know where he is going.

Secondly, he can no longer lose so easily the results of his work and he cannot find

himself again in ordinary life. Even if he leaves the way, he will be unable to return

where he started from.

"This is almost all that can be said in general about the 'stairway' and

about the 'way,' because there are different ways. We have spoken of this before. And,

for instance, on the fourth way there are special conditions which cannot be on the

other ways. Thus the conditions for ascending the stairway on the fourth way are that

a man cannot ascend to a higher step until he places another man upon his own step.

The other, in his turn, must put in his place a third man in order to ascend higher.

Thus, the higher a man ascends the more he depends upon those who are following

him. If they stop he also stops. Such situations as this may also occur on the way. A

man may attain something, for instance, some special powers, and may later on

sacrifice these powers in order to raise other people to his level. If the people with

whom he is working ascend to his level, he will receive back all that he has sacrificed.

But if they do not ascend, he may lose it altogether.

"There are also various possibilities as regards the teacher's situation in relation to the esoteric center, namely, he may know more or he may know less about the

esoteric center, he may know exactly where this center is and how knowledge and

help was or is received from it; or he may know nothing of this and may only know

the man from whom he himself received his knowledge. In most cases people start

precisely from the point that they know only one step higher than themselves. And

only in proportion to their own development do they begin to see further and to

recognize where what they know came from.

"The results of the work of a man who takes on himself the role of teacher do not

depend on whether or not he knows exactly the origin of what he teaches, but very

much depends on whether or not his ideas come in actual fact from the esoteric center and whether he himself understands and can distinguish esoteric ideas, that is, ideas of objective knowledge, from subjective, scientific, and philosophical ideas.

"So far I have spoken of the right magnetic center, of the right guide, and of the

right way. But a situation is possible in which the magnetic center has been wrongly

formed. It may be divided in itself, that is, it may include contradictions. In it,

moreover, may enter influences of the first kind, that is, those created in life, under

the guise of influences of the second kind, or the traces of influences of the second

kind but distorted to such an extent that they have become their own opposite. Such a

wrongly formed magnetic center cannot give a right orientation. A man with a wrong

magnetic center of this kind may also look for the way and he may meet another man

who will call himself a teacher and will say that he knows the way and that he is