In Search of the Miraculous

be called "free," for it is independent of accident and cannot be altered or directed from without.

"An Eastern teaching describes the functions of the four bodies, their gradual

growth, and the conditions of this growth, in the following way:

"Let us imagine a vessel or a retort filled with various metallic powders. The

powders are not in any way connected with each other and every accidental change in

the position of the retort changes the relative position of the powders. If the retort be shaken or tapped with the finger, then the powder which was at the top may appear at

the bottom or in the middle, while the one which was at the bottom may appear at the

top. There is nothing permanent in the position of the powders and under such conditions there can be nothing permanent. This is an exact picture of our psychic life.

Each succeeding moment, new influences may change die position of the powder

which is on the top and put in its place another which is absolutely its opposite.

Science calls this state of the powders the state of mechanical mixture. The essential

characteristic of the interrelation of the powders to one another in this kind of mixture is the instability of these interrelations and their variability.

"It is impossible to stabilize the interrelation of powders in a state of mechanical mixture. But the powders may be fused; the nature of the powders makes this

possible. To do this a special kind of fire must be lighted under the retort which, by

heating and melting the powders, finally fuses them together. Fused in this way the

powders will be in the state of a chemical compound. And now they can no longer be

separated by those simple methods which separated and made them change places

when they were in a state of mechanical mixture. The contents of the retort have

become indivisible, 'individual.' This is a picture of the formation of the second body.

The fire by means of which fusion is attained is produced by 'friction,' which in its

turn is produced in man by the struggle between 'yes' and 'no.' If a man gives way to

all his desires, or panders to them, there will be no inner struggle in him, no 'friction,'

no fire. But if, for the sake of attaining a definite aim, he struggles with desires that hinder him, he will then create a fire which will gradually transform his inner world

into a single whole.

"Let us return to our example. The chemical compound obtained by fusion

possesses certain qualities, a certain specific gravity, a certain electrical conductivity, and so on. These qualities constitute the characteristics of the substance in question.

But by means of work upon it of a certain kind the number of these characteristics

may be increased, that is, the alloy may be given new properties which did not

primarily belong to it. It may be possible to magnetize it, to make it radioactive, and

so on.

"The process of imparting new properties to the alloy corresponds to

the process of the formation of the third body and of the acquisition of new knowledge

and powers with the help of the third body.

"When the third body has been formed and has acquired all the properties, powers,

and knowledge possible for it, there remains the problem of fixing this knowledge and

these powers, because, having been imparted to it by influences of a certain kind, they

may be taken away by these same influences or by others. By means of a special kind

of work for all three bodies the acquired properties may be made the permanent and

inalienable possession of the third body.

"The process of fixing these acquired properties corresponds to the process of the

formation of the fourth body.

"And only the man who possesses four fully developed bodies can be called a 'man'

in the full sense of the word. This man possesses many properties which ordinary man

does not possess. One of these properties is immortality. All religions and all ancient teachings contain the idea that, by acquiring the fourth body, man acquires

immortality; and they all contain indications of the ways to acquire the fourth body,

that is, immortality.

"In this connection certain teachings compare man to a house of four rooms. Man

lives in one room, the smallest and poorest of all, and until he is told of it, he does not suspect the existence of the other rooms which are full of treasures. When he does

learn of this he begins to seek the keys of these rooms and especially of the fourth, the most important, room. And when a man has found his way into this room he really

becomes the master of his house, for only then does the house belong to him wholly

and forever.

"The fourth room gives man immortality and all religious teachings strive to show

the way to it. There are a great many ways, some shorter and some longer, some

harder and some easier, but all, without exception, lead or strive to lead in one

direction, that is, to immortality."

At the next meeting G. began where he had left off the time before. "I said last time,"