THE SEVEN PORTALS
less contemplation of the Universe. The Master of the Tem-
ple, as he is in himself, is a rather similar person.
Narjol is the Path-Treader, not a paraffin-purgative.
13. Before thou canst approach the last, O weaver of thy
freedom, thou hast to master these Paramités of perfection
—the virtues transcendental six and ten in number—along
the weary Path.
We now get back to the Paramitas, and this treatise is ap-
parently silent with regard to them. Does any one regret it?
It isn’t the Path that is weary: it is the Sermons on the way.
14. For, O Disciple! before thou wert made fit to meet thy
Teacher face to face, thy MASTER light to light, what wert
thou told?
The old trouble recurs. We cannot tell quite clearly in
what stage the Disciple is supposed to be with regard to any
given piece of instruction.
15. Before thou canst approach the foremost gate thou
hast to learn to part thy body from thy mind, to dissipate the
shadow, and to live in the eternal. For this, thou hast to live
and breathe in all, as all that thou perceivest breathes in
thee; to feel thyself abiding in all things, all things in self.
In verse 13 we were told to master the Paramitas before
approaching the last gate. Now the author harks back to
what he had to do before he approached the first gate, but
this may be regarded as a sort of a joke on the part of the
Guru. The Guru has a weary time, and frequently amuses
himself by telling the pupil that he must do something ob-
viously impossible before he begins. This increases the re-
spect of the pupil for the Guru, and in this way helps him,
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