attack any problem soever, when he who has merely specialized 
has got into a groove, and can no longer adapt and adjust himself 
to new conditions. 
The principle is quite universal. You do not train a violonist 
to play the Beethoven Concerto 3 you train him to play every 
conceivable consecution of notes with perfect ease, and you keep 
him at the most monotonous drill possible for years and years 
before you allow him to go on the platform. You make of him 
an instrument perfectly able to adjust itself to any musical problem 
that may be set before him. This technique of Yoga is the most 
important detail of ail our work. The Master Therion has 
been himself somewhat to blâme in representing this technique as 
of value simply because it leads to the great rewards, such as 
Samadhi. He would hâve been wiser to base His teaching solely 
on the ground of évolution. But probably He thought of the 
words of the poet : 
UY ou dangle a canot in front of her no se. 
And she go es wherever the canot go es 
For, after ail, one cannot explain the necessity of the study of 
Latin either to imbécile children or to stupid educationalists; for, 
not having learned Latin, they hâve not developed the brains to 
learn anvthing. 
The Hindus, understanding these difficulties, hâve taken the 
God-Almighty attitude about the matter. If you go to a Hindu 
teacher, he treats you as less than an earthworm. You hâve to do 
this, and you hâve to do that, and you are not allowed to know 
why you are doing it. 1 
After years of expérience in teaching, The Master Tuerion 
is not altogether convinced that this is not the right attitude. 
1. This does not conflict with the “go-as-you-please” plan put forward 
in the previous note. An autocratie Adept is indeed a blessing to the 
disciple, not because he is able to guide the pupil “aright” in the particular 
path which happens to suit his personality, but because he can compel the 
beginner to grind away at the weariest work and thus acquire all-round 
ability, and prevent him from picking out the plums which please him from 
the Pie of Knowledge, and making himself sick of a surfeit of sweets to the 
neglect of a balanced diet of wholesome nourishment. 
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