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