The third Paramita is defined as "patience sweet, that nought can ruffle." It follows Dana, or the cultivation of love immortal, and Shila, or the establishment of harmony in word and act. We have seen how in practising the Shila virtue it is difficult not to lose hope when the path ahead is not clear, and how the beginning of the perfection of the virtue of patience has to be made. We saw how fear breeds doubt and impatience. Therefore, to have patience means that there is sufficient faith and strength to walk steadfastly the Path that leads to the goal ahead, and to recognize that the soul is indestructible and the goal reachable.

Patience is not Viraga, though the beginning of the cultivation of the Viraga virtue has to be made, for we can patiently await the fructification of our hopes only when we have become indifferent to pain and pleasure, impervious to both. Therefore, Mara, the power of illusion which prevents us from rising above the pairs of opposites and from taking a balanced point of view, is our enemy.

We see again how necessary at all stages is the firm faith based on the knowledge we already possess of the immutability of Law. This faith must be cultivated. Nothing matters except to go on—to formulate ourselves certain things as true that we feel to be true, and then increase our faith in them, as Mr. Judge wrote. However fearful we may be, we will not lose our balance if such faith is ever with us. Courage comes with the faith that the real in us is indestructible, that nothing can hurt us but ourselves, for all troubles really come from within and not from without. The within is the field of operation for all troubles and tribulations, and it is there that they are to be dealt with.

"To dare, to will to achieve and keep silent" is the motto of the true Occultist. Courage and patience come from the heart and are truly possible only when we rely on the heart. The power of the Spirit chases away all darkness, and if the heart is responsive to the Spirit, then it, too, dispels all darkness, illusion and doubt. But we must allow time to work the miracle, and must remember the teaching that at the right time the results will appear.

We are told what is the root cause of doubt and darkness. We hide the light of Spirit because we are still selfish. "No light that shines from Spirit can dispel the darkness of the nether Soul, unless all selfish thought has fled therefrom." And what causes selfish thought? The absence of the realization of the indestructibility of man, and the presence of the belief that body is all-important. We must get to the point when we can say, "I have renounced this passing frame; I have destroyed the cause: the shadows cast can, as effects, no longer be."

We are told that at the threshold of the next Paramita we have to face the great war between the higher in us and the lower. "One of the twain must disappear; there is no place for boh." The remaining portals on the Paramita Path cannot be passed by the lower man ruled over by the lower mind which awakes illusion. Mind must, therefore, conquer body and senses and emotions before the next step is taken on the Path. Let us learn well that the "Soul cannot be hurt but through the erring body." Body must be seen as an instrument of the Soul; it cannot be allowed to act on its own, in a separative, isolated manner. To give up the feeling of separation is to feel the strength of unity. To close one's eyes is to lose sight of the goal. Inattention, passivity, thought of one's safety or well-being and forgetfulness of others, are fatal. From fear comes terror; from terror, death. We have to leave behind attachment to the body, leave behind the conception of "I-am-ness." Instead, there has to be the strength to fight on and on, for there can be no return, no turning back!

Once this is accomplished, we pass through the gate of Kshanti and start on another, even more difficult, Path. To make progress on this Path, we must reach the condition indicated in Light on the Path and "look for the warrior and let him fight" in us. Patience should have taught us to have "no longer any care as to the result of the battle." Why? Because the result we envisage is personal; all that is important is "that the warrior shall win, and you know he is incapable of defeat." Cool and unwearied, we can learn by the power gained through pain and the destruction of pain. The woe of life and the efforts made to overcome it enable us to learn the lesson that life has to teach, and that lesson of harmony is in the form of a melody, a song. Then we have to "remember it faithfully," so that it becomes a part of us and so that we learn the meaning of the mystery which surrounds us. We are now ready to pass on.

Knowing something as to our essential nature, knowing something of the purpose of life, and that life is all made up of learning, knowing that the universe is all alive, and that there is in reality no injustice save that which we inflict upon ourselves by re-action, we should take an entirely different view of life and put these ideas into daily practice. We would take the position which most of all we need to take—that of our own responsibility, which religions have taught us to shift on to some God or devil. Recognizing that each one of us is from the same Source and going towards the same goal, though the path will vary with the pilgrim, we will act toward each one as if he were a part of ourselves. Like us, each one is moving onward—perhaps below us, possibly above. From the one above, we can obtain help. To the one below, we can give help. Such is the interdependence which should exist between all conscious beings; and under such a conception our civilization would not be as it is now. We should not find every man's hand raised against every other man. We should not see those in poor case finding fault with the wrong conditions, but finding fault rather with their own wrong relations to others at some time when they abused the power they had. We should see each one trying to discipline himself, trying to bring himself into proper relation with all the rest—not so much outwardly, perhaps, as inwardly; for we may be sure that if we make clean the inside of the bowl, the outside will take care of itself. We have no greater duty to perform than to make clear and clean our natures—to make them true, to make them in accord with the great object of all life, the evolution of soul.

—Robert Crosbie