Hope is a universal stimulant by all beings; it is the basis of all endeavour and effort.

Many are the objects human beings place their hearts and minds on, and hope is the stimulant that makes them strive progressively towards the achievement of the ends they have in view. Hope shapes the endeavours made towards the fulfilment of our desires and aspirations, for it is the constancy of hope that determines the persistency of effort in any direction.

Herein lies the secret of the achievement of the goal set before the mind's eye. Constancy of mind, persistency of effort, are concomitants that grow apace with hope, and this is so particularly when the goals set are pleasing to the spiritual pole of our inner nature. Seldom are such goals set in the world of today, yet there may come a time when we shall regain our lost spirituality.

Are there people in the world today who have acquired wealth, social position, political power, etc., from purely altruistic motives? There are, but it is the motive that makes the difference. Such altuistic people do not acquire wealth with the desire to hold it, but they seek the means of freely sharing it with those deserving, who, like themselves, are concerned not with the acquisition of wealth, but purely with its use in the service of others. Again, many get position, power, recognition in one or another sphere, not because they have set their hopes on the acquisition of these, but because they come as natural results from the service they so unselfishly render. The keynote of their hope is to be found in their endeavours and efforts to help others, and the results are the natural fruits under law of such endeavours.

The great difference that exists in the motives of different people in setting goals and objectives before their mind's eye may be perceived here. The observant mind will have noted at once the distinction between what Krishna calls in the Gita "action with a view to its results," and "action without any interest in the results"; or this may be considered from another viewpoint as the performance of one's duty with the hope of reward, and the performance of duty because it is that which is due to others. Herein lies the key to understanding the difference between personal selfishness and unselfishness, personal service and impersonal service. (See the sub-section on "Duty" in The Key to Theosophy, Chapter XII.)

Motive may be considered as the prime factor determining the growth of our moral nature in the right performance of action, but knowledge is essential in determining what is right action to perform in order to render real service to others, or to fit ourselves to be the better able to help and teach others.

In order to teach we must learn, in order to learn we must study. Study and application are the two handmaidens that are the constant companions of the Goddess Vach, for, as Light on the Path tells us, "Attain to knowledge and you will attain to speech."

In our hope is the seed for its growth. The goal of service is ever in front of us, and provides the avenues for the expansion of endeavour and effort along constructive, practical lines. Seeking in our present circumstances to perform our duty as that which is due to others, we find our hope of service becoming more and more assured and our capacities to render such service growing because of our earnestness and non-attachment to the results.

Such a form of hope, endeavour and effort is the challenge that only "fortune's favoured soldiers" will accept. What is expected of these "fortune's favoured soldiers"? This question is answered in The Voice of the Silence (p. 50):

Which will thou choose, O thou of dauntless heart? The Samtan of "Eye Doctrine," fourfold Dhyana, or thread thy way through Paramitas, six in number, noble gates of virtue leading to Bodhi and Prajna, seventh step of Wisdom?

Fortunate indeed is the one who learns to centre his Hope, Endeavour and Effort on discovering the "Golden Keys" that unlock within his own mind and heart the "Seven Portals," because thereby he learns how to "render gentle service to all that lives."