Because man is the microcosm of the great macrocosm, he carries within his sevenfold nature centres through which the powers that manifest themselves in the Cosmos can find a focalizing point for their eventual conscious operation. There is no power in nature which has not a corresponding centre in man, yet how many of us are actually aware of the fact!

Latent powers are those which are not yet commonly used by mankind, but all powers can be made patent by proper usage in accordance with the basic Law of Nature, which, as The Light of Asia says, is "a Power divine which moves to good, Only its laws endure." Mr. Crosbie has told us that "we have to think and practise altruism before the higher and more recondite powers of the universe can be placed in our possession for our use."

According to the knowledge that an individual possesses, will be the thought and energy generated by him, and such thoughts and energies find expression through the higher and lower aspects of man's mind or Manas. H.P.B. has informed us that the "Higher Ego cannot act directly on the body," but that "the 'lower' Self does"; and that although the Higher Ego "is of the divine homogeneous essence of 'Alaya-Akasa,' or Mahat—its reflection, the Personal Mind, is, as a temporary 'Principle,' of the substance of the Astral Light."

It is in this dual nature of Manas during the incarnation of the Manasic entity that lies the key to the understanding not only of the powers which are at present dormant in man's inner nature, but also of how the reflected aspects of those powers which show themselves in lower Manas can be transformed by spiritual growth into their counterparts, which have their seat and basis in higher Manas.

Inherent in all beings is the power of faith, and although the faiths of many are false, because based on ignorance, yet there is a true Faith which is founded upon right knowledge. It is lower Manas that tends to accept blindly, without checking, testing or verifying what is presented on the authority of an individual, a community, a religion, a philosophy or a science. This same power of faith, when it is expressed by Higher Manas, requires complete freedom to investigate and verify what is presented by any individual or group of individuals. Only that is accepted which the soundest reasoning and intuitive perception have found to be derived from universal truth and to be based upon universal natural Law. Inherent in every human heart is the faith that Truth exists, and when this power of faith is made active by the actual search for true knowledge, such knowledge by degrees springs up from within, and the light of higher Manas begins to shine through.

In addition to the power of faith, the searcher for truth needs to activate other latent powers, and one such power may be termed the power of resignation, or the recognition that law rules in everything and every circumstance. Recognition of Karma as the law or power which moves to good gives us the capacity to accept it in all circumstances and under all conditions, for we realize its unerring equity, wisdom and intelligence. When we begin to recognize the rule of law in all things, we by degrees change the attitude of indifference to this law—a characteristic of lower Manas—into the attitude of atentive resignation. This attentiveness precedes the receptivity to true ideas by which is achieved an understanding of the Law and the capacity to work with it.

Receptivity to true ideas emanating both from within and from without is a further power that must be made active by the individual who wishes to tread the Path towards Enlightenment. Receptivity is a positive state of mind in contradistinction to passivity, which leads in time to mediumship. From one point of view, receptivity may be considered as the activation of the Buddhi principle within us, for it leads to the development of right discrimination. By the proper use of this power of receptivity, the candidate for true wisdom becomes an impersonal channel for the harmonious working of the Karmic law in nature and in man.

Enthusiasm as "the dauntless energy that fights its way to the supernal Truth, out of the mire of lies terrestrial," is another of the latent powers in man which must be made patent. The contrast between this type of enthusiasm and the various degrees of proselytizing fanaticism that exist in our world is shown by the understanding tolerance of the one, and the very often dogmatic, destructive intolerance of the other. The force of energy of Virya is constant, consistent, persists from life to life, and is that which makes one pursue his line of life's meditation—that upon which the heart is set—throughout a life cycle. The sporadic impulses of fanaticism which have their base in lower Manas change according to the desires of individuals, but the enthusiasm engendered by Higher Manas embraces within its scope an ever increasing force or power which tends towards the good of others.

The power to do good carries with it the implication that one must become good, and so the knowledge of good and evil must be fully assimilated by the conversion of all the evil tendencies within our lower nature into their opposite counterparts which work for good. This conversion comes about by the gradual embodiment of all the virtues and the elimination of all evil tendencies. For this task, we need to know that duality exists within our own nature, and that evil arises because our desires set in motion the will to follow the lines of endeavour formulated by our lower mind in order to bring about their fulfilment. Only aspirations to benefit others will enable us to be free of the lower selfish type of desires, and this requires the resolution to take the first step on the Path of Discipleship, which has been declared to be "to live to benefit mankind." The second step—its natural corollary—is "to practise the six glorious virtues."

Freedom from the personal desires of the lower nature becomes the next latent power which must be activated from within the mind of man. Attachment to desires, their gratification and fulfilment, leads in time to licence, which is subjection of the will by the power of desires. To aspire to serve humanity with knowledge and understanding is equivalent to learning to free the will from the domain of desires in which the majority of men live. The more the personal will of man becomes at one with the Will of Nature, the greater becomes our power to serve all beings. This power to serve all prepares the candidate to enter the Path of Renunciation as against the Path of Liberation. This power becomes energized by the power of enthusiasm and the power of discrimination, which helps us to know which type of service it is necessary to render. The power of resignation makes us work with the Law, and an impersonal channel for the Law's working is made available. The power of enlightened faith ensures the harmonious fulfilment of Dharma or Duty—that which is due to others.

From what has been said it may be perceived that latent powers may be made patent by right usage and by the conversion of the lower Manasic tendencies into their higher Manasic counterparts. This conversion must be accomplished by the candidate for enlightenment by self-induced and self-devised efforts, and by willingness "to do, to dare and remain silent." "There are the powers of all Nature before you: take what you can."

The Moving Finger writes; and, having writ,
Moves on: nor all your Piety nor Wit,
Shall lure it back to cancel half a Line,
Nor all your Tears wash out a Word of it.

And that inverted Bowl they call the Sky,
Whereunder crawling coop'd we live and die,
Lift not your Hands to It for help—for it
As impotently moves as you or I.

—The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam