Those that ask shall have.  But though the ordinary man asks perpetually, his voice is not heard.  For he asks with his mind only; and the voice of the mind is only heard on that plane on which the mind acts.  Therefore, not until the first twenty-one rules are past do I say those that ask shall have.

To read, in the occult sense, is to read with the eyes of the spirit.  To ask is to feel the hunger within—­the yearning of spiritual aspiration.  To be able to read means having obtained the power in a small degree of gratifying that hunger.  When the disciple is ready to learn, then he is accepted, acknowledged, recognised.  It must be so, for he has lit his lamp, and it cannot be hidden.  But to learn is impossible until the first great battle has been won.  The mind may recognise truth, but the spirit cannot receive it.  Once having passed through the storm and attained the peace, it is then always possible to learn, even though the disciple waver, hesitate, and turn aside.  The voice of the silence remains within him, and though he leave the path utterly, yet one day it will resound and rend him asunder and separate his passions from his divine possibilities.  Then with pain and desperate cries from the deserted lower self he will return.

Therefore I say, Peace be with you.  My peace I give unto you can only be said by the Master to the beloved disciples who are as himself.  There are even some amongst those who are ignorant of the Eastern wisdom to whom this can be said, and to whom it can daily be said with more completeness.

Regard the three truths.  They are equal.

PART II

Note on Sect.  II—­To be able to stand is to have confidence; to be able to hear is to have opened the doors of the soul; to be able to see is to have attained perception; to be able to speak is to have attained the power of helping others; to have conquered desire is to have learned how to use and control the self; to have attained to self-knowledge is to have retreated to the inner fortress from whence the personal man can be viewed with impartiality; to have seen thy soul in its bloom is to have obtained a momentary glimpse in thyself of the transfiguration which shall eventually make thee more than man; to recognise is to achieve the great task of gazing upon the blazing light without dropping the eyes and not falling back in terror, as though before some ghastly phantom.  This happens to some, and so when the victory is all but won it is lost; to hear the voice of the silence is to understand that from within comes the only true guidance; to go to the Hall of Learning is to enter the state in which learning becomes possible.  Then will many words be written there for thee, and written in fiery letters for thee easily to read.  For when the disciple is ready the Master is ready also.