*
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* Col. Olcott clearly and succinctly explains the Buddhist doctrine of
Merit or Karma, in his "Buddhist Catechism."
(Question 83).--G.M.
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It will be seen now in connection with the doctrine of the tendency
to the renewal of action, before discussed, that the course of
self-discipline recommended as the only road to Longevity by Occultism
is not a "visionary" theory dealing with vague "ideas," but actually a
scientifically devised system of drill. It is a system by which each
particle of the several men composing the septenary individual receives
an impulse, and a habit of doing what is necessary for certain purposes
of its own free-will and with "pleasure." Every one must be practiced
and perfect in a thing to do it with pleasure. This rule especially
applies to the case of the development of Man. "Virtue" may be very
good in its way--it may lead to the grandest results. But to become
efficacious it has to be practiced cheerfully not with reluctance or
pain. As a consequence of the above consideration the candidate for
Longevity at the commencement of his career must begin to eschew his
physical desires, not from any sentimental theory of right or wrong, but
for the following good reason.
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