It is here that "degrees" in initiation become a necessity. Every step, or passage of the candidate from a lower to a higher degree, is marked and determined finally and solely by his "proficiency in the preceding degree." The question of Morals, or the ethical effect, therefore, is pre-determined, and as far as possible, solved first. But even with all this wise precaution, the unprepared and the unqualified have sometimes entered the outer courts; and when compelled at last to reveal their character, have turned to rend their teachers, and have done their utmost to destroy the School and demoralize mankind. If these moral renegades could only realize the _meaning to themselves_ of thus entering the "Left-hand Path" of devolution and of starting voluntarily "down the deep descent," as portrayed in Dante's "Inferno," or in Ahrinzeman, they would, indeed, hesitate long before "turning to the left," for inevitable destruction lies that way. Here lies the scientific explanation of the "Fall of Lucifer," portrayed in some form in the pantheons and mythologies of every philosophy and religion known to man. The ordinary "sinner" may yet possess an "average" of all the virtues, and the ordinary "saint" an "average" of all the vices. Concerning these it was said, "I would have you either hot or cold, but because ye are neither hot nor cold, I have spewed you out of my mouth." No lukewarm soul ever entered the Kingdom of Heaven. But a time at last comes when the soul of man, enmeshed in the "lusts of the flesh and the deceitfulness of riches," _must make his choice_. He _realizes_ that he can no longer "serve two masters." He will make his choice knowingly, deliberately, and voluntarily. Happy and blessed will be he if with his whole soul, and with every impulse of his being, he declares, "I know not what others may do, _but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord_." If there are real Masters (and there are), they have to work under both Natural and Divine Law, and in strict harmony with the higher evolution of the whole human race. It is only a low, feeble, and undeveloped intelligence that finds God and Nature at cross-purposes. He who has found "the place of peace," harmonized his own nature, purified his own life, and elevated all his desires and aspirations, has discerned the "harmony of the morning stars," and caught the symphony of the heavenly hosts. In other words, he is already functioning on the Spiritual Plane. This would seem to make clear the ethical problem raised, the stress placed upon it, and how it is met and answered by every genuine Initiate throughout the ages. It has to be solved _first_ in each individual case. Only "he who _lives the life_ shall know the doctrine," or advance to power. CHAPTER XV THE SCIENCE OF PSYCHOLOGY AS A KNOWLEDGE OF THE HUMAN SOUL