Beware also of temptations, remembering that young souls are tempted through their faults, greater souls through their virtues. Be not deceived into saying there is no evil. Evil is--so long as good is. “Beyond good and evil” is a state to which few of you can aspire, and you have no conception of it. But “beyond good and evil” is a mighty slogan for the temptation and bewilderment of vain souls. When you are really beyond good and evil you will not gossip about your neighbors, nor envy them their charm or their possessions, nor try to use them for your own ends, nor worry lest some evil person shall do you harm, nor twist your faults till they seem virtues, nor deceive yourself as to your motives. Examine yourselves, my children. Look for your faults. If you can find no fault in yourself, hang your harp on the nearest willow, for your progress is at an end. Man progresses through recognizing his faults, through transmuting them and transcending them. If you are perfect, this world is no place for you. “Beyond good and evil,” indeed! Judge not, that ye be not judged. But do not flirt with the devil to prove that you judge him not. Yes, all men are your brothers, even bad men. Attend to your own affairs, and leave the issue with God. This much to you, dear children of the world, from my vantage place above your passions. _July 25._ LETTER L THINGS TO REMEMBER THAT the contents of this book may become the possession of those who want it, I will now bring it to a close. One might go on writing forever about the astral incidents of this war, and not exhaust the subject. What I have been able to give is a mere sketch, a few incidents, a few suggestions. These things, however, bear in mind: That there are angels as well as devils in the neighborhood of the battlefields. That those who see the war from above see causes as well as effects, and from those causes can draw sane conclusions based on a richer fund of data than that available to the men of earth. That war, like everything else, has its rhythms. Do not be discouraged when the pressure of battle bears heavily on the side that you call yours. If your side went forward too quickly, you would need to look for a violent reaction, as in the retreat from the outskirts of Paris. That though evil is a necessity so long as good exists, though evil is the other pole of the magnet, yet it is the duty of those who desire to walk the White Road ever to do battle for the right. And this is no repudiation of the saying of the Christ, “Resist not evil.” A paradox, you say? Great wisdom is locked in paradoxes, for those who have the key. The existence of evil gives greater strength to good. This is the Kali Yuga, as the Hindoos say. That this war is an attempt of the personal evil forces to destroy mankind. A former attempt was made in Europe before the so-called Dark Ages, but the Renaissance followed and restored the balance.