Book 2 — Light on the Path

by Mabel Collins

Contents List:

About the Author
About Book 2
Cardinal Rule 1, with Comment (September, 2000)
Cardinal Rule 2, with Comment (October, 2000)
Cardinal Rule 3a, with Comment (November, 2000)
Cardinal Rule 3b, with Comment (December, 2000)
Cardinal Rule 4a, with Comment (January, 2001)
Karma (February, 2001)
The Numbered Rules, Set I (March, 2001)
Three Truths (April, 2001)
The Numbered Rules, Set II (May, 2001)

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About the Author

Mabel Collins was a member of The Theosophical Society and at one time co-edited the magazine Lucifer with Madame H.P. Blavatsky.

This little book of aphorisms, notes, and commentaries was first published in 1885 and has since been re-published many times in English as well as being translated into many other languages. The material is said to be of ancient origin.

The booklet opens with a statement of four cardinal rules to which all disciples must attend:
1. Before the eyes can see they must be incapable of tears.
2. Before the ear can hear it must have lost its sensitiveness.
3. Before the voice can speak in the presence of the Masters, it must have lost its power to wound.
4. Before the soul can stand in the presence of the Masters, its feet must be washed in the blood of the heart.

The author provides essays to explain the meaning of each of these four rules. There is also a short dissertation on 'Karma'.

The main 'Light' consists of two sets, each of twenty-one rules, for the guidance of the 'disciple'. Some of the rules are stated baldly, and some are amplified by the author's comments.