Why do not those who know the higher mystical truths give more generously from their store of knowledge? They do not withhold it from anyone who is ripe to receive it. The others who are still unripe could not benefit by it because they would not understand it or, understanding, would be shocked and frightened by its terrifying impersonality. Nor is this all. The old saying, "Knowledge is power," applies here also. Knowledge of the dynamic forces and subconscious operations of the human mind can easily be abused by ignorant persons or misused by selfish ones. Because, through the soul, we are linked with God, something of the creative magic of the divine comes into possession of a man with the knowledge of certain truths concerning the soul. It would be as dangerous to give this knowledge to unprepared and unpurified masses as it would be to give a box of dynamite to a child as a plaything. The history of the destruction of Atlantis, and of another continent which preceded it, is in part the history of the premature use by humanity of forces which it is not morally entitled to use. Our own civilization today is faced by a related danger unless humanity stops looking for guidance and salvation in the wrong direction; unless the blind following of blind leaders comes to an end, the major portion of civilization will come to an end and this planet will be largely depopulated. Those who seek protection from God against this menace of the future will find it only as they come into harmony with God or insofar as they entrust themselves to the guidance of leaders who have come into that harmony. Those who protest against these impending terrors, or pray to be saved from them, are alike walking in ignorance. Nature, which is God Active, governs man by her own laws, which bring him the results of his own doing.
-- Notebooks Category 20: What Is Philosophy? > Chapter 2 : Its Contemporary Influence > # 246
