Paul Brunton Philosophic Foundation homepage > Notebooks of Paul Brunton

---

The sages of old deliberately restricted the public from their full knowledge so that their immediate following was always numerically insignificant. Yet the paradox was that they exercised an indirect influence disproportionate to their small numbers. This was achieved by (a) concentrating their tuition on men in positions of high authority or leadership, and (b) establishing popular religions and cults suited to the capacity of the multitude.

-- Notebooks Category 25: World-Mind in Individual Mind > Chapter 5 : The Sage's Service > # 275