THIRTIETH TALK 621

suffering which he causes to others by paying too little, or by
half-starving his wife and children. Another thinks of his
own lust, and cares little how many souls and bodies he ruins
in satisfying it. Just fo save himself a few minutes' trouble, a
man does not pay <his workmen on the proper day, thinking
nothing of the difficulties he brings upon them. So much
suffering is caused by carelessness, by forgetting to think
how an action will affect others. But karma never forgets,
and it takes no account of the fact that men forget. If you
wish to enter upon the Path, you must think of the conse-
quences of what you do, lest you should be guilty of
thoughtless cruelty.

Of coarse you see that that is true; karma takes
note. You may be in a brown study and walk over a
precipice; the fact that you did not know simply does
not count. Then He says :

Superstition is another mighty evil, and has caused
much terrible^ cruelty. The man who is a slave to it
despises others who are wiser, tries to force them to do as
he does.

You must not despise younger souls. Of course
the younger people are more sure they are right, and
that is true of souls a^ well as bodies. It is the
young Theosophist who knows all about Nirvana and
exactly how karma works. The older people are
quieter about that. I have even heard our Pre-
sident say: ^When I first became a Theosophist
I used to lecture about the Absolute, and thought I
knew all about it; but now I am not quite sure that
I understand the higher Manas perfectly." What
she says of herself is true of many of us. At first
we are very confident and then we begin to realise.