MAGACIANS, SEERS, AND MYSTICS

INTRODUCTION

FROM the earliest times a message has passed from the
East to the West, like the water of a bountiful river, to
indicate the true path to perfection. At times, under
the drought of evil or the violent fervour of ignorance,
the river has dried up and the thirsty have not drunk
of the liberating water. There have been centuries
during which but a single drop has reached them,
brought by a brave man in the vessel of his heart.
There have been times also when the water flowed
abundantly, but no one was able to see the deep bed in
which it ran.

It has been my intention to write the history of the
heroic messengers who brought the message at the peril
of their lives, braving the hatred of the malicious and
the anger of the deliberately blind, as well as a more
formidable enemy, their own frailty.

This history is incomplete, because many persons
invested with a high mission have been forgotten or
disregarded in the annals of history, and also because
there are others of whose existence the author is ignorant.
It does not include the history of the highest messengers
the founders of religions. The lives and the teachings
of these are well known, and another account would not
give new light to anyone.

I have made it my task to write of masters who are
less exalted but nearer to ourselves. The inmost essence...

Sumptuous, dubious, whimsical.