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1
Elisabeth Haich
INITIATION
 AUTHOR'S NOTE
It is far from my intentions to want to provide a historical picture of Egypt. A person who is living in any given place has not the faintest idea of thepeculiarities of his country, and he does not consider customs, language andreligion from an ethnographic point of view. He takes everything as a matterof course. He is a human being and has his joys and sorrows, just like every other human being, anywhere, any place, any time; for that which is truly human is timeless and changeless. My concern here is only with the human,not with ethnography and history. That is why I have, in relating the story  which follows here, intentionally used modern terms. I have avoided usingEgyptian sounding words to create the illusion of an Egyptian atmosphere.The teachings of the High Priest Ptahhotep are given in
modern
language sothat
modern
people may understand them. For religious symbols also, I havechosen to use modern terms so that all may understand what these symbolsmean.People of today understand us better if we say 'God' than if we were to usethe Egyptian term 'Ptah' for the same concept. If we say 
'Ptah'
everyoneimmediately thinks, 'Oh yes,
Ptah,
the Egyptian God'. No!
Ptah
 was not anEgyptian God. On the contrary, the Egyptians called the same
God
 whom wecall
God,
 by the name of 
Ptah.
 And to take another example, their term for
Satan
 was
Seth.
The words
God
and
Satan
carry meanings for us today which we would not get from the words
Ptah
or
Seth.
For people living in our times,these latter terms,
Ptah
and
Seth,
are empty, dry and meaningless. The term
Logos
and the expression
creative principle
have a meaning for us today  which we would not get from the term
'Horus Hawk'.
Electricity was just asmuch electricity thousands of years ago as it is today, and an atom was anatom, simply by a different name. I make these comments here so that my readers may be able to devote their attention to the content of the story whichfollows here, without being halted unnecessarily by what may appear to be ananachronism merely because of the terms used—as for example when theEgyptian High Priest speaks of a 'chain reaction'! I have intentionally avoidedtrying to reproduce or imitate the ancient terminology for phenomena we now know under names everyone is accustomed to using.
 
2
FOREWORD
The national rhythm of the Indian people is religion. With every heartbeatthe Indian feels himself a step closer to the eternally glorious goal of therealization of God. Whenever he hears the name of God on the lips of someone passing by, hisSharp ear picks up the melody and he starts to sing a paean of praise. Eventhough he may have neither food nor a roof over his head—for often enoughthe arch of heaven is his shelter—he still has God in his heart. He knows thatin this arena of life he has come uncounted times and gone again, throughmyriad births, that he has enjoyed all the created world has to offer, and that,as he knows the truth 'Everything here on earth passes away', nothing morecan satisfy him. His wish is now to find and reach that source from which thestream of manifestations flows.That is why, from early childhood he prays: 'I meditate on the magnificenceof the being that has created this universe. May 
it
illuminate my mind.'The majesty and beauty of nature, reminding him of that being, becomesan object of his adoration. Every holy writing, of whatever religion, which breathes the breath of that being becomes an object of his respect andadmiration. And every one who has found that being and speaks about the way to
him
 becomes an object of respect and admiration. I have the greatfortune to sit at the feet of an illumined soul: Elisabeth Haich is my teacher,my guru. In her presence the delicate petals of my soul began to unfold. Oftena word from her opens my eyes, and sometimes an understanding glance isenough to strengthen me in my conviction. A friendly comment cansometimes drive away all my doubts. Every moment in the presence of my teacher brings me new experiences and hastens my progress. Very often whencertain things have bothered me, I have found help in the words of my guru:'Don't live for the present; don't allow transitory things to influence you. Livein eternity, above time and space, above finite things. Then nothing caninfluence you.'In the presence of my teacher I enjoy absolute independence of thought, forI have learned that it is wrong to want to apply the thoughts of another personin one's own life. 'I don't want you simply to follow me on the path I amfollowing to reach the goal,' she has told me. 'Go your own way, on the path you select for yourself, corresponding to your own innermost inclinations.Don't accept any statement because I made it. Even if it is true a hundredtimes over, it still is not
 your
truth, it still is not
 your
experience, and it willnot belong to you. Bring truth into being, and then it will belong to you.Regard the lives of those who have achieved truth only as proof that the goalcan be reached.' At these words of my teacher's, I was seized by an irresistible drive towards
 
3absolute independence, and this urge freed me from the nefarious attitude of expecting help from outside. I don't need a teacher that influences me, but ateacher who teaches me not to allow myself to be influenced.For many years I have had the great privilege of hearing the profoundesttruths explained in the simplest words. I have yet to hear anyone else explainthe revelations of the Bible as clearly as Elisabeth Haich, and in a manner asapplicable to our daily living. I have travelled far, and in all my travels nopriest has been able to explain the true meaning of these revelations, eventhough I have asked hundreds. How, after all, could he if he has not reached'the kingdom of Heaven within'? How could it be otherwise as long as he hasnot experienced within himself the truth of the sentence: 'Ye are the light of the world', as long as he does not yet recognize: 'Ye are the living temple of theHoly Spirit'?Hundreds and thousands have attended the weekly lectures and meditationgroups led by Elisabeth Haich. It has been the wish of all of us to possess herteachings in book form.Through the experience of each lecture our souls thirsting for truth wereenriched to an undreamed of extent. It is a great joy for all of us to know thatat last part of this knowledge will now be available in the concentrated form of a book. This book is an introduction to the high art of reaching and achievingthe divine in us and of learning to recognize this unknown creature calledman. We will discover the great truth: Self development is revealing theperfection which has been in man from the very beginning. Religion is theactivation of the divine principle which awaits its manifestation in man.SELVARAJAN YESUDIAN
Zurich, April
1962
CONTENTS
 Author's Note
page 7
Foreword
9
Introduction
15
1. Awakening
19
2. Lion and Light
27
3. My Parents are not 'My' Parents
30
4. Sunrise is Different
35
5. I want to get Away 
39
of 00

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