Everybody wants success, but success means something different to each. Certain general standards accepted at various times are changed as we evolve.

  In ancient Lemuria the most precocious were instructed in physical science, the arts and crafts. This teaching has flowered in our Western civilization. Prior to that time we were free Spirits unfettered by time and space. But when the Ego entered into the dense body and became its indwelling spirit, we were imprisoned. Through the entire Atlantean Epoch and much of the present Aryan Epoch it took months to travel comparatively short distances on the earth’s surface. Now [1912], we have practically conquered space by mastering nature forces; the telegraph, for instance, nearly annihilates space and time.

  In those past ages there was a different standard of success from the standard of today, and in the future there will be a newer criterion still.

  While it is true that manufacture has never before been carried on on such a vast scale as it is today, it is also generally admitted that the more ideal conditions of medieval times have been sacrificed, for then the craftsman wrought for the pure joy of creating. Like the hero of Bulwer’s Strange Story, whose business it was to heal, and to whom fees were only incidents, he worked not for hire alone, but into each piece of work he infused something of his own individuality, it was part of himself. He worked many hours but he never grumbled for the day flew by as his joyous song vied with the song of the hammer on the anvil or his whistle sought to drown the whistle of his saw or file. He did not keep tabs on the time it took him to accomplish his task. His sole concern was that when finished his work should be well done, Therefore the works of a master of any craft were justly admired by his fellow citizens and were objects of emulation on the part of his journeymen and apprentices. They attained a standard of excellence which compels our admiration to this day,

  Today we have wandered far from this old-time criterion of success, namely, creative efficiency and have set up a new standard-—accumulative efficiency. We have grown to despise the workman and to fawn upon the man who can make a million in a day by cornering the food supply of the world. And the workman has gone mad with the same disease; he cares nothing for his work; he regards it as a curse. He works for money and against time and is as miserable in his way as the man whose riches hang in the balance on the ticker of the stock exchange. He hates the rich, the rich hate him; and both look in either pity or contempt on the idealistic artists and inventors who still work long for love and regardless of money.

  Thus it is apparent that the present standard of success is not satisfactory. It is also apparent that we cannot go back to the old conditions, so the question of questions for the world to solve is: In what way may we attain permanent success? When we have found a new and a better criterion of success and start to live it, then there will be a new age. The Christ set the standard of greatness for that new age when he said “He that would be the greatest among you let him be the Servant of all,” and in that age men will vie with each other to be of service as they now seek to rival one another in acquiring wealth. It is therefore the reason why this principle of service has been made the crux of the ritual used by the Rosicrucian Fellowship, for if we aspire to be the pioneers of a higher order of things we must set about to practice the main principles in some measure at least.

  It is a fact well known to all of us, that in any line of endeavor we must have experience before we can be of use. It is therefore a pertinent question to ask, what qualifications are necessary to be of service to our fellowman?

  In the first place let us realize that it is not necessary for us to go abroad to seek whom we may serve among strangers All our search will be in vain till we have done the duty closest to hand.

  Let us not waste our time in longing for bright far-away worlds to conquer. Our work is where we are. If we can help to make men better, men will make conditions better. For this purpose, consider the tools with which we must work-—our threefold bodies. Certain bodies, like tools, are to be “sharpened” by the care we give them. The dense body is made of chemical substance and its keynote is inertia. The vital body is made of ether, and its keynote is rhythm. The desire body is made of desire stuff and its keynote is (e)motion. To overcome the inertia of the dense body we should seek to spiritualize it, to build it of the very best and lightest material. True, not what goes into the mouth defiles, but the state of mind which demands coarse foods defiles.

  To accentuate the rhythm of the vital body we should use the principle of repetition-—pray without ceasing. This is the truth behind New Thought Affirmation.

  Then comes the desire body, the storehouse of the energy which moves the world. When it escapes from control it is temper, destructive beyond measure at times. We are not to kill out temper, however, but transmute it and direct its energy into worthwhile effort.

  We look at the world through our own atmosphere which colors all we see. If our neighbors appear small and mean let us see if there is not some meanness in us, and on the principle of the tuning fork the evil in us may have brought out the corresponding evil in them.

  This is really the secret of our success or failure in life-—we get what we give.

  The man who is small and mean calls out that very same trait in others. He thinks himself a much-abused man and the whole world mean while he is the one who is at fault. On the other hand the man with the sunny disposition looks through his aura of sunshine and joy; he radiates cheer and calls it out in everyone he meets; thus he is a source of cheer and goodwill, an uplifting factor in all the Worlds. The desire body can be cleansed and the sunny temper cultivated. Don’t criticize and find fault, don’t worry, or fear. Let us count our blessings and be grateful and thus we shall increase them.

  Our lives are in our own hands; we can make them what we will. But the way to begin is to endeavor never to let a day pass in which we have not done something for somebody and as we do this we shall find that our opportunities for service will increase; so will our capacity, and our lives will be a success.

  Thus we may say that a successful life is a life of service to all and in the measure that we live up to that standard are we living a successful life.