Our Lord made use of this method of teaching. When addressing his disciples, he spoke openly of spiritual truths, but to nondisciples, in parables. Indeed, he used the words: “Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet and turn again and rend you” (Matt. 7:6). He also said to them, “Unto you is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God: but unto them that are without all these things are done in parables” (Mark 4:11).
One reason for this differentiation is not far to seek. Knowledge can bestow power, and the writers of the sacred language were in the same position in which a small group of modern scientists would find themselves after having first discovered atomic energy and the means for its controlled release. They would not dare immediately to make their discovery universally available. Similarly the sages of old, having investigated the structure of matter and the composition of both universe and human beings and having discovered the forces locked up within them, felt a tremendous sense of responsibility. They had to prevent the misuse of their knowledge and, at the same time, to insure its preservation for the future benefit of humanity.
Actually, in the case of knowledge of the superphysical and spiritual worlds, their structure, their natural forces and intelligences associated with them—and their correspondences with the superphysical vehicles and powers of human beings—the need for secrecy is far greater. In wrong hands the power which such knowledge makes available is far more dangerous than physical atomic energy. The products of nuclear fission and fusion can destroy only physical objects. If misused, hidden or esoteric knowledge and the power associated with it can, in addition, impair the integrity, harden and warp the nature and, in consequence, seriously retard the evolution of the transgressors and those under their malign influence. The ancient seers, therefore, devised not the algebraical symbols and formulas of the modern scientist but a cryptic language in which some of the words retain their normal meaning, while others are cryptograms or hierograms for spiritual and esoteric truths. In doing this, the writers of old knew that only those who possessed the keys of interpretation would be able to discover the truths which the sacred language both reveals and conceals. The secret is rendered still safer by the fact that, in order to use the keys successfully, one must have developed the intuitive faculty and be imbued with a sense of moral responsibility.
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