The seventh thought-concentration of the Lord's Prayer "Lead us not into temptation", is also an "axis-question" of the consciousness with which we are dealing. Perhaps here again the cosmic researcher will be taken aback, for he may think it must be just right to be "led into temptation", because this would only guide the individual to such experience or knowledge necessary for him not to be "tempted" in future in that particular area of "temptation", and naturally this is also logical. But daily life is much more refined in its structure that such a very crude form of life-experience.
      Each individual is in possession of a certain quantity of knowledge already obtained through previous experiences. By means of this knowledge, he is able to foresee, to a certain degree, the after-effects of the situation he intends to activate, or the deeds he intends to do. If his knowledge is complete, these after-effects will be exactly as the individual has imagined beforehand and in that case he will not be disappointed. It happens wholly just as he wished. But if his knowledge is not complete in that special area, the assesment of the after-effects which the individual has made beforehand will be accordingly incomplete and the after-effects will then turn out to be quite different from the imperfect picture, or from that reaching of the goal, which the being had imagined beforehand; yes, sometimes it becomes exactly the opposite, and at worst it might become a real catastrophe for that very being. This catastrophe will then become an asset for the being, because it can now form the perfect picture of the situation and thereby guard itself against a repetition.
      If the being had not sufficient knowledge to prevent this catastrophe, nor had the ability to gather that missing knowledge from other beings, the catastrophe, or accident, would be absolutely the only way to advance his development. This experience here, in a cosmic sense, is not an "evil" but a "good", although an "unpleasant good". And it is not in order to be favoured with exemption from this that the seventh part of the Lord's Prayer has been given to terrestrial Man, who is indeed finding himself to a marked degree at the level of strong and crude life experiences. If it were so, this prayer would be like praying that one's development should cease. It is naturally a matter of course that this divine prayer should not act as a brake on development and consequently on life.
      However, the said catastrophe might not always be due to lacking experience. Quite the reverse: sometimes it might happen that a being suffered a catastrophe which, in reality, he could have avoided very well, if he had just "thought it over". Now what does it mean to "think something over"? To "think it over" is the same as recalling to memory all the information one has concerning a certain problem. This mobilization of memories or information is the same as "concentration", just as the mobilizing of memories which is the basis for everything which comes under the concepts of research, study and education. The "knowledge" extracted from this constitutes a phenomenon which might make the individual capable of utilizing all the experiences he has had to create a full insight into the aftereffects of the situations and actions he wants to implement. It is on achieving mastery of this insight that all schools, universities and colleges are based. That is to say, it is not just one's own experience or memories one can acquire and apply; one can also avail oneself of the experiences of others, if they are in some way related to our own real experiences. It is these kinds of unfamiliar mobilized experiences we have access to through books, lectures and any other form of education. So this mobilization of experiences or concentration of knowledge has the value that – within a certain scope – it can spare the being from repeating painful and rough experiences.
      Now, if the being does not make advance use of this knowledge, if he does not mobilize a sufficient amount of information or does not "think it over" adequately with regard to the particular situation he intends to create – yes, then naturally he causes the same unpleasantness to himself which he would have caused without having any knowledge at all in the sphere concerned. To omit to "think it over" (or in other ways neglect to mobilize one's knowledge before the action one intends to take) will give rise to disappointment and suffering. "To think it over" in advance, or to mobilize one's knowledge about the after-effects of an action one wishes to carry out, will guard and protect one against unpleasant surprises and experiences, and the bitter experiences can only occur in those areas where one has not had enough personal experience to give one the necessary knowledge, nor has one the ability to understand the experiences of others in this special area.
      However, as this mobilization of knowledge, or learning, in this way guards against suffering, it would indeed be quite illogical not to make use of it. Why then, does not everybody make use of the knowledge he really possesses or might have access to by means of other people's mobilization, i.e. books, education, advice etc? Yes, one of the main causes of this could simply be a certain mental laziness. One lacks the wish to concentrate or to look for advice or instruction. But as this will not always prevent a being from carrying out some sort of action in any case, it will strengthen his insufficiently concentrated knowledge with the empty idea "It'll be all right".
      It must be a matter of course that an action or manifestation is bound to be less successful for its author in its course and after-effects when everything was set in motion haphazardly than if it were set on a successful course through logical and planned manifestation of will. It is just as much a matter of course that this unfortunate event will be more painful for the author of the manifestation when it is not due to lack of experience but, on the contrary, only due to his having omitted to use his experiences for mobilizing or setting up that concentration of knowledge by which the individual could have guarded himself in advance, rather than in those cases where the unpleasantness arises from total lack of experience in the area concerned. In the first case the being will feel remorse in the form of annoyance, and the greater the catastrophe or the unpleasant after-effects are, the more self-reproach or mental suffering there will be. The being is no longer in such contact with his experience of life as he really could be, and therefore should have been. So here too he experiences an abnormal shifting of his normal mental "tilt of the axis".
      There is thus every reason for the being to be alert with regard to mobilizing his experiences, partly by concentrating on his own experiences and partly by acquiring knowledge in studying and learning from the experiences of others in areas where his own experiences are not adequate. To neglect this is carelessness, which could expose the individual to the most serious consequences.
      The cause of the said carelessness can be mental laziness, as stated previously. As the wish or longing to set in motion the action or the manifestation is not weakened by this laziness, one will feel "tempted" to ignore mobilization of thoughts or that enrichment of knowledge necessary for perfect accomplishment, and one strengthens this "tempation" with all kind of superficial or make-believe "excuses" by which one can soothe one's conscience for "letting matters take their course".
      It is such a situation we recognize in a person who is for instance performing a breakneck or highly dangerous "act of death" in the circus. Actually, to justify its name, such an "act of death" can only be performed without any of the logical safety measures, or the act would present "no danger" and therefore not be an attraction at all. As these safety measures are ignored, the artist who is going to perform the "act of death" has no guarantee whatsoever that he will escape unhurt from his experiment. Although he knows everything about the risk, and thus is not lacking in knowledge or experience of the existing danger, he "lets matters take their course", hoping fervently that "it'll be all right".
      But it isn't only in the circus that such "acts of death" are manifested. During terrestrial Man's daily life such neglecting or ignoring of already accumulated experiences happens much more often than one imagines. Have not many crimes been committed because of such a disregard of experience? Isn't the performance of many of these pure "acts of death" – disregarding or ignoring all previously gathered experience about death-penalties, prisons, armed police, hidden alarm-bells, watchdogs etc. – to a large extent based on the mental attitude "It'll be all right"? Have not many wars been declared on the same basis? And what about the ordinary daily dose of untruths which are distributed in order to promote revenge, antipathy, persecution or subversion? Wouldn't one think such things are in many cases launched in defiance of the knowledge of the risk and also in the hope that "it'll be alright"? Yes, haven't we got to the point here – concerning lying – where disregard of an acquired knowledge of risk has simply become an automatic function, and appears as what we call "thoughtlessness"? When a being acts "thoughtlessly" it does not always mean that he has no thought and therefore no knowledge in the area concerned, but, on the contrary, just that he does not concentrate these thoughts behind the direction of will. So behind this there remains merely "thoughtlessness". The being tells untruths in such situations without deriving benefit in any way at all from the knowledge or experience he possesses in reality as to the risks in the area concerned. Here the habit of "letting matters take their course" has become automatic. To the risk of eventual exposure and the ensuing liability, the being does not give a single thought, although, in the depths of his consciousness, he has an abundance of experiences or knowledge, from which – if he had thought them over – he could easily have taken warning.
      There is thus an extraordinarily large sphere in the beings' daily life where the act of mobilizing the knowledge behind direction of will-power is ignored and the being "takes the risk", and it is only within this sphere that one can speak about the phenomenon we call "temptation". In areas where the being has no knowledge at all, nor is able to acquire any, he cannot possibly be "tempted". Here there is only one way to advance, namely the way of real experience. The being has not the knowledge to understand warnings and is therefore unable to believe in them, and within his own knowledge there is absolutely nothing which could make him suspect or comprehend the danger. Here life must speak for itself. Here nothing else can influence the individual. It is different therefore in situations where he has quite enough knowledge to be able to understand the warnings of others, as well as to form an opinion of the elements of danger in those actions he wishes to set in motion. Only there one can speak of "temptation".
      Thus "temptation" is the same as being lured to ignore the known danger-elements in such and such a manifestation or act which one wants to carry out. Now, how does such a situation arise when one gets lured or "tempted" to ignore all natural warnings? It arises, as previously stated, because of a certain mental laziness or weakening of energy, which then creates a disinclination to activate the necessary mobilization of acquired knowledge from past experience. So one wants to gain certain mental advantages here without taking the necessary safety precautions for this achievement. One wants to satisfy a desire quite outside those laws which are natural for a safe and perfect, achievement of this satisfaction. This is the mental attitude we recognize by the somewhat misleading concept of "foolhardiness".
      As a "hardiness" based on foolishness – which means on ignorance of the danger in a certain situation – can be neither "hardiness" nor "courage" in the absolute sense (one certainly cannot speak of "hardiness" or "courage" when there is no idea of danger), then the concept cannot express the foolish person's hardiness or courage. In that connection, when one speaks of "hardiness" or "courage" one is only expressing a situation in which the individual recognizes the danger but still acts more or less in the same way as the "foolish person" – not knowing the danger – would have done in the same situation. So "foolhardiness" refers to the situation in which the "clever" person allows himself to be lured or tempted to act like the "foolish" person. It is obvious that this could not be a perfect application of the previously acquired experience or knowledge and therefore must lead the individual into futile risk. It does not make the case any better that this "temptation" can be further stimulated by the more or less persuasive suggestions of other beings towards action and by explaining away the elements of danger. Such fellow beings thus become "tempters" or collaborators in our own "tempting" of ourselves. Therefore it is not really so strange that the cosmic prayer – the Lord's Prayer – has tried to give help to the one who is praying in such a situation. So "Lead us not into temptation" is not a prayer for being exempt from the realistic and bitter effects of our modes of action in the area where we are so inexperienced that we cannot even receive knowledge, advice or instruction, and these bitter experiences consequently are absolutely the only way to knowledge. It is thus obvious that the above-mentioned prayer in that case would prevent all growth and by this all experience of life – if Nature had not precisely made that prayer's fulfilment an absolute impossibility. To pray for not being "led into temptation" is therefore the same as praying for getting strength and power to keep oneself clear of that force which stops mobilization of our knowledge and experience and which occurs partly in the form of a strong wish caused by a strong inclination or "temptation" to ignore the element of danger which the satisfying of this wish would imply, and partly in the form of persuasive suggestions (temptations) from fellow beings, or surroundings, which support the individual's disregard of the danger. To keep oneself free of "temptation" is thus the same as keeping one's material of experience in extreme readiness so that our knowledge or mental light can shine and sparkle with full intensity behind any form of direction of will and manifestation we intend to release. And isn't it precisely in support of this extreme readiness that the Bible admonishes us: "Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation! The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak"?