FROM my esteemed friend, Rodney Burkhart, I had heard many strange tales, in fact, incredible tales, about a man of mystery, a man who appeared to the world to be just an ordinary citizen; but to those permitted to know the truth about him, he was a great Seer.

The mystical name by which this man was known to the inner circle was Oom-Sur-Ri-Ming, but to his friends and associates in the business world and, as I learned later, even to his family, he was not a Mystic, either in name or in conduct; but just a wholesome, friendly man of affairs, an affectionate husband and an indulgent father.

My friend described this man to me as a “Western Master,” one well versed in the secret, ancient wisdom of the East, and able, when so inclined or when the occasion demanded, to make use of laws unknown to the world at large, and accomplish the seemingly impossible. He further declared that this Master Man had conquered both time and space, that he was ageless and at his own pleasure could reincarnate in the flesh and live through a lifetime as an ordinary human being. During such reincarnations he experienced all of the vicissitudes of life and, when he had accomplished his purpose, would pass out as a mortal by natural death.

All of this information was imparted to me in a most sacred manner, and I was required solemnly to pledge not to reveal the same unless permitted to do so by the Master himself. As a matter of fact, previous to the remarkable experience which I am here relating, I did not even know Oom-Sur-Ri-Ming’s name here in the world, in what part of America he lived, nor with what business he was associated.

I had been for many years an earnest and persistent student of Occult Science. Twelve years previous to this time I had been secretly initiated and had been given the name of “Blue Star;” but this fact was known only to a small group which was studying Psychic Philosophy. Of course these studies had prepared me, in a measure, to accept and believe more than the average man about the “Riddle of Life,” and my friend Burkhart was a scientific man of unquestioned integrity and honesty. Even so, much that he told me appeared like the sheerest nonsense, and at that time I firmly believed that he had contacted someone who was able to cast