Theosophy has a special and particular mission for the present age (as
for all ages). And that mission, expressed in the broadest and widest terms, is
to assert the divine nature of man.
This is the root and essence of all Theosophical doctrine; and it is
here that Theosophy joins issue with the teachings of dogmatic Christian
theology on the one hand, and with materialistic science on the other.
Theosophy seeks to re-invest man with a dignity and heritage of which he
has been deprived by both religion and science.
Understand that Theosophy is no new thing — it is the oldest thing in
the world. Many through ignorance or willfulness would represent Theosophy as
being a new religion, a new sect, a new creed. It is nothing of the kind. The
oldest records of religion, philosophy, or science, are the records of
Theosophy. She claims them all, can trace them all back to their primordial
source, back to that "Divine Hierarchy" which now, as through all the
ages, watches and guides the evolution of the race.
And it is because the Ancient Wisdom comes from this Divine Hierarchy,
that it claims the title of Theosophia (θεοσοΦια) or divine wisdom. It is
because man is by nature a divine being, that he may lay claim to this divine
wisdom as his birthright.
Is this too large a claim to make?
Is it too much to assert, that there is a divine degree of knowledge in
the possession of those who have passed through the stage of evolution in which
we now find ourselves; and that we, like these, may attain to this perfection
of knowledge, when we have reached the fullness and fruition of our human
nature — nay, not merely that we may, but that we must; for such is our
destiny, in virtue of our spiritual nature, in virtue of that indwelling divine
spark which makes of each human being, even now, the "temple of God",
(I Cor. iii.
16.)
Let us examine this question a little more fully. Apart altogether from
the universal belief in all ages that such a Divine Hierarchy does exist, apart
from tradition or religious belief, we may consider the matter in connection
with three concepts or factors with which we are familiar. These are (a) our
human nature, (b) our spiritual nature, (c) the law of evolution.
We must content ourselves in the first place with a mere definition of
each of these, and we shall be obliged to leave behind without any further
comment those who cannot accept our definitions. We understand by the term,
"our human nature", that physical body or organism, with its
characteristic consciousness, which is the temporary vehicle for the
manifestation on the phenomenal plane of those higher principles which
constitute "our spiritual nature".
It will be found that at this point we shall at once part company with
the materialist. Materialism denies into that man has any spiritual nature, and
consequently cannot accept any definition which relates our physical nature to
our spiritual life. In the view of the materialist, consciousness is
simply a product of physical development, and mind and intelligence are
functions of the brain. The materialist holds that outside of physical form
there is no life, no consciousness, no mind.
By the term "our spiritual nature" we understand all that
belongs to the subjective side of our nature — mind, thought, intelligence,
consciousness, will — which we must conceive of as characteristic of the real
Ego, that which survives the death of the physical organism, and is not a
product of that organism, but functions in it during the period of life on the
physical plane.
By the "law of evolution" we understand that process by which
lower forms of organism on the physical plane develop into higher ones, and by
which consciousness undergoes a corresponding extension or exaltation.
We must note in reference to this latter term, that the difference
between our position and that of the materialistic evolutionist is this, that
whereas the latter views consciousness as a product of the physical
organism — and consequently regards those higher degrees of consciousness which
accompany the higher forms of physical organism, as the result mainly of the
evolution of physical form — in our view it is consciousness itself, considered
as a part of our more permanent spiritual nature, which is evolving; and
consequently requires, as it progresses, a more and more perfect vehicle for
its manifestation.
Thus though we see the evolution of consciousness running concurrently
with the evolution of physical form — that is to say, that what is called
evolution appears in its simplest expression to be a continual widening of the
sphere of consciousness to embrace more and more of the environment of the
individual — in our view consciousness is not the result of the evolution of
physical form, but the evolution of physical form is the result of this
ever-growing consciousness, is the result, in short, of the experience
which the higher spiritual entity gains every time it clothes itself in a
physical form.
And this is so because in our view the universe is simply embodied
consciousness. We view the universe as one vast field of consciousness, of
infinite degrees in its individualized aspect, from mineral to vegetable, from
vegetable to animal, from animal to man, from man to still higher degrees,
which it is the province of Theosophy to unfold.
And it is just here that we base the existence of a Divine Hierarchy, as
a logical deduction from the three concepts we have put forward. For if
individually we are subject to this law of evolution, if our individual
consciousness — while remaining a part of the universal consciousness, that
which theology terms God — has in its individualized aspect passed
through the lower stages of mineral, plant, animal, and now finds itself in the
human stage, why should we break off there, and either deny any further
progress, or make that further progress the great exception in the universe,
separating man both from the universe and from God?
Theosophy teaches therefore that the next stage of man's evolutionary
progress is that he shall become a divine being, by which is meant that
he shall teach that perfection of his nature in which he will have become a
self-conscious spiritual being, able to act consciously on those higher
planes of nature which are at present subjective, and in which at
present he merely builds all kinds of fancies according to his religious or
emotional idiosyncrasies.
For let no man thinks that he will enter the spiritual world at death.
The spiritual world is here and now, as an actual physical
fact; and the full consciousness of that spiritual world is gradually dawning
upon us, as we evolve out of that lower form of consciousness, which for the
time being we term the human. And further, we must remain in the human
until this higher consciousness is reached, and thus it is that we have to
reincarnate over and over again, until through experience we reach the
higher state.
It matters not what ideal religion may attach to the future of
the individual, the actual fact is a process of nature. For what is the
future but an extension of the present; and what is the spiritual world
but an extension of the natural, or what is the natural world but
an aspect of the spiritual?
There is no single atom of so-called matter which can be detached
for a single moment, at any point of its inconceivable dimensions from the spiritual
universe. Rightly considered, there is no distinction whatever between the natural
and the spiritual. The universe is either all natural, or all spiritual,
according as we view it from above or from below, that is, from its outermost
or innermost aspect — for what is spirit but the innermost of all
that exists — while even these terms are merely concessions to our finite
intelligence.
The universe is a unity, consciousness is a unity, intelligence is a
unity — yet how can we express these things in finite language. They must be
grasped by the intuition. "Know of a truth", says Carlyle —
"know of a truth that only the time-shadows have perished, or are
perishable; that the real Being of whatever was, and whatever is, and whatever
will be, is even now and for ever. This, should it unhappily seem new, thou
mayest ponder at thy leisure; for the next twenty years, or the next twenty
centuries; believe it thou must; understand it thou canst not."
And to those who have not grasped this, we can but offer in broken
language — suggestions, hints. Yet let us take this now as a scientific fact
— by whatever method we may have arrived at that fact — that man as a whole, in
all his aspects — not the mere finite being who stands before us in physical
form — touches the whole universe, partakes of the nature of the whole
universe; that the divine power which sustains the whole universe is within
him, not outside of him; that his mind and consciousness, and will, are derived
from, and part of, and one with the universal mind, and consciousness, and will
— by whatever name these may be called.
We say again, to all who are prepared to listen, that the apparent
isolation in which man stands from the spiritual world, from the guiding
intelligence of the universe, and even from his fellow-men, is an illusion;
not untraceable as to its cause and origin, and not without a remedy which has
been plainly indicated by all those great teachers whom the world has first
crucified and then deified. Ami it is the conquest of this illusion
which is the goal of our human evolution. It is the rebecoming divine of that
which, through its "fall into matter", has lost its birthright, has
lost touch with that larger consciousness of which it is a part.
We may observe now how this view of man's nature tends to harmonize
science and religion. By science we mean in this connection the facts
of nature. By religion we mean the forms in which man's
aspirations after the divine have been clothed or set before the world from
time to time by many great teachers. And we find in this view a perfect harmony
between the scientific fact of man's spiritual nature, and the religious aspect
of that nature given to us in the records known as the Old and New Testaments.
For this indwelling spiritual nature is the Christ principle; the
mystic Christos of the Gnostics, of St. John's Gospel, and of the
Apostle Paul.
Christ never was and never could be a person,
for he belongs to all humanity, is indeed the indwelling spiritual life or
principle of all humanity, and can only be individualized to the extent that
this universal spiritual aspect of humanity has its individual aspect in each
human entity. This spiritual and mystical Christ is identical with the
mystical Saviors of all the olden religions and mythologies, and the
allegories connected with his nature and character were borrowed from the older
religions, and incorporated in the Gospel narratives, being grafted upon a
slight historical narrative of an actual person called Jesus of Nazareth.
The proof of this lies in the fact that the mythical and miraculous
events related in the Gospels are common to the older systems, more especially
to the Egyptian Horus and the Hindu Krishna. All these follow the
so-called history of Christ almost incident for incident, commencing with a
miraculous conception and birth from a virgin, and ending with crucifixion.
But the Church, having lost the key to the nature of the inner divine
principle of humanity, represented by the allegorical Krishna, Horus, or Christ,
has identified absolutely the historical Jesus, and the mythical Christ.
But when these two are again separated, and the nature of Christ studied
not merely in the light of the gospel allegories, but also in the light of the
older systems, all the difficulties which surround the gospel narratives will
vanish; for the true historical portion relating to Jesus of Nazareth can be
treated on its own ground on literary and historical evidences, while the
mystical, mythical, and allegorical teaching concerning the Christ are
left to those whose training or disposition will allow of their entering into
the deeper mysteries of their own spiritual nature.
Therefore it is that today Theosophy preaches Christianity — not
ecclesiasticism, or dogmatic theology. It preaches Christianity because it
restores that ideal of a perfect humanity, of the human become divine,
of which Christ is the type, and of which Jesus of Nazareth, and each one of
those "Elder Brothers" of the Race, who have already reached the
perfection of their nature, are the pledge and example.
And here we may note another error which is associated with the
teachings of ecclesiastical Christianity. The Church has made of Christ
an individual and separate divine being, a single personality occupying a
unique position in the universe and in relation to "God ". But the
term Christ is derived from the Gnostic Christos, meaning simply
anointed, or initiated. It is synonymous with the Hindu term Buddha,
or enlightened.
It means equally in each case, any individual who has reached the state
of adeptship, who has reached that perfection of his nature which Paul
describes as "the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ"
(Eph. iv. 13). And Jesus being such an one was rightly Jesus Christ and
so also Gautama is termed Gautama Buddha.
We thus see how it is that Theosophy can embrace both Christianity and
Buddhism. Not of course in their exoteric forms, but in their inner or esoteric
meaning. Gautama and Jesus being both Initiates, taught exactly the
same truths with regard to man's spiritual nature, with regard to ethics and
morality, and laid down the same rules for the attainment of that degree of
perfection which each had reached.
It is the mission of Theosophy then to bring before the world once more
the pure teachings of Gautama the Buddha, and Jesus the Christ; to hold up to
mankind once more the divine ideal of man's nature which these two not merely
taught, but exemplified in their lives and works.
And this it can do because the key has once more been given out in clear
and unmistakable language, by that Divine Hierarchy which preserves the pure
truth, of which mankind is continually losing sight, in its folly and selfish
greed for those allurements which the world offers to the senses in such
abundance.
For it is true now,, as it was and always will be, as Jesus and Buddha
and all great teachers have taught — "Love not the world, neither the
things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father
is not in him". And so, as long as men follow the promptings of their
lower nature, as long as they spend their time and energies in gaining the
approval or worship of their fellow men, in getting for themselves all
the good things of this world, utterly regardless of the cries of the
oppressed, or unthinking of the share they take from others in order that their
own pride or desires may be gratified, so long will they individually, and the
race to which they belong, miss that higher goal which is their birthright, and
is thrown back again and yet again into this lower life in which their
consciousness is centred. For "where the treasure is, there will the heart
be also"; and how shall they hope to attain to heaven, or any spiritual
state whatever, whose whole nature is soaked through and through with the dregs
of earth?
But this Hierarchy of Initiates, who-ever watch over humanity in its
cycles of evolution, and ever preserve the sacred truth from defilement, lose
no opportunity when the individual is ready or the time is ripe to impart the
knowledge they possess. "When the pupil is ready, the master will be
found", is true of the race as of the individual. And the time is ripe,
now at this latter end of the nineteenth century; and so once again, after the
darkness of centuries, the lamp of truth is lit, and held on high, that all
those who are ready may recognize the guiding light. Those who are not
ready scoff and mock at it, as they have done in all ages. The loss is theirs.
And those who are ready are those who are willing to lose their life in
order that they may find it. Self-sacrifice even to the "endless end"
is the keynote of the practical teaching which Theosophy presents again
as the only pledge which will avail to open the [road to the highest good.
Tertullian — one of those delightful "Church Fathers" who
helped to found the jumble of superstition and intolerance which has imposed
itself upon the world for centuries under the title of Christianity —
offered it as one of the joys of heaven, that the "elect" would
witness the tortures of the "damned" in hell. And if it be said that
such teaching is not possible now, we would refer to a recent "declaration
of faith" by a prominent Baptist minister and his confrères; for whether
these good Christians would or would not take a lively delight in witnessing
the tortures of their fellow beings in hell, they can at all events contemplate
with perfect satisfaction a "scheme of salvation" which will separate
humanity into the "lost" and the "saved", and place the
latter in a paradise of individual bliss, where they will be tor ever separated
from their less fortunate fellows — it may be those who were nearest and
dearest to them on earth — and cannot if they wish to — which is doubtful — do
anything more for the "lost".
Not so Theosophy. It repudiates with scorn such unmeasured selfishness.
Listen to its teachings:
« Now bend thy head and listen well, O Bodhisattva — compassion
speaks and saith:
-
"Can there
be bliss where all that lives must suffer? Shall thou be saved and hear the whole world
cry?"
Now thou hast heard that which was said.
Thou shalt attain the seventh step and cross the gate of final knowledge
but only to wed woe — if thou would'st be Tathâgata, follow upon thy
predecessor's steps, remain unselfish till the endless end.
Thou art enlightened — choose thy way. »
And so the Great Ones of the Earth, having reached the goal, having won
Nirvana — put the prize aside, that they may help sinning, suffering,
struggling humanity to attain, even as they have attained.
What a contrast to the teachings of the so-called Evangelical
Christian Church; for that teaching is opposed in all its essentials to the
teachings of Jesus of Nazareth and Gautama Buddha. For the Church has
substituted creed for conduct — it is enough now if a man "believes"
at the last moment of his life, he shall surely thereby be "saved",
though his whole nature be saturated with sin and sensuality.
But whatever ideal Christianity may offer, the reality is
ever the same. And that reality — fortunately for humanity — is that those who
have attained to the Christ or Buddha state, do for the most part "remain
unselfish to the endless end", and form the "guardian wall"
which protects humanity during its long cycle of evolution.
From the SILENT WATCHER down to the Nirmânakâyas, and from the
Nirmânakâyas, down to those Adepts who still incarnate in physical
bodies that they may better help humanity in some special way, there is an
unbroken stream of evolution, and an unbroken purpose.
And it is to these Adepts we owe our knowledge of the Secret
Doctrine, which is now presented to the world in plainer, clearer, and more
unmistakable form than ever before.
To some members of the Theosophical Society these Adepts are personally
known. Others who have not met them personally have been in constant
communication with them.
But though the existence of these "Masters of Wisdom" is an
established fact, and is the key, and the only key, to the existence of a store
of knowledge held in trust for the race, and given out from time to time, and
also to the existence and spread of the organization known as the Theosophical
Society, yet no one is asked to accept any of the teachings of Theosophy, save
on the authority of his own reason and individual judgment.
For it is not in Theosophy as in Christianity a matter of dying in
belief or unbelief, and so settling our future destiny for all eternity;
neither is it a matter of one life-time of evolution, but of many lives, each
the natural result and sequence of the others. Those who have not accomplished
that stage of evolution known as the human, must be reborn over and over
again until it is accomplished: and therefore those who have not yet learnt the
reality, the "scientific fact" of their nature, in connection
with the higher plains of life and consciousness by which they are surrounded,
must go on until the experience of many lives has brought them the requisite
knowledge.
For physical man is but the vehicle, the temporary garment of spiritual
man, that "divine spark" — which having set out ages and ages ago on
its long pilgrimage through the universe, through those varying states of
consciousness, which in their sum total is the universe — having now
accomplished its "descent into matter", allegorically represented in Genesis
by the "fall", is now seeking to return to its divine source, to
become that which in the New Testament is allegorically typified by the
resurrected Christ.
Here then is our doctrine:
« Never the spirit was born; the spirit shall cease to be never;
Never was time it was not; End and Beginning are dreams!
Birthless and deathless and changeless remaineth the spirit lor ever;
Death hath not touched it at all, dead though the home of it seems! »
"Nay, but as when one layeth
His worn-out robes away,
And, taking new ones, sayeth,
'These will I wear today!'
So putteth by the spirit
Lightly its garb of flesh,
And passeth to inherit
A residence afresh."
Bhagavad-Gita.
(This article was published in Theosophical Siftings in 1892)
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