It is a small book that was produced
by the publishing company of the Theosophical Society Adyar and has been
reprinted multiple times. I am not clear when its first publication was. The
oldest publication I have discovered was in 1939 with the title "Practical
Occultism and Occultism versus the Occult Arts."
And from 1948 the title was reduced to "Practical
Occultism."
The Society Adyar
presents Blavatsky as the author of this book, but that is not entirely true.
The first
two sections were written by her, since they correspond to two articles that
she wrote in her Lucifer magazine and
which are:
·
"Practical
Occultism" (Vol. II, No. 8, April 1888, p.150-154)
·
"Occultism versus
the Occult Arts" (Vol. II, No. 9, May 1888, p.173-181)
And that
explains the title of this book.
But instead
the third section was not prepared by Blavatsky, but despite this, 80 years
later, Adyar is still affirming that this third section was made by Blavatsky, since in its
bookstore wrote the following:
« This book consists of three essays of which the first two were articles
published in Lucifer, a
journal edited by H.P.Blavatsky, in 1888.
'Practical Occultism' describes
the essential difference between theoretical Occultism (Theosophy) and Practical
Occultism (Occult Science), and the nature of the difficulties involved in the
study of the latter.
'Occultism versus the Occult
Arts' dispels the widely held misconception that the two are same and
akin to magic or sorcery, and clearly spells out what exactly the
theosophist ought to strive after.
The last essay, a set of
compilations by Blavatsky, consists of practical ideas, quotations and insights
to meditate on daily, as pointers to self-knowledge and ultimately
self-realization. »
(https://adyarbooks.com/node/642)
But this
latter affirmation is false, because it does not make any sense that Blavatsky
compiled texts that are opposite to what she taught, since for example, that
compilation begins by saying that every morning we have to get up early to pray
fervently for the spiritual regeneration of the humanity.
While on the
other hand, Blavatsky vigorously in her book "The Key to Theosophy" disapproves the activity of praying,
because she considers that it weakens people's capacity for action.
In addition,
the researcher Carlos Cardoso Aveline points out that this third text has been
analyzed by highly reputable Theosophists such as Ernest Pelletier, Ted Davy,
and Dallas TenBroeck, and they have concluded that this compilation is very
poorly done, because it includes ideas that are not found present in the
original texts, and in several places the sentences are distorted so that they
do not even serve as transcriptions. And Dallas TenBroeck after examining many
of the paragraphs in the text, concluded that its content is frequently
erroneous from a theosophical point of view.
(You
can read Aveline's full article here.)
So what the Society
Adyar had really to have put in its review is:
«
And the last
essay is a set of pieces of texts that a member of our organization took from
the writings of theosophical literature and other works, and put them together
to create a compilation, but who often distorted its content and added his own
ideas, which are on several occasions contrary to what Theosophy teaches. »
WHO ELABORATED THIS BOOK?
The way this
book was edited reminds me to Annie Besant, because she had done something
similar before. To sell more books, Besant elaborated a third false volume of
the Secret Doctrine, and to do that
she gathered all the articles that Blavatsky had left on her desk before she
died, but since all that material only formed a very thin volume, she stuffed
it so she could publish it as a book.
And here we
see the same procedure, because the subject of the occultism is very attractive
to people, but since the two Blavatsky’s articles were not enough; the editor
added that compilation to be able to sell them as a book.
But Besant
died in 1933, so if that book was first published in 1939, then it was probably
some Adyar publisher who adopted that bad behavior as well.
And I agree
that this compilation is very poorly done, since it lacks continuity, has no
consistency, and often distorts the content of the original texts.
CONCLUSION
It is very unethical that the Theosophical Society Adyar
put this long third text that occupies 40% of the book and make its readers
believe that it was prepared by Blavatsky (when I have just shown you above
that this is false) and continue with that lie.
INTERNET
You can find
different download options in this link.
And below I
put a better transcription online:
CONTENTS
PRACTICAL OCCULTISM
IMPORTANT TO STUDENTS
THERE are many people who are
looking for practical instruction in Occultism. It becomes necessary,
therefore, to state once for all:
a) The essential difference between
theoretical and practical Occultism; or what is generally known as Theosophy on
the one hand, and Occult science on the other, and:
b) The nature of the difficulties involved
in the study of the latter.
It is easy to become a Theosophist. Any
person of average intellectual capacities, and a leaning toward the metaphysical;
of pure, unselfish life, who finds more joy in helping his neighbour than in
receiving help himself; one who is ever ready to sacrifice his own pleasures
for the sake of other people; and who loves Truth, Goodness and Wisdom for
their own sake, not for the benefit they may confer — is a Theosophist.
But it is quite another matter to
put onself upon the path which leads to the knowledge of what is good to do, as
to the right discrimination of good from evil; a path which also leads a man to
that power through which he can do the good he desires, often without even apparently
lifting a finger.
Moreover, there is one important
fact with which the student should be made acquainted. Namely, the enormous,
almost limitless, responsibility assumed by the teacher for the sake of the
pupil. From the Gurus of the East who teach openly or secretly, down to the few
Kabalists in Western lands who under take to teach the rudiments of the Sacred
Science to their disciples — those Western Hierophants being often them selves
ignorant of the danger they incur — one and all of those "Teachers"
are subject to the same inviolable law. From the moment they begin really to teach, from the instant they
confer any power — whether psychic,
mental or physical — on their pupils, they take upon themselves all the sins of that pupil, in
connection with the Occult Sciences, whether of omission or commission, until
the moment when initiation makes the pupil a Master and responsible in his
turn. There is a weird and mystic religious law, greatly reverenced and acted
upon in the Greek, half-forgotten in the Roman Catholic, and absolutely extinct
in the Protestant Church. It dates from the earliest days of Christianity and
has its basis in the law just stated, of which it was a symbol and an
expression. This is the dogma of the absolute sacredness of the relation
between the god-parents who stand sponsors for a child*. These tacitly take
upon themselves all the sins of the newly baptized child — (anointed as at the
initiation, a mystery truly!) — until the day when the child becomes a
responsible unit, knowing good and evil. Thus it is clear why the
"Teachers" are so reticent, and why "Chelas" are required
to serve a seven years probation to prove their fitness, and develop the
qualities necessary to the security of both Master and pupil.
(* So holy is the connection thus
formed deemed in the Greek Church, that a marriage between god-parents of the
same child is regarded as the worst kind of incest, is considered illegal and
is dissolved by law; and this absolute prohibition extends even to the children
of one of the sponsors as regards those of the other.)
Occultism is not magic. It is comparatively easy to learn the trick of
spells and the methods of using the subtler, but still material, forces of
physical nature; the powers of the animal soul in man are soon awakened; the
forces which his love, his hate, his passion, can call into operation, are
readily developed. But this is Black Magic — Sorcery. For it is the motive, and
the motive alone, which makes any exercise of power become black, malignant,
or white, beneficent Magic. It is impossible to employ spiritual forces if there is the slightest tinge of selfishness
remaining in the operator. For, unless the intention is entirely unalloyed, the
spiritual will transform itself into the psychic, act on the astral plane, and
dire results may be produced by it. The powers and forces of animal nature can
equally be used by the selfish and revengeful, as by the unselfish and the
all-forgiving; the powers and forces of spirit lend themselves only to the
perfectly pure in heart — and this is DIVINE MAGIC.
What are then the conditions required
to become a student of the "Divina Sapientia"?
For let it be known that no such
instruction can possibly be given unless these certain conditions are complied with,
and rigorously carried out during the years of study. This is a sine qua non. No man can swim unless he
enters deep water, No bird can fly unless its wings are grown, and it has space
before it and courage to trust itself to the air. A man who will wield a
two-edged sword, must be a thorough master of the blunt weapon, if he would not
injure himself — or what is worse — others, at the first attempt.
To give an approximate idea of the
conditions under which alone the study of Divine Wisdom can be pursued with
safety, that is, without danger that Divine will give place to Black Magic, a page
is given from the "private rules," with which every instructor in the
East is furnished. The few passages which follow are chosen from a great number
and explained in brackets.
1. The place selected for receiving
instruction must be a spot calculated not to distract the mind, and filled with
"influence-evolving" (magnetic) objects. The five sacred colours
gathered in a circle must be there among other things. The place must be free
from any malignant influences hanging about in the air.
[The place must be set apart, and
used for no other purpose. The five "sacred colours" are the
prismatic hues arranged in a certain way, as these colours are very magnetic.
By "malignant influences" are meant any disturbances through strifes,
quarrels, bad feelings, etc., as these are said to impress themselves
immediately on the astral light, i.e.,
in the atmosphere of the place, and to hang "about in the air." This
first condition seems easy enough to accomplish, yet — on further
consideration, it is one of the most difficult ones to obtain.]
2. Before the disciple shall be permitted
to study "face to face," he has to acquire preliminary understanding
in a select company of other lay upasaka
(disciples), the number of whom must be odd.
["Face to face," means in
this instance a study independent or apart from others, when the disciple gets
his instruction face to face either
with himself (his higher, Divine Self) or — his guru. It is then only that each
receives his due of information,
according to the use he has made of his knowledge. This can happen only toward
the end of the cycle of instruction.]
3. Before thou (the teacher) shalt
impart to thy Lanoo (disciple) the
good (holy) words of LAMRIN, or shall permit him "to make ready" for Dubjed, thou shalt take care that his
mind is thoroughly purified and at peace with all, especially with his other Selves. Otherwise the
words of Wisdom and of the good Law shall scatter and be picked up by the
winds.
["Lamrin" is a work of
practical instructions, by Tson-kha-pa, in two portions, one for ecclesiastical
and exoteric purposes, the other for esoteric use. "To make ready"
for Dubjed, is to prepare the vessels
used for seership, such as mirrors and crystals. The "other selves"
refers to the fellow-students. Unless the greatest harmony reigns among the
learners, no success is possible. It
is the teacher who makes the selections according to the magnetic and electric
natures of the students, bringing together and adjusting most carefully the
positive and the negative elements.]
4. The upasaka while studying must take care to be united as the ringers
on one hand. Thou shalt impress upon their minds that whatever hurts one should
hurt the others; and if the rejoicing of one finds no echo in the breasts of
the others, then the required conditions are absent, and it is useless to
proceed.
[This can hardly happen if the
preliminary choice made was consistent with the magnetic requirements. It is
known that chelas otherwise promising and fit for the reception of truth, had
to wait for years on account of their temper and the impossibility they felt to
put themselves in tune with their
companions. For —]
5. The co-disciples must be tuned by
the guru as the strings of a lute (vina), each different from the others, yet
each emitting sounds in harmony with all. Collectively they must form a key-board
answering in all its parts to thy lightest touch (the touch of the Master).
Thus their minds shall open for the harmonies of Wisdom, to vibrate as
knowledge through each and all, resulting in effects pleasing to the presiding
gods (tutelary or patron-angels) and useful to the Lanoo. So shall Wisdom be
impressed for ever on their hearts and the harmony of the law shall never be
broken.
6. Those who desire to acquire the
knowledge leading to the Siddhis
(occult powers) have to renounce all the vanities of life and of the world
(here follows enumeration of the Siddhis).
7. None can feel the difference
between himself and his fellow-students, such as "I am the wisest,"
"I am more holy and pleasing to the teacher, or in my community, than my
brother," etc., — and remain an upasaka. His thoughts must be
predominantly fixed upon his heart, chasing there from every hostile thought to
any living being. It (the heart) must be full of the feeling of its
non-separateness from the rest of beings as from all in Nature; otherwise no
success can follow.
8. A Lanoo (disciple) has to dread external living influence alone
(magnetic emanations from living creatures). For this reason, while at one with
all, in his inner nature, he must
take care to separate his outer (external) body from every foreign influence:
none must drink out of, or eat in his cup but him self. He must avoid bodily
contact (i.e., being touched or
touch) with human, as with animal being.
[No pet animals are permitted, and
it is forbidden even to touch certain trees and plants. A disciple has to live,
so to say, in his own atmosphere in order to individualise it for occult
purposes.]
9. The mind must remain blunt to all
but the universal truths in nature, lest the "Doctrine of the Heart"
should become only the "Doctrine of the Eye" (i.e., empty exoteric ritualism).
10. No animal food of whatever kind,
nothing that has life in it, should be taken by the disciple. No wine, no
spirits or opium should be used; for these are like the Lhamaym (evil spirits), who fasten upon the unwary, they devour the
understanding.
[Wine and Spirits are supposed to
contain and preserve the bad magnetism of all the men who helped in their
fabrication; the meat of each animal, to preserve the psychic characteristics
of its kind.]
11. Meditation, abstinence, the
observation of moral duties, gentle thoughts, good deeds and kind words, as
goodwill to all and entire oblivion of Self, are the most efficacious means of
obtaining knowledge and preparing for the reception of higher wisdom.
12. It is only by virtue of a strict
observance of the foregoing rules that a Lanoo can hope to acquire in good time
the Siddhis of the Arhats, the growth which makes him become gradually One with
the UNIVERSAL ALL.
_ _ _
These 12 extracts are taken from
among some 73 rules, to enumerate which would be useless as they would be
meaningless in Europe. But even these few are enough to show the immensity of
the difficulties which beset the path of the would-be "Upasaka," who
has been born and bred in Western lands*.
(* Be it remembered that all "Chelas," even lay
disciples, are called Upasaka until after their first initiation, when they
become Lanoo-Upasaka. To that day, even those who belong to Lamaseries and are
set apart, are considered as "laymen.")
All Western, and especially English,
education is instinct with the principle of emulation and strife; each boy is
urged to learn more quickly, to outstrip his companions, and to surpass them in
every possible way. What is miscalled "friendly rivalry" is
assiduously cultivated, and the same spirit is fostered and strengthened in
every detail of life.
With such ideas "educated into"
him from his childhood, how can a Western bring himself to feel towards his
co-students "as the fingers on one hand"?
Those co-students, too, are not of
his own selection, or chosen by
himself from personal sympathy and appreciation. They are chosen by his teacher
on far other grounds, and he who would be a student must first be strong enough to kill out in his heart all feelings of
dislike and antipathy to others. How many Westerns are ready even to attempt
this in earnest?
And then the details of daily life,
the command not to touch even the hand of one’s nearest and dearest. How contrary
to Western notions of affection and good feeling! How cold and hard it seems.
Egotistical too, people would say, to abstain from giving pleasure to others
for the sake of one’s own development. Well, let those who think so defer till
another lifetime the attempt to enter the path in real earnest. But let them
not glory in their own fancied unselfishness. For, in reality, it is only the
seeming appearances which they allow to deceive them, the conventional notions,
based on emotionalism and gush, or so-called courtesy, things of the unreal
life, not the dictates of Truth.
But even putting aside these
difficulties, which may be considered "external," though their
importance is none the less great, how are students in the West to "attune
themselves" to harmony as here required of them?
So strong has personality grown in
Europe and America, that there is no school of artists even whose members do
not hate and are not jealous of each other. "Professional" hatred and
envy have become proverbial; men seek each to benefit himself at all costs, and
even the so-called courtesies of life are but a hollow mask covering these
demons of hatred and jealousy.
In the East the spirit of "non-separateness"
is inculcated as steadily from childhood up, as in the West the spirit of
rivalry. Personal ambition, personal feelings and desires, are not encouraged
to grow so rampant there. When the soil is naturally good, it is cultivated in
the right way, and the child grows into a man in whom the habit of subordination
of one s lower to one’s higher Self is strong and powerful. In the West men
think that their own likes and dislikes of other men and things are guiding
principles for them to act upon, even when they do not make of them the law of
their lives and seek to impose them upon others.
Let those who complain that they
have learned little in the Theosophical Society lay to heart the words written
in an article in the Path for last
February: — "The key in each degree is the aspirant himself." It is not "the fear of God" which
is "the beginning of Wisdom," but the knowledge of SELF which is
WISDOM ITSELF.
How grand and true appears, thus, to
the student of Occultism who has commenced to realise some of the foregoing
truths, the answer given by the Delphic Oracle to all who came seeking after
Occult Wisdom — words repeated and enforced again and again by the wise
Socrates: — MAN KNOW THYSELF. . . .
OCCULTISM VERSUS THE OCCULT
ARTS
"I oft have heard, but ne’er believed till now.
There are, who can by potent magic spells
Bend to their crooked purpose Nature’s laws."
MILTON.
IN this month’s
"Correspondence" several letters testify to the strong impression
produced on some minds by our last month s article, Practical Occultism. Such letters go far to prove and strengthen
two logical conclusions.
a) There are more well-educated and thoughtful men who believe in the
existence of Occultism and Magic (the two differing vastly) than the modern
materialist dreams of; and —
b) That most of the believers (comprising many theosophists) have no
definite idea of the nature of Occultism and confuse it with the Occult
sciences in general, the “Black art” included.
Their representations of the powers it confers upon man, and of the
means to be used to acquire them are as varied as they are fanciful. Some
imagine that a master in the art, to show the way, is all that is needed to
become a Zanoni. Others, that one has but to cross the Canal of Suez and go to
India to bloom forth as a Roger Bacon or even a Count de St.-Germain.
Many take for their ideal, Margrave
with his ever-renewing youth, and care little for the soul as the price paid
for it. Not a few, mistaking "Witch-of-Endorism," pure and simple,
for Occultism — "through the yawning Earth from Stygian gloom, call up the
meagre ghosts to walks of light," and want, on the strength of this feat,
to be regarded as full-blown Adepts. "Ceremonial Magic," according to
the rules mockingly laid down by Eliphas Levi, is another imagined alter ego of the philosophy of the
Arhats of old. In short, the prisms through which Occultism appears, to those
innocent of the philosophy, are as multicoloured and varied as human fancy can
make them.
Will these candidates to Wisdom and Power feel very indignant if told
the plain truth?
It is not only useful, but it has now become necessary to disabuse most of them and before it is too late. This
truth may be said in a few words: There are not in the West half-a-dozen among
the fervent hundreds who call themselves "Occultists," who have even an approximately correct ideal of the
nature of the Science they seek to master. With a few exceptions, they are all
on the highway to Sorcery. Let them restore some order in the chaos that reigns
in their minds, before they protest against this statement. Let them first
learn the true relation in which the Occult Sciences stand to Occultism, and
the difference between the two, and then feel wrathful if they still think
themselves right. Meanwhile, let them learn that Occultism differs from Magic
and other secret Sciences as the glorious sun does from a rush-light, as the
immutable and immortal Spirit of Man — the reflection of the absolute,
causeless and unknowable ALL — differs from the mortal clay — the human body.
In our highly civilized West, where modern languages have been formed,
and words coined, in the wake of ideas and thoughts — as happened with every
tongue — the more the latter became materialized in the cold atmosphere of
Western selfishness and its incessant chase after the goods of this world, the
less was there any need felt for the production of new terms to express that
which was tacitly regarded as absolute and exploded "superstition." Such words could answer only to ideas which a
cultured man was scarcely supposed to harbour in his mind.
"Magic," a synonym for jugglery; "Sorcery," an equivalent for crass ignorance; and "Occultism," the sorry relic of crack-brained, mediaeval Fire-philosophers,
of the Jacob Böhmes and the Saint-Martins, are expressions believed more than
amply sufficient to cover the whole field of "thimble-rigging." They are terms of
contempt, and used generally only in reference to the dross and residues of the
dark ages and its preceding aeons of paganism. Therefore have we no terms in
the English tongue to define and shade the difference between such abnormal
powers, or the sciences that lead to the acquisition of them, with the nicety
possible in the Eastern languages — pre-eminently the Sanskrit. What do the
words "miracle" and "enchantment" (words identical in meaning after all, as both
express the idea of producing wonderful things by breaking the laws of nature (!!) as explained by the accepted
authorities) convey to the minds of those who hear, or who pronounce them?
A Christian — breaking "of the laws of
nature," notwithstanding — while believing firmly in the miracles, because said to have been produced by God through Moses,
will either scout the enchantments performed by Pharaoh’s magicians, or
attribute them to the devil. It is the latter whom our pious enemies connect
with Occultism, while their impious foes, the infidels, laugh at Moses,
Magicians, and Occultists, and would blush to give one serious thought to such "superstitions." This, because there
is no term in existence to show the difference; no words to express the lights
and shadows and draw the line of demarcation between the sublime and the true,
the absurd and the ridiculous. The latter are the theological interpretations
which teach the "breaking of the laws of Nature" by man, God, or devil; the former — the scientific "miracles” and enchantments of Moses and the Magicians in accordance with
natural laws, both having been learned in all the Wisdom of the Sanctuaries,
which were the "Royal Societies" of those days — and in true OCCULTISM. This last word is certainly
misleading, translated as it stands from the compound word Gupta-Vidya, "Secret Knowledge."
But the knowledge of what?
Some of the Sanskrit terms may help us. There are four (out of the many
other) names of the various kinds of Esoteric Knowledge or Sciences given, even
in the exoteric Puranas. There is:
(1) Yajna-Vidya*, knowledge of
the occult powers awakened in nature by the performance of certain religious ceremonies
and rites.
(* "The Yajna," say the Brahmans, "exists from eternity, for it
proceeded forth from the Supreme One ... in whom it lay dormant from ‘no beginning.’ It is the key to the
TRAIVIDYA, the thrice sacred science contained in the Rig verses, which teaches
the Yagus or sacrificial mysteries. ‘The Yajna’ exists as an invisible thing at
all times; it is like the latent power of electricity in an electrifying
machine, requiring only the operation of a suitable apparatus in order to be
elicited. It is supposed to extend from the Ahavaniya
or sacrificial fire to the heavens, forming a bridge or ladder by means of
which the sacrificer can communicate with the world of gods and spirits, and
even ascend when alive to their abodes." — Martin Haug’s
Aitareya Brahmana.
"This Yajna is again one of the forms of the Akasa; and the mystic word
calling it into existence and pronounced mentally by the initiated Priest is
the Lost Word receiving impulse through WILL POWER." — Isis Unveiled, vol. i, Intr.
See Aitareya Brahmana, Haug.)
(2) Mahavidya, the "great knowledge," the
magic of the Kabalists and of the Tantrika
worship, often Sorcery of the worst description.
(3) Guhya-Vidya, knowledge of the mystic powers residing in Sound
(Ether), hence in the Mantras (chanted prayers or incantations), and depending
on the rhythm and melody used; in other words, a magical performance based on
knowledge of the Forces of Nature and their correlation; and
(4) ATMA-VIDYA, a term which is translated
simply "Knowledge of the Soul," true
Wisdom by the Orientalists, but which means far more.
This last is the only kind of
Occultism that any Theosophist who admires "Light on the Path" and
who would be wise and unselfish, ought to strive after. All the rest is some
branch of the "Occult Sciences," i.e.,
arts based on the knowledge of the ultimate essence of all things in the
Kingdoms of Nature — such as minerals, plants and animals
— hence of things pertaining to the realm of material nature, how ever invisible that
essence may be, and howsoever much it has hitherto eluded the grasp of Science.
Alchemy, Astrology, Occult Physiology, Chiromancy, exist in Nature, and the exact Sciences — perhaps so
called, because they are found in this age of paradoxical philosophies the
reverse — have already discovered not a few of the above arts. But clairvoyance, symbolised in India
as the. "Eye of Siva," called in Japan, "Infinite Vision,"
is not Hypnotism, the illegitimate
son of Mesmerism, and is not to be acquired by such arts. All the others may be
mastered and results obtained, whether good, bad, or indifferent; but Atma-Vidya sets small value on them. It
includes them all and may even use them occasionally, but it does so after
purifying them of their dross, for beneficent purposes, and taking care to
deprive them of every element of selfish motive. Let us explain: Any man or
woman can set himself or herself to study one or all of the above specified
"Occult Arts" without any great previous preparation, and even
without adopting any too restraining mode of life. One could even dispense with
any lofty standard of morality. In the last case, of course, ten to one the
student would blossom into a very decent kind of sorcerer, and tumble down
headlong into black magic.
But what can this matter?
The Voodoos and the Dugpas
eat, drink, and are merry over hecatombs of victims of their infernal arts. And
so do the amiable gentlemen vivisectionists and the diploma-ed "Hypnotisers" of the Faculties of Medicine;
the only difference between the two classes being that the Voodoos and Dugpas
are conscious, and the Charcot-Richet
crew unconscious, Sorcerers. Thus,
since both have to reap the fruits of their labours and achievements in the
black art, the Western practitioners should not have the punishment and
reputation without the profits and enjoyments they may get therefrom. For we
say it again, hypnotism and vivisection as practised in such
Schools, are Sorcery pure and simple,
minus a knowledge that the Voodoos
and Dugpas en joy, and which no Charcot-Richet can procure for himself in fifty
years of hard study and experimental observation. Let, then, those who will
dabble in magic, whether they understand its nature or not, but who find the
rules imposed upon students too hard, and who, therefore, lay Atma-Vidya or
Occultism aside — go without it. Let them become
magicians by all means, even though they do become Voodoos and Dugpas for
the next ten incarnations.
But the interest of our readers will
probably centre on those who are invincibly attracted towards the "Occult,"
yet who neither realise the true nature of what they aspire towards, nor have
they become, passion-proof, far less, truly unselfish.
How about these unfortunates, we
shall be asked, who are thus rent in twain by conflicting forces?
For it has been said too often to
need repetition, and the fact itself is patent to any observer, that when once
the desire for Occultism has really .awakened in a man’s heart, there remains
for him no hope of peace, no place of rest and comfort in all the world. He is
driven out into the wild and desolate spaces of life by an ever-gnawing unrest
he cannot quell. His heart is too full of passion and selfish desire to permit
him to pass the Golden Gate; he cannot find rest or peace in ordinary life.
Must he then inevitably fall into sorcery and black magic, and through many
incarnations heap up for himself a terrible Karma?
Is there no other road for him?
Indeed there is, we answer. Let him
aspire to no higher than he feels able to accomplish. Let him not take a burden
upon himself too heavy for him to carry. Without ever becoming a "Mahatma,"
a Buddha or a Great Saint, let him study the philosophy and the "Science
of Soul" and he can be come one of the modest benefactors of humanity,
without any "superhuman" powers. Siddhis
(or the Arhat powers) are only for those who are able to "lead the life,
to comply with the terrible sacrifices required for such a training, and to
comply with them to the very letter.
Let them know at once and remember always, that true Occultism or Theosophy is the "Great Renunciation of
SELF," unconditionally and absolutely, in thought as in action.
It is ALTRUISM, and it throws him who
practises it out of calculation of the ranks of the living altogether. "Not
for himself, but for the world, he lives," as soon as he has pledged
himself to the work. Much is forgiven during the first years of probation. But
no sooner is he "accepted" than his personality must disappear, and
he has to become a mere beneficent force
in Nature.
There are two poles for him after
that, two paths, and no mid ward place of rest. He has either to ascend
laboriously, step by step, often through numerous incarnations and no Devachanic break, the golden ladder
leading to Mahatmaship (the Arhat or Bodhisattva condition), or — he will let
himself slide down the ladder at the first false step, and roll down into
Dugpaship. . . .
All this is either unknown or left out
of sight altogether. Indeed, one who is able to follow the silent evolution of
the preliminary aspirations of the candidates often finds strange ideas quietly
taking possession of their minds. There are those whose reasoning powers have
been so distorted by foreign influences that they imagine that animal passions
can be so sublimated and elevated that their fury, force, and fire can, so to
speak, be turned inwards; that they can be stored and shut up in one’s breast,
until their energy is, not expanded, but turned toward higher and more holy
purposes: namely, until their collective
and unexpanded strength enables their possessor to enter the true Sanctuary of the Soul and stand therein
in the presence of the Master — the HIGHER
SELF. For this purpose they will not struggle with their passions nor slay
them. They will simply, by a strong effort of will, put down the fierce flames
and keep them at bay within their natures, allowing the fire to smoulder under
a thin layer of ashes. They submit joyfully to the torture of the Spartan boy
who allowed the fox to devour his entrails rather than part with it. Oh, poor
blind visionaries!
As well hope that a band of drunken
chimney-sweeps, hot and greasy from their work, may be shut up in a Sanctuary
hung with pure white linen, and that instead of soiling and turning it by their
presence into a heap of dirty shreds, they will become masters in and of the
sacred recess, and finally emerge from it as immaculate as that recess.
Why not imagine that a dozen of
skunks imprisoned in the pure atmosphere of a Dgon-pa (a monastery) can issue out of it impregnated with all the
perfumes of the incenses used? . . .
Strange aberration of the human
mind!
Can it be so?
Let us argue.
The "Master" in the
Sanctuary of our souls is "the Higher Self" — the divine
spirit whose consciousness is based upon and derived solely (at any rate during
the mortal life of the man in whom it is captive) from the Mind, which we have
agreed to call the Human Soul (the "Spiritual Soul "
being the vehicle of the Spirit). In its turn the former (the personal or human soul) is a compound,
in its highest form, of spiritual aspirations, volitions, and divine love; and
in its lower aspect, of animal desires and terrestrial passions imparted to it
by its associations with its vehicle, the seat of all these. It thus stands as
a link and a medium between the animal nature of man which its higher reason
seeks to subdue, and his divine spiritual nature to which it gravitates,
whenever it has the upper hand in its struggle with the inner animal. The latter is the instinctual "animal
Soul," and is the hotbed of those passions which, as just shown, are
lulled instead of being killed, and locked up in their breasts by some imprudent
enthusiasts.
Do they still hope to turn thereby
the muddy stream of the animal sewer into the crystalline waters of life? And
where, on what neutral ground, can they be imprisoned so as not to affect man?
The fierce passions of love and lust
are still alive, and they are allowed to still remain in the place of their
birth — that same
animal soul; for both the higher and the lower portions of the "Human Soul"
or Mind reject such inmates, though they cannot avoid being tainted with them
as neighbours. The "Higher Self" or Spirit is as unable to Assimilate
such feelings as water to get mixed with oil or unclean liquid tallow. It is
thus the mind alone — the sole link and medium between the
man of earth and the Higher Self — that is the only sufferer, and which
is in incessant danger of being dragged down by those passions that may be
reawakened at any moment, and perish in the abyss of matter. And how can it
ever attune itself to the divine harmony of the highest Principle, when that
harmony is destroyed by the mere presence, within the Sanctuary in preparation,
of such animal passions?
How can harmony prevail and conquer,
when the soul is stained and distracted with the turmoil of passions and the
terrestrial desires of the bodily senses, or even of the "Astral
man"?
For this "Astral" — the shadowy "double"
(in the animal as in man) is not the companion of the divine Ego but of the earthly body. It is the link between the
personal SELF, the lower consciousness of Manas and the Body, and is the
vehicle of transitory, not of immortal
life. Like the shadow projected by man, it follows his movements and
impulses slavishly and mechanically, and leans therefore to matter without ever
ascending to Spirit. It is only when the power of the passions is dead
altogether, and when they have been crushed and annihilated in the retort of an
unflinching will; when not only all the lusts and longings of the flesh are
dead, but also the recognition of the personal Self is killed out and the
"Astral" has been reduced in consequence to a cipher, that the Union with
the "Higher Self" can take place.
Then when the "Astral"
reflects only the conquered man, the still living but no more the longing,
selfish personality, then the brilliant Augoeides,
the divine SELF, can vibrate in conscious harmony with both the poles of the
human Entity — the man of matter purified, and the ever pure
Spiritual Soul — and stand in the presence of the
MASTER SELF, the Christos of the mystic Gnostic, blended, merged into, and one
with IT for ever*.
(* Those who would feel inclined to
see three Egos in one man will show
themselves unable to perceive the metaphysical meaning. Man is a trinity
composed of Body, Soul, and Spirit; but man
is nevertheless one, and is surely not his body. It is the
latter which is the property, the transitory clothing of the man. The three
"Egos" are MAN in his three aspects on the astral, intellectual or
psychic, and the Spiritual planes o states.)
How, then, can it be thought possible
for a man to enter the "strait gate" of occultism when his daily and
hourly thoughts are bound up with worldly things, desires of possession and
power, with lust, ambition, and duties which, however honourable, are still of
the earth earthy?
Even the love for wife and family — the purest
as the most unselfish of human affections — is a barrier
to real occultism. For whether we
take as an example the holy love of a mother for her child, or that of a
husband for his wife, even in these feelings, when analysed to the very bottom,
and thoroughly sifted, there is still selfishness
in the first, and an egoisme a deux
in the second instance. What mother would not sacrifice without a moment s
hesitation hundreds and thousands of lives for that of the child of her heart? And
what lover or true husband would not break the happiness of every other man and
woman around him to satisfy the desire of one whom he loves?
This is but natural, we shall be
told. Quite so, in the light of the code of human affections; less so, in that
of divine universal love. For, while the heart is full of thoughts for a little
group of selves, near and dear to us,
how shall the rest of mankind fare in our souls? What percentage of love and
care will there remain to bestow on the "great orphan"? And how shall
the "still small voice" make itself heard in a soul entirely occupied
with its own privileged tenants? What room is there left for the needs of
Humanity en bloc to impress
themselves upon, or even receive a speedy response? And yet, he who would
profit by the wisdom of the universal mind, has to reach it through the whole of Humanity without distinction of
race, complexion, religion, or social status.
It is altruism, not ego-ism even
in its most legal and noble conception, that can lead the unit to merge its
little Self in the Universal Selves. It is to these needs and to this work that the true disciple of true
Occultism has to devote himself if he would obtain theo-sophy, divine Wisdom and Knowledge.
The aspirant has to choose
absolutely between the life of the world and the life of occultism. It is
useless and vain to endeavour to unite the two, for no one can serve two
masters and satisfy both. No one can serve his body and the higher Soul, and do
his family duty and his universal duty, without depriving either one or the
other of its rights; for he will either lend his ear to the "still small
voice" and fail to hear the cries of his little ones, or, he will listen
but to the wants of the latter and remain deaf to the voice of Humanity. It
would be a ceaseless, a maddening struggle for almost any married man, who
would pursue true practical Occultism, instead of its theoretical philosophy. For he would find himself ever hesitating
between the voice of the impersonal divine love of Humanity, and that of the
personal, terrestrial love. And this could only lead him to fail in one or the
other, or perhaps in both his duties. Worse than this. For, whoever indulges, after having pledged
himself to OCCULTISM, in the gratification of a terrestrial love
or lust, must feel an almost immediate result — that of
being irresistibly dragged from the impersonal divine state down to the lower
plane of matter. Sensual, or even mental, self-gratification involves the immediate
loss of the powers of spiritual discernment; the voice of the MASTER can no
longer be distinguished from that of one s passions, or even that of a Dugpa; the right from wrong; sound morality from
mere casuistry. The Dead Sea fruit assumes the most glorious mystic appearance,
only to turn to ashes on the lips, and to gall in the heart, resulting in:
"Depth ever deepening,
darkness darkening still;
Folly for wisdom, guilt for
innocence;
Anguish for rapture, and for
hope despair."
And once being mistaken and having
acted on their mistakes, most men shrink from realising their error, and thus
descend deeper and deeper into the mire. And, although it is the intention that
decides primarily whether white or black magic is exercised, yet the
results even of involuntary, unconscious sorcery cannot fail to be productive
of bad Karma. Enough has been said to show that sorcery is any kind of evil influence exercised upon other persons, who
suffer, or make other persons suffer, in consequence. Karma is a heavy
stone splashed in the quiet waters of Life; and it must produce ever widening
circles of ripples, carried wider and wider, almost ad infinitum. Such causes produced have to call forth effects and
these are evidenced in the just laws of Retribution.
Much of this may be avoided if
people will only abstain from rushing into practices neither the nature nor
importance of which they understand. No one is expected to carry a burden
beyond his strength and powers. There are "natural born magicians";
Mystics and Occultists by birth, and by right of direct inheritance from a
series of in carnations and aeons of suffering and failures. These are
passion-proof, so to say. No fires of earthly origin can fan into a flame any
of their senses or desires; no human voice can find response in their souls,
except the great cry of Humanity. These only may be certain of success. But
they can be met only far and wide, and they pass through the narrow gates of
Occultism because they carry no personal luggage of human transitory sentiments
along with them. They have got rid of the feeling of the lower personality,
paralysed thereby the "astral" animal, and the golden, but narrow
gate is thrown open before them. Not so with those who have to carry yet for
several incarnations the burden of sins committed in previous lives, and even
in their present existence. For such, unless they proceed with great caution,
the golden gate of Wisdom may get transformed into the wide gate and the broad
way "that leadeth unto destruction," and therefore "many be they
that enter in thereby."
This is the Gate of the Occult arts,
practised for selfish motives and, in the absence of the restraining and
beneficent influence of ATMA-VIDYA. We are in the Kali Yuga and its fatal
influence is a thousand fold more powerful in the West than it is in the East;
hence the easy preys made by the Powers of the Age of Darkness in this cyclic
struggle, and the many delusions under which the world is now labouring. One of
these is the relative facility with which men fancy they can get at the
"Gate" and cross the thresh old of Occultism without any great sacrifice.
It is the dream of most Theosophists, one inspired by desire for power and
personal selfishness, and it is not such feelings that can ever lead them to
the coveted goal. For, as well said by one believed to have sacrificed himself for
Humanity "narrow is the gate and straitened the way that leadeth unto
life" eternal, and therefore "few be they that find it." So
strait indeed, that at the bare mention of some of the preliminary difficulties
the affrighted Western candidates turn back and retreat with a shudder. . . .
Let them stop here and attempt no
more in their great weakness. For if while turning their backs on the narrow
gate, they are dragged by their desire for the Occult one step in the direction
of the broad and more inviting Gates of that golden mystery which glitters in
the light of illusion, woe to them! It can lead only to Dugpaship, and they
will be sure to find themselves very soon landed on that Via Fatah of the Inferno,
over whose portal Dante read the words:
"Per tne si va nella citta dolente
Per me si va neW eterno dolore
Per me si va tra la perduta genie. .
."
SOME PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS
FOR DAILY LIFE
PREFACE
THE quotations of which the
following article is composed were not originally extracted with a view to
publication, and may therefore appear somewhat disjointed.
They were first published as a Theosophical Sifting, in the hope that
readers might take the hint, and make daily books of extracts for themselves,
thus preserving a lasting record of the books read, and rendering their reading
of practical value. By following this plan, the reader would concentrate in a
brief space whatever has appealed to him as being the essence of the book.
The plan of reading a set of
quotations each morning, trying to live up to them during the day, and
meditating upon them in leisure moments, is also suggested as helpful to the
earnest student.
I
RISE early, as soon as you are
awake, without lying idly in bed, half-waking and half-dreaming. Then earnestly
pray that all mankind may be spiritually regenerated, that those who are
struggling on the path of truth may be encouraged by your prayers and work more
earnestly and successfully, and that you may be strengthened and not yield to
the seductions of the senses. Picture before your mind the form of your Master
as engaged in Samadhi, Fix it before you, fill in all the details, think of him
with reverence, and pray that all mistakes of omission and commission may be
for given. This will greatly facilitate concentration, purify your heart, and
do much more. Or reflect upon the defects of your character: thoroughly realise their evils and the
transient pleasures they give you, and firmly will that you shall try your
best not to yield to them the next time. This self-analysis and bringing
yourself before the bar of your own conscience facilitates, in a degree
hitherto undreamt of, your spiritual progress. When you bathe, exercise during
the whole time your will, that your moral impurities should be washed away with
those of your body. In your relations with others observe the following rules.
1. Never do anything which you are
not bound to do as your duty; that is, any unnecessary thing. Before you do a thing, think whether it
is your duty to do it.
2. Never speak an unnecessary word. Think of the effects your words
might produce before you give utterance to them. Never allow yourself to violate your principles by the force of your
company.
3. Never allow any unnecessary or
vain thought to occupy your mind. This is more easily said than done. You
cannot make your mind a blank all at once. So in the beginning try to prevent
evil or idle thoughts by occupying your mind with the analysis of your own
faults, or the contemplation of the Perfect Ones.
4. During meals exercise your will,
that your food should be properly digested and build for you a body in harmony
with your spiritual aspirations, and not create evil passion and wicked
thoughts. Eat only when you are hungry and drink when you are thirsty, and never otherwise. If some particular
preparation attracts your palate, do not allow yourself to be seduced into
taking it simply to gratify that craving. Remember that the pleasure you derive
from it had no existence some seconds be fore, and that it will cease to exist
some seconds afterwards; that it is a transient pleasure? that that which is a
pleasure now will turn into pain if you take it in large quantities; that it
gives pleasure only to the tongue; that if you are put to a great trouble to
get that thing, and if you allow yourself to be seduced by it, you will not be ashamed
at any thing to get it; that while there is another object that can give you
eternal bliss, this centering your affections on a transient thing is sheer
folly; that you are neither the body nor the sense, and therefore the pleasure
and the pains which these endure can
never affect you really, and so on.
Practise the same train of reasoning
in the case of every other temptation, and, though you will often fail, yet you
will achieve a surer success. Do not read
much. If a you read for ten minutes, reflect for as many hours. Habituate
yourself to solitude, and to remaining alone with your thoughts.
Accustom yourself to the thought
that no one beside yourself can assist
you, and wean away your affections from all things gradually. Before you
sleep, pray as you did in the morning. Review
the actions of the day, and see wherein you have failed, and resolve that
you will not fail in them to-morrow.
(Theosophist, August 1889, p. 647)
II
THE right motive for seeking
self-knowledge is that which pertains to knowledge
and not to self. Self-knowledge is worth seeking by virtue of its being
knowledge, and not by virtue of its pertaining to self. The main requisite for
acquiring self-know ledge is pure love. Seek knowledge for pure love, and
self-knowledge eventually crowns the effort. The fact of a student growing
impatient is proof positive that he works for reward, and not for love, and
that, in its turn proves that he does not deserve the great victory in store
for those who really work for pure love.
(Theosophist, August 1889, p. 663)
The "God" in us — that is to
say, the Spirit of Love and Truth, Justice and Wisdom, Goodness and Power — should be
our only true and permanent Love, our
only reliance in everything, our only Faith,
which, standing firm as a rock, can for ever be trusted; our only Hope, which will never fail us if all
other things perish; and the only object which we must seek to obtain, by our
Patience, waiting contentedly until our evil Karma has been exhausted and the
divine Redeemer will reveal to us his presence within our soul. The door
through which he enters is called Contentment;
for he who is discontented with himself is discontented with the law that made
him such as he is; and as God is Himself
the Law, God will not come to those that are discontented with Him.
(Theosophical Siftings, No. 8, vol.
ii, p. 9, Hartmann)
If we admit that we are in the
stream of evolution, then each
circumstance must be to us quite
right. And in our failure to perform set acts should be our greatest help, for
we can in no other way learn that calmness which Krishna insists upon. If all
our plans succeeded, then no contrasts would appear to us. Also those plans we
make may all be made ignorantly, and thus wrongly, and kind Nature will not
permit us to carry them out. We get no blame for the plan, but we may acquire
karmic demerit by not accepting the impossibility of achieving. If you are at
all cast down, then by just that much are your thoughts lessened in power. One
could be confined in a prison and yet be a worker for the cause. So I pray you
to remove from your mind any distaste for present circumstances. If you can
succeed in looking at it all as just what
you in fact desired*, then it will act not only as a strengthener of your
thoughts, but will act reflexly on your body and make it stronger.
(Path, August 1889, p. 131)
(* "You" meaning the
Higher Self. We are as we make ourselves.)
To act and act wisely when the time
for action comes, to wait and wait patiently when it is time for repose, put
man in accord with the rising and falling tides, so that, with nature and law
at his back and truth and beneficence as his beacon light, he may accomplish
wonders. If these principles are true in the field of action and in the world
at large, they are equally true in the life of man and in all private affairs.
Ignorance of this law results in periods of unreasoning enthusiasm on the one
hand, and depression and even despair on the other. Man thus becomes the victim
of the tides, when he should be their master.
(Path, July 1889, p. 107)
Have patience, Candidate, as one who fears no failure,
courts no success.
(Voice of the Silence, p. 31)
The accumulated energy cannot be annihilated, it must be transferred to others forms,
or be transformed into others modes of motion; it cannot remain for ever
inactive and yet continue to exist. It is useless to attempt to resist a
passion which we cannot control. If its accumulating energy is not led into
other channels, it will grow until it becomes stronger than will, and stronger
than reason. To control it, you must
lead it into another and higher
channel. Thus a love for some thing vulgar may be changed by turning it into a
love for something high, and vice may be
changed into virtue by changing its aim. Passion is blind, it goes where it
is led, and reason is a safer guide for it than the instinct. Stored up anger
(or love) will find some object upon
which to spend its fury, else it may produce an explosion destructive to its
possessor; tranquility follows a storm.
The ancients said that nature suffers no vacuum. We cannot destroy or
annihilate a passion. If it is driven away, another elemental influence will
take its place. We should therefore not attempt to destroy the low without
putting something in its place, but we should displace the low by the high;
vice by virtue, and superstition by knowledge.
(Magic, p. 126, Hartmann)
Ill
LEARN that there is no cure for
desire, no cure for the love of reward, no cure for the misery of longing, save
in the fixing of the sight and hearing on that which is invisible and
soundless.
(Light on the Path, karma, p. 35)
A man must believe in his innate
power of progress. A man must refuse to be terrified by his greater nature, and
must not be drawn back by his lesser or material self.
(Light on the Path, comments)
All the past shows us that
difficulty is no excuse for dejection, much less for despair, else the world
would have been without the many wonders of civilization.
(Through the Gates of Gold, p. 69)
Strength to step forward is the
primary need of him who has chosen his path. Where is this to be found? Looking
round, it is not hard to see where other men find their strength. Its source is
profound conviction.
(Op. cit. p. 87)
Abstain because it is right to
abstain, not that yourself shall be kept clean.
(Light on the Path)
The man who wars against himself and
wins the battle can do it only when he knows that in that war he is doing the
one thing which is worth doing.
(Through the Gates of Gold, p. 118)
"Resist not evil," that
is, do not complain of or feel anger against the inevitable disagreeables of
life. Forget yourself (in working for
others). If men revile, persecute, or wrong one, why resist? In the resistance
we create greater evils.
(Path, August 1887, p. 151)
The immediate work, whatever it may
be, has the abstract claim of duty, and its relative importance or
non-importance is not to be considered at all.
(Lucifer, February 1888, p. 478)
The best remedy for evil is not the
suppression, but the elimination of desire, and this can best be accomplished
by keeping the mind constantly steeped in things divine. The know ledge of the
Higher Self is snatched away by engaging the mind in brooding over or
contemplating with pleasure the objects which correspond to the unruly sense.
(Bhagavad Gita, p. 60, all
quotations are taken from Mohini’s translation.)
Our own nature is so base, proud,
ambitious, and so full of its own appetites, judgments, and opinions, that if
temptations restrained it not, it would be undone without remedy; therefore are
we tempted to the end that we may know ourselves and be humble. Know that the
greatest temptation is to be without temptation, wherefore be glad when it
assaults thee, and with resignation, peace, and constancy resist it.
(Molinos, Spiritual Guide)
Feel that you have nothing to do for yourself, but that certain charges
are laid upon you by the Deity, which you must fulfill. Desire God, and not any thing that he can give.
(Bhagavad Gita, p. 182)
Whatever there is to do, has to be done, but not for the sake of
enjoying the fruit of action.
(Bhagavad Gita, introduction)
If all one’s acts are performed with
the full conviction that they are of no value to the actor, but are to be done
simply because they have to be done in other words, because it is in our nature
to act then the personality of egotism in us will grow weaker and weaker until
it comes to rest, permitting the knowledge revealing the True Self to shine out
in all its splendour.
One must not allow joy or pain to
shake one from one s fixed purpose.
(Light on the Path, comments)
Until the master chooses you to come
to him, be with humanity, and unselfishly work for its progress and
advancement. This alone can bring true satisfaction.
(Path, December 1886, p. 279)
Knowledge increases in proportion to
its use that is, the more we teach the more we learn. Therefore, Seeker after
Truth, with the faith of a little child and the will of an Initiate, give of
your store to him who hath not wherewithal to comfort him on his journey.
(The source is unreadable)
A disciple must fully recognise in the
very thought of individual rights only the outcome of the venom quality of the
snake of Self. He never regards another man as a person who can be criticised
or condemned, nor may he raise his voice in defence or excuse.
(Lucifer, January 1888. p. 382)
No man is your enemy: no man is your friend. All alike are your teachers.
(Light on the Path. p. 25)
One must no longer work for the attachment of any benefit, temporal or spiritual, but to fulfill the law of being which
the righteous will of God is.
(Bhagavad Gita, Introduction)
IV
LIVE neither in the present nor the
future, but in the eternal. The giant
weed (of evil) cannot flower there; this blot upon existence is wiped out by
the very atmosphere of eternal thought.
(Light on the Path, rule 4)
Purity of heart is a necessary
condition for the attainment of "Knowledge of the Spirit." There are
two principal means by which this purification may be attained. First, drive
away persistently every bad thought; secondly, preserve an even mind under all conditions,
never be agitated or irritated at
anything. It will be found that these two means of purification are best
promoted by devotion and charity. We must not sit idle and make no attempt to advance because we do not feel
our selves pure. Let everyone aspire,
and let them work in right earnest, but they must work in the right way, and
the first step of that way is to purify the heart.
(Theosophist, October 1888, p. 44)
The mind requires purification when
ever anger is felt or a falsehood is told, or the faults of another needlessly disclosed; whenever anything is said
or done for the purpose of flattery, or any one is deceived by the insincerity
of a speech or an act.
(Bhagavad Gita, p. 325)
Those who wish for salvation ought
to avoid lust, anger and greed, and cultivate courageous obedience to the
Scriptures, study of Spiritual philosophy, and perseverance in its practical realisation.
(Bhagavad Gita, p. 240)
He who is led by selfish
considerations cannot enter a heaven where personal considerations do not
exist. He who does not care for Heaven,
but is contented where he is, is already in Heaven, while the discontented
will in vain clamour for it. To be without personal desires is to be free and
happy, and "Heaven" can mean nothing else but a state in which
freedom and happiness exist. The man who performs beneficial acts induced by a
hope of reward is not happy unless the reward is obtained, and if his reward is
obtained his happiness ends. There can be no permanent rest and happiness as
long as there is some work to be done, and not accomplished, and the fulfillment
of duties brings its own reward.
(Magic, intro., p. 34, Hartmann)
He who thinks himself holier than
another, he who has any pride in his own exemption from vice or folly, he who
believes himself wise, or in any way superior to his fellow-men, is in capable
of discipleship. A man must become as a little child before he can enter the
Kingdom of Heaven. Virtue and wisdom are sublime things, but if they create
pride and a consciousness of separateness from the rest of humanity, they are
only the snakes of self reappearing in a finer form. The sacrifice or surrender
of the heart of man and its emotions is the first of the
rules; it involves "the attaining of an equilibrium which cannot be shaken
by personal emotion." Put, without delay, your good intentions into
practice, never leaving a single one to remain only an intention. Our only true
course is to let the motive for action be in the action itself, never in its
reward; not to be in cited to action by the hope of the result, nor yet indulge
a propensity to inertness.
Through faith* the heart is purified from passion and folly; from that
comes mastery over the body, and, last of all, subjugation of the senses.
(Bhagavad Gita, p. 95)
(* i.e., knowledge, and this
comes by the practice or unselfishness and kindness.)
The characteristics of the
illuminated sage are, 1st, he is free
from all desires*, and knows that the
true Ego or Supreme, Spirit alone is bliss, all else is pain. 2nd, that he is free from attachment
and repulsion towards whatever may befall him, and that he acts with out
determination. Lastly comes the
subjugation of the senses, which is
useless, and frequently injurious as breeding hypocrisy and spiritual pride,
without the second, and that again is not of much use without the first.
(Bhagavad Gita, p. 61)
(* This can best be accomplished by
keeping the mind constantly steeped in things divine.)
He who does not practise altruism,
he who is not prepared to share his last morsel* with a weaker or poorer than
himself, he who neglects to help his brother man, of whatever race, nation, or
creed, wherever and whenever he meets suffering, and who
turns a deaf ear to the cry of human misery; he who hears an innocent person
slandered, and does not undertake his defence as he would undertake his own, is
no Theosophist.
(* This must be taken in its widest sense also, i.e., spiritual knowledge, etc.)
V
No man does right who gives up the
unmistakable duties of life, resting on Divine command. He who performs duties,
thinking that if they are not performed some evil will come to him, or that
their performance will remove difficulties from his path, works for result.
Duties should simply be done because commanded by God, who may at any time
command their abandonment. So long as the restlessness of our nature is not
reduced to tranquility we must work, consecrating to the Deity all fruit of our
action, and attribute to Him the power to perform works rightly. The true life of man is rest in identity with the Supreme Spirit.
This life is not brought into
existence by any act of ours, it is a reality, "the truth," and is altogether independent of us. The
realisation of the non-existence of all that seems opposed to this truth is a new consciousness and not an act. Man’s liberation
is in no way related to his acts. In so far as acts promote the realisation of
our utter inability to emancipate ourselves from conditioned existence, they
are of use; after this stage is realised acts become obstacles rather than
helps. Those who work in obedience to Divine commands, knowing that the power
thus to work is a gift of God, and no part of man’s self-conscious nature,
attain to freedom from the need of action. Then the pure heart is filled by the
truth, and identity with the Deity is perceived. A man must first get rid of
the idea that he himself really does
anything, knowing that all actions take place in the "three natural
qualities" (i.e., the three gunas) and not in the soul at
all.
Then he must place all his actions
on devotion. That is, sacrifice all
his actions to the Supreme and not to himself. He must either set himself up as the God to whom he
sacrifices, or the other real God —
Ishvara; and all his acts and aspirations are done either for himself or for
the All. Here comes in the importance
of motive. For if he performs great
deeds of valour, or of benefit to man, or acquires knowledge so as to assist
man, and is moved to that merely because he thus thinks he will attain salvation, he is only acting for his own benefit,
and is therefore sacrificing to himself.
Therefore he must be devoted
inwardly to the All; knowing that he
is not the doer of the actions, but
the mere witness of them. As he is in
a mortal body he is affected by doubts which will spring up. When they do
arise, it is because he is ignorant about something. He should therefore be
able to disperse doubt "by the sword of knowledge." For if he has a
ready answer to some doubt he disperses that much. All doubts come from the lower nature, and never in any case from
the higher nature. Therefore as he becomes more and more devoted he is able to know more and more clearly the knowledge
residing in his Sattva (goodness) nature.
For it says: "A man who is
perfected in devotion (or who
persists in its cultivation) finds spiritual knowledge spontaneously in himself
in progress of time." Also, "A man of doubtful mind enjoys neither
this world nor the other (the Deva world), nor final beatitude."
The last sentence is to destroy the
idea that if there is in us this Higher Self it will, even if we are indolent
and doubtful, triumph over the necessity for knowledge and lead us to final
beatitude in common with the whole stream of mankind.
(Path, July 1889, p. 109)
True prayer is the contemplation of
all sacred things, of their application to ourselves, our daily life and
actions, accompanied by the most heartfelt and intense desire to make their
influence stronger and our lives better and nobler, that some knowledge of them
may be vouchsafed to us. All such thoughts must be closely interwoven with a
consciousness of the Supreme and Divine Essence from which all things have
sprung.
(Path, August 1889, p. 159)
Spiritual culture is attained
through concentration. It must be
continued daily and every moment to be of
use. Meditation has been defined as "the cessation of active external
thought." Concentration is the
entire life-tendency to a given end. For example, a devoted mother is one who
consults the interests of her children and all
branches of their interests in and before all things; not one who sits down to
think fixedly about one branch of
their interests all the day. Thought has a self-reproductive power, and when
the mind is held steadily to one idea it becomes coloured by it, and, as we may
say, all the correlates of that thought arise within the mind. Hence the mystic
obtains know ledge about any object of which he thinks constantly in fixed
contemplation.
Here is the rationale of Krishna’s words.
"Think constantly of me; depend on me alone, and thou shalt surely come to me" Life is the great teacher: it is
the great manifestation of Soul, and Soul manifests the Supreme. Hence all
methods are good, and all are but parts of the great aim, which is Devotion.
"Devotion is success in actions," says the Bhagavad Gita. The psychic powers, as they come, must also be used,
for they reveal laws. But their value must not be exaggerated, nor must their
danger be ignored. He who relies on them is like a man who gives way to pride
and triumph because he has reached the first wayside station on the peaks he
has set out to climb.
(Path, July 1889, p. 111)
VI
IT is an eternal law that man cannot
be redeemed by a power external to him
self. Had this been possible, an angel might long ago have visited the
earth, uttered heavenly truths, and, by manifesting the faculties of a
spiritual nature, proved a hundred facts to the consciousness of man of which
he is ignorant.
(Spirit of the New Testament, p. 508)
Crime is committed in the Spirit as
truly as in the deeds of the body. He who for any cause hates another, who
loves revenge, and will not forgive an injury, is full of the spirit of murder,
though none may know it. He who bows before false creeds, and crushes his
conscience at the bidding of any institution, blasphemes his own divine soul,
and therefore "takes the name of God in vain" though he never utters
an oath. He who desires and is in sympathy with the mere pleasures of sense,
either in or out of the married relation, is the real adulterer. He who
deprives any of his fellows of the light, the good, the help, the assistance he
can wisely give them, and lives for the accumulation of material things, for
his own personal gratification, is the real robber; and he who steals from his
fellows the precious possession of character by slander, and any sort of
misrepresentation, is no less a thief, and one of the most guilty kind.
(Spirit of the New Testament, p. 513)
If men were only honest with them
selves and kindly disposed towards
others, a tremendous change would take place in their estimate of the value of
life, and of the things of this life.
(Theosophist, July 1889, p. 590)
DEVELOP THOUGHT. Strive, by
concentrating the whole force of your soul, to shut the door of your mind to
all stray thoughts, allowing none to enter but those calculated to reveal to
you the unreality of sense-life, and the Peace of the Inner World. Ponder day
and night over the unreality of all your surroundings and of yourself. The
springing up of evil thoughts is less
injurious than that of idle and in different ones. Because as to evil thoughts
you are always on your guard, and, having determined to fight and conquer them,
this determination helps to develop the will power. Indifferent thoughts,
however, serve merely to distract the attention and waste energy. The first
great basic delusion you have to get over is the identification of your self
with the physical body. Begin to think of this body as nothing better than the
house you have to live in for a time, and then you will never yield to its
temptations. Try also with consistent attempts to conquer the prominent
weaknesses of your nature by developing thought in the direction that will kill
each particular passion. After your first efforts you will begin to feel an
indescribable vacuum and blankness in your heart; fear not, but regard this as
the soft twilight heralding the rise of the sun of Spiritual bliss. Sadness is
not an evil. Complain not; what seem to be sufferings and obstacles are often
in reality the mysterious efforts of nature to help you in your work if you can
manage them properly. Look upon all
circumstances with the gratitude of a pupil.
(Theosophical Siftings, No. 3, vol.
2, 1889)
All complaint is a rebellion against
the law of progress. That which is to be shunned is pain not yet come. The past
cannot be changed or amended; that which belongs to the experiences of the
present cannot and should not be
shunned; but alike to be shunned are disturbing
anticipations or fears of the future, and every act or impulse that may
cause present or future pain to ourselves or others.
(Patanjali’s Yoga Aphorisms.)
VII
THERE is no more valuable thing
possessed by any individual than an exalted ideal towards which he continually
aspires, and after which he moulds his thoughts and feelings, and forms, as
best he may, his life. If he thus strives to become rather than to seem,
he can not fail to continually approach nearer his aim. He will not, however,
reach this point without a struggle, nor will the real progress that he is
conscious of making fill him with conceit or self-righteousness.; for if his
ideal be high, and his progress towards it real, he will be the rather
humiliated than puffed up. The possibilities of further advancement, and the
conception of still higher planes of being that open before him, will not
dampen his ardour, though they will surely kill his conceit. It is just this
conception of the vast possibilities of human life that is needed to kill out ennui, and to convert apathy into zest.
Life thus becomes worth living for its own sake when its mission becomes plain,
and its splendid opportunities are once appreciated.
The most direct and certain way of
reaching this higher plane is the cultivation of the principle of altruism, both in thought
and life. Narrow indeed is the sweep of vision that is limited to self, and
that measures all .things by the principle of self-interest, for while the soul
is thus self limited it is impossible for it to conceive of any high ideal, or
to approach any higher plane of life. The conditions of such advancement lie within rather than without, and are
fortunately made independent of circumstances and condition in life. The
opportunity therefore is offered to everyone
of advancing from height to height of being, and of thus working with nature in
the accomplishment of the evident purpose of life.
(Man, J. Buck, p. 106)
If we believe that the object of
life is simply to render our material self satisfied, and to keep it in
comfort, and that material comfort confers the highest state of possible
happiness, we mistake the low for the high, and an illusion for the truth. Our
material mode of life is a consequence of the material constitution of our
bodies. We are "worms of the earth" because we cling with all our
aspirations to earth. If we can enter upon a path of evolution, by which we
become less material and more ethereal, a very different order of civilisation
would be established. Things which now appear indispensable and necessary would
cease to be useful; if we could transfer our consciousness with the velocity of
thought from one part of the globe to another, the present modes of
communication would be no longer required. The deeper we sink into matter, the
more material means for comfort will be needed; the essential and powerful god in man is not material, and independent of the restrictions laid upon matter.
What are the real necessities of life?
The answer to this question depends
entirely on what we imagine to be necessary. Railways, steamers, etc., are now
a necessity to us, and yet millions of people have lived long and happily,
knowing nothing about them. To one man a dozen palaces may appear to be an
indispensable necessity, to another a carriage, another a pipe, and so on. But all such necessities are only such as man
himself has created. They make the state in which man now is agreeable to
him, and tempt him to remain in that
state, and to desire nothing higher. They may even hinder his development
instead of advancing it. Everything material must cease to become a necessity
if we would really advance spiritually. It is the craving and the wasting of thought for the augmentation of the
pleasures of the lower life which prevent man entering the higher one.
(Hartmann, Magic, p. 61)
Printed by C. Subbarayudu at the
Vasanta Press, Adyar, Madras.
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