The
recognition of this concept is the greatest achievement of the Ego
in all the incarnations. For its recognition alone makes possible
the entrance of the Ego upon an entirely new course of action, a
course directed to the discovery of the whole and of its meaning.
The Ego speedily recognizes the unsatisfactory nature of its former
activities, and decides to occupy itself hereafter with the things
which it feels and knows are related to and lead toward a recognition
of the whole. It sees that the whole is God, the completed part of
Nature, as manifest nature (prakrti) is the incomplete part. Man,
then, is himself but a tiny part of this great whole; and to perfect
himself and attain that peace which he longs for, and the need for
which is an essential part of his nature, he must seek the whole
- seek union with his highest Self and make himself one with it.
Now
this decision is not made in all its perfection and finality at once
upon its first recognition. It is, at first, seen but vaguely and
indistinctly; but, as incarnations multiply, this tremendous concept
is more and more fully cognized, and becomes an integral part of
the materies of the Ego, being carried over from incarnation to incarnation, amplified,
strengthened, fortified, until, at last it becomes so strong that
it is not possible for the forces of lower mind to dominate it. The
Will asserts itself at last as supreme and the decision to follow
the Path becomes the basis of the course of action.
The
man who reaches this final decision to follow the Path must needs
change his entire mode of life and conduct. He must choose only those
activities which are in consonance with the new decision and with
those things with which it is concerned.
This
brings us to the need of considering what it is which leads man to
make choice between various courses of action.
The
lower manas is concerned with facts but it has the power to choose
the facts with which it will deal. It has the power to act on facts
according to their relative value for it. This distinction is made
upon the basis of its own good. Those things which it finds are more
useful or pleasing to it are accepted, while those things which have
the opposite effect are rejected. This power of choice, continually
exercised, leads at last to the rejection of vast classes of facts
and to the acceptance, as beneficial or desirable, of other great
masses of facts.
The
recognition of this separation into classes is the incipient knowledge
of good and evil. It is desire which determines this separation of
facts. It is desire which determines the final decision to choose
the good instead of the evil. Desire is the appanage of the astral
realm. And it is right that the astral world should be the seat of
Man’s activity through many incarnations.
The
corresponding plane for the higher triad is the buddhic. For it is
while the Ego is functioning as buddhi that he yearns for union with
the Whole. He cannot long for the whole until he can entertain a
great concept, and he cannot entertain concepts, as we have seen,
until he can leave the field of action which is the sphere of lower
mind. Buddhi is, therefore, the plane of aspiration and corresponds
very definitely with the astral plane.
Now
the importance of these correspondences is of the highest consequence,
for upon their recognition depends the intelligent study of the course
pursued by the Masters with Their pupils in the development of their
growing powers. They place before Their pupils objects of desire
with the intention of stimulating buddhi; for when a pure desire
is set in action a corresponding vibration at once affects the buddhic
body. This leads of course to the development and growth of buddhi.
When
They place new and hitherto unobserved groups of facts before
Their pupils these stimulate the upper mind to grasp the concepts
supplied
by the lower mind from their classification and elaboration.
And when the lower mind is stimulated to determine the concepts that
belong to those facts, the Will (Âtma) is stimulated to determine
the course of action which properly belongs
to the new group of concepts as viewed according to their relative
importance to it.
No man
can determine his course of action who has not reached a stage of
development sufficiently high to enable him to functionate upon the
upper mental plane. For he is, before that time, a mere automaton
swayed completely by the relative value of facts for the gratification
of his astral nature. He cannot choose a higher course of action
because he has no power to generalize, to rise above the iron bonds
of the lower nature.
When
he can determine his course by reference to the need for union with
the whole, he has reached the point at which he can functionate in
his causal body. Then he is in a position to enter upon the Path.
What
determines his final course of action we have already seen. With
the continual acceptance of a given course of action leading toward
the Path, there is definite progress in the development of buddhi
which is the plane corresponding to the astral. When he reaches the
stage where he definitely accepts the things of the higher life as
the more desirable, he decides to adapt his course of conduct to
the new end in view. He places himself in contact with Those whose
evolution has reached a point higher than his own, and by this contact
he acquires opportunities to magnify his own conceptions of the desirability
of the good.
No man
can reach the goal who is not thus aided at this stage of evolution.
For unaided, he cannot hold in view the concept of the Part and the Whole, he cannot maintain the feeling that the Whole is more desirable than the Part, and he cannot determine
or will continuously the line of action leading to a reunion of the segregated
Part with the Whole.
When
the man chooses the Path he receives this aid at once. He is seen
by the Masters immediately. Indeed he is known to Them as one who
is ready for the great concept and the great determination, long
before he has any knowledge of his own tendency. They provide him
with opportunities to develop his powers with a view to taking the
absolute and final step leading to the Path.
When
the man has entered upon the Path he is sustained at the moments
of supreme trial by the Masters who recognize that his will is not
strong enough to maintain his course of action. When his aspiration
fails, They kindle it again into flame and keep the flame brightly
burning.
One
does not realize the difficulties that beset the Path until he tries
to follow it, and all the aid he can get is gladly accepted by the
earnest chela.
The
final act in the drama comes when for a moment the consciousness
of the man is raised into actual union. For once this union has been
experienced all lower union becomes unattractive by comparison, desire
gives place wholly to aspiration. Once union has been, even for a
moment, experienced, the supreme concept is recognized to have the
most perfect validity. All doubt is set aside and the need of the
Masters’ support is by so much diminished. As each new spiritual experience
is added, the final goal - complete and permanent union - is more
nearly approached until at last, after centuries or millennia of
conscious service on the Path, all phases of experience have been
passed through and with the final supreme Initiation the Part merges
into the Whole.
The
final union enables the man to do for others below him in evolution
what has been done for him. He joins the Band of Those who, having
completed Their evolution, can, without trammels, take part in the
work of evolution and aid with perfect freedom in the uplifting of
mankind.
What
can we learn from this study? The lesson that all men are one day
to tread the Path by the same series of steps - the assimilation
of facts into concepts, the growth of buddhi from the refining of
desire and the development of will from the repetition of multitudes
of choosings by the lower manas. We may learn patience with our fellowman
when we see him wallowing in those objects of desire that to us are
no longer attractive. And we may learn the value of our own efforts
in the training of those about us who are at a lower stage of evolution.
The goal for all is the same. The Path is the same. The only differences
are those of the particular facts upon which the lower mind acts
in the formation of its concepts. Let us, therefore, renew our determination
to lend all possible aid to the Masters in Their struggle with the
Mâyâ of separateness, to the end that our fellows may the sooner achieve
freedom from its domination.
The
man who lends this aid hastens his own evolution in an almost
inconceivable degree. For he identifies himself, as it were prematurely,
with the
Masters, plays their role in a minor degree and so acquires
a certain claim on Nature, the Whole, a claim which is gladly recognized.
Nature reflects upon him
her beneficent smiles, and under that influence he flourishes
and grows. A man who consciously thwarts the plans of the Masters
acquires
a lien of an opposite character upon the forces of Nature.
They are then expended upon him not for his upbuilding but for the
retardation
of his growth. He is required to dwell for ages under conditions
averse to his development, while others more tractable are
permitted to enjoy the opportunity which he missed.
Theosophists,
who now have before them a complete set of facts and of guiding
rules and precepts, are under a tremendous obligation to utilize
their
opportunities well. For if they do not they will in future
incarnations encounter far greater difficulties than they have
met with in former
ones. They will be beset with temptations which, in this favourable
incarnation, have been removed for them by the consummation
of the tremendous aeonic plans of the Brotherhood of Adepts
who have for ages planned to
take advantage of this first moment of ascent upon the upward
arc of evolution. The body of Theosophists is a picked body
of egos which,
having favourably responded to training in former lives, are
believed by the Brothers to have before them the possibility
of forming, in
this incarnation, the supreme concept and making the supreme
choice!
Theosophists
who feel the validity of these remarks would do well to measure their
conduct carefully, for upon their conduct toward their leaders in
difficult crises and upon their view of the situation at critical
moments will depend the amount and kind of aid accorded to them individually by the Brothers in this and in future incarnations. Those who have
aided much will deserve and receive much. Those who have impeded
the efforts of their leaders will be relegated again to the rank
and file of men, and their places filled by those who are pressing
upward from the, as yet, undifferentiated body of man. Those who
aid will be rewarded according to the intensity of their desire to
aid and not according to the fruit of their action. Those who interfere
with evolution in its special form will be repressed by Natural Laws
according to the degree of their malevolence. No man may escape the
operation of the Law whether it act for or against his, so-to-say,
premature union with the Whole.
The
Brotherhood feel the need of saying these words at this time and
speak to you in no uncertain terms. Let all beware how they interfere
with the plans of the recognized leaders of the Theosophical Society.
They are under the immediate guidance of the Masters now more than
ever before and the Masters will no longer tolerate interference
with Their plans. Those who do not wish to comply with the reasonable
demands of the recognized leaders of the Society would, for their
own good, far better step out of the Society and leave the organization
free to carry on its work. Those who remain and aid in all ways according
to their opportunities will receive a reward which will be commensurate
to their loyalty; fidelity and unselfish devotion.
The
Masters say these things solely to safeguard the interests of their
charges. They have incurred heavy obligations to Nature in choosing
and leading on before the van of the army of men those who compose
the Theosophical Society’s membership. And They must make an accounting for all that They do.
They are powerless to interfere with the ultimate working of the
Law. They may for the moment interfere and, as a Master has said,
dam the channel, but they must reckon with the consequences of the
overflow. They are amply able to care for all contingencies, but
woe to those who purposely or consciously interfere with the working
out of Their beneficent designs! Those who do so will find themselves
involved in difficulties in future lives which they will be able
to trace to their wrong conduct in this life. Those who aid will
be given opportunities in future incarnations, the magnitude and
glory of which cannot conceive.