Theosophy - The Doctrine of the Heart by A.Besant
THE
DOCTRINE OF THE HEART
Learn to discern
the real from the false, the ever-fleeting from the everlasting. Learn,
above all, to separate Head-learning from Soul-wisdom, the "Eye" from
the
"Heart" Doctrine - "Voice of the
Silence"
Extracts
from Hindu Letters with a foreword-- by--
ANNIE
BESANT
AS PUBLISHED BY THE THEOSOPHICAL PUBLISHING
HOUSE IN ADYAR, MADRAS in 1920
FOREWORD
Under the title of
THE DOCTRINE OF THE HEART are here printed a series of papers, consisting chiefly
of extracts of letters received from Indian friends. They are not given as being
of any "authority", but merely as containing thoughts that some of
us have found helpful and that we wish to share with others. They are intended
only for those who are resolutely seeking to live the Higher Life, and are addressed
to those especially who know that this life leads to a definite entering on
the Path of Discipleship under the Great Ones who trod it in the past, and who
remain on earth to help others to tread it in their turn. The thoughts in these
letters are thoughts that belong to all religions , but the phrases and the
sentiment are Indian. The devotion is of that noble and intense kind known in
the East as Bahkti- the devotion that surrenders itself wholly and unreservedly
to God and to the Divine Man through whom God is manifest in the flesh to the
devotee. This Bhakti has nowhere found more perfect expression than in Hinduism,
and the writers of these letters are Hindus, accustomed to the luxuriant richness
of the Sanskrit,and tuning the harsher English into some faint harmony with
the poetical sweetness of their mother-tongue. The chill and reserved dignity
of the Anglo-Saxon and his emotional reticence are wholly alien from the outflowing
of religious feeling that wells up from the Eastern heart as naturally as song
from the lark. Here and there in the West we find a true Bhakta (devotee), such
as S.Thomas à Kempis, S.Theresa, S. John of the Cross, S.Francis of Assisi,
S.Elizabeth of Hungary. But for the most part, religious feeling in the West,
however deep and true, tends to silence and seeks to hide itself. To those who
shrink from the expression of religious feeling these letters will not be helpful,
and for them they are not intended.
Let us now turn to
the consideration of one of the marked contrasts of the Higher Life. We have
all of us recognised the fact that Occultism makes on us demands of a character
which necessitates a certain isolation and a rigid self-discipline. Both from
our much-loved and revered Teacher, H.P.Blavatsky, and from the traditions of
the Occult Life, we have learned that renunciation and stern self-control are
required from him who would pass through the gateway of the Temple. The Bhagavad-Gitâ
constantly reiterates the teaching of indifference to pain and pleasure,of the
perfect balance under all circumstances without which no true Yoga is possible.
This side of the Occult Life is recognised in theory by all, and some are obediently
striving to mould themselves into its likeness. The other side of the Occult
Life is dwelt upon in The Voice of the Silence, and consists of that
sympathy with all that fells, that swift response to every human need, the perfect
expression of which in Those we serve has given Them as title "The Masters
of Compassion". It is this, in its practical, everyday aspect, to which
these letters direct our thoughts, and it is this which we overlook most in
our lives, however much the beauty of it, in its perfection, may touch our hearts.
The true Occultist,
while he is to himself the sternest of judges, the most rigid of taskmasters,
is to all around him the most sympathising of friends, the gentlest of helpers.
To reach this gentleness and power of sympathy should, then, be the aim of each
of us, and it can only be gained by unremitting practice of such gentleness
and sympathy towards all, without exception, who surround us. Every would-be
Occultist should be the one person, in his own home and circle, to whom every
one most readily turns in sorrow, in anxiety,in sin- sure of sympathy, sure
of help. The most unattractive, the most dull, the most stupid,the most repellent
should feel that in him, at least, they have a friend. Every yearning towards
a better life, every budding desire towards unselfish service, every half-formed
wish to live more nobly, should find in him one ready to encourage and strengthen,so
that every germ of good may begin to grow under the warming and stimulating
presence of his loving nature.
To reach this power
of service is a matter of self-training in daily life. First we need to recognise
that the SELF in all is one; so that in each person with whom we come into contact,
we shall ignore all that is unlovely in the outer casing, and recognise the
SELF seated in the heart. The next thing is to realise- in feeling ,
not only in theory- that the SELF is endeavouring to express itself through
the casings that obstruct it, and that the inner nature is altogether lovely,
and is distorted to us by the envelopes that surround it. Then we should identify
ourselves with that SELF, which is indeed ourself in its essence,and co-operate
with it in its warfare against the lower elements that stifle its expression.
And since we have to work through our own lower nature on our brother, the only
way to effectually help is to see things as that brother sees them, with
his limitations,his prejudices,his distorted vision; and thus seeing them, and
being affected by them in our lower nature, help him in his way and not in ours,
for thus only can real help be given. Here comes in the Occult training. We
learn to withdraw ourselves from our lower nature,to study it, to feel its feelings
without being thereby affected, and so, while emotionally we experience,intellectually
we judge.
We must utilise this
method for our brother's help, and while we feel as he feels, as the synchronised
string gives out the note of its fellow, we must use our disengaged "I" to judge,
to advise, to raise, but always so using it that our brother shall be conscious
that it is his better nature that is uttering itself by our lips. We must
desire to share our best; not to keep, but to give, is the life of the Spirit.
Often our "best" would be unattractive to the one we are trying to help, as noble
poetry to a little child; then we must give the best he can assimilate, withholding
the other, not because we grudge it, but because he does not yet want it. Thus
do the Masters of Compassion help us who are as children to Them, and in like
fashion must we seek to help those who are younger than we are in the life of
the Spirit. Nor let us forget that the person who happens to be with us at any
moment is the person given to us by the Master to serve at that moment. If by
carelessness, by impatience, by indifference, we fail to help him, we have failed
in our Master's work. We often miss this immediate duty by absorption in other
work, failing to understand that the helping of the human soul sent to us is
our work of the moment; and we need to remind ourselves of this danger, the
subtler because duty is used to mask duty, and failure of insight is failure in
accomplishment. We must not be attached even to work of any particular description;
always at work indeed, but with the soul free and "at attention", ready to catch
the slightest whisper from Him, who may need from us service of some helpless
one whom, through us, He wills to help. The sternness to the lower self, spoken
of above,is a condition of this helpful service; for only the one who has no cares
of his own, who is for himself indifferent to pleasure and pain, is sufficiently
free to give perfect sympathy to others. Needing nothing he can give everything.
With no love for himself, be becomes love incarnate to others. In Occultism the
book of life is the one to which we turn our chief attention. We study other books
merely in order that we may live. For study, even of Occult works, is only a means
to spirituality if we are striving to live the Occult Life; it is the life and
not the knowledge, the purified heart, not the well-filed head, that leads us
to our Master's Feet. The word "devotion" is the key to all true progress in the
spiritual life. If in working we seek the growth of the spiritual movement and
not gratifying success, the service of the Master's and not our own Self-gratulation,
we cannot be discouraged by temporary failures, nor by the clouds and deadness
that we may experience in our own inner life. To serve for the sake of service,
and not for the pleasure we take in serving, is to make a distinct step forward,
for we then begin to gain that balance, that equilibrium, which enables us to
serve as contentedly in failure as in success, in inner darkness as in inner light.
When we have succeeded in dominating the personality so far as to feel real
pleasure in doing work for the Master which is painful to the lower nature,
the next step is to do it as heartily and fully when this pleasure disappears
and all the joy and light are clouded over. Otherwise in serving the Holy Ones
we may be serving self- serving for what we get from Them , instead of for pure
love's sake. So long as this subtle form of self-seeking prevails, we are in danger
of falling away from service if darkness remain long around us, and if we feel
dead inside and hopeless. It is in this night of the spirit that the noblest service
is rendered, and the last snares of the lower self are broken through. We lay
this stress on devotion, because everywhere we find that aspirants are endangered,
and the progress of the Master's work is hindered, by the predominance of the
personal self. Here is our enemy, here our battleground. Once seeing this, the
aspirant should welcome everything in his daily life that chips a bit off the
personality,and should be grateful to all the "unpleasant persons" who tread on
his toes and jar his sensibilities and ruffle his self-love. They are his best
friends, his most useful helpers, and should never be regarded with anything but
gratitude for the services they render in bruising our most dangerous enemy. Looking
thus on daily life,it becomes a school of Occultism, and we begin to learn that
perfect balance which is required in the higher walks of discipleship, ere deeper
knowledge ,and therefore power, can be placed in our hands. Where there is not
calm self-mastery, indifference to personal matters, serene devotion to work for
others, there is no true Occultism, no really spiritual life. The lower psychism
demands none of these qualities, and is, therefore, eagerly grasped at by pseudo-Occultists;
but the White Lodge demands these of its postulants, and makes their acquirement
the condition of entrance into the Neophytes' Court. Let the aim of every aspirant
be, therefore, to train himself that he may serve, to practice stern self-discipline
that when the Master looks into the heart He may see no stain therein". Then will
He take him by the hand and lead him onward.
Annie Besant
THE DOCTRINE
OF THE HEART
DISASTER hangs over
the head of the man who pins his faith on external paraphernalia rather than
on the peace of the inner life, which depends not on the mode of the outer life.
In fact, the more untoward the circumstances, and the greater the sacrifice
involved by living among them, the nearer does one come to the final goal from
the very nature of the trials one has to overcome. It is unwise, therefore,
to be attracted too much by any outward manifestation of religious life, for
anything that is on the plane of matter is ephemeral and illusive, and must
lead to disappointment. Anyone who is drawn powerfully to any external modes
of living has to learn sooner or later the comparative insignificance of all
outer things. And the sooner one passes through experiences necessitated by
past Karma, the better it is for the individual. It is unwelcome indeed to be
suddenly thrown off one's ground, but the cup which cures folly is every bitter,
and must be tasted if the disease is to be eradicated. When the gentle breeze
coming from Their Lotus Feet blows over the soul, then you know that the worst
external surroundings are not powerful enough to mar the music that charms within.
Just as a European
who is drawn to Occultism feels nearer to the Great Ones when he lands in India,
so does an Indian feel when he ascends the heights of his snowy Himavat. And
yet it is quite an illusion, for one approaches not the Lords of Purity by physical
locomotion, but by making oneself purer and stronger through constant suffering
for the welfare of the world. As for the ignorance of the poor deluded world
regarding our revered Lords, I am reminded of the words: "The hissing of
the serpent does more harm to the sublime Himavat, than the slander and abuse
of the world to any of us".
If it be once admitted,
as it must be by all who have any knowledge of Occultism, that there are hosts
of invisible agencies constantly taking part in human affairs,Elementals and
Elementaries of all grades breeding all sorts of illusion and masquerading in
all garbs, as well as members of the Black Lodge who delight in gulling and
deluding the votaries of true wisdom- one must also recognise that Nature, in
her great mercy and absolute justice, must have endowed man with some faculty
to discriminate between the voices of these aerial denizens and that of the
Masters. And I fancy that it will be agreed on all hands that reason,intuition
and conscience are our highest faculties, the only means by which we can know
the true from the false, good from evil, right from wrong. That being so, it
follows that nothing which fails to illumine the reason and satisfy the most
scrupulous claims of the moral nature should ever be regarded as a communication
from the Masters.
It must also be remembered
that the Masters are the Masters of Wisdom and Compassion,that Their words illumine
and expand,never confound and harass the mind; they soothe,not disturb; they
elevate, not degrade. Never to They use methods which wither and paralyse reason
and intuition alike. What would be the inevitable result if these Lords of Love
and Light were to force on Their disciples communications revolting equally
to the reason and the ethical sense? Blind credulity would take the place of
intelligent faith, moral palsy instead of spiritual growth would ensure,and
the Neophytes would be left quite helpless, with nothing to guide them, constantly
at the mercy of every frolicsome nymph, and worse still, of every vicious Dugpa.
Is this the fate
of discipleship? Can such be the way of Love and Wisdom? I do not think that
any reasonable man can believe it for any length of time, although for a moment
a glamour may be thrown upon him and he may be made to swallow the veriest absurdities.
Among the many doubts
thrown into the mind of the disciple to cause him distress, is the doubt whether
physical weakness may be a bar to spiritual progress. The process of assimilation
of spiritual nourishment involves no drain upon physical energies, and spiritual
progress can go on while the body suffers. It is an entire fallacy,due to lack
of knowledge and of balance, to suppose that the torture and starvation of the
body make it responsive to spiritual experiences. It is by doing that
which best serves the purpose of the Holy Ones that steady and real progress
is made. When the right time comes for spiritual experiences to be impressed
on the brain-consciousness, the body cannot stand in the way. The little difficulty
that can be raised by the body can be swept away in a second. It is a delusion
that any physical effort can advance spiritual progress by a single step. The
way to approach Them is to do that which best furthers Their wish, and this
done, nothing else needs to be done.
It seems to me that
there is a peculiar sweetness in being resignedly patient, in gladly sacrificing
one's own will to the will of Those who know better and always guide aright.
There is no such thing as personal wish in the life of the Spirit. So the disciple
may gladly sacrifice his own personal bliss, while They find occasion to work
through him for others. He may sometimes feel as though forsaken when he is
alone, but he will always find Them at his side when work has to be done. Periods
of night must alternate with those of day, and it is surely well that darkness
should come at a time when it affects ourselves alone,even though our personal
pain should be thereby intensified. To feel Their presence and influence is
indeed the divinest gift imaginable, but even that we should be willing to sacrifice,
if by renouncing what we deem the highest and best, the final good of the world
be made easier of attainment.
Try and realise the
beauty of suffering, when suffering only makes one better fitted for work. Surely
we can never crave for peace if in strife the world must be helped. Try and
feel that though darkness seems to be all round you, yet it is not real.
If They sometimes veil Themselves in an outer Maya of indifference, it is but
to shed Their blessings with greater luxuriance when the season is ripe. Words
avail not much when the darkness is overshadowing, yet the disciple should try
to keep unshaken his faith in the nearness of the Great Ones, and to feel that
though the light is temporarily withdrawn from the mind-consciousness, yet,under
Their wise and merciful dispensation, it is growing daily within. When the mind
again becomes sensitive,it recognises with surprise and joy how the spiritual
work has gone on without its having had any consciousness of the details. We
know the Law. In the spiritual world nights of greater or less horror invariably
follow the day, and the wise one, recognising the darkness to be the outcome
of a natural law , ceases to fret. We can rest assured that the darkness, in
its turn, will lift. Remember always that behind the thickest smoke is ever
the light from the Lotus Feet of the Great Lords of the earth. Stand firm and
never lose faith in Them, and there is then nothing to fear. Trials you may,
and indeed must have, but you will be sure to withstand them. When the darkness
that hangs like a pall over the Soul's lifts, then we are able to see how really
shadowy and illusive it was. Yet this darkness, as long as it lasts, is real
enough to bring ruin to many a noble soul that has not yet acquired strength
enough to endure.
Spiritual life and
love are not exhausted by being spent. Expenditure only adds to the store and
makes it richer and intenser. Try and be as happy and contented as you can,
because in joy is the real spiritual life, and sorrow is but the result of our
ignorance and absence of clear vision. So you should resist, as much as you
can, the feeling of sadness: it clouds the spiritual atmosphere. And though
you cannot entirely stop its coming, yet you should not altogether yield to
it. For remember that at the very heart of the universe is Beatitude.
Despair should find
no room in the heart of the devoted disciple, for it weakens faith and devotion,
and thus furnishes an arena for the Dark Powers to wrestle in. The feeling is
a glamour cast by them to torture the disciple, and if possible to reap some
advantage for themselves out of the illusion. I have learned form the bitterest
experience that self-reliance is quite unavailing and even deceptive under trials
of this nature, and the only way to escape unscathed from these illusions is
to devote oneself completely to Them. The reason of this, too, is plain enough.
The force, in order to be effective in its opposition, must be on the same plane
as that on which the power to be counteracted plays. Now as these troubles and
illusions come not from the self, the self is powerless against them. Proceeding
as they do from the Dark Ones,they can only be neutralised by the White Brothers.
Therefore it is necessary for safety to surrender ourselves- our separated selves-
and to be freed from All Ahamkara.
Knowing as we do
that the The Theosophical Society- or, for the matter of that, every movement
of any consequence - is under the watch and ward of vastly wiser and higher
Powers than our little selves, we need not concern ourselves much about the
ultimate destiny of the Society, but rest content with doing our duty by it
conscientiously and diligently, playing the part assigned to us according to
our best light and abilities. Care and solitude have, no doubt,their own functions
in the economy of Nature. In ordinary men they set the brains to work, and even
the muscles to motion, and were it not for these the world would not make half
the progress is has done in the physical and intellectual planes. But at a certain
stage of human evolution these are replaced by a sense of duty and a love of
Truth, and the clearness of vision and impetus to work thus attained can never
be furnished by any amount of molecular energy and nervous vigour. Therefore
shake off all despondency, and with your Soul turned towards the Fountain of
Light work on to that great end for which you are here, your heart embracing
all mankind, but perfectly resigned as to the result of your labours. Thus have
our Sages taught, thus did Shri Krshna exhort Arjuna on the battlefield, and
thus shall we direct our energies.
My own feelings with
regard to the sufferings of the world are precisely the same as yours. There
is nothing which pains me more than the blind and frantic manner in which a
vast majority of our fellow beings pursue the pleasures of the senses, and the
utterly blank and erroneous view they take of life. The sight of this ignorance
and madness touches my heart much more tenderly than the physical hardships
that people undergo. And although Rantideva's noble prayer moved me deeply years
ago, with the glimpse that I have since been allowed into the nature of things,
I regard the Buddha's sentiments as wiser and more transcendental. And though
I would gladly suffer agony to relieve a disciple of the torture to which he
is subjected,yet having regard to the causes as well as the intimate consequences
of a disciple's suffering, my grief for them is not half so intense as it is
for the misery of those ignorant wretches who unintelligently pay the
mere penalty of their past misdeeds.
The functions of
intellect are merely comparison and ratiocination; spiritual knowledge is far
beyond its scope. You are probably quite surfeited with intellectual subtleties
in your present surroundings; but the world is, after all, only a school, a
training academy, and no experience, however painful or ridiculous, is without
its uses and value to the thoughtful man. The evils that we come across only
make us wiser, and the very blunders we make serve us in good stead for the
future. So we need not grumble at any lot, however outwardly unenviable.
Karma, as taught
in the Gita and Yoga Vasishta, means acts and volitions proceeding
from Vasana, or desire. It is distinctly laid down in those ethical codes that
nothing done from a pure sense of duty, nothing prompted by a feeling of "oughtness",
so to say, can taint the moral nature of the doer, even if he be mistaken
in his conception of duty and propriety. The mistake, of course, has to be expiated
by suffering, which must be proportionate to the consequences of the error;
but certainly it cannot degrade the character or tarnish the Jivatma (The Individualised
Self.)
It is well to use
all the events of life as lessons to be turned to advantage, and the pain caused
by separation from friends we love may thus be used. What are space and time
on the plane of the Spirit? Illusions of the brain, nonentities merely, acquiring
a semblance of reality from the impotency of the mind, the involucra which imprisons
the Jivatma. The suffering merely gives a fresh and more potent impulse to live
altogether in the Spirit. Good will come in the end to every one of us out of
the pain, and so we must not murmur. Nay, knowing that to disciples nothing
of any consequence can happen which is not the will of their Lords, we must
look upon every painful incident as a step towards spiritual progress, as a
means to that inner development, which will enable us to serve Them, and hence
Humanity, better.
If we can but serve
Them, if through all storms and conflagrations our Souls turn to their Lotus
Feet, what matter the pain and the sufferings that these inflict on our transitory
wrappings? Let us understand a little of the inner meanings of these sufferings,these
vicissitudes of outer circumstances- how so much pain endured means so much
bad Karma worked out, so much power of service gained, such a good lesson learned
- are not these thoughts sufficient to support us through any amount of these
illusory miseries?
How sweet it is to
suffer when one knows and has faith; how different from the wretchedness of
the ignorant, and the sceptic, and the unbeliever. One could almost wish that
all the suffering and misery of the world were ours in order that the rest of
our kind might be liberated and be happy. The crucifixion of Jesus symbolises
this phase of the disciple's mind. Do you not think so? Only be always firm
in faith and devotion,and swerve not from the sacred path of Love and Truth.
This is your part - the rest shall be done for you by the Merciful Lords you
serve. You know all this, and if I speak of it, it is only to strengthen you
in your knowledge; for we often forget some of our best lessons, and in times
of trouble the duty of a friend is more to remind you of your own sayings than
to inculcate new truths. Thus it is that Draupadi often consoled her sage husband
Yudhisthira, when dire misfortune would for a moment overthrow his usual serenity,
and thus Vasishtha himself had to be smoothed and comforted when torn with the
pangs of his children's death. Truly unspeakable is the Maya side of this world?
How beautiful and romantic on the one hand, and yet how terrible and wretched
on the other! Yes, Maya is the mystery of all mysteries, and one who has understood
Maya has found his own unity with BRAHMAN- the Supreme Bliss and the Supreme
Light.
The startling picture
of Kali standing on the prostrate SHIVA is an illustration of the utility -
the higher use - of Anger and Hatred. The black complexion represents Anger;
with the sword it also means physical prowess; and the whole figure means that
so long as a man has anger and hatred and physical strength, he should use them
for the suppression of the other passions,the massacre of the desires of the
flesh. It also represents what really happens when first the mind turns towards
the higher life. As yet we are wanting in wisdom and in mental equilibrium,
and so we crush our desires with our passions; our anger we direct against our
own vices, and thus suppress them ; our pride also we employ against the unworthy
tendencies of the body and mind alike,and thus gain the first rung of the ladder.
The prostrate SHIVA shows that when one is engaged in a warfare like this,he
pays no heed to his highest principle, the Atma - nay, he actually tramples
upon it, and not until he has slain the last enemy of his Self does he come
to recognise his actual position during the fight with regard to the Atma. Thus,
Kali finds SHIVA at her feet only when she has killed the last Daitya, the personification
of Ahamkara, and then she blues at her insane fury. So long as the passions
have not all been subdued, we must use them for their own suppression,neutralising
the force of one with that of another,and thus alone can we at first succeed
in killing out selfishness,and in catching the first glimpse of our true Atma
- the Shiva within us - which we ignore while desires rage in the heart.
Well may we always
lay aside our own short-sighted personal wish in order to serve Them faithfully;
it is my experience that in thus following Their guidance alone, one always
avoids some dangerous precipice towards which one was unconsciously running.
For the moment it seems hard to break away from one's likings, but in the end
nothing but joy results from such sacrifice. There is no training better than
the few brief years of one's life when one is driven by sheer disappointment
to seek shelter under the blessed Feet of the Lords, for nowhere else is there
room for rest. And then there grows in the disciple a habit of thinking always
that his only refuge is in Them, and whenever the thinks not of Them he feels
miserable and forlorn. Thus from the very darkness of despair burns out for
him a light that never afterwards grows dim. Those whose eyes penetrate the
stretches of the far-off future,which are veiled from our mortal eyes, have
done and will do what is best for the world. Immediate results and temporary
satisfactions must be sacrificed, if the end is to be secured without a chance
of failure. The stronger we desire to make the chances of intimate success,
the less should we crave for the reapings of the day. Only by pain can we attain
to perfection and purity; only by pain can we make ourselves fit servants of
the Orphan that cries incessantly for food spiritual. Life is only worth having
as it is sacrificed at Their Feet.
Let us rejoice that
we have opportunities of serving the great Cause by personal sacrifices, for
such suffering can be used by Them to draw the poor, erring Humanity a little
step higher. Any pain that a disciple may suffer is an earnest for a corresponding
gain that comes to the world. He should, therefore,suffer ungrudgingly and gladly,
since he sees a little more clearly than the blind mortality for which he suffers.
In the whole course of evolution there is one law that is only too painfully
evident, even to the eyes of the merest tyro,that nothing that is really worth
having can be obtained without a corresponding sacrifice.
He who resigneth
all sense of self, and maketh himself an instrument for the Divine Hands to
work with, need have no fear about the trials and difficulties of the hard world.
"As Thou directest, so I work". This is the easiest way of passing
outside the sphere of individual Karma, for one who layeth down all his capacities
at the Feet of the Lords creates no Karma for himself; and then, as SRI KRSHNA
promises: "I take upon Myself his balance of accounts". The disciple
need take no thought for the fruits of his actions. So taught the great Christian
Master: "Take no thought for the morrow".
Do not allow impulses
to guide conduct. Enthusiasm belongs to feeling, not to conduct. Enthusiasm
in conduct has no place in real Occultism, for the Occultist must be always
self-contained. One of the most difficult things in the life of the Occultist
is to hold the balance evenly, and this power comes from real spiritual insight.
The Occultist has to live more an inner than an outer life. He feels, realises,
knows,more and more, but shows less and less. Even the sacrifices he has to
make belong more to the inner world than to the outer. In ordinary religious
devotion all the sacrifice and strength one's nature is capable of are used
in adhering to externals, and in overcoming ridicule and temptations on the
physical plane. But these have to be used for grander objects in the life of
the Occultist. Proportion must be considered , and the external subordinated.
In a word, never be peculiar. As the Hamsa takes the milk alone and leaves the
water behind from a mixture of both,so doth the Occultist extract and retain
the life and quintessence of all the various qualities, while rejecting the
husks in which these were concealed.
How can people suppose
that the Masters ought to interfere with the life and actions of people, and
argue for Their non-existence, or for Their moral indifference, because They
do not interfere? Folk might with equal reason question the existence of any
moral Law in this Universe, and argue that the existence of iniquities and infamous
practices among mankind is against the supposition of such a Law. Why do they
forget that the Masters are Jivanmuktas and work with the Law, identify themselves
with the Law, are in fact the very spirit of the Law? But there is no need to
be distressed over this, for the tribunal to which we submit in matters of conscience
is not public opinion but our own High Self. It is battle such as this that
purifies the heart and elevates the soul, and not the furious fight to which
our passions, or even "just indignation", and what is termed "righteous
resentment", impel us.
What are troubles
and difficulties to us? Are they not as welcome as pleasures and facilities?
For are they not our best trainers and educators, and replete with salutary
lessons? Does it not then behove us to move more evenly through all changes
of life and vicissitudes of fortune? And would it not be much to our discredit
if we failed in preserving the tranquility of mind and equilibrium of temper
which ought always to mark the disposition of the disciple? Surely he should
remain serene amid all external storms and tempests. It is a mad world this,
altogether,if one looks at the mere outside of it, and yet who deceptive in
its madness! It is the true insanity of lunacy where the subject of the disease
is ignorant of his condition - nay, believes himself perfectly sound. Oh! if
the harmony and the music which reign within the Soul of things were not perceptible
to us, whose eyes have been opened to this utter madness that pervades the outer
shell, how intolerable life would be to us.
Do you not think
that it is not quite grateful to be cheerless, when we are obeying the wishes
of our Lords and are out on our duty? You should not only have peace and contentment,but
also joy and liveliness,while you are serving Those whose service is our highest
privilege and the memory of whom is our truest delight. [Page29]
That They will never
desert us is as certain as Death. But it is for us to cling to Them with real
and deep devotion. If our devotion be real and deep, there is not the remotest
chance of our falling away from Their holy Feet. But you know what real and
deep devotion means. You know just as well as I do that nothing short of complete
renunciation of the personal will, the absolute annihilation of the personal
element in man , can constitute Bhakti proper and genuine. It is only when the
whole human nature is in perfect harmony with the Divine Law, when there
is not one discordant note in any part of the system, when all one's thoughts,
ideas, fancies,desires, emotions, voluntary or involuntary, vibrate in response
to and in complete concord with the "Great Breath", that the true
ideal of devotion is attained,and not till then. We only rise beyond the chance
of failure when this stage of Bhakti is reached, which alone ensures perpetual
progress and undoubted success. The disciple does not fail through lack of care
and love on the part of the Great Masters, but in spite of these, and through
his own perverseness and inborn weakness. And we cannot say that perverseness
is impossible in one who has yet lingering in him the idea of separateness-
ingrained through aeons of illusive thought and corruption, and not yet completely
rooted out.
We must not delude
ourselves in any way. Some truths are indeed bitter, but the wisest course is
to know them and face them. To dwell in a fancied paradise is only to shut off
the real Elysium. It is true that if we sit down deliberately to find out whether
or not we have still any trace of separateness or personality left in us, any
wish to counteract the natural course of events, we may fail to find any motive,
any reason, for such self-assertion or wish. Knowing and believing as we do
that the idea of isolation is a mere product of Maya, that ignorance and all
personal desires flow only from this feeling of isolation and are the root of
all our misery, we cannot but scout these false and illusory notions when reasoning
upon or about them. But if we analyse the actual facts, and watch ourselves
all the day, and observe the various modes of our being, varying with the different
circumstances, a very different conclusion will press itself upon us, and we
shall find that the actual realisation in our own life of our knowledge and
belief is yet a far-off incident and comes only for a brief moment now and again,
when we are entirely forgetful of the body or any other material environment,
and are completely wrapped in the contemplation of the Divine- nay, are merged
in the Deity Himself.
To us, through the
supreme mercy of our Lords,things one earth are a little plainer and more intelligible
than to the man of the world, and that is why we are so eager to devote all
our life's energy to Their service. All activity- charity, benevolence,patriotism,
etc.- a cynic will say with jubilant sneer, is mere barter, is a pure question
of give and take. But the nobler aspect which even this jeered-at, mercantile
honesty - strictly construed and applied to higher walks of life - presents
to the higher eye, is beyond the ken of the supercilious mocker; and so he laughs
at and scouts honesty, calling it mercantile, and the foolish and light-hearted
world, thirsting for a little mirth, laughs with him and calls him a shrewd
and witty fellow. It we look at the surface of this wonderful sphere of ours,nothing
but sadness and gloom will overspread our souls, and despair will paralyse all
efforts at bettering its condition. But, looking beneath, how all inconsistencies
melt away, and everything appears beautiful and harmonious,and the heart blooms
and is gladdened, and liberally opens its treasures to the surrounding universe.
So we need not feel disheartened at any frightful sight we see, nor mourn over
the madness and the blindness of the men amidst whom we are born.
There are fixed moral
laws,just as there are uniform physical laws These moral laws may be violated
by man, endowed as he is with individuality and the freedom which that involves.
Each such violation becomes a moral force in the direction opposite to that
towards which evolution is drifting,and inheres in the moral plane. And by the
law of reaction each has a tendency to evoke the operation of the right law.
Now, when these opposing forces accumulate and acquire a gigantic form, the
reactionary force necessarily becomes violent and results in moral and spiritual
revolutions, pious wars, religious crusades, and the like. Expand this theory,
and you understand the necessity for the appearance of Avataras on earth. How
easy things become when one's eyes are opened; but how incomprehensible they
look when the spiritual vision is blind, or even dim and dull. Nature in her
infinite bounty has provided man on the outer planes with exact facsimiles of
her inner workings, and verily those who have eyes to see may see, and those
who have ears to hear may hear.
How intense is the
longing to carry aid to the suffering Soul, in its hours of dire trial and of
dreary darkness. But experience shows those who have passed through similar
ordeals, that it is well that they did not at such times perceive the aid that
yet is always given, and that they were weighed down with a sad sense of loneliness
and of being totally forlorn. Were it otherwise,half the effect of the trial
were lost, and the strength and knowledge which follow every such ordeal would
have to be acquired by years of groping and tottering. The law of Action and
Reaction is everywhere operative... One whose devotion is complete, i.e.,
one who in deed as well as in thought consecrates all his energies and all his
possessions to the Supreme Deity, and realises his own nothingness as well as
the falsity of the idea of separateness - such a one alone is not allowed to
be approached by the powers of darkness,and is protected from every danger to
his Soul. The passage in the Gita you are thinking of, must be interpreted
to mean that no one who has the feeling of devotion once awakened in him can
fall away for ever. But there is no guarantee for him against temporary
aberrations. Why, in one sense, every living being, from the highest Angel to
the meanest protozoon, is under the protection of the Logos of his or its system,
and is carried through various stages and modes of existence back to His bosom,
there to enjoy the blessedness of Moksha for an eternity.
The without
always reveals the within to the seeing eye,and places and people are
therefore always interesting. Again, the without is not such a despicable
things as one may fancy in the first intensity and acuteness of his Vairagya,
or disgust with shows. For if it were so, all creation would be a folly and
purposeless expenditure of energy. But you know that it is not so in fact; that
on the other hand there is a deep and sound philosophy even in these illusory
manifestations and outward vestures, and that Carlyle in his Sartor Resartus
has shadowed forth a portion of this philosophy. Why then turn with sickness
and horror from even the outermost garbage? Are not even the robes in which
the Supreme Deity masquerades holy to us and full of wise lessons? You say rightly
that all things, fair and foul, have their suitable places in Nature, and constitute
by their very difference and variety the perfection of the Supreme LOGOS.
Why should communication
with the inside world be cut off, causing sadness and heaviness of heart? Because
the outside has still some lessons to teach, and one of these lessons is that
it is also divine in its essence, divine in its substance, and divine in its
methods, and that therefore you should take more kindly to it. On the other
hand,sadness and melancholy have their use and philosophy. They are as much
needed for the evolution and budding out of the human Soul as joy and liveliness.
They are, however, needed only at the earlier stages of our growth, and are
dispenses with when the Self has blossomed out and has opened its heart to the
Divine Sun.
You know how evolution
works. We begin with no sensation at all. Gradually we develop it, and at one
point of our pilgrimage we have it in the intensest degree. Then comes a period
in which sensation is looked upon as Maya, and thus it begins to diminish and
knowledge predominates,until in the end all sensation is burned up by knowledge,
and we have absolute peace. But not peace in nescience, as at the commencement
of our life in the mineral kingdom, but peace in omniscience; peace, not in
complete apathy and as it were death,such as we see in stones, but in absolute
life and absolute love. This finds rest, because it enlivens all that is, and
pours its blessings upon the whole Universe. But extremes meet, and so in one
of the aspects the beginning and the end coincide.
Two points I want
to make clear: (1) that untrained psychics always run the risk of putting forward
things really said by the enemy as injunctions from the Master; and (2) that
the Master says nothing that the intellect of His audience cannot grasp, and
against which their moral sense revolts. Master's words, however much they may
be opposed to one's previous thoughts, never fail to bring the most absolute
conviction, alike to the intellect and to the moral sense of the person addressed.
They come like a revelation, rectifying an error which becomes at once apparent;
they stream down like a column of light dispelling the gloom; they make no claim
on credulity or blind faith.
You know how the
enemy has been working against us, and if we fail in our devotion to the Masters,
or in the discharge of the duties with which They have been pleased to entrust
us, he will give us no end of trouble. But these troubles we do not mind much;
we can endure them quite patiently and without a ruffle. What does torture us
and disturb the peace of our mind, is the tearing away from our Lords with which
we are now and again threatened. Nothing else can torment us - no personal pain
, no physical loss, however great their amount. For we know beyond all doubt
that all that is personal is transitory and fleeting, and all that is physical
is illusory and false, and that nothing but folly and ignorance mourn over things
belonging to the world of shadows.
For the disciple
little is gained from teaching on the intellectual plane. The knowledge that
infiltrates from the Soul down into the intellect is the only knowledge worth
having, and surely as the days roll by, the disciple's store of such knowledge
increases. And with the increase of such knowledge comes about the elimination
of all that hinders him on the Path.
The feeling of pain
is one to which any person who leads the life of the Spirit becomes accustomed.
We know that pain cannot last for ever, and even if it did, it would not matter
very much We cannot hope to be of any service to Them or to Humanity without
taking our full measure of suffering from the enemies. But the ire of these
Monarchs of Darkness is sometimes terrible to face, and they perfectly startle
one by the Maya they sometimes create. But a pure heart has nothing to fear
and is sure to triumph. The disciple must not distress himself over the temporary
pain and illusion they try to create. Sometimes they may seem to work a regular
havoc inside,and then he has to sit upon the ruins himself, quietly waiting
for the time when the asuric Maya shall pass away. Always he should allow the
wave of doubt and unrest to sweep over him, holding firmly to the anchor he
has found. The enemy can do him no real or substantial harm,
so long as he remains
devoted to Them with all his Soul and with all his might. "He who clingeth
to Me, easily crosseth the ocean of death and of the world,by My help."
Nothing can happen
to the disciple but that which is best for him. Once a person deliberately puts
himself into the Hands of the gracious Masters, They see that everything happens
at the proper time- the time at which the greatest advantage is reaped, alike
for the disciple and for the world. He should therefore take all that comes
in his way with a contented and cheerful spirit, and "take no thought for
the morrow"... The storm-tossed bark on a raging sea is more peaceful than
the life of the pilgrim to the shrine of Spirit. A peaceful life would mean
stagnation and death in the case of one who has not acquired the right to peace
by completely destroying the enemy - personality.
You should not fall
into fallacies, that are committed by the ignorant. All real Love is an attribute
of the Spirit, and Prana and Bhakti are the two aspects of the Divine Prakriti
(Nature) which go to make worth living the life of an aspirant after the waters
of immortality. In the stormy darkness of the disciple's life the sole light
comes from Love, for Love and Ananda (Bliss) are in the highest sense identical,and
the purer and the more spiritual the Love the more does it partake of the nature
of Ananda , and the less is it mixed with incongruous elements. Only the Master's
holy love is so majestically serene as to have nothing in it that does not partake
of the Divine.
Discretion and economy
are quite as necessary in Occultism as anywhere else. In fact, in the life of
the Occultist all the faculties of the human mind that are regarded as virtues
in the ordinary sense are put to the greatest use and exercise, and are necessary
adjuncts to the real life which alone makes a disciple. The world cannot be
helped so easily as many imagine,even if there were more agents available for
the work. Knowledge on the part of the disciple is not the only thing needed.
Look out and ponder,ere deciding that the knowledge and devotion of the few
can push on the hands of the clock. Not a single attempt can be made without
provoking fierce hostility from the other side,and is the world prepared to
survive the reaction? You will understand how wise are our Lords in not going
further than They do, if you only learn from all you have seen.
What would life be
worth if we did not suffer - suffer to render the world groaning under our eyes
a little purer, suffer to win a little more of the waters of life that will
quench the thirst of some parched lips? In fact, but for the suffering that
is the fate of the disciple who walks with bleeding feet on the Path,he might
stray away and lose sight of the goal on which his gaze must ever be fixed.
The Maya of the phenomenal world is so confusing, so bewitching, that it seems
to me that the elimination of the pain a must inevitably be followed by oblivion
of the realities of existence, and with the disappearance of the shadow of spiritual
life its light would vanish too. So long as man has not been transformed into
God, it is vain to expect to be in uninterrupted enjoyment of spiritual bliss,
and in periods of its absence suffering alone keeps the feet of the disciple
steady, and saves him from the death which would surely overtake him in the
forgetfulness of the verities of the spiritual world.
The disciple should
not be disturbed nor surprised when the spiritual forces turned against him
by the other side find their playground on a plane higher than that of the physical
intellect. It is true that the dying embers in some unseen and unnoticed cranny
of his own nature may be fanned thereby into flame; but the flame is one that
forms the signal of the final destruction of some weakness that must be burned
away. So long as the taint of personality has not been clean washed out, vice
in its manifold forms may find shelter in some neglected chamber of the heart,
though it may not find expression in mental life. And the only way to render
the sanctuary of the heart immaculate is to let the searchlight pierce into
dark crannies, and calmly witness the work of their destruction. The disciple
must never let this purificatory process fill him with dismay,whatever monstrosities
he may be called upon to witness. He must hold fast to the Feet of Him who dwells
in the glorious burning-ground of all that is material; then he has nothing
to fear or to be anxious about. He has faith in Those who protect and help,
and may well leave the workings on the spiritual plane to be watched and directed
by Them. When the dark cycle is over, he will again recognise how the gold shines
when the dross has been burned away.
In this mundane sphere
of ours, as on all planes of existence, night alternates with day - there is
shadow beneath the lamp itself. And yet how strange that men of culture and
erudition should fancy that with the advancement of Science, of gross materialistic
Science, all misery- individual, racial, and national - will cease for ever
and ever; diseases, droughts, plagues,wars, inundations , nay, cataclysms themselves,
will all be things of the remote past!
The interest that
we have in all the affairs of this elusive sphere belongs only to the emotions
and the intellect, and cannot touch the Soul. So long as we identify ourselves
with the body and the mind, the vicissitudes which overcome the Theosophical
Society, the dangers which threaten its life or solidarity,must have a depressing,
nay, sometimes almost a frenzied, influence upon our spirits. But as soon as
we come to live in the Spirit, to realise the illusory nature of all
eternal existence, the changeful character of every human organisation, and
the immutability of the Life within, we must, whether the brain-consciousness
reflect the knowledge or not, feel an inward calm, an unconcernedness, as it
were, with this world of shadows, and remain unaffected by the revolutions and
eruptions of the world. Once the Higher Ego is reached, the knowledge that the
Laws and Powers which govern the universe are infinitely wise becomes instinctive,
and peace in the midst of outward throes is inevitable.
Roughly and broadly
speaking, on the plane we live upon there are three standpoints of looking at
human misery in general. We may regard it, for instance: (1) as a test of character;
(2) as a retributive agency; and (3) as a means of education in the largest
signification of the word. From all these points of view, I fancy the "deadness"
(experienced by all aspirants at times) stands to acute pain in very much the
same relation as solitary confinement to imprisonment with hard labour. The
illustration is, no doubt, a very crude one, but it seems to me very suggestive,
and I have invariably found analogy to be of great help in the comprehension
of abstract and subtle propositions; hence this plan of explaining things. Again,
all the forces here are working towards the evolution of perfected humanity,
and it is only by the harmonious development of all our higher faculties and
nobler virtues that we can attain perfection. And this harmonious development
is possible only by the proper exercise of those faculties and virtues, while
this exercise in its turn requires particular conditions for each distinct
attribute. Positive intense suffering does not either test or repay
or bring into play the same capacities and merits of mankind as a dull, dreary
void within. Patience, passive endurance,faith, devotion, are far better developed
under a mental gloom than during an active hard struggle. The law of action
and reaction holds good on the moral plane,and the virtues evoked by this mental
"numbness" are those best fitted to combat and overcome it; and these
are certainly not the same with which you confront actual pain, however excruciating.
One word more on this point, and I shall pass on. This state of mind indicates
that the pilgrim is on the borderland between the known and the unknown, with
a distinct tendency towards the latter. It marks a definite degree of spiritual
growth, and points to that stage where the Soul in its onward march has vaguely,
yet unmistakably, realised the illusive character of the material world, is
dissatisfied and disgusted with the gross things it sees and knows, and hankers
after things more real, knowledge more substantial.
The above explanation,
though very succinct and desultory, will, I hope, satisfy you as to the utility
of vairagya - of the feeling of the absence of all life and reality in both
yourself and the world around you - in the economy of Nature, and show how it
serves as a touchstone for firmness of mind and singleness of heart, how as
a punitive measure it antidotes intellectual egoism- the philosophical blunder
of identifying the Self with the personality - the folly of seeking to nourish
the Soul with gross material food; and how, moreover, it develops, or rather
tends to develop, true faith and devotion, and awakens the higher Reason and
the Love of the Divine.
From the highest
to the lowest, life is an alternation between rest and motion, between light
and darkness, between pleasure and pain. So never allow your heart to sink into
despair or to be carried away by any adverse current of thought. You have proved
to yourself intellectually, and are now actually experiencing, the shadowy,
unreal character of things perceptible by the organs of sense or even by the
mind, and the ephemeral nature of all physical and emotional enjoyments. Hold
fast, therefore, to the path which will bring you to a view of the real life,
however rugged the regions through which it leads,however destitute of joy the
deserts across which it now and then winds. Above all, have faith in the Merciful
Ones, our Wise Masters,and devote yourself heart and soul to Their service,
and all will come out well.
All that is needed
for the weeding out of any vice:
(1) An accurate knowledge
of the vice itself; (2) A recognition - a keen feeling, that is a vice, that
it is foolish to entertain it, and that it is worthless; and, lastly, (3) The
will to "kill it out".
This will
will penetrate into the subconscious sphere where the vice dwells, and slowly
but surely erase it.
Real tranquility
of mind is never the product of indifference and nonchalance, but can only proceed
from an insight into higher and deeper wisdom.
A disciple, however
humble, of Their High Lodge, has to live in the Eternal, and his life must be
a life of Universal Love, or else he must abandon his higher aspirations. The
active service which every disciple has to do to the world is different for
different classes of students, and is determined by the peculiar nature, disposition,
and capacity of the individual. You of course known that, so long as perfection
is not achieved, variety has to be maintained, even in the mode of service a
chela must render.
It is simply impossible
to overestimate the efficacy of Truth in all its phases and bearings,in helping
the onward evolution of the human Soul. We must love Truth, seek Truth, and
live Truth; and thus alone can the Divine Light, which is Truth Sublime, be
seen by the student of Occultism. Where there is the slightest leaning towards
falsehood in any shape, there is shadow and ignorance, and their child, pain.
And this leaning towards falsehood belongs to the lower personality without
doubt. It is here that our interests clash, it is here that the struggle for
existence is in full sway , and it is therefore here that cowardice and dishonesty
and fraud find any scope.
The "signs and
symptoms" of the operation of this lower self can never remain concealed
form one who sincerely loves Truth and seeks Truth and has devotion to the Great
Ones at the foundation of his conduct. Unless the heart be perverse, doubts
as to the righteousness of any particular act will never fail to find articulation,
and then the true disciple will ask himself: "Will my Master be pleased
if I do such and such a thing?" or: "Was it His bidding that I moved
in this way?" And the true answer will soon come up, and then he will learn
to mend his ways and harmonise his wishes with the Divine Will and thereafter
attain to wisdom and peace.
Theosophy is not
a thing which can be thrust and hammered nolens volens into anybody's
head or heart. It must be assimilated with ease in the natural course of evolution,
and inhaled like the air around us. Otherwise it will cause indigestion, to
use a vulgar expression.
Beginning to feel
the growth of one's Soul, one realises the calm that no outward events seem
to touch. This, again, is the best proof of spiritual development, and one who
feels this,however slightly and vaguely, need not care for any Occult phenomena.
From the very beginning of my noviciate I have been taught to rely more upon
the calm within than upon any phenomena on the physical, astral, or spiritual
planes. And, given favourable conditions and strength in oneself, the less one
sees of phenomena, the easier it is to make real and substantial spiritual progress.
So my humble advice to you is to devote your attention ever to growing calm
within, and not to wish to know in detail the process by which the growth is
effected. It you are patient, pure and devoted, you will know all in time, but
remember always that perfect and resigned contentment is the soul of spiritual
life.
Spiritual progress
is not always the same as goodness and self-sacrifice, although these must in
due season bring about the former.
It is true that there
is in the desire to win the affection of people around one, a tinge of personality
which, if eliminated, would make one an angel; but one has to remember that
for a long, long time to come our actions will continue to be tinged slightly
with a feeling of "self". It must be our constant endeavour to kill
this feeling as far as possible, but so long as "self" must show itself
in some way, it is much better that it should exist as an inappreciable factor
in conduct which is gentle, affectionate and conducive to general welfare ,
than that the heart should be hardened, the general character rendered angular,
the "self" manifesting itself in far less attractive and lovely colours.
By this I do not for a moment suggest that efforts should not be made in washing
out this faint stain, but what I mean to convey is that the soft and lovely
drapery in which the mind clothes itself should not be cast into the fire, simply
because it is not one of immaculate whiteness. We have to bear in mind that
all our actions are more or less the result of two factors,a desire for self-gratification,
and a wish to benefit the world - and our constant effort should be to attenuate
as far as is possible the former element, since it may not, till the germ of
personality ceases to exist, be completely eliminated. That germ can be killed
by processes which the disciple learns as he progresses, by devotion and good
actions.
The Masters are always
near those of Their servants who by complete self-abnegation have devoted themselves,
body, mind, and soul, to Their service. And even a kind word to these does not
go unrequited. In times of severe trial They, in accordance with a beneficent
law, let the disciple fight his or her own battle without help from Them; but
anyone who encourages Their servant to stand firm has his reward without a doubt.
Keeping serene and
passionless, there is no doubt that, as the days pass by, one is coming more
and more within that influence which is the essence of life, and some day the
disciple will be surprised to find he has grown wonderfully without knowing
and perceiving the process of growth. For truly the Soul, in its true blooming,
"grows like the flower,unconsciously", but gaining in sweetness and
beauty by imbibing the sunshine of Spirit.
A combative loyalty
to any person or cause is hardly commendable in a disciple, and is certainly
no indication of spiritual progress.
The first step, in
almost every case, has the effect of disturbing a nest of hornets. All the odd
items of your evil Karma crowd around you thick and fast, and would make one
with less steady feet feel giddy and shaky. But one whose whole object is to
lay down, if it need be, his life for the sake of others, without caring for
self,has nothing to fear. The very jolting in the ups and downs of this vortex
of miseries and trials gives one strength and confidence,and forces the growth
of the Soul.
Remember that the
suffering a disciple has to undergo is an integral portion of his training,
and flows out of his desire to crush the personality in him. And, at the end,
he will find the flower of his Soul blooming the more charmingly for the storm
it has braved, and the love and mercy of the Master more than compensating for
all he has suffered and sacrificed. It is only a trial for the moment, because
at the end he will find he has sacrificed nothing and gained all.
Love on the highest
plane reposes on the serene heights of joy alone,and nothing can cast a shadow
on its snowy eminence.
Pity and compassion
are the proper feelings to cherish in respect to all erring humanity, and we
must not give place to any other emotion, such as resentment, annoyance, or
vexation. These latter may not only injure ourselves, but also those against
whom we may chance to entertain them , but whom we would fain see bettered and
freed from all blunders. As we grow spiritually,our thoughts grow incredibly
stronger in dynamic power, and none but those who have actual experience know
how even a passing thought of an Initiate finds objective form.
It is wonderful how
the powers of the Dark seem to sweep away, as it were, in one gust all one's
richest spiritual treasures, garnered with such pain and care after years of
incessant study and experience. It is wonderful , because after all it is an
illusion, and you find it to be one so soon as the peace is restored and light
dawns upon you again. You see that you have lost nothing- that all your treasures
are there, and the storm and the loss are all a chimera.
However heart-rending
the outlook may at any time be, however gloomy and dreary the state of things,
we must not for one single moment give room to despair; for despair weakens
the mind and thus renders us less capable of serving our Masters.
Know for certain
that the Lords of Compassion are always watching their true devotees, and never
allow honest hearts and earnest seekers for light to remain under an illusion
for any length of time; the Wise Lords bring out of even their temporary recessions
lessons which serve them in good stead through the rest of their lives.
It is simply our
ignorance and blindness that give the appearance of strangeness and unintelligibleness
to our work. If we come to view things in their true light and in their full
and deeper significations , all will appear perfectly just and fair, and the
most perfect expression of the highest reason.
That there is in
the order of manifested existence not a whit more pain and misery than is absolutely
necessary for the ends of the highest evolution, follows directly from the law
of Justice and Compassion - the law of Karma and the moral government of the
Universe. That each act of self-sacrifice on the part of evolving human monads
strengthens the hands of the Masters and brings reinforcement, as it were, to
the Powers of Goodness, will also be made plain ere we are things of the past
- at least to a great many of the present race.
It would not avail
us much if we knew accurately in detail all that was going to happen to us.
For we are not concerned with results, and all we should care about is our own
duty; so long as the path is clear to us it is of little consequence what comes
of the steps we take on this outer plane. It is the inner life that is the real
life; and if our faith in the guidance of our Lords be firm, we ought to have
no doubt that whatever the appearances in this illusory sphere may be, all shall
go well within, and the world shall go forward on its line of evolution. There
is comfort enough in this idea, there is blessedness enough in this thought,
and his alone should suffice to nerve us to our present duties and stimulate
us to further activity and harder work.
There is a great
difference between one who knows the spiritual life to be a reality and the
man who only babbles about it, but perceives it not, who clutches at and grasps
for it,but inhales not its fragrant breath nor feels its exquisite touch.
There is far more
wisdom in Those who are watching over us than we have any conception of, and
if only we can firmly pin our faith on this we shall not fall into any blunders,
and shall be sure to avoid much unnecessary and worse than useless worry. For
not a few of our mistakes might be traced to excess of anxiety and fear, to
overstrung nerves,and even to too much zeal.
You will now see
that wholehearted devotion is a potent factor in promoting the growth of the
Soul, although it be not seen and realised for the moment, and you will not
blame me for having told you to leave aside all thought about phenomena and
spiritual knowledge, psychic power and abnormal experiences. For in the serene
sunlight of peace every flower of the Soul smiles and grows rich in its peculiar
radiant dye. And then some day the disciple looks with amazement at the beauty
and delicious fragrance of every flower, rejoices, and in the rejoicing knows
that the beauty and radiance emanate from the Lord he has served. The process
of growth is not the hackneyed detestable article known to dabblers in pseudo-
Occultism. It is a thing mysterious; so sweet, so subtle that none may speak
of it, but may only know by service.
You have tasted some
drops of the ambrosial waters of Peace, and in the tasting have found strength.
Known now and for ever that in the calm of the Soul lies real knowledge, and
from the divine tranquillity of the heart comes power. Experience of celestial
peace and joy is therefore the only true spiritual life, and growth in peace
alone means growth of the Soul. The witness sing of abnormal phenomena by the
physical sense can but arouse curiosity and not promote growth. Devotion and
peace form the atmosphere in which the Soul lives , and the more you have of
those, the more life your Soul will possess. Rely always therefore on the experiences
of your Higher Self as a test of your own progress, as also of the reality of
the spiritual world, and do not attach any importance to physical phenomena
which never do, never can, form the source of strength and comfort.
The humble and devoted
servants of the Masters really form a chain by which each link is held to the
Compassionate Ones. The tightness of the hold of one link to the one next in
advance to it, therefore, implies the strength of the chain which ever draws
us up to Them. Hence one should never fall into the popular fallacy of regard
the love which partakes so largely of the divine as a weakness. Even ordinary
love, if it be real, deep and selfless, is the highest and purest manifestation
of the Higher Self, and if entertained in one's bosom with consistency and desire
of self-sacrifice, ultimately brings one to a clearer realisation of the spiritual
world than does any other human act or emotion. What then of a love which has
for its basis a common aspiration to reach the Throne of God, a joint prayer
to suffer for the ignorant and erring humanity, and a mutual pledge to sacrifice
one's own happiness and comfort for the better rendering of service to Those
who are ever building a bulwark with Their blessings between the terrible forces
of evil and the defenceless orphan- Humanity.... But the ideas of the world
are all distorted by the selfishness and baseness of human nature. It in love
there be weakness, I do not know where lies strength. Real strength does
not consist in strife and opposition,but lies all-potent in love and inner peace.
So the man who cares to live and grow must ever love, and suffer for love.
When has the world,
blind in its ignorance and self-conceit, done full justice to its real saviours
and most devoted servants? It is enough that one sees, and in that seeing attempts
to dispel, to what extent may be possible, the delusion of the people around
one. The wish that every one should have the eyes to see and to recognise the
Power that works for his regeneration must remain unfulfilled, till the present
darkness that hangs like a pall, obscuring the spiritual vision, has been lifted
completely.
PEACE
TO ALL BEINGS
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