Stars and Stones on the Path

Book excerpt: Loyalty and devotion to Truth make up the right attitude. The aspirant must unlearn all that he knows, prepare himself for martyrdom, and begin to learn a new alphabet on the lap of Mother Nature, every letter of which will afford a new insight to him, every syllable and word, an unexpected revelation. Nature gives up her secrets and imparts true wisdom only to Philaletheians because they love Truth for her own sake. Christianity has always put down and martyred those who have the audacity, in this time of social abasement and corruption, to live up to its ideals. The only scientific basis of morality is to be sought for in the doctrines of Lord Buddha and Sri Shankaracharya. Occultism requires unflinching loyalty and devotion to Truth. Otherwise, the faint-hearted will be ridiculed and chaffed by the masses, and partake in the terrible fate of Oedipus. But Truth should not be sought for intellectual acquisitiveness, pleasure, contempt of others, profit, fame, honour, promotion, and for other inferior ends. A clean life is the first step towards the Temple of Truth. An outward looking mindset, trapped in the gloom and doom of separateness, invariably gives rise to pessimism. But the abyss of despair has its advantages: 1 It encourages a mental U-turn from exterior preoccupations to interior realms of being and spirituality. It is like a chink in the dark prison walls of earth-life, through which breaks in a ray of light from the eternal home and which, illuminating the inner senses, whispers to the prisoner in his shell of clay the origin and the dual mystery of our being. 2 It is a tacit proof of the presence in man of that which knows, without being told, i.e., that there is another and a better life, once that the curse of earth-lives is lived through. Charity and mercy, harmlessness and humbleness, kindness and gentleness, define the right approach. Before you even think of treading the path, purify the material self. Otherwise you will end up degrading the spiritual. You have to fathom the mysteries of the heart, before you can hope to unravel the mysteries of the soul. Superhuman powers are stones on the path. Faculties and abilities will come naturally to those who are mentally and ethically fit to use them for the common good. Mere desire for powers is a form of selfishness, and receives no encouragement from our Teachers. If aroused prematurely, they will hinder rather than help. Self-interest can neither reveal the powers latent in man, nor can it alleviate the woes of the “Great Orphan.” Take heed of the words of a Master of Wisdom. Even virtues can be vices in the eyes of the beholder. Silently and quietly endure what life brings, without expecting neither plaudits nor feedback. Pristine efforts cannot be thwarted by criticism and apathy. Nor can anyone hide from the all-seeing Law. Woe to those who live without suffering. Prerequisites for study and self-knowledge. · Awareness of the ignorance and deception of the world we live in. · Conviction that self-knowledge can be obtained by personal effort. · Determination to obtain and face that knowledge. Eastern Occultism is the origin and fount of all we know and can possibly learn. There is nothing new under the Sun, nothing new except what is forgotten. The aim of education proper is the art of revealing to the ignorant the world of thought and law, of marvels and mysteries, of moral beauty and ideal truth that lies within us and about us. The aim of science proper is to trace unity in diversity and to sum up the laws that govern their manifold operations in Nature. Reasoning out the unknown from the known and vice-versa, i.e., inductive and deductive reasoning, is what meditation proper is all about. Having reasoned out the Eternal and Universal, then by purity and virtue we may begin to ascend towards the “Sacred Majesty of Truth.” Tarrying on the particulars will sink the mind in the shifting sands of doubt and despair, and any insight of the universals previously gained will be lost. One has to take into account that many of the extant Sanskrit authorities are far from being sacred. For no truly esoteric doctrines were ever written. Many things are orally explained, and always have been. In any case, intellectual study alone is never enough, unless corroborated by application, practice, and experience. Unselfishness is likely to aid the mind and protect it from error. Alas, too many Theosophists are content to read books and too few strive to further the interests of Brotherhood. If mastering a narrow domain of modern science requires years of unremitting study, how much longer will it take one to fathom out the world’s religions and philosophies? Only those Lovers of Truth who are self-reliant and willing to think for themselves can hope to progress by working out a conceptual structure of the Teachings which (a) stands to reason and (b) explains every mystery, and triumphantly demonstrates the nature of every phenomenon. Key occult terms that will have to be understood by neophytes include: · Spirit and Matter, Force and Space; · Reality and Unreality, Formless and Form, Dream and Waking. · Subjective and Objective, both as sensuous and as psychic perceptions. Arguments, contentions, objections, and dissensions about the Teachings stifle intuition and are likely to sever the link between Guru and Chela. Immoral atmosphere saps siddhis. Co-operation with Nature, diligent study, fortitude and perseverance in the face of adversity and, above all, unconditional love for humanity and all that lives, make up the right conduct. Aspirants to the narrow and thorny Path should be deeply studying the philosophy of Occultism before entering upon the practical training. One must ascend the Golgotha of sentient life step by step unaided, by his own initiatives and exertions, ever moving onward and upward. Woe to him who, instead of studying the half-defaced landmarks, he pronounces them indecipherable. The Doctrine of Heart alone, can make of him an elect. You cannot be one with ALL, unless all your acts, thoughts and feelings synchronise with the onward march of nature. You can only approach ALL through unconditional love of, and devotion to, Humanity and all that lives by turning away from selfishness, which is the main of sin and sorrow. Don’t even think of circumventing Karman through masterly inactivity. For inaction on the physical produces adverse effects on the spiritual planes. “Inaction in a deed of mercy becomes an action in a deadly sin.” The physical inactivity of a Mahatman or a Raja Yogin is quite different from the that of solitary fakirs, hermits, and Hatha Yogins. The former are working for mankind on high spiritual realms; the latter are afflicted from spiritual selfishness here, on Earth, the plane of illusion, and the greatest of all hells. Stop pushing yourself forward. “Be restrained, be liberal, be merciful.” Forget yourself in the midst of so many selves. Consider whether “turning the other cheek” may encourage offenders to re-offend. Stop abusing and tormenting animals, and eating their flesh. Desist from gossiping, for gossip fans flames! Condemn the sin, not the Sinner within. Do not set yourself as example to others, for “the camel cannot see its own hump.” But by example you can imprint upon the astral light pictures of higher aspirations and thus aid advanced souls from other spheres to descend. Stones on the Path. Practical Occultism is fraught with dangers. It requires total, unreserved and unswerving commitment, and loyalty to Truth. The aspirant must choose between the life of the World and the life of Occultism. After a pledge is given, any sensual or even mental self-gratification will forfeit the power of spiritual discrimination. And, regardless of motive, the renegade will retrogress and sink deeper into the mire. Only implicit faith to the Teachings and explicit service to mankind can admit the disciple to the Kingdom of Heaven. Neither success nor safety is to be found outside self-development. Woe to those who, driven by selfishness and vanity, dissent from the aim and ideals of the Theosophical Society and its motto. Disunity is the first condition of failure; rivalry, the second. Chelas, Disciples, Shravakas, Upasans: united in thought and deed. The sine qua non of “Chelaship is a spirit of absolute unselfishness and devotion to Truth; then follow self-knowledge and self-mastery.” Chelaship is a psychic resolvent, which eats away all dross and leaves only the pure gold behind. Real gurus are not simply Adepts in Occult Sciences: they are Living Men of profound knowledge and noble ethics. They are masters of human nature and of the secrets of Nature herself. Entrance to the mysteries of Inner Life requires a pledge of seven years’ probation. Unswerving faith, trust, and confidence to the Master are indispensable. But many are unworthy of the honour. “The results have been far from encouraging so far, and it is to show these unfortunates the cause of their failure as much as to warn others against rushing heedlessly upon a similar fate, that the writing of the present article has been ordered.” Masters normally select Chelas from natural mystics in the East. Exceptions of accepted Chelas in the West include Fludd, Thomas Vaughan, Paracelsus, Pico della Mirándola, and Count de Saint-Germain. When you see the light, that light is from you and it is you!