taijasi
Gnōthi seauton
bananabrain,
A few, choice quotes about Theosophists and Esotericists (in the tradition of Alice Bailey, Helena Roerich, Lucille Cedercrans, et al) ... not just for your benefit, but for anyone who wants to know something about this path, and about the character of those who tread it.
As a note, I would not be so bold as to consider myself among their number - without careful hesitation - and thus I sometimes mention that I am an aspiring esotericist, nothing more.
From William Q. Judge's article, `Musings on the True Theosophist's Path' (The Path, May 1886, pp. 57-8):
Whether you judge me according to your own religion's moral components, or even in terms of internal criticism according to Theosophy or more recent teachings, you will find that I fall short. But is it so hard to see - for anyone who is willing to speak openly and plainly - that there is but one Sun that shines alike on Jew, Christian, Muslim and agnostic? That this same Sun does not deny its warmth, its light and its life-giving Rays ... even to hypocrites, or to imperfect men?
Quite true it is that a wise man will climb to higher ground and sit himself upon a rock, in order to more directly receive what the Sun has to offer, while only a fool will seat himself in the shade and expect to receive the full benefits. But what if the need of the hour calls the wise man down from his rock ... would he still be wise if he chose not to respond? Wouldn't the fool in the shade be less foolish, if he acted, while the "wise man" still sat there, sunning himself?
HPB has also said, "Inaction in a deed of mercy becomes an action in a deadly sin." And from one of the world's most ancient scriptures (`The Voice of the Silence,' Fragment I) dating to Atlantean times, no matter what the disbeliever may assert), we read:
A few, choice quotes about Theosophists and Esotericists (in the tradition of Alice Bailey, Helena Roerich, Lucille Cedercrans, et al) ... not just for your benefit, but for anyone who wants to know something about this path, and about the character of those who tread it.
As a note, I would not be so bold as to consider myself among their number - without careful hesitation - and thus I sometimes mention that I am an aspiring esotericist, nothing more.
From William Q. Judge's article, `Musings on the True Theosophist's Path' (The Path, May 1886, pp. 57-8):
Giving thought to self will most truly prevent and overthrow your aims and objects, particularly when directed toward the occult.
Again there arises the thought "I am a student, a holder of a portion of the mystic lore." Insidiously there steals in the thought "Behold I am a little more than other men, who have not penetrated so far." Know then, oh man, that you are not as great even as they. He who thinks he is wise is the most ignorant of men, and he who begins to believe he is wise is in greater danger than any other man who lives.
Again there arises the thought "I am a student, a holder of a portion of the mystic lore." Insidiously there steals in the thought "Behold I am a little more than other men, who have not penetrated so far." Know then, oh man, that you are not as great even as they. He who thinks he is wise is the most ignorant of men, and he who begins to believe he is wise is in greater danger than any other man who lives.
You think, oh man, that because you have obtained a portion of occult knowledge, that it entitles you to withdraw from contact with the rest of mankind. It is not so. If you have obtained true knowledge it forces you to meet all men not only half way, but more than that to seek them. It urges you not to retire but, seeking contact, to plunge into the misery and sorrow of the world, and with your cheering word, if you have no more (the Mystic has little else) strive to lighten the burden for some struggling soul.
It has been written that he who lives the Life shall know the doctrine. Few there be who realize the significance of The Life.
It is not by intellectually philosophizing upon it, until reason ceases to solve the problem, nor by listening in ecstatic delight to the ravings of an Elemental clothed -- whose hallucinations are but the offspring of the Astral -- that the life is realized. Nor will it be realized by the accounts of the experiences of other students. For there be some who will not realize Divine Truth itself, when written, unless it be properly punctuated or expressed in flowery flowing words.
Remember this: that as you live your life each day with an uplifted purpose and unselfish desire, each and every event will bear for you a deep significance -- an occult meaning -- and as you learn their import, so do you fit yourself for higher work.
There are no rose-gardens upon the way in which to loiter about, nor fawning slaves to fan one with golden rods of ostrich plumes. The Ineffable Light will not stream out upon you every time you may think you have turned up the wick, nor will you find yourself sailing about in an astral body, to the delight of yourself and the astonishment of the rest of the world, simply because you are making the effort to find wisdom.
He who is bound in any way -- he who is narrow in his thoughts -- finds it doubly difficult to pass onward. You may equally as well gain wisdom and light in a church as by sitting upon a post while your nails grow through your hands. It is not by going to extremes or growing fanatical in any direction that the life will be realized.
Be temperate in all things, most of all in the condemnation of other men. It is unwise to be intemperate or drunken with wine. It is equally unwise to be drunken with temperance. Men would gain the powers; or the way of working wonders. Do you know, O man, what the powers of the Mystic are? Do you know that for each gift of this kind he gives a part of himself? That it is only with mental anguish, earthly sorrow, and almost his heart's blood, these gifts are gained? Is it true, think you, my brother, that he who truly possesses them desires to sell them at a dollar a peep, or any other price? He who would trade upon these things finds himself farther from his goal than when he was born.
There are gifts and powers. Nor just such as you have created in your imagination, perhaps. Harken to one of these powers: He who has passed onward to a certain point, finds that the hearts of men lie spread before him as open book, and from there onward the motives of men are clear. In other words he can read the hearts of men. But not selfishly; should he but once use this knowledge selfishly, the book is closed -- and he reads no more. Think you, my brothers, he would permit himself to sell a page out of this book?
Time -- that which does not exist outside the inner circle of this little world -- seems of vast importance to the physical man. There comes to him at times, the thought that he is not making any progress, and that he is receiving nothing from some Mystic source. From the fact that he has the thought that no progress is being made the evidence is gained that he is working onward. Only the dead in living bodies need fear. That which men would receive from Mystic sources is frequently often repeated, and in such a quiet, unobtrusive voice, that he who is waiting to hear it shouted in his ear, is apt to pass on unheeding.
Urge no man to see as yourself, as it is quite possible you may see differently when you awake in the morning. It is wiser to let the matter rest without argument. No man is absolutely convinced by that. It is but blowing your breath against the whirlwind.
It was at one time written over the door: "Abandon Hope, all ye who enter here." It has taken hundreds of years for a few to come to the realization that the wise men had not the slightest desire for the company of a lot of hopeless incurables in the mysteries. There is to be abandoned hope for the gratification of our passions, our curiosities, our ambition or desire for gain. There is also another Hope -- the true; and he is a wise man who comes to the knowledge of it. Sister to Patience, they together are the Godmothers of Right Living, and two of the Ten who assist the Teacher.
And from `A Key to Theosophy,' (Section 4) by H.P. Blavatsky, in an example conversation between an enquirer and a (true) Theosophist:ENQUIRER. Is moral elevation, then, the principal thing insisted upon in your Society?
THEOSOPHIST. Undoubtedly! He who would be a true Theosophist must bring himself to live as one.
ENQUIRER. If so, then, as I remarked before, the behaviour of some members strangely belies this fundamental rule.
THEOSOPHIST. Indeed it does. But this cannot be helped among us, any more than amongst those who call themselves Christians and act like fiends. This is no fault of our statutes and rules, but that of human nature. Even in some exoteric public branches, the members pledge themselves on their "Higher Self" to live the life prescribed by Theosophy. They have to bring their Divine Self to guide their every thought and action, every day and at every moment of their lives. A true Theosophist ought "to deal justly and walk humbly." [Note, along these lines, St. Paul, who says, "The Spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak." Should a Theosophist be judged by any different standards, when it comes to the pledge made to the Inner God?]
ENQUIRER. What do you mean by this?
THEOSOPHIST. Simply this: the one self has to forget itself for the many selves. Let me answer you in the words of a true Philaletheian, an F. T. S., who has beautifully expressed it in the Theosophist: "What every man needs first is to find himself, and then take an honest inventory of his subjective possessions, and, bad or bankrupt as it may be, it is not beyond redemption if we set about it in earnest." But how many do? All are willing to work for their own development and progress; very few for those of others. To quote the same writer again: "Men have been deceived and deluded long enough; they must break their idols, put away their shams, and go to work for themselves -- nay, there is one little word too much or too many, for he who works for himself had better not work at all; rather let him work himself for others, for all. For every flower of love and charity he plants in his neighbour's garden, a loathsome weed will disappear from his own, and so this garden of the gods -- Humanity -- shall blossom as a rose. In all Bibles, all religions, this is plainly set forth -- but designing men have at first misinterpreted and finally emasculated, materialised, besotted them. It does not require a new revelation. Let every man be a revelation unto himself. Let once man's immortal spirit take possession of the temple of his body, drive out the money-changers and every unclean thing, and his own divine humanity will redeem him, for when he is thus at one with himself he will know the 'builder of the Temple.'"
Here, then, are some proscriptions ... just a small selection from many volumes worth in Theosphical and other recent esoteric writings.THEOSOPHIST. Undoubtedly! He who would be a true Theosophist must bring himself to live as one.
ENQUIRER. If so, then, as I remarked before, the behaviour of some members strangely belies this fundamental rule.
THEOSOPHIST. Indeed it does. But this cannot be helped among us, any more than amongst those who call themselves Christians and act like fiends. This is no fault of our statutes and rules, but that of human nature. Even in some exoteric public branches, the members pledge themselves on their "Higher Self" to live the life prescribed by Theosophy. They have to bring their Divine Self to guide their every thought and action, every day and at every moment of their lives. A true Theosophist ought "to deal justly and walk humbly." [Note, along these lines, St. Paul, who says, "The Spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak." Should a Theosophist be judged by any different standards, when it comes to the pledge made to the Inner God?]
ENQUIRER. What do you mean by this?
THEOSOPHIST. Simply this: the one self has to forget itself for the many selves. Let me answer you in the words of a true Philaletheian, an F. T. S., who has beautifully expressed it in the Theosophist: "What every man needs first is to find himself, and then take an honest inventory of his subjective possessions, and, bad or bankrupt as it may be, it is not beyond redemption if we set about it in earnest." But how many do? All are willing to work for their own development and progress; very few for those of others. To quote the same writer again: "Men have been deceived and deluded long enough; they must break their idols, put away their shams, and go to work for themselves -- nay, there is one little word too much or too many, for he who works for himself had better not work at all; rather let him work himself for others, for all. For every flower of love and charity he plants in his neighbour's garden, a loathsome weed will disappear from his own, and so this garden of the gods -- Humanity -- shall blossom as a rose. In all Bibles, all religions, this is plainly set forth -- but designing men have at first misinterpreted and finally emasculated, materialised, besotted them. It does not require a new revelation. Let every man be a revelation unto himself. Let once man's immortal spirit take possession of the temple of his body, drive out the money-changers and every unclean thing, and his own divine humanity will redeem him, for when he is thus at one with himself he will know the 'builder of the Temple.'"
Whether you judge me according to your own religion's moral components, or even in terms of internal criticism according to Theosophy or more recent teachings, you will find that I fall short. But is it so hard to see - for anyone who is willing to speak openly and plainly - that there is but one Sun that shines alike on Jew, Christian, Muslim and agnostic? That this same Sun does not deny its warmth, its light and its life-giving Rays ... even to hypocrites, or to imperfect men?
Quite true it is that a wise man will climb to higher ground and sit himself upon a rock, in order to more directly receive what the Sun has to offer, while only a fool will seat himself in the shade and expect to receive the full benefits. But what if the need of the hour calls the wise man down from his rock ... would he still be wise if he chose not to respond? Wouldn't the fool in the shade be less foolish, if he acted, while the "wise man" still sat there, sunning himself?
HPB has also said, "Inaction in a deed of mercy becomes an action in a deadly sin." And from one of the world's most ancient scriptures (`The Voice of the Silence,' Fragment I) dating to Atlantean times, no matter what the disbeliever may assert), we read:
Let thy Soul lend its ear to every cry of pain like as the lotus bares its heart to drink the morning sun.
Let not the fierce Sun dry one tear of pain before thyself hast wiped it from the sufferer's eye.
But let each burning human tear drop on thy heart and there remain, nor ever brush it off, until the pain that caused it is removed.
These tears, O thou of heart most merciful, these are the streams that irrigate the fields of charity immortal. 'Tis on such soil that grows the midnight blossom of Buddha more difficult to find, more rare to view than is the flower of the Vogay tree.
) ... and finally I think I am becoming truly grateful for the wonderful opportunities that have been provided for me here (and elsewhere) - especially by bananabrain, Thomas, and others.
