Thoughts Along the Road - 18

Voluntary Austerity Helps

Us Adopt a Wise View of Life

Carlos Cardoso Aveline

* All things are surrounded by peace, space and silence. It is helpful to remember that. To each existing being there is a corresponding atmosphere which both contains and transcends it. The spatial term “Emptiness” corresponds to the acoustical concept of Silence. In voidness, loss and detachment one finds wisdom, the meaning of things, and the purpose and harmony of every effort.

* The Jesus of the New Testament, as Helena Blavatsky clarified, is the symbolical voice of everyone’s spiritual soul. And such a voice says: “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul?” (Matthew 16: 24-26)

* It is by “dying” to material things or “accepting the void” that one can live indeed, and do so in a lasting way. The lower self has to “face the absolute nothingness of its life” for the higher self to flourish in anyone’s existence.

* Mental and emotional silence liberates us from automatic chains of thought. By noiseless and alert, the pilgrim’s mind is able to contemplate truth from the point of view of that freedom which he obtains by transcending short-term thought.

* One of the paradoxes in life is in the fact that you need constant self-preparation, in order to be able to forget yourself. Thanks to self-respect, self-knowledge and self-control, one can leave his personal “self” aside and deal with more important issues.

* Each time one’s consciousness transcends in waking state the process of perceiving physical and psychological objects, one discovers the hidden bliss dwelling in the “void” level of mental Space. Then one attains to wide horizons and elevated levels of life perception, and every noise of individual consciousness gives way to the music of silence.

* Altruism needs efficiency. However noble, a vague or groundless desire makes it more difficult to attain one’s object.

* Five people who know what they want and who patiently work for the good of mankind are more influential on an essential plane than five hundred misinformed individuals, or five thousand confused minds.

* If the tasks one is supposed to perform each day grow in number and multiply, then an unconditional calm must be evoked, so as to keep the necessary peace and order in one’s inner world.

* Good results emerging from one’s work and efforts may be highly probationary if one’s sense of mission is attached to outward duties. Detachment protects one from a mechanistic view of his own task. The priority is always listening to the still, small voice of the conscience.

* It is no use adopting a form of spirituality which denies or runs away from the difficulties of life. The original teachings of theosophy agree with that. Universal wisdom can only be grasped in one’s daily existence, and an integrated view of the world is necessary.

* In the cycle of 24 hours, one meets failure, ignorance and fear. True philosophy enlightens and transcends every feeling and hope in human soul. Learning to be a theosophist means looking at everything from the point of view of that level of consciousness, in one’s heart, which does not die, and is not born.

* The balanced pilgrim who seeks for truth must have the audacity of those who are personally ambitious, combined with the self-forgetfulness of him who does not want anything for himself.

* Appearances deceive most people. The firmness and the detachment of a pilgrim will shine in different moments, and they may be invisible to all around him. Generous courage is often seen as arrogance, and humbleness, as absence of value.

* True wisdom has no owners and is not easily detected. Divine knowledge is like the air one breathes: invisible to the many. And only the wisdom in oneself can see wisdom in others and remain free from blind faith.

* It is the power of discernment that allows us to transfer the focus of consciousness from the manifested world to the unmanifested realm of inner unity. And the other way around: when one wants to make the transition back from the world of inner unity to the world of outer diversity and contrast, discernment is again the door, the key, and the decisive tool.

* Superficiality often expresses itself through a feeling of hurry and a sense that there is not enough time to do what must be done. A deep standpoint shows the needlessness and uselessness of anxiety.

* An attempt to artificially accelerate outward events indicates that the pilgrim did not grasp the true rhythm of life and is not in harmony with it. A careless acceleration of events produces loss of time and energy. On the other hand, the wise use of time avoids both procrastination and haste.

* Concentration is the ability to establish one’s whole consciousness in the heart, and this can be done while paying attention to one’s active duty. Thoroughly fulfilling our duty means performing it with no expectations of personal rewards. Right action can be as quick as light, and as firm as a rocky mountain facing gentle winds.

* The practice of voluntary austerity, or “tapas” in Sanskrit, helps those who try to adopt a wise view of life. As the student of theosophy develops a higher sensibility, he must consolidate stable and healthy habits on the outer layers of existence. While his central focus shifts from the outward aspects of life towards subtler rates of vibration, he has to establish himself in sane patterns of vibration so as to be protected by the good karma of his present and past actions. The building of such rhythms in life will combine with the unfolding of his new and finer perception. The pilgrim is protected from Illusion by Tapas.

* As long as anyone’s contact with his immortal soul is alive and strong enough, he has the courage to see the facts of life in a severe way, and at the same time he maintains a positive attitude towards the future. Others may then consider him an optimistic. If however one gets negative regarding his future as a soul, or pessimistic as to the future of mankind (or his country), he should re-examine his relation to his own higher levels of consciousness. He ought to expand that contact. Our view of the world is a mirror to the state of our soul.

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The above article was published as an independent text on 18 May 2018. An initial version of it, with no indication as to the name of the author, is included in the January 2016 edition of “The Aquarian Theosophist”.

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E-Theosophy e-group offers a regular study of the classic, intercultural theosophy taught by Helena P. Blavatsky (photo).

Those who want to join E-Theosophy e-group at YahooGroups can do that by visiting https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/E-Theosophy/info.

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Death of Montoliú in Spain, 1892

The Short, Inspiring Life of a Great

Pioneer of Theosophy in Spanish Language

Henry S. Olcott

Henry S. Olcott (left), and Francisco Montoliú

A 2018 Editorial Note:

Francisco Montoliú, the great pioneer of the theosophical movement in the Spanish-speaking world, was 31 years old when he passed away on 10 May 1892.

One month before his death, Montoliú had a letter published by Henry S. Olcott in “The Theosophist”, in which he said:

“I wish our Indian brothers to know that in Spain we give our greatest attention to spreading a knowledge of Theosophy broadcast rather than to organizing Branches. In a country like ours, which is more Oriental than Occidental in character, the very few individuals who are active and devoted to the Great Work, would find themselves hindered rather than helped in their activity by local organizations; if they formed them under the delusive hope of making them as perfect as they should be, they would find themselves confronted by two formidable foes. Indolence and Violence - two extremes which may be said to dominate the Spanish temperament.” 

“The two Theosophical centres, Madrid and Barcelona, are alone formed, by natural affinity - one might say Karmically - yet they are very solidly established. At Corunna the influence is beginning to come to a focus, and one sees the germs of future Branches showing themselves in other places. Here (at Barcelona) our Theosophical lectures are well attended, but I am afraid that if many like to listen, few seem ready to work or to train their memory to retain what is said. As regards our publications I need not speak, since they have already been noticed in the Theosophist”.[1]

To this, Olcott added a commentary:

“If one would estimate the enormous obstacles that our Spanish brothers are daily opposed by, let him read the religious history of Spain and the observations of contemporary travellers upon the condition of the Spanish Church and churchmen. They are in reality heroes of a Theosophical Forlorn Hope, and have already earned the respect and gratitude of all their fellow-members by their gallant assault upon national prejudice and conservatism. O.”

Life is cyclic, and it demands courage.

In the 21st century, the theosophical movement may undergo another beginning when people around the world awaken to universal wisdom and reject religious bureaucracies. The new generations of theosophists will have reasons to cherish the inspiring life-examples left by Francisco Montoliú and other pilgrims.   

(Carlos Cardoso Aveline)

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Death of Montoliú in Spain, 1892

Henry S. Olcott [2]

Our cause in Spain has just suffered a most serious loss in the untimely death of Señor Don Francisco de Montoliu y de Tagores, F.T.S. of Barcelona. So far as our propaganda in Spanish-speaking countries is concerned, the blow is of only less severity than the departure of H.P.B. to the whole Society.

Thanks to his rare genius, industry and self-sacrifice, our literature was beginning to be spread and be welcomed throughout Spain, Mexico, Cuba, Central and South America, the Philippines and the West Indies. He had translated into classical Spanish “Isis Unveiled” and other important theosophical works and was publishing the former by subscription in monthly numbers.

From his aristocratic and bigoted Roman Catholic family he met with angry opposition and yet threw himself into the arduous work of our Society with generous self-abandonment and quenchless zeal. Every one of his letters to me breathed the holy influence of unselfishness and a courage not to be daunted by opposition.

Looking throughout the whole Society, I could pick out no one more devoted to conscience, more ardently loving for mankind, more free from local and sectarian narrowness. His death was entirely unexpected. An unanswered letter of his was lying on my writing-table when the touching official and personal notice of the calamity came to me from our beloved friend, his colleague Señor Don José Xifré. The circumstances of his death-bed were mournfully tragic.

He left us on the 10th May after a week’s illness, caused by catching a cold on his chest which turned into typhoid fever - the result, I fear, of nervous exhaustion from overwork. Señors Xifré, Roveratta, Bosch and Das were present to the end at the wish of our dying Brother, in spite of the insults heaped upon them and him by the family and the Jesuit priests.

“The death” - says Señor Xifré - “was admirable, an example which none of us can ever forget.” Despite all the dictates of propriety and deference to the wishes of the dying Theosophist, the priests made a sectarian ceremonial, which seems to me to have been, under the circumstances, nothing better than a profanation of true religious feeling, and then spread the cruel falsehood that the victim had been “converted”: the usual dodge of the clergy to cover defeat in the case of nearly every freethinker. Our watchful Fellows with difficulty managed to save the more important among Montoliu’s T.S. Documents; the priests - poor, blind fools who have learnt nothing from history! - seized the rest and burnt them to ashes.

Far from sitting idle in blank despair, our surviving Spanish comrades have instantly taken up the torch as it dropped from dear Montoliu’s dead hand, and I have received a circular requesting that all correspondence concerning the Theosophical Society may be addressed as follows: Redacción y administración de los Estudios Teosóficos, Calle Tallers, 66, Barcelona, Spain.

H.S.O.

NOTES:

[1] “The Theosophist”, Adyar, India, April 1892, page 452.

[2] The following article is reproduced from “The Theosophist”, July 1892, p. 599. Original title: “Death of Montoliu”.

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The article “Death of Montoliú in Spain, 1892” was published in our associated websites on 12 May 2018.

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On 14 September 2016, a group of students decided to found the Independent Lodge of Theosophists. Two of the priorities adopted by the ILT are learning from the past and building a better future.  

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E-Theosophy e-group offers a regular study of the classic, intercultural theosophy taught by Helena P. Blavatsky (photo).

Those who want to join E-Theosophy e-group at YahooGroups can do that by visiting  https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/E-Theosophy/info.

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The People of the Blue Mountains

In PDF, the 1930 Edition of a

Little-Known Book, First Published in Russian

Helena P. Blavatsky

“Unique, inspiring, nice

to read and most valuable”

A 2018 Editorial Note:

This book presents unsolved bibliographical questions.  

The present online edition reproduces the 1930 volume of 227 pages published by “Theosophical Press” in Wheaton, Illinois, USA.

First published in Russian, the work is also entitled “Enigmatical Tribes”. Boris de Zirkoff writes:

“The Russian text of the ‘Enigmatical Tribes’ together with ‘The Durbar at Lahore’ were both published in book form by Gubinsky at St. Petersburg in 1898. Madame Vera P. de Zhelihovsky, H.P.B.’s sister, contributed to this edition a biographical sketch of the author. It contains, as frontispiece, a little-known portrait of H.P.B.  This edition was republished by Olga Dyakova & Co. at Berlin in 1925.”

Zirkoff proceeds:

“A rather faulty and incomplete English translation of the ‘Enigmatical Tribes’ appeared in The Theosophist (April, 1909 - November, 1910) under the title of ‘Mysterious Tribes’. It is supposed to have been a translation from a German version published by Arthur Weber at Leipzig in 1908. It was published in book form by the Theosophical Press, Wheaton, Ill., in 1930, under the title of The People of the Blue Mountains.”

However, contrary to what Boris suggests, this 1930 edition is not the same text published in “The Theosophist” in 1909-1910: the differences between them are profound and easy to see.[1]

In 2018, the 1930 edition of “The People of the Blue Mountains” is a rare volume and difficult to obtain in paper, except for its photocopies sold as books by Kessinger Publishing Co.  The present online version reproduces the only edition in book form in English of the work by Helena Blavatsky.

While the outward text of the present translation may be imperfect, “The People of the Blue Mountains” is certainly unique, inspiring, nice to read and most valuable. It has a significant place in esoteric literature and deserves the thoughtful reading of every student of theosophy.

(Carlos Cardoso Aveline)

Click Here to Read the Book

“The People of the Blue Mountains”, in PDF

NOTE:

[1] Zirkoff goes on to say:

“A better, but still somewhat faulty, translation by Vera Johnston, entitled The Magicians of the Blue Hills, exists in the form of page-proofs; it bears the date of New York, 1897, but does not seem to have actually appeared in print. A French translation of Mark Semenoff entitled Au Pays des Montagnes Bleues (255 pages), was published at Paris in 1926 by the Editions du Monde Moderne. There is some indication that this French rendering was re-translated into English at a later date. A German translation by Arthur Weber entitled Rätsel-hafte Volkstämme appeared at Leipzig in 1908. A new edition of it was published by J. J. Couvreur at The Hague, Holland, 1970 (xii, 255 pp.).”

(From the article “The Writings of H.P. Blavatsky in Russian”, by Boris de Zirkoff, which opens the book “From the Caves and Jungles of Hindostan”, by H. P. Blavatsky, TPH, USA, 720 pages, p. xxxviii.)

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The book “The People of the Blue Mountains” was published in our associated websites on 8 May 2018.

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See the article “Blavatsky and the Blue Mountains”, by Joana Maria Pinho.

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On 14 September 2016, a group of students decided to found the Independent Lodge of Theosophists. Two of the priorities adopted by the ILT are learning from the past and building a better future.  

000 

E-Theosophy e-group offers a regular study of the classic, intercultural theosophy taught by Helena P. Blavatsky (photo).

Those who want to join E-Theosophy e-group at YahooGroups can do that by visiting  https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/E-Theosophy/info.

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Thoughts Along the Road - 17

Right Action Makes Us Deserve Real Wisdom

Carlos Cardoso Aveline

* The acceptance of a void psychological space liberates the soul. “Emptiness” is blessed. The pure intelligence of no-thing contains the manifested universe: all numbers are present in the zero, and every sound will be found in silence.

* Perhaps it is because souls have no physical weight, that the path to heaven is made of Void Space. By “having nothing”, id est., by honestly acknowledging the fact that we ultimately “possess” nothing, we can get to be consciously one with the Cosmos and its Law.

* Eternity is here and now. Where does the here-and-now flow? It exists in eternity.

* Still, it is not correct to leave for tomorrow what we can do today. Balance and equilibrium are necessary in everything.

* One must not leave for others to do that which one can do by oneself.  Love includes severity, friendship needs frankness, and dialogue is about listening as much as about talking - perhaps even more.  

* A sense of peace comes from simplicity of heart. An open mind results from perceiving life’s unity. A strong intellect needs purity of emotions, and true blessings can be received by those whose souls are like the soul of a child.

* There is an invisible equilibrium between the earth and the sky. The more one acquires, the more one must give up or renounce. There is no such thing as obtaining something - especially on the spiritual plane - without leaving aside something symmetrically opposed to that.

* Self-renewal needs perseverance. Mental dispersion does not stimulate real change: innovation requires a stable focus. Creativity results from effort and concentration.

* Confidence in the future must be associated with a respect for the past and an ability to learn from it.

* A courageous dialogue prevents war. The most diverse nations, cultures and systems of thought will learn from each other during a long-standing debate. Contrast is culturally and spiritually enriching. The best remedies to ignorance and hypocrisy are an open mind, frankness and tolerance regarding the paradoxes and conflicts between different views.

* The quality of detachment or independence from routine and circumstances allows the pilgrim to know better than obeying to mere outward forms of mechanistic discipline.

* While a daily effort is necessary to expand one’s identity with the law of the universe, it must be a creative and living effort, not a frozen repetition of blind actions.

* Our daily practice will become a natural process if we have a clear sense of duty towards mankind, and to Those who work for its deliverance from unnecessary pain.

* Peace of mind expands little by little as a result of continuous right intention, correct action, and detachment regarding circumstances.

* One must remember that a noble project will have to challenge and will be challenged by increasingly large circles of ignorance or negative karma. The blessing is mainly internal.

* The evolutionary purpose of facing renewed challenges is to attain higher levels of understanding. While obstacles are temporary, the lessons learned endure.

* Every Life is a combination of different cycles, and human beings exist in many interlaced lines of karma and of time, often contrasting with one another.

* There is a chain of interdependent causes, a virtuous circle that leads students to a perception of universal truth. Such Nidanas of spiritual path can be described in various ways, the following being one of them: “1) The right point of view deepens the effectiveness of attention; 2) The right kind of attention produces understanding; 3) The right understanding leads one to freedom from blind attachment or rejection; 4) Freedom from blind attachment or rejection expands one’s affinity with wisdom; and 5) The affinity with wisdom provides the pilgrim with a point of view regarding life that improves and expands all the time.”

* The student of esoteric philosophy learns how to plan and develop actions that have harmonious effects in the higher dimensions of space and time.

* Planning is part of life, and a higher planning results from a wider knowledge of time and space.

* There is a Plan of Evolution. The Universe does not move by chance.  One’s actions and point of view must transcend the blind routines of superficial space and short-term time.

* While esoteric philosophy uses words, it cannot be grasped or transmitted at their level only. In theosophy, concepts and phrases are the outer vehicles for true understanding.

* Words are the messengers of truth, unless they are its jailers. Ideas and sentences can point to facts; they can’t replace them. Utter sincerity is needed in actual communication. It is by being one with the object of understanding that we can learn about it.

* The Yoga of Patanjali teaches that one’s mind and soul take the form of whatever they focus or concentrate upon. A narrow mind is that which gravitates around narrow subjects. A wise mind is so because it is focused in universal realities and law. As a result, the calm study of classical theosophical books has powerful practical effects in one’s life. Its revolutionary consequences are not necessarily visible in the short term.

* There are challenging aspects in studying the theosophy of cosmos and the long-term evolution of our mankind. The very substance of one’s mind must gradually change during study. Some universal ideas can only be grasped by a mind that is simultaneously broad and finely tuned.   

* The ethical tenets of theosophy liberate a student from illusory points of view and allow him to fully understand esoteric philosophy. As the pilgrim studies, his view of the world broadens little by little; his life gets simpler, and he begins to learn the true alphabet of mystical perception.  

* Creativeness in theosophy implies a degree of indifference regarding all things material, and determination to open a path where there is no visible path yet. Creative action is not an obvious process to see. It means accepting routine insofar as it is harmless to the process of life-renewing. A creative individual is unconditionally patient in healthy situations, not because he loves sameness in itself, but because he has a deep relation with Time, and with Detachment.

* Duration has its own cornerstones. A student who knows where he is going is able to provoke sudden change, provided that 1) the karma of a situation demands it, 2) the timing is appropriate, and 3) the change will lead to an enduring improvement of life.

* It does not make a great difference how much “knowledge” one thinks one has. The meaning of knowing is in what we do with whatever knowledge we may have.

* Spiritual awareness is non-verbal. It can only be obtained by those who deserve it, and as long as they do so. Others are limited to the wording of spirituality, and often to wrong and distorted wording. 

* Right action makes us deserve real wisdom. As we use our knowledge in the proper way, out of right intention, it expands.

* Reading is not a merely physical, formal or “logical” event. It is potentially a septenary process; something that unfolds simultaneously on seven levels of consciousness. Through reading texts written by great sages, one can get in tune, as much as one’s soul is entitled to, with the vibrational patterns of Universal Knowledge.

* The tuning in with the inner aspect of texts which convey spiritual perception often occurs during the silence between one idea and the next. In such a silence, the understanding brings about unity between the observer and the truth being observed. Yet there is another silence which takes place all the time, above the logical succession of the reading. This higher and uninterrupted level of silence can also be part of one’s conscious experience.

* A countdown is ticking. As announced by Helena Blavatsky in the 19th century, humanity is fast developing new mental abilities. However, consciousness of the process is still scarce. The amount of spontaneous telepathy among people expands. The conscious use of the power of thought quickly spreads. Lower kinds of intuition emerge. Citizens are getting more and more sensitive to the astral world, and their worldview is still materialistic and selfish, if not increasingly so. This might be a recipe for disaster, unless Ethics emerges as a healing factor and the souls realize that people must peacefully sow whatever they wish to harvest later. In this, the daily practice of each citizen makes the difference.

* There is a higher form of pleasure in studying the book “The Secret Doctrine” and understanding little by little the way the Universe works, and the manner Life unfolds in one’s soul and the soul of everything. Something in us starts to die, and something starts to live. An awareness is born of our essential immortality, as we understand that we partake of the essence of every star and of limitless cosmic Space.

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The above article was published as an independent text on 3 May 2018.  An initial version of it, with no indication as to the name of the author, is included in the December 2015 edition of “The Aquarian Theosophist”.

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E-Theosophy e-group offers a regular study of the classic, intercultural theosophy taught by Helena P. Blavatsky (photo).

Those who want to join E-Theosophy e-group at YahooGroups can do that by visiting https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/E-Theosophy/info.

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Thoughts Along the Road - 16

The Sense of Divine Produces Calm: a

Perception of Eternity Liberates from Desire

Carlos Cardoso Aveline

* One thing is worthwhile remembering: that whatever we sow is more important than that which we harvest.

* The joy of living needs no external reasons to be strong: it results from the spontaneous contact with the spiritual soul and the law of the universe.

* Life has its tides. The foundations of an enduring happiness are based on the inner strength with which we face hard moments. On the other hand, victories last longer when seen with gratitude and humbleness.

* Inner plenitude transcends conventional thought. The light of universal unity and friendship shines from one’s heart with no need of words. Once that happens, Miguel de Molinos wrote that words can be abandoned in the same way as a ship is left aside when we arrive at the destination port.

* Renunciation, or the art of accepting one’s losses, is not something that one must learn once or twice in a lifetime, during an abstract and intellectual study. The lesson must be learned hundreds of times, often in painful and unexpected ways.

* It is relatively easy to win. Everyone does that once in a while, whether one deserves it or not. The important thing is to consolidate the victory. It is valuable to see the victory taking place at every moment, at each task well done, each sincere word spoken.

* The correct vision of one fragment allows us to understand the whole. A right perception of the whole makes it possible to see every fragment.  For the circle is present in the dot, just as the dot is present in the circle. And each time we look, we can see reality a little better.

* There are various ways of being where we want to be. Through the ideas present in a library one can travel to the most interesting places in space and time, and listen to some of the wisest souls of mankind.

* Personal favors do not occur on the higher planes of the spiritual path. The path is ruled by the Law. Every blessing coming from divine realms must be therefore the natural result of one’s merit, or it will have no validity.

* It is not enough to make an effort to walk in the right direction. One’s actions must be effective. There is a mutual correlation between the tree and the fruit. The steps of a pilgrim who knows enough are guided by a clear vision of facts.

* The silent center of peace in our conscience informs the quality and rhythm of thoughts, emotions, actions and insights. The wider and deeper our contact with such center, the more meaningful is our presence in the world around us.

* The corridors of karma have lateral limits whose substance is made of habits. The student must create correct patterns of repetitive actions and attitudes in his life, so that the corridors of karma will lead him to Wisdom and to bliss.

* One’s conscious and subconscious relation to the past is a powerful factor in defining exactly how one relates to the present circumstances. It also influences the way one is preparing right now his own future, while helping shape the future of others.

* In theosophy, sometimes a spiritual lightning takes place. During a meditative pause in the middle of the noble effort, an unworded, abyssal happiness may come to you and transform your whole life in the fraction of a second. And this is an experience to which you must develop no attachment whatsoever.

* Managing situations in a responsible and creative way can be more important than the nature of situations in themselves. In many cases the facts of our lives make less difference than our decisions about what to do once we know of them. To build the future is a central task. The present moment contains the past and is the raw-material from which to make something better.

* Attachment to personal opinions is a stumbling block in the search for truth. Another obstacle, perhaps even more serious, is the absence of attachment to ethical principles. The key to progress is in listening to the silence and the soul. Our main leader and ultimate authority has to be the voice of conscience: then truth can be discovered, and it will occur by degrees and layer after layer.

* Let us not be naive or ill-informed: there is no reason to deceive ourselves into the materialistic illusion. Just as each atom is a miniature of the solar system, a small step contains the essence of the long walk. One who saves a single animal from death or danger helps the evolution of our planet. As one plants a tree or cares for her, a trend is established of friendship for Life which can resound around the globe.

* Exaggeration threatens the durability of the efforts made. Actions of moderate intensity allow us to work in the present without forgetting the future. Calmness is a characteristic of enduring and effective action. No work, however noble and altruistic, should suppress the repose necessary for it to renew itself and to keep unfolding in a long-term perspective. The right amount of silence and humbleness helps moderation take place.

* There is a reason for the work “The Secret Doctrine”, by H.P. Blavatsky, to be centered on two sets of Eastern verses whose inner beauty is unique. Most classic works on eternal wisdom - including “The Voice of the Silence” - exist in a universe which expresses the transcendent, all-inclusive and rhythmic harmony of life. That includes the scriptures of different religions, and the myths of most nations. The substance of life, both cosmic and individual, has much in common with poetry. Whoever cannot see this deserve the solidarity of those who have already attained a better view of things.

* As long as the experience of detachment remains painful, one’s efforts to develop it are too limited in their horizon and progress is relatively shallow. True detachment comes to us as relief. It results from a wide understanding of life and makes it expand further.  

* Necessity is our Teacher. Renunciation is Bliss. If life gets quicker every day, there is a practical lesson to learn. By revising the agenda and giving up items of secondary importance, one keeps his inner quietness. Peace in the soul connects us to the true center of Life. Improving the agenda and keeping it around essential points is good for altruistic groups, as well as individuals.

* A continuous acceleration of karma and life is not a good omen. Anxiety does not lead to truth, balance or discernment. Life is slow in its building processes. That which is made in no hurry, will endure if correct. The sense of divine produces calm. A perception of eternity liberates from desire. These facts correspond to Law. Yet - how easy is it for our civilization to accept them, and act accordingly?

* Thinking too much of mistakes is not the way to get rid of them. Making believe that failures do not exist or forbidding oneself and others to mention them is also not the path.

* Something between 70 and 95 per cent of our energy must be concentrated around the clock on the positive pole of life’s electricity, or constructive thinking. With the lesser part of our energy, we must rigorously look at errors, mainly our own. It is our duty to leave aside subconscious attachment to mistakes, and the habit of criticizing them. The best way to defeat error is through right action, and by building that which is correct. A critical vision of things is also crucial to victory as long as it is associated with detachment, and compassion.

* Before a pilgrim says much regarding philosophical matters, he must examine the consequences of such an action; and not only its immediate effects, but the long-term consequences as well. Is he ready for all of them?

* To renounce personal expectations as to results of actions is not the same as being thoughtless regarding the consequences of his efforts. Far from that. While not acting for selfish ends, the student of true philosophy must be most careful of what he does.

* The grand rule of occult learning is that as long as one learns, one faces ever-renewed, unexpected tests. The learning takes several lifetimes. One must have a long-term plan of action. Self-regulation is a decisive science in life; and so is full attention, in order to discern right from wrong as much as one can.

* Purity of mind is the Zen sword which enables us to see and cut illusions. Discernment regarding things in life and the esoteric movement must be attained gradually. Any “instantaneity” is mayavic.

* Little by little one can see what is true and what is false, who stands for walking towards truth, and who stands for posturing, insisting in make-believe and in smiling as whited sepulchres do. No one can tell a student about that: he has to come to realize the topography of life by himself. Proofs can be shown, but discernment must emerge from within. As to individual pretenders, compassion is due, while an impersonal severity is necessary regarding falsehoods as such. Pretenders exemplify the failure of a certain Pedagogy. They have forgotten that sincerity is a blessing. They might be able to learn better, sooner or later, from the example given by the ones who refuse falsehoods.

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The above article was published as an independent text on 28 April 2018.  An initial version of it, with no indication as to the name of the author, is included in the November 2015 edition of “The Aquarian Theosophist”.

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E-Theosophy e-group offers a regular study of the classic, intercultural theosophy taught by Helena P. Blavatsky (photo).

Those who want to join E-Theosophy e-group at YahooGroups can do that by visiting  https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/E-Theosophy/info.

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