Looking Beyond Superficial
Currents in the Ocean of Theosophy
Carlos Cardoso Aveline
“No one who strives to tread
the path is left unhelped (…).”
(Robert Crosbie)
It has been often said that the theosophical movement does not depend on
how many nominal theosophists are there, nor on the visible strength of any institutions
built and managed by them.
The present and future of the movement, it has been
said, entirely depends on those relatively few earnest workers of different countries
and generations who dedicate their whole lives, not so much to the outer
and apparent levels of the work, but above all to the actual search for inner
and supreme wisdom; and to repeatedly trying to live and act according to the
ideal of human progression and perfection.
On referring to the Few, in the
opening pages of “The Voice of the Silence”, H. P. Blavatsky meant precisely
these dedicated students who are real seekers of the Wisdom. Some of them happen
to be conscious aspirants to lay discipleship, or lay “chelaship”.
There may be something of a reward at some point,
in the form of a greater ability to learn. But one must know from the beginning
that discipleship is no status symbol to stimulate people’s vanity and
pride. And chelaship is not a comfortable road to tread. It is instead
the steep and narrow path.
Discipleship and discipline (two words with the same
root-meaning as disciple) mean the condition on which one is able to
learn. Disciple is he or she who dedicates his or her life to Learn.
Altruistic work, philosophical study and contemplation of universal truths are among
the conditions by which one can learn.
If some sectors of the theosophical movement have perhaps
“forgotten” the importance of the issues related to the inner learning,
then the problem lies with these same sectors. There is always time, though, to
recover such a “memory”, either collectively or individually. Spiritual discernment
is of the essence. To identify illusions is no secondary aspect of the path. Yet
it is not enough to see what is right and what is wrong. Students must examine
whether they are not subconsciously identified with the delusions which they
can already clearly identify - on a rational plane.
Robert Crosbie wrote:
“No one who sees his mistakes can be a hopeless
case. The moment we see that we are deluded, that moment we are no longer
deluded, although we may be surrounded by the consequences of delusion and have
to work through them. Any trouble and hindrance come from self-identification
with delusion and mistakes; this is the delusion of delusions.” [1]
Besides seeing what is true and what is false,
therefore, one must actively give up that which is false, and this is not
always easy for individuals, or for groups of individuals. It requires a
development of will, and the ability to try. In a letter to a
student, Robert Crosbie said this, about the students who lost their compass:
“Speaking of those who have fallen by the wayside,
it is quite true that ‘the greater the height the greater the effort to
preserve equilibrium’; but this applies particularly when the height is an
intellectual rather than a spiritual one, and where the motive is tinged with a
desire for self-advancement regardless of the paramount duty to selves. Very
often the ostensible motive is not the real one, and in this we frequently
deceive ourselves. Ambition also comes in; the desire for the approbation of
our fellows may cloud our vision in our effort to maintain it. There are many
temptations, some of which may come disguised as angels of light. Our best
safe-guard is an unselfish desire to benefit others, with no anxiety about our
own progress, while striving all the time to make ourselves the better able to
help and teach others.”
And Crosbie added, in the same letter:
“There is no need to grope, nor stagger, nor stray,
for the chart that has led many to the goal is in your hands in the philosophy
of Theosophy.”
This sentence alone is something to meditate
about.
But Crosbie proceeds:
“And let me say here to you: do not be too anxious;
abide the time when your own inner demands shall open the doors, for those
Great Ones who I know exist see every pure-hearted earnest disciple, and are
ready to give a turn to the key of knowledge when the time in the disciple’s
progress is ripe. No one who strives to tread the path is left unhelped; the
Great Ones see his ‘light,’ and he is given what is needed for his better
development. That light is not mere poetical imagery, but is actual, and its
character denotes one’s spiritual condition; there are no veils on that plane
of seeing. The help must be of that nature which leaves perfect freedom of
thought and action; otherwise, the lessons would not be learned. Mistakes will
occur, perhaps many of them, but, as is said, ‘twenty failures are not
irremediable if followed by as many undaunted struggles up-ward’.” [2]
The teachings and the information about these deeper
layers of theosophical effort and learning can be found at the classical and
authentic theosophical literature.
The only real temple is within each individual’s
consciousness; yet no one is an isolated island in our humanity, and mutual
help is part of the Law.
The price to pay for acquiring a wider perception
of the esoteric philosophy is rather simple, yet it is not easy: it is a
gradual and total self-transformation by continuously attempting to live
according to the teaching and to impersonal ethics.
A practical knowledge of the Law of Karma must guide
theosophical efforts. It is not difficult to see that the right kind of will -
inseparable from discernment and vigilance - produces the corresponding sort of
magnetism and karma. In due time, these two living factors will have their
effects in the proper layers of the magnetic aura to which the true esoteric
movement in fact belongs.
NOTES:
[1] “The Friendly Philosopher”, Robert Crosbie, Theosophy Co., Los Angeles, 416
pp., see p. 147.
[2] “The Friendly Philosopher”, Robert Crosbie, pp. 7-8.
000
In September
2016, after a careful analysis of the state of the esoteric movement
worldwide, a group of students decided to form the Independent Lodge of Theosophists, whose priorities include the building
of a better future in the different dimensions of life.
000
