The Four Accomplishments and
the
Six Qualifications In True
Discipleship
Mohini M. Chatterjee
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Editorial Note:
The folowing article was first published at
“The Theosophist”, India, in
September 1884, pp.
281-283. Its subtitle was: “A paper read by Babu
Mohini M. Chatterjee, before the London Lodge TS”.
The text was published by “Theosophy”
magazine, in Los Angeles, in December 1956. “The
Aquarian Theosophist” published it in
two parts,
in its editions dated October and December 2009.
In order to make it easier to understand the
text and to reflect upon it, we
have divided
a number of longer paragraphs into shorter ones.
The text clearly describes what discipleship is about.
It also provides a basis for a useful self-examination on
the part of those students who aspire for inner learning.
One must also take into consideration that the approach
of the article is largely literary. The truth of discipleship
is that it is not that elegant. It is full of mistakes, pain,
perplexity, uncertainty, fear, disappointment and sacrifice,
side by side with its bright and brilliant aspects. Mohini
himself is an example. He failed miserably in his discipleship.
There is no possibility to deny the human and probationary
aspects of learning theosophy. Within the theosophical
movement the path to discipleship is helping others help
the Cause of the Masters, and putting this divine goal
above personal opinions, and fears and hopes.
(Carlos Cardoso Aveline)
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The power of the Adepts over
the forces of Nature, not generally recognised, has been enlarged upon on
various occasions, but no account of them can possibly be satisfactory without
bringing into prominence their goodness and their solicitude for the welfare of
the [human] race, which an ordinary man can no more comprehend than the
Polynesian savage measure the intellectual heights of a Newton or a Galileo.
Surprise is often expressed
that the philanthropy of the Mahatmas does not induce them to abandon their
seclusion and work for men, among men. But the reason for such apparently
strange conduct on the part of these Godlike men is not very far to seek.
The productive power of our
energies varies in accordance with the plane on which they operate. A
bricklayer labouring from sunrise to sunset produces work which, when estimated
in money, will be found to be but a small fraction of the money-value of an
hour’s work by a man of science.
The difference in the effects
generated by a given quantity of energy on the physical and intellectual planes
is thus apparent. Those who are acquainted with the laws of spiritual dynamics
know that the work produced by a given amount of energy on the intellectual
plane is in its turn immeasurably less than that produced by the same quantity
of energy acting upon the plane of spirit - the highest principle in man,
according to occult doctrine. It is more unreasonable, therefore, to expect an
Adept to work with us on the ordinary plane than it would be to suggest to Sir
William Thompson to turn shoemaker.
The value of a scientific
discovery as an intellectual triumph can be best estimated by a proper study of
the various steps which have led up to it. Similarly, the excellence achieved
by an Adept can only be appreciated, though in a very rough and incomplete
manner no doubt, by a careful consideration of his preliminary training.
According to the most
authoritative treatises on that occult science of which the Adept is a master,
verified by the experience of its living students, none are admitted into the inner
sanctuary for instruction until they reach a stage of spiritual development,
characterised by the attainment of what, in the Brahmanical books, are called
the four “sadhanas” or accomplishments.
[The
First Accomplishment]
The first accomplishment which
a neophyte must have is the right knowledge of the real and the unreal. The
object to be attained by the help of the “Great Science” as it is called, being
the realisation of the true, and Adeptship being but the mark of a certain
stage of this realisation, it is clear that the first step to be taken is to
gain an intellectual apprehension of what the truth is.
But what is the truth? It will
not do for the neophyte to ask the question like the jesting Pro-consul, and
refuse to wait for the answer. Had Pilate asked the question in Sanskrit he
might have been answered out of his own mouth. For the Sanskrit word itself
offers a clue to the nature of truth. In that language truth and reality bear
the same name, and reality is defined to be that which is unaffected by time,
or, in the quaint phraseology of the original, remains witness of the three
divisions of time - the past, the present, and the future.
The first accomplishment,
therefore, consists in an intimate intellectual conviction of the fact that all
and everything which appears to have an existence separate from Parabrahm is
merely illusion (Maya). Hence, it is clear that at the present stage of the
Theosophical movement, the duty that lies upon the Society [1] and all its members is to disseminate the knowledge of the
Esoteric Doctrine, the true philosophy of the real and the unreal, as that
alone is capable of laying the foundation of any progress whatever.
[The
Second Accomplishment]
The second accomplishment
marks the next step on the path, and is the permanent effect produced on the
mind by the theoretical knowledge, which forms the preceding accomplishment.
When the neophyte has once grasped the unreal character of the objects around
him, he ceases to crave for them, and is thus prepared to acquire the second
accomplishment, which is a perfect
indifference to the enjoyment of the fruits of one’s actions, both here and
hereafter.
Exoteric students fall into a
grievous error by their failure to catch the true spirit of the injunction
against acting under the impulse of desire. They erroneously suppose that the
best preparation for spiritual life is to forcibly repress all outward
expressions of desire, entirely losing sight of the fact that even the most
rigid abstinence from physical acts does not produce inactivity on the higher
planes of spiritual or mental existence. Sankaracharya, in his commentaries on
the “Bhagavad-Gita”, one of the most authoritative of the Brahmanical sacred
writings, says that such a conclusion is simply delusive. A hasty supposition
might here be made that these considerations will have the effect of
sanctioning persistence in evil, but when the desire for improvement is
constantly in the mind, and the character of the evil thoroughly realised, each
failure to harmonise the inward with the outward nature will, by the revulsion
of feeling thus produced, strengthen the determination to such an extent that
the evil desire will be speedily crushed. This is why Eliphas Levi so
vehemently denounces the institution of forced celibacy among the Romish
priests.
The personality of a man at
any one moment is the result of all his previous acts, thoughts, and emotions,
the energy of which constantly
inclines the mind to act in a particular way.
All attempts, therefore, to
cure this mental bias by repressing its expression on the outer plane is as
hurtful as to throw back into circulation unhealthy blood, seeking a natural
outlet. The internal desire is always forging fresh links in the chain of
material existence, even though denied outward manifestation. The only way to
free oneself from the bonds of Karma, producing birth and death, is to let the
stored-up energy exhaust itself merely as a portion of the great cosmic energy,
and not to colour it with personality by referring it to self.
The “Bhagavad-Gita” itself
speaks on this subject with no uncertain sound.
The great Teacher Krishna reproves Arjuna for having expressed a
disinclination to perform the duties pertaining to his sphere of life. The
reason is perfectly plain: in reference to the great reality everything of this
world is unreal: therefore to renounce the duties entailed upon us by our birth
for something equally unreal only accentuates the ignorance which makes the
unreal appear as the real. The wisest course, suggested by Krishna, is that
Arjuna should perform all his duties unselfishly. “Thy right is only to the act”,
says the teacher, “it ends with the performance of the act and never extends to
the result”.
We must perform our duty for
its own sake and never allow the mind to dwell on the fruit of our actions,
either with pleasure or pain. Purified from the taint of selfishness,
the act passes by like water over the lotus-leaf, without wetting it. But if
the act is done as a means to the attainment of a personal end, the mind
acquires a tendency to repeat the act, and thus necessitates further
incarnations to exhaust that tendency.
From the above considerations
it is abundantly clear that occultism enjoins upon its votaries the necessity
of an ardent and sleepless desire for the performance of duty, the sphere of
which is enlarged by the first accomplishment, which requires a thorough
recognition of the unity of the individual with the all. It is not enough to
have a sentimental perception of this great truth, but it must be realised in
every act of life. The student, therefore, to begin with, must do everything in
his power to benefit all on the ordinary physical plane transferring his
activity, however, to the higher intellectual and spiritual planes as his
development proceeds.
[The
Third Accomplishment]
This leads us to the
consideration of the third accomplishment, which is the acquisition of the “six
Qualifications”, in the order they are treated here.
The first of them is called in
Sanskrit “Sama”. It consists in obtaining perfect mastery over the mind (the
seat of emotions and desires), and in forcing it to act in subordination to the
intellect which has already been purified and strengthened in attaining the two
degrees of development dwelt upon. This done, the mind is thoroughly cleansed
of all evil and foolish desires.
The injunction to chasten our
minds before purifying our acts might at first sight appear strange, but the
practical utility of the course laid down will be obvious on reflection. We
have already seen how varying effects are produced by a fixed amount of energy,
according to the plane on which it is expended, and certainly the plane of the
mind is superior to the plane of the senses. In the next place, forced
abstinence from physical evil goes but very little way towards the evolution of
that energy which alone can give us the power of approaching the truth. Our
thoughts, governed under ordinary circumstances by the law of association, make
us contemplate incidents in our past life and thus produce as much mental
disturbance and draw as much on our mental energy as if we repeated the acts in
question many times over. “Sama” then is really the breaking up of the law of
the association of ideas, which enslave our imagination; when our imagination
is purified, the chief difficulty is removed.
The next qualification, the
complete mastery over our bodily acts (“Dama” in Sanskrit) follows, as a
necessary consequence, from the one already discussed, and does not require
much explanation.
The third qualification, known
by the Brahmans as “Uparati”, is the renunciation of all formal religion and
the power of contemplating objects without being in the least disturbed in the
performance of the great task one has set before oneself. What is here expected
of the aspirant for spiritual knowledge is that he should not allow his
sympathies and usefulness to be narrowed down by the domination of any
particular ecclesiastical system, and that his renunciation of worldly objects
should not proceed merely from an incapacity to appreciate their value. When
this state is reached, danger from temptation is removed. They alone, the Hindu
poet says, are possessed of true fortitude, who preserve the equanimity of
their minds in the presence of temptation.
Fourth in order comes the
cessation of desire, and a constant readiness to part with everything in the
world (Titiksha). The typical illustration of this, given in our mystical
literature, is the absence of resentment of wrong. When this qualification is
completely attained, there arises in the mind a perennial cheerfulness, washing
away every trace of solicitude or care.
Then is acquired the
qualification called Samadhana, which renders the student constitutionally
incapable of deviating from the right path. In one sense this qualification is
the complement of the third given above. First, all egotistical motives,
tempting the man to travel out of his chosen path, lose their hold over him,
and finally he perfects himself to such an extent that, at the call of duty, he
can unhesitatingly engage in any worldly occupation with the certainty of
returning to his habitual life after completing his self-imposed task.
One other qualification is
necessary to crown the neophyte’s work, and that is an implicit confidence in
his Master power to teach and his own power to learn (Sraddha). The importance
of this qualification is liable to be misunderstood. An unswerving confidence
in the Master is not required as a means of building up a system of
priestcraft, but for an entirely different reason. It will perhaps be readily
granted that the capacity for receiving truth is not the same in every mind.
There exists a saturation-point for truth in the human mind, as there is one
for aqueous vapour in the atmosphere. When that point is reached in any mind,
fresh truth becomes to it indistinguishable from falsehood. Truth must by slow
degrees grow in our minds, and a strict injunction is laid down in the “Bhagavad-Gita”
against “unsettling the faith of the multitude” by a too sudden revelation of
esoteric knowledge. At the same time it must be remembered that no man can be
expected to seek after a thing, the reality of which is improbable; the
dream-land of an opium-eater will never be a subject of exploration to anyone
else.
The truth perceived by the
higher faculties of the Adepts cannot be proved to one who has not developed
those faculties, otherwise than by showing its consistency with known truths
and by the assertion of those who claim to know. The sanction of a competent authority
is a sufficient guarantee that the investigation will not be fruitless. But to
accept any authority as final, and to dispense with the necessity of
independent investigation is destructive of all progress.
Nothing in fact, should be
taken upon blind, unquestioning faith. Indeed, the Eastern sages go so far as
to say that to rely solely on the authority of the Scriptures is sinful. The
wisdom of the course actually followed is almost self-evident. Reason is the
immediate perception of the fact that the eternal is alone true, and reasoning
is the attempt to trace the existence of a thing all through the scale of time:
the longer the period over which this operation extends the more complete and
satisfactory is the reasoning considered to be. But the moment any fact of
knowledge is realised on the plane of eternity, reason becomes changed into
consciousness - the son is merged in the father, as the Christian Mystic would
say. Why then, it may be asked, should confidence in the teaching of the master
be a requisite qualification at all? The reply lies on the surface. No one
takes the trouble to inquire into what he does not believe to be true. Such confidence in no way demands surrender
of reason. The second part of this qualification, the confidence in one’s own
power to learn, is an indispensable basis of all endeavour to progress. The
poet uttered a deeper truth than he was aware of, when he sang:
Yes, self-abasement leads the way
To villain bonds and despot’s sway.
To villain bonds and despot’s sway.
The moment a man thoroughly
believes himself incapable of realising the highest ideal he can conceive of,
he becomes so: the conviction of weakness, that apparently supports him, really
robs him of his strength: none aspire for what they consider absolutely beyond
their reach. Occultism teaches us that infinite perfection is the heritage of
man. He must not blaspheme against his innermost divine self, the Augoeides of
the Greeks and the Atma of the Brahmans, by self-abasement, for that would be
the unpardonable sin, the sin against the Holy Ghost. Christian doctors have
tried in vain to identify this particular sin, the deadliest of all; its true
significance lies far beyond the narrow horizon of their theology.
[The
Fourth Accomplishment]
The last accomplishment
required is an intense desire for liberation from conditioned existence and for
transformation into the One Life (mumukshatva).
It may be thought at first sight that this qualification is a mere
redundancy, being practically involved in the second. But such a supposition
would be as erroneous as to conceive Nirvana as the annihilation of all life.
The second accomplishment is absence of desire for life as a means of selfish
enjoyment: while the fourth is a positive and intense desire for a kind of life
of which none but those who have attained the first three accomplishments, can
form any adequate conception. All that need be stated is, that the Neophyte is
expected to know the real nature of his Ego and to have a fixed determination
to retain that knowledge permanently and thus get rid of the body, created by
allowing the notion of “I” to fasten itself upon an illusory object.
We shall now pass to the
consideration of the minimum amount of these accomplishments indispensable to a
successful study of occultism.
If the desire for liberation,
which constituted the last accomplishment, is only moderately strong, but the
second, indifference to the fruits of one’s action, is fully developed and the
six qualifications well marked, success is attained by the help of the Master,
who moulds the future incarnations of the pupil and smooths his path to
Adeptship.
But if all the accomplishments
are equally well marked, Adeptship is reached by the pupil in the same
incarnation.
Without the second and fourth
accomplishments, however, the six qualifications “water but the desert”.
In recent Theosophical
publications two classes of the Mahatma’s pupils are mentioned - accepted and
probationary pupils (chelas). The first class consists of those who have
acquired the four accomplishments up to a certain point and are being
practically trained for Adeptship in this life; to the other class belong such
pupils as are qualifying themselves, under the guidance of the Masters, for
acceptance.
A few words may here be said
regarding those who study occultism without any intention of aspiring for
regular chelaship. It is evident that by theoretical study of the Esoteric
Doctrine the first of the four accomplishments can be achieved; the effect of
this in regulating a person’s next incarnation cannot be overestimated. The
spiritual energy thus generated will cause him to be born under conditions
favourable to the acquirement of the other qualifications and to spiritual
progress in general.
One of the greatest of India’s
occult teachers says on this point that a theoretical study of the philosophy,
though unaccompanied by the requisite accomplishments, produces more merit than
the performance of all the duties enjoined by the formalities of religion
eighty times over.
NOTE:
[1] The original theosophical “Society” to which Mohini
Chatterjee refers at this point does not exist any longer. Soon after the death
of H. P. Blavatsky in May 1891, Annie Besant and others provoked the fragmentation
of the Society by abandoning ethics and authentic theosophy. In the 21st
century, the theosophical movement has a significant amount of diversity. In
such a broad context, where illusions are easy to find, the Independent Lodge
of Theosophists clearly adopts the Mahatma Letters, the Letters from the
Masters of the Wisdom and the writings of HPB as its main and central reference
regarding the process of Discipleship. (CCA)
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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.
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