Examining the Best Ways to
Walk
Carlos Cardoso Aveline
Carlos Cardoso Aveline
It
is an active search for knowledge that paves the way to spiritual wisdom, and
not any automatic belief. The two attitudes produce very different results.
Beliefs that cannot be questioned are easy, comfortable, motionless and
have no life. They expand ignorance. The absence of knowledge often hides
behind an elegant collection of spiritual phrases and platitudes. The learning
road is dynamic, stimulating, uncomfortable, challenging, often painful, and
leads to wisdom.
Dictionaries define “pedagogy”
(from the Greek “paidagogia”) as the
method and practice of teaching. Four
ideas, at least, should be added to such a definition:
First, that the center of every
effective pedagogical process is in the learning. Second, that an authentic learning occurs as long as
the student is fundamentally independent. Third, that we all teach one another all
the time; and fourth, that we teach both by words and by example.
Theosophical studies are not
based on memorization and imitation. The priority is not to be politically
correct; it is following the voice of conscience, instead. The student learns
to be responsible for everything he does. He doesn’t lose time or energy
rejecting facts or circumstances. He adopts a noble ideal and works under the
guidance of his goal. He is willing to identify, confront and correct his own
mistakes, and knows that he needs to develop qualities that are opposite and
complementary. Among them are audacity and prudence, courage and common sense,
perseverance and humility, confidence and discernment, self-knowledge and
self-forgetfulness.
Pedagogical discussions
stimulate an efficient observation of the learning process, and should constitute
a central topic in the theosophical agenda. Pedagogical factors are examined
throughout the Mahatma Letters and in Helena Blavatsky’s writings. On the other
hand, the hallmark of pseudo-theosophy and fake esotericism is that they are
not open to discuss their methods of research, teaching and learning.
They want to obtain the blind
acceptance of their followers, and this is so for a very simple reason: their
pedagogy can’t resist a critical examination.
One of the main pedagogical mistakes of an ill-informed spirituality is
to imagine that a truth-seeker must “believe” in the esoteric teachings.
Another illusion is to think that the student should become a sort of smiling robot who “listens only to his
higher self all the time”.
Helena Blavatsky, the founder of the modern esoteric movement, didn’t
adopt the external and artificial pose of a wise person. She allowed her human
mistakes be seen by anyone. She often seemed to be impatient and excessively
emotional. A similar absence of care with his “personal image” could be seen in
Damodar K. Mavalankar and other advanced disciples of the 19th century. In the
“Mahatma Letters”, one can observe that the Masters of the Wisdom are the first
not to present themselves as “perfect men” or as objects of personal worship.
The disciples and aspirants to discipleship check and verify their own
motives, they purify them, and mainly live to benefit mankind. This
makes them free from hypocrisy and insincerity, which is a starting point to
learn. The sensible learner practices moderation in his lower self. He follows
the ethical precepts of theosophy and tries to adopt the viewpoint of his immortal
soul in every aspect of life.
He who gets to know the authentic spiritual pedagogy and adopts it, does
not try to play the theatrical role of a saint, either to himself or to others.
He dedicates his entire existence to a noble ideal. He knows that the efforts
for self-improvement produce results reaching various incarnations. He can also
see that each small progress made here
and now means a lot and makes a difference.
Between credulity and skepticism, the choice for common sense and
equilibrium is the probationary path, the experimental way.
The philosophical quest brings the highest dreams and the most objective
practice together. As the learner tests his
ideas, he gets tested himself. Everything must be examined step by step. If the
pedagogy is legitimate, the student will gradually create his own grammar in
order to better understand the spiritual road. He learns to look at life from
the point of view of his individual Karma (objective circumstances) and Dharma
(sacred potentialities).
In order to practice the teachings, therefore, the pilgrim does nothing in
a mechanical way. He must express his view of the teachings in daily life. He
sees little by little the actions he can develop that are useful, and how to
obtain increasing levels of effectiveness. He observes his own mistakes and
accomplishments without despondency or euphoria. He also learns from the mistakes
of others. He discusses the path with fellow pilgrims. He studies, and leaves
aside whatever he has recognized as an illusion.
In the real search for truth, there is no such thing as thinking that “I
have learned enough”. The more one learns, the more one is able to learn. As
one makes progress, one gets more humble, more grateful and more eager to learn
new lessons, even if they are uncomfortable. The learning process is wider,
more dynamic and more challenging than anything based on mere obedience. To
think that there is one simple choice between spirituality and materialism is
an escape from the effort necessary to understand life in its complexity.
Attempts to deny the dynamic and contradictory character of human
existence result from a degree of mental
laziness. The oversimplification is also stimulated by the lack of courage to feel
entirely responsible for one’s own life. A third factor is the fear of
confronting the fact of one’s inevitable death on the physical plane, in some
future moment. Acceptance of such a fact makes one conscious of the opportunity
to participate in the Larger Universal Life before death occurs.
This sort of challenge originates a creative tension. The pilgrimage in
search of eternal wisdom produces areas of profound discomfort in one’s mortal
soul. How can we deal, for instance, with the anxiety that emerges as we see a
remarkable distance between our Ideal and the Practice? Discomfort in the
search for wisdom is a positive sign, as long as it is accompanied by calmness
and common sense. If one adopts a lofty ideal requiring various incarnations to
be achieved, one must be willing to accept an initially significant distance
between precept and practice.
As we walk in the desired direction, we have to confront a variety of difficulties.
Every valuable goal is distant from us: if it were too near, it would not be
worthwhile. One must patiently walk step by step. Among the first measures to
take one can mention these two:
A) To make sure our lifelong goal is noble, clear-cut, transcending and
not limited to appearance or dead-letter;
B) To walk toward the chosen object with patience and perseverance,
through a calm, long-term effort, and to point to that which is beyond the
present incarnation, while feeling entirely self-responsible around the clock.
There is nothing like a day after another, for students of universal
wisdom. The short cycles contain the seeds of the larger ones, and each day is the
equivalent of a small incarnation.
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The
article “The Pedagogy of Theosophical
Wisdom” was translated from the Portuguese language text “A Pedagogia Teosófica”, by Carlos
Cardoso Aveline. First published in English in June 2015.
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On the role of the esoteric movement in
the ethical awakening of mankind during the 21st century, see the book “The Fire and Light of Theosophical
Literature”, by Carlos Cardoso Aveline.
Published in
2013 by The Aquarian Theosophist,
the volume has 255 pages and can be obtained through Amazon Books.
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