The Esoteric Movement As
Part Of a Global Antahkarana
Part Of a Global Antahkarana
Carlos Cardoso Aveline
The concept of a collective antahkarana cannot be
easily found in esoteric literature. Yet it is easy to perceive the existence
of collective connections on the higher levels of consciousness.
The Sanskrit word Antahkarana or Antaskarana means “the path or bridge between the Higher and
the Lower Manas, the divine Ego and
the personal Soul of man”. [1]
Seen in itself, the concept
refers to the individual life. But there
is no actual separation between
different beings. Individual and collective lines of evolution interact with each other all the
time at the various levels and sub-levels of consciousness.
Human individuals influence
each other, mutually stimulating or hindering their connections with their
higher selves. In every society there are cultural characteristics, collective
activities and even institutions that enhance or endanger the working of individual Antahkaranas.
The work of each Messenger of
Truth causes a collective impact. History, ancient and modern, has shown that the individual lives of highly
evolved beings have a definite impact on the collective Karma,
sometimes over long periods of time. They create bridges towards higher streams
of consciousness which affect millions of lives; and these lives, in their turn,
gradually change the whole of humanity.
As one calmly thinks about
this, a wide, abstract, flexible concept of “collective antahkarana” may start
to make sense. The life of H. P. Blavatsky in the 19th century is an example of
that. Her tremendous impact in human history was documented by Sylvia Cranston.
[2] H.P.B.’s
teachings and the school of thought she left in the world are permeated
by magnetism coming from higher sources and pertaining to abstract levels of
consciousness.
The quality and importance of
the higher magnetism emanating through H.P. Blavatsky’s work derives from the
fact that she was a direct agent of
those sages who are called Immortals by Taoism, Rishis or Jivanmuktas
by Hinduism, Arhats by Buddhism, and raja-yogis or Adepts by the esoteric philosophy.
The presence and influence of her writings is a central part of the
present-day cultural bridge between human civilization and higher levels of
consciousness. H.P.B.’s work constitutes
a subtle, higher-manasic “bridge” to future stages of human development. Such a vibrating current
in the ocean of life goes far beyond the nominal theosophical movement. It
reaches and helps every good-willing citizen. Its transcendent nature means
that no external label can guarantee the authenticity of a collective effort.
Only the inspiring presence of one’s own spiritual soul in daily actions can do
that.
As H.P.B. worked for mankind, she
was surrounded by a powerful magnetic field. Those energies were impressed in
nearly everything she did, said or wrote. Her aura transmitted a bit of it into every situation she was involved
in. Her direct disciple Alice Cleather described the impact H.P.B. caused on
people and on society:
“Like a Light brought into a
dark place full of the creatures which ‘love darkness rather than light’, so
was the real H.P.B. Instantly, like moths attracted to a lamp, all the denizens
of this dark place which is our earth - the realm of illusion (...) - were
irresistibly attracted round her. Not only did they obscure the Light - this
they did abundantly - but finally in 1891 they put it out; i.e., it was
withdrawn from our midst, returning to the realm from whence it came.” [3]
Alice Cleather wrote about the
moment when she first saw H.P.B. physically, in Lansdowne Road, London, 1887:
“When we were ushered into the
well-known double drawing-room on the ground floor my attention immediately
became riveted on the figure of a stout, middle-aged woman seated with her back
to the wall before a card table, apparently engaged in playing Patience. She
had the most arresting head and face I
had ever seen, and when she lifted her eyes to mine, on Mr. Keightley
presenting me, I experienced a distinct shock as her extraordinarily
penetrating blue eyes literally ‘bored a hole’ through my brain. She looked
steadfastly at me for a few seconds (most uncomfortable ones for me) then,
turning to Mr. Keightley, remarked indignantly: ‘You never told me she was like
this!’ - absolutely ignoring his assertion that he had repeatedly done so.
Exactly what ‘like this’ indicated I never subsequently discovered. Such was my
introduction to the greatest incarnated Soul of our times; but at that early
date I realised nothing more than that she took one’s breath away; and that ‘life
was never the same again.’ From that moment I became her devoted disciple...” [4]
The enlightening impact of
H.P.B.’s work on human evolution exposes and displaces various levels of routine,
and the reaction against it has been strong. Since the 1880s, theosophists have
had to defend the teacher and the teachings against numerous attacks coming from
dogmatic religions and also from inside the theosophical movement. Life is
probatory, and every student of theosophy has to face tests. From Pythagoras of
Samos to Apollonius of Tyana, as from Alessandro Cagliostro to H.P.B., attacks
against Messengers of Truth always threaten the sources of human inspiration
and aim at damaging the cultural and occult bridge to the higher realms.
The idea of collective
antahkarana is equivalent to the symbolical image of Jacob’s ladder in the
Bible. Genesis, 28:11-13, tells us the story of Jacob’s Ladder thus:
“At sunset he came to a holy
place and camped there. He lay down to sleep, resting his head on a stone. He
dreamt that he saw a stairway reaching from earth to heaven, with angels going
up and coming down on it. And there was the Lord standing beside him.”
The Angels are the Messengers
of the “Gods” among human beings. They inhabit the Divine Ladder, the eternal
and Unbroken Link between Masters and Men.
Another metaphor in the
theosophical literature is undoubtedly related to this same occult fact. In “The
Voice of the Silence”, a higher aspect of the collective Antahkarana is
described not as a symbolical Ladder, but as a “Guardian Wall”. In the Fragment
III of that book, we see the description of the path of sacrifice trodden by
great souls:
“Self-doomed to live through
future Kalpas [5], unthanked and
unperceived by men; wedged as a stone with countless other stones which form
the ‘Guardian Wall’, such is thy future if the seventh Gate thou passest. Built
by the hands of many Masters of Compassion, raised by their tortures, by their
blood cemented, it shields mankind, since man is man, protecting it from
further and far greater misery and sorrow. Withal man sees it not...”
In an explanatory note, H.P.B.
writes about the “Guardian Wall”:
“It is taught that the
accumulated efforts of long generations of Yogis, Saints and Adepts, especially
of the Nirmanakayas, have created, so
to say, a wall of protection around mankind, which wall shields mankind
invisibly from still worse evils.” [6]
Such a complex notion
transcends all metaphors used to describe it.
The image of a Guardian Wall
and the idea of a ladder to heaven, as that of a collective Antahkarana, are
symbols of the multidimensional process by which humanity has access to divine
guidance and inspiration. In “Light on the Path”, a classical work, a reference
is made to the same basic fact:
“When you have found the
beginning of the way the star of your soul will show its light; and by that
light you will perceive how great is the darkness in which it burns. Mind,
heart, brain, all are obscure and dark until the first great battle has been
won. Be not appalled and terrified by the sight; keep your eyes fixed on the small light and it will
grow. But let the darkness within help you to understand the helplessness of
those who have seen no light, whose souls are in profound gloom. Blame them not
- shrink not from them, but try to lift a little of the heavy karma of the
world; give your aid to the few strong hands that hold back the powers of
darkness from obtaining a complete victory.” [7]
Indeed, a few strong hands of Adepts, Messengers and Disciples do keep an
open connection between the eternal wisdom and the common karma of our
humanity. H.P.B.’s life was dedicated to enhance this living connection. In May
1891 the last words she spoke before dying revealed that she saw this “occult
ladder” between Masters and Men as a matter of great importance for her as an
individual. HPB’s last words are recorded in a text published in 1894:
“In 1890 the Headquarters was
moved to 19 Avenue Road; the following year H.P.B. left us and her last message
for the Society was given to Mrs. [Isabel Cooper-] Oakley the night but one before
she died. At three a.m. she suddenly looked up and said ‘Isabel, Isabel,
keep the link unbroken; do not let my last incarnation be a failure’.” [8]
This link is a global
connection between the higher and the lower.
In her biography of H.P.B.,
Sylvia Cranston comments another aspect of her final words:
“By ‘last’ she apparently did
not mean her final incarnation, as
that would be contrary to one of the basic teachings of The Voice of the Silence, epitomized in the ‘Pledge of Kwan Yin’, the Buddhist Goddess of Mercy: ‘Never
will I seek nor receive private individual salvation; never will I enter into
final peace alone; but forever and everywhere will I live and strive for the
redemption of every creature throughout the world’.” [9]
This suggests that the
individuality once known as “H.P.B.” would not cease to actively help mankind. The
content of the Kwan Yin’s Pledge is strikingly similar to the description of
the Guardian Wall in “The Voice of the Silence”, which was quoted a few
paragraphs above:
“Self-doomed to live through
future kalpas, unthanked and unperceived by man, wedged as a stone with
countless other stones... ”
The impact of HPB’s work for
humanity, certainly including several incarnations of the spiritual soul of
which she was but one life, is a significant element of our present-day collective
antahkarana. It will constitute a stone, among countless others, in the
long-term and time-honoured Guardian Wall.
Theosophical literature has a
number of references to the collective bridge linking mankind to higher levels
of consciousness.
In “The Key to Theosophy”,
H.P.B. wrote about the Esoteric School she founded in 1888. In her London days,
this School had an “inner group”, and notes were taken during its meetings. In
the report of the Inner Group meeting of November 12th, 1890, we can see:
“H.P.B. said that the Inner
Group was the Manas of the T.S, the E.S. was the Lower Manas, and the T.S. the
quaternary.” [10]
As Manas and Lower Manas contain
Antahkarana, H.P.B. was implying that the theosophical movement, the E.S. and
the I.G. of her day formed something similar to a collective Antahkarana.
In the Mahatma Letters, one
can read these words from one of the Adept-Teachers:
“Tho’ separated from your
world of action we are not yet entirely severed from it so long as the
Theosophical Society [meaning, the
Theosophical Movement] exists.”
[11]
Here, again, the theosophical
movement is seen as a bridge. Another reference can be found in a letter by
H.P. Blavatsky. She writes:
“W.Q. Judge is the Antaskarana between the two Manas (es), the American thought & the Indian - or rather the
trans-Himalayan Esoteric Knowledge.” [12]
H.P.B. saw the role played by
William Judge in the making of a permanent spiritual link between the Americas
and the eastern esoteric philosophy.
The wider, global “collective
ladder” needs constant occult attention. Building, sustaining and expanding it
is a long term process. The task includes a current of “messengers” of various
degrees of development, who come century after century. Sometimes the same soul
comes once and again at brief intervals. H.P.B. hinted in “The Secret Doctrine”:
“In Century the Twentieth some
disciple more informed, and far better fitted, may be sent by the Masters of
Wisdom to give final and irrefutable proofs that there exists a Science called Gupta Vidya; and that, like the
once-mysterious sources of the Nile, the source of all religions and
philosophies now known to the world has been for many ages forgotten and lost
to men, but is at last found.” [13]
In the 20th Century, she
wrote; and the Messenger didn’t show up. But Masters do not have to give to the
public the exact dates and timing of what they do for mankind.
We should be content with the
small elements of information we are able to gather about this work. We have
H.P.B.’s word that there may be another Messenger. We are not
in a position to complain if we have to wait for another 100 or 200 years. We
must be willing to fulfil whatever task is in front of us, while understanding
that our lifetime is part of a much wider perspective.
William Judge wrote in an
article entitled “The Closing Cycle”:
“H.P. Blavatsky has clearly
pointed out in the ‘Key’, in her conclusion, that the plan is to keep the T.S.
alive as an active, free, unsectarian body during all the time of waiting for
the next great messenger, who will be herself beyond question.” [14]
That plan every student can
help fulfill.
If Judge’s words are true, the
same monad who animated “H.P.B.” may come again sooner or later and will then
have to use at least part of her old public and private skandhas or
karmic heritage in order to help human kind. Indeed, while referring to the
theosophical movement, H.P.B. wrote:
“It has my magnetic fluid”. [15]
And Theosophy teaches that
Karma is about affinities.
As
long as no new Messenger or Messengers appear in a way that is easy enough for
all to see, the students of theosophy are the caretakers of the
work-to-be-continued. Each student is a Messenger within the limits of his own
possibilities. For many of them, it can be a stimulating task to help defend
and preserve - for an unknown amount of time - those karmic patterns
of the heart of the esoteric movement which a greater Messenger will, sooner or
later, have to face, select, adapt and use again, adding new strength to the
long term progress of mankind as a whole. Such karmic patterns and tools
include the teachings of modern theosophy.
NOTES:
[1] “The Theosophical
Glossary”, by H. P. Blavatsky, The Theosophy Co., Los Angeles, 1990.
[2] See especially the Part Seven of the book “HPB - The
Extraordinary Life and Influence of Helena Blavatsky, Founder of the Modern
Theosophical Movement”, by Sylvia Cranston, published by Jeremy P.
Tarcher/Putnam Books, New York, USA, 1993, 647 pp.
[3] “H.P. Blavatsky,
Her Life and Work for Humanity”, Alice L. Cleather, Thacker, Spink & Co., Calcutta, 1922, 124
pp., see p. 72.
[4] “H.P. Blavatsky As
I Knew Her”, Alice L. Cleather, Thacker, Spink & Co., London, 1923, 76 pp.,
see p. 04.
[5] Kalpas: Cycles of
Ages.
[6] “The Voice of the
Silence”, translated and annotated by H. P. Blavatsky, Theosophy Co., Los
Angeles, 1987, p. 74. In the TPH/Quest Edition (1992), see “The Voice of the
Silence”, p. 68; the explanatory note (number 28) is at page 94 of TPH edition.
[7] See the Note referring
to Rule 20, in the part I of “Light on the Path” (Theosophy Co.), a book
transcribed by Mabel Collins.
[8] “The Path”
magazine, July 1894, volume IX, page 124. Her “last incarnation” was probably
not the one she was then closing, but the following one. “Last” could
mean “last before liberation from unconscious rebirth”.
[9] “HPB - The Extraordinary Life and Influence of Helena
Blavatsky”, by Sylvia Cranston, 1993, see p. 407.
[10] “The Inner Group
Teachings of H.P. Blavatsky”, Point Loma Publications, 1985, p. 27.
[11] “The Mahatma
Letters to A. P. Sinnett”, T.U.P., 1992, Pasadena, CA, USA, Letter LXXVIII, p.
378.
[12] “Letters That Have
Helped Me”, by W. Q. Judge, Theosophy
Co., 1946, pp. 277-278. The sentence is part of a letter written by H.P.B. Canadian
author Ernest Pelletier reports that the magazine “Theosophia” published a
reproduction of the original letter in its volume 7, March-April 1951, pp. 8-9.
See “The Judge Case, a Conspiracy Which Ruined the Theosophical CAUSE”, by
Ernest Pelletier, Edmonton Theosophical Society, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada,
2004, page 27 - Part I, Chronology.
[13] “The Secret
Doctrine”, H. P. Blavatsky, The Theosophy Co., Los Angeles, 1982, facsimile
edition, volume one, p. XXXVIII.
[14] “The Closing Cycle”,
in “Theosophical Articles”, by W. Q. Judge, Theosophy Company, Los Angeles,
1980, vol. II, p. 153. The same article
is in the book “The Heart Doctrine”, W.Q. Judge, Theosophy Co., Bombay (Mumbai),
India, 1977, p. 40.
[15] See “Theosophical
Articles”, H. P. Blavatsky, Theosophy Co., Los Angeles, 1981, volume I, lower
half of p. 120. The statement is also
quoted at the book “H. P. Blavatsky, A Great Betrayal”, by Alice Leighton
Cleather, Thacker, Spink & Co., Calcutta, 1922, 96 pp., p. 02.
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An initial version of the article
“The Guardian Wall That Protects Mankind”
was published at “The Aquarian
Theosophist” in January 2006, pp. 25-30, under the title “H. P. Blavatsky And The Guardian Wall”. It was revised by the author in
October 2011. Its illustrations are photos of D. Pedro Segundo Fortress, in Caçapava do Sul, RS, Brazil.
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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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