One’s Horizon Gets Slowly
Wider in
The Independent Lodge of
Theosophists
Carlos
Cardoso Aveline
Founded
in September 2016, the Independent Lodge of Theosophists works according to the
benchmark of affinity. The act of being an associate of the ILT is a dynamic
process which unfolds in a gradual way on various levels, and must renew itself
every day.
The first form of association takes place
by the process of inner communion and
is therefore invisible. It is also the most important one.
An individual becomes associated to the
ILT into the extent that he builds by study and research a soul-level connection
with esoteric philosophy and the theosophical view of life.
Careful reading is the main tool of this
first degree of interaction, which corresponds to the level of the ‘akousmatikoi’, or the ‘hearers’ of the Pythagorean School in
ancient Greece.
There are inner reasons why the neophytes,
in the original Pythagorean community, observed the practice of being silent
for a period of five years. [1]
Hearing is always a noble function. When the lower self does not talk, the
Voice of the Silence flows, and teaches the pilgrim about universal wisdom.
To read is to hear. Through reading a syntony is established.
The Internet makes it possible with no
need of physical plane meetings. The Facebook is important for the theosophical
work, and through it the Independent
Lodge interacts with thousands of persons around the world. On the other
hand, the central Study Rooms of the Lodge are the E-Theosophy e-group, in English, and the SerAtento e-group, in Portuguese. The online library sustaining the
study-rooms consists of our associated websites. The physical library is in the
homes of their co-editors. Every voluntary worker is considered a
co-editor.
The collective presence shared by each and
everyone is internal. The observation of the ways through which the inner presence works strengthens the
bridge to the higher self, Antahkarana. At some point the student who is associated
to the ILT by the informal bonds of inner affinity feels the need to take a new
step ahead. It is correct then to deepen the connection, taking it to the level
of practical action.
A Brotherly Effort
The second level
of association takes place when the student decides to take part in the
practical work of the Independent Lodge.
The project of
the ILT unfolds in a number of dimensions. Each student is the “center of
Pascal’s Circle”.[2] He must create
his own structures of action according to the principles of self-responsibility
and mutual help.
On the second
level, the horizon widens according to the intensity of the effort made and the
altruism of one’s motives.
The study
becomes more serious, better focused, and it starts to be made from that point
of view that produces the highest theosophical lucidity: the perspective of he
who aims at helping mankind by reducing the causes
of its suffering. A deeper study combined with action now constitutes an
existential question for the student and corresponds in general terms to the level
of the matematikoi of the Pythagorean
School. [3]
Planning the Next Step
Once a process
of cooperation with the co-workers is established, one can say there is a
magnetic basis that will sustain the formal association and give life to it.
And when the
student feels that he is ready for the third level, the time has come for him
to get in touch with the Independent Lodge through the email indelodge@gmail.com and calmly evaluate the possibility of formal
association.
The student is
then invited to read and comment texts of his choice about the theosophical
movement and the ILT.
On the basis of
the circumstances around him, and taking into consideration his talents, his
limitations and higher potentialities, as well as the present moment of the
theosophical effort, the student
gradually builds the practical tools of the second and third level of his
association to the Lodge.
The third level
of association results from the two previous ones and needs them as its
foundations. It emerges from the moment
the student decides to formally join the Independent Lodge.
One then sends by
air mail his request for admission to one of the more experienced members of
the ILT, who will serve as a Witness, and his diploma or Certificate of
Association is sent to him.
The application
to join the ILT will contain a statement on the part of the student that he or
she is consciously self-responsible before the universal Law. The process of
association takes place through a simple and humble procedure in its formal
aspects, which is however sacred on the inner plane. [4]
There are no
fees.
The Future Horizons
The Independent
Lodge has no formal directors. There is a leadership, there is a mutual
distribution of tasks, functions and responsibilities, and yet there are no chiefs in the conventional sense of the
word. The founders of the ILT aim at
keeping it relatively free from mechanisms of bureaucratic power. [5]
The Lodge takes
place on the various planes of life, as an unfoldment of one’s affinity with
the Ideal. Real progress along the Path to Wisdom includes tests and
challenges. It involves a number of factors, some of which may be named here:
* The decision
to live the teachings and to express them in one’s actions; accepting the probationary
aspect of the learning;
* The practice
of study and cooperation with one’s colleagues while facing the obstacles that are
inevitable in a noble effort;
* The constant re-examination
and strengthening of the decision to help mankind as a higher form of helping
oneself, and of the decision to expand the process of self-respect and
self-improvement as a way to be better able to help mankind.
Once someone
becomes an active associate, a new field of potentialities becomes visible. The
widened perspective shows him the possibility of participating in a circle of
research and study in discipleship. The circle is restricted to the active
associates of the ILT who feel ready for this level of the path.
Individual Responsibility
The three degrees
of association occur at the same time. Regardless of the amount of experience which a
friend of the Lodge may have, he is invited to regularly think of the means
through which he can become himself a centre of theosophical action in the
different dimensions of life, and a centre that is constantly improving in effectiveness.
The price to pay
for seeking truth is being a pioneer and opening a new path.
Helena Blavatsky
wrote in 1888 to the North-American Theosophists:
“…Each man
should strive to be a centre of work in himself. When his inner development has
reached a certain point, he will naturally draw those with whom he is in
contact under the same influence; a nucleus will be formed, round which other
people will gather, forming a centre from which information and spiritual
influence radiate, and towards which higher influences are directed.”[6]
The words by HPB
are of fundamental importance, because they reveal that a group of students who
share a correct view of the work and cooperate in harmony will be helped from above.
And the help
will not come in obvious ways. [7]
It will flow on the higher levels of
consciousness, getting down to facts and to the average perception of students
like the dew of early morning, whose process of materialization nobody can
see.
NOTES:
[1]
“Pythagoras, His Life and Teachings”, by Thomas Stanley, a photographic
facsimile of the ninth section of the 1687 edition of “History of Philosophy”. The
work was published by “The Philosophical Research Society”, Los Angeles,
copyright 1970, see the upper half of p. 521.
[2] See in our associated websites the article “The
Center of Pascal’s Sphere”.
[3] “Pythagorean Sourcebook and Library”, Compiled and
Translated by Kenneth Sylvan Guthrie, Phanes Press, 1987, Michigan, USA, see
pp. 63 and 76. See also “Pythagoras, His Life and Teachings”, by Thomas
Stanley, The Philosophical Research Society, Los Angeles, 1970, pp. 516 through
521.
[4] The entrance
is in fact invisibly solemn. See the
article “Letter from a Master: How to
Build a Theosophical Lodge”, on pp. 6-7
of the October 2016 edition of “The
Aquarian Theosophist”.
[5] Regarding
the process of leadership in the ILT, one can see in our associated websites “The Seven Principles of the Movement”,
“Envy and Friendship” and “One for All and All for One”. In
Portuguese language, “Quatro Ideias Para
Um Poder Solidário”.
[6] “Five Messages”, by Helena P. Blavatsky,
The First Message 1888, p. 4. The
pamphlets is available at our associated websites.
[7] On
the help from above, see in our
websites the article “Learning From Each and Every Event”, by Helena P.
Blavatsky. In the text “The 1900 Letter”, also available in our associated
websites, a Masters of the Wisdom says: “At favourable times we let loose
elevating influences which strike various persons in various ways. It is the
collective aspect of many such thoughts that can give the correct note of
action.”
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See
also in our associated websites the articles “The Independent Lodge of Theosophists”, “The
Independent Lodge and the Movement”, “The
Vitality of the Effort”, “Examining
Seven Questions”, “The Seven
Principles of the Movement”, and “The
Theosophical Movement, 1875-2075”.
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