A Study in Two Texts From Immortal Sages
N. C. Ramanujachary
Front cover of the “The
Mahatma Letters”, TUP edition, and a photo of Alfred P. Sinnett
Mr. A. P. Sinnett was an earlier member of the Theosophical Movement and
played a very vital part in the expansion of the activities both in India and
in England. He was the editor of a daily newspaper “The Pioneer” and also the
writer of the books “The Occult World”, “Esoteric Buddhism”, etc.
Madame Blavatsky pleaded
with her spiritual Teachers that they should enter into correspondence with A.P.
Sinnett and A.O. Hume; and the result was there was some correspondence between
them. The Letters were not permitted by Them to be published as such,
but the information supplied could be used to make books. But, on passing away
of the recipient, viz. Sinnett they became the property of the Trustees and
were published for the first time in 1923. The Original letters are now held in
deposit with The British Museum, London.
Each of the Letters is
pregnant with philosophic pointers. For the present essay, the first two
letters are taken as they lay the foundation for study and for understanding
the nature of the Masters and Their work with the world. The letters were
written and received in October 1880.
A Master of the Wisdom (or
Mahatma as is popularly mentioned in India), is, in the words of Madame
Blavatsky, “a personage who, by special training and education, has evolved
those higher faculties and has attained that spiritual knowledge which ordinary
humanity will acquire after passing through numberless series of incarnations
during the process of cosmic evolution, provided, of course, that they do not
go, in the meanwhile, against the purposes of Nature.”
A Master is beyond the need
of a “name and form”, but for the purposes of correspondence a name was chosen.
Wisdom is an innate
characteristic of Manifestation/Nature. The place of a Master of the Wisdom in
the whole life of a spiritual aspirant is to be conceived well. The letters
help for this, as also to elevate the public mind regarding the study of Occult
Science. Reading and re-reading the Letters is necessary as each new reading is
done at a more advanced level of understanding, and other meanings and interpretations
occur.
The letters contain (1)
Contextual advice on matters of current importance, (2) Instructions for
enlightenment and (3) Rules of master-Disciple relationship along with the
cosmological Laws.
The Letters make a welcome “introduction”
to the very nature of a Master.
The First Letter:
Mr. A. P. Sinnett suggests
to the Masters that They produce the London newspaper and the Simla daily
simultaneously at Simla and London respectively, so that such working “would
close the mouths of the skeptics”. The reasons afforded by the Master for such
non-doing are as below:
(1) The world is yet in its
first stage of disenthralment if not development, hence - unprepared.
(2) The Masters work by
natural - not supernatural - means and laws.
(3) The success of an
attempt of such a kind (bringing out the same edition from different parts of
the globe that are one month apart by all means of communication) must be
calculated and based upon a thorough knowledge of the people around. It depends
entirely upon the social and moral conditions of the people in their bearing on
these deepest and most mysterious questions which can stir the human mind the
deific powers in man and the possibilities contained in nature.
The Master makes some
passing reference about the state of mind of the scientists of the day. They
are “less anxious to suggest a physical connexion of facts which might unlock
for them many an occult force in nature, than to provide a convenient ‘classification
of scientific experiments’; so that the most essential quality of an hypothesis
is not that it should be true but only plausible in their
opinion.” The experimental knowledge, for them, dates from 1662 when a society
was founded for that. But, “an innate longing for the hidden, a passionate love
for and the study of nature had led men in every generation to try and fathom
her secrets deeper than her neighbours did.”
Similarly, a reference is
made as to the state of human nature in general. “It is the same now as it was
a million of years ago: Prejudice based upon selfishness; a general
unwillingness to give up an established order of things for new modes of life
and thought; pride and stubborn resistance to truth if it but upset their
previous notions of things.”
The Master is emphatic that
They know, out of experience of ages, something of human nature. “So long as
science has nothing to learn, and a shadow of religious dogmatism lingers in
the hearts of the multitudes, the world’s prejudices have to be conquered step
by step, not at a rush.”
The arguments and
suggestions that are perfect from the standpoint of exoteric wisdom will not
work when it comes to “esotericism”, “with its laws based upon mathematically
correct calculations of the future”. The acts and words of the Masters would
seem often “unwise, if not actually foolish” to the uninitiated. He refers to
the Aryan goddess SARASWATI and the rewards of Wisdom that would accompany the
devoted and faithful serving.
Winning over the public
mind, is not to happen through the working of miracles and phenomena, they
unambiguously state. Sinnett is advised to work on the material available with
him. The “further evidences” he needs will be supplied at the appropriate time.
Science shall be able to account for phenomena when it acquires a knowledge of Akas,
its combinations and properties.
When we look at the present
stage of scientific and technological advance, the concurrent production of a
newspaper at different centers of the globe is no longer impossible
in 2012. The “human nature” is also trying to decode itself and get out of the bounds
of “selfishness”. There is not a very speedy and highly striking change in the
area of religion but tolerance is being built up. There is accommodation for
the other man’s point of view and a decided attempt to reach a common
understanding. But as the Master said, things will have to improve “step by
step” and not in a “rush”.
The Second Letter:
The points made out in the
second letter are still deeper.
(1) Occult Science has “its
own methods of research as fixed and arbitrary as the methods of its antithesis
physical sciences are in their way”.
(2) The aspirant to Occult
science must be willing and practically do “change his/her mode of life”. The
inner motive of the aspirant is more a matter of concern if instruction has to
continue.
(3) The racial prejudice,
among others, must first die down. The Theosophical Movement is not intended to
be a factory for the production of “adepts”. It is rather the intention to
bring together men and women of the world in a common pursuit of Wisdom. The
universal brotherhood of humanity is the hard base for the human progression
and perfection.
Mr. A. O. Hume and Mr. A. P.
Sinnett thought they should not identify themselves with the “Asiatics”, could form
a separate and independent branch not attached to the Parent Society (Adyar)
but directly connected with the Adepts. The master tells here that this is not
possible at all and they must form a branch under the Parent Society and be
prepared to follow the discipline of the aspirants, if at all they are
interested in pursuing the Occult studies. “The first and chief consideration
in determining us to accept your offer lies in the inner-motive which propels
you to seek our instruction - our guidance.” The Master analyses their motives
thus:
(1) The desire to receive
positive and unimpeachable proofs that there really are forces in nature of
which science knows nothing.
(2) The hope to appropriate
those forces at the earliest and demonstrate them before the chosen western
minds, to contemplate an objective reality built upon the rock of knowledge and
not upon faith, to finally come to know the reality of the existence of the
Masters. These motives, the Master very boldly says are founded upon no
other quality than “selfishness”. Here, the Master asserts that the
Theosophical Society is not for “gratifying the individual aspirations” but to
serve fellow men. The ideal of Universal Brotherhood is of paramount importance
to the Society and its work, and the TS cannot be remodeled “as a college for
the special study of occultism”.
The Master of Wisdom
declares that the doors of learning are always open for those aspirants who
knock in the appointed way. The newcomer is invariably received, but “he has to
come to us”, and must have also reached “a point in the path of occultism from
which return is impossible”.
The most popular phrase in
the theosophical literature on the path is: “Leave your world and come to ours.”
The devotion and dedication to the cause as expressed by Col. H. S. Olcott and
Madame Blavatsky receives commendation here of the Master. The matter of
phenomena and the part played by Blavatsky therein is clearly depicted.
The basic fact the Master
wanted known here is that “the mysteries never were, never can be, put within
the reach of the general public”. This can happen only when “our religious
philosophy becomes Universal” and not until then, asserts the Master. In the “important
field of theosophical effort”, there shall be results commensurate, as “ingratitude
is not among the vices of the Teachers.”
The place given to the
Theosophical Movement and its philosophy, working through the branches, in the
matter of acquiring knowledge/Wisdom is to be candidly grasped here. The society
and its philosophy is the “instrument” for the flow of the Wisdom. Here mention
can also be made of a statement coming from Sri T. Subba Row. The Masters have
directed their earlier students (those who were with Them even before the
Society was established) to join the Society and approach Them only through
that, if they wanted a continuity of Teaching. The relationship among the
Teacher and the student would be under strain if the latter chooses not to join
the Society.
Conclusions:
The rules of discipline or
the conditions of training in occult studies shall not be changed. The aspirant
will have to change his/her mode of life.
The Theosophical Movement is
not meant to be a college for manufacturing occultists or adepts. It is not for
gratifying the personal and individual aspirations of the members but to
inculcate among men and women of the world a sense of Universal Brotherhood of
Humanity and in the process doing away with all prejudices of race, selfish
motives etc.
The newcomer is always
welcome to the ranks of discipleship but one must properly prepare oneself
rightly. Communication will continue only if there is communion of thought.
Science is the friend so
far as the communication of new ideas to the world is concerned. The doors of
discovery are not closed to anyone. The scientist must think in terms of public
benefit rather than in any other perspective.
The statement appearing in
yet another letter as to the possible cooperation between a scientist and a
philosopher; the enormous patience with which the sage waits in his cave of
learning can also be relevant here for a proper understanding of the situation.
If for generations we have
“shut out the world from the Knowledge of our Knowledge”, … “it is on account
of its absolute unfitness; and if, notwithstanding proofs given, it still
refuses yielding to evidence, then will we at the end of this cycle retire into
solitude and our kingdom of silence once more. ….. We have offered to exhume
the primeval strata of man’s being, his basic nature, and lay bare the
wonderful complications of his inner Self something never to be achieved by
physiology or even psychology in its ultimate expression and demonstrate it
scientifically. It matters not to them, if the excavations be so deep, the
rocks so rough and sharp, that in diving into that, to them, fathomless ocean,
most of us perish in the dangerous exploration; for it is we who were the
divers and the pioneers, and the men of science have but to reap what we have
sown. It is our mission to plunge and bring the pearls of Truth to the surface;
theirs to clean and set them into scientific jewels. And, if they refuse to
touch the ill-shapen oyster-shell, insisting that there is [not], nor cannot
be any precious pearl inside it, then shall we once more wash our hands of any
responsibility before human-kind. For countless generations hath the adept
builded a fane of imperishable rocks, a giant’s Tower of INFINITE THOUGHT, wherein the Titan dwelt, and
will yet, if need be , dwell alone, emerging from it but at the end of every
cycle, to invite the elect of mankind to co-operate with him and helping his
turn enlighten superstitious man. And we will go on in our periodical work of
ours; we will not allow ourselves to be baffled in our philanthropic attempts until
that day when the foundations of new continent of thought are so firmly built
that no amount of opposition and ignorant malice guided by the Brethren of the
Shadow will be found to prevail.” [See p. 68, “The M.L. to APS”, Chronological
edition; or the closing paragraphs of Letter 9 or IX, in the non-chronological
editions. ]
The matter of Learning the
secrets of Nature, acquiring the Wisdom needed for living a True and Real life,
the place of the theosophical philosophy and the Movement in the total process
are amply suggested here. For a total advantage there can be no substitute to
the earnest study of the Letters in their full form.
000
The above text is reproduced
from “The Aquarian Theosophist”, April
2012 edition, pp. 09-13.
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
