A Letter About Devotion and Concentration
Robert Crosbie

Of the path of
true Occultism it is said, “The first step is sacrifice”. This means sacrifice
from the worldly point of view - the point from which we start. That we
cheerfully unburden ourselves of undesirable things shows the workings of the
true self. Have no fear of the ocean of Life; it will sustain you. I often
think of the passage, “All things work together for good for him who loves the
Lord”. You will have a larger appreciation of this saying than is common.
You speak of a surer sense of truth than any manner of
reasoning. This: is the action of Buddhi -
direct cognition - the goal to which all right philosophy and life leads. In
our sincere efforts we at times may have flashes from that seat of
consciousness. The great result would be to have the continuous co-operation of
Manas and Buddhi - higher mind and spiritual knowledge; to work as the
god-man, perfect in all his parts, instead of the present sectional operation
which obtains.
You may remember that in The Voice of the Silence there are two doctrines mentioned. The
Doctrine of the Eye is that of the brain consciousness, composed largely of
external impressions. The Doctrine of the Heart is of the spiritual
consciousness of the Ego - not
perceived by the brain consciousness until right thought, and right action
which sooner or later follows it, attune certain centers in the brain in accord
with the spiritual vibration. It might be well to read The Voice over and meditate on its sayings. You have had much of
the intellectual side; there should be as much of the devotional; for what is
desirable is the awakening of the spiritual consciousness, the intuition - Buddhi - and this cannot be done unless
the thoughts are turned that way with power and purpose.
You may, if you will, set apart a certain half-hour,
just before retiring and after arising - as soon as possible after - and before
eating. Concentrate the mind upon the Masters as ideals and facts - living, active, beneficent
Beings, working in and on the plane of causes.
Meditate upon this exclusively, and try to reach up to Them in thought. If you
find the mind has strayed, bring it back again to the subject of meditation.
The mind will stray more or less, at first, and perhaps for a long time to
come, but do not be discouraged at the apparent results if unsatisfactory to
your mind. The real results may not at once be apparent, but the work is not
lost, even though not seen. It is more than likely that the work in this
direction will be perceived by others rather than yourselves. Never mind the
past, for you are at the entrance of a new world to you as persons. You have
set your feet on the path that leads to real knowledge.
Do not try to open up conscious communication with
beings on other planes. It is not the time and danger lies that way, because of
the power of creating one’s own images, and because of the power and
disposition of the dark forces to simulate beings of Light, and render futile
your efforts to reach the goal. When the materials are ready the Architect will
appear, but seek him not; seek only to be
ready. Do the best you can from day to day, fearing nothing, doubting
nothing, putting your whole trust in the Great Law, and all will be well. With
the right attitude knowledge will come.
I am sorry that so much disagreeableness assails at
the beginning. I can very well understand it all: heat, dust, grind, in
contrast with what you have left. It requires courage and endurance, and these
are desirable qualities, just such as a Kshatriya should have, which, however,
does not lessen the sense of distinction - not
all at once. But as we all desire such a fight as will best prepare us, we
can afford to smile inwardly while we contemplate the efforts of nature to
subdue our resolves. We all have our battles, and if we are in the army, we may
be sure the Self supplies just such trials as the peculiar nature needs. I
think that things will look somewhat better after a while - they always do.
It is the personality that does not like discomfort,
and the same chap gets used to things after a while. So whatever may be the
outcome in the future, it is wise to fight it out on the same lines as if you
had made it your life work. The battle
won, the necessity will cease, because from the Self no Waste of effort can
be. It is easy to advise and more difficult to perform, but performance is what
is called for. All these things must necessarily be tests, training - at least,
I think that such is the way to look at it.
The analogy of the Secret
Doctrine shows that every change is preceded by a rapid rehearsal of
previous processes in evolution It seems to me that we might use this in our
own mental processes and possibly might be able to figure out our position in
the cycle. We might be able to let the mind
only sweep over the preliminaries, and step in when the proper point is
reached, using the upward rush as
motive power. We should be rushing upward from new levels all the time. “Is it
not so that mountains are climbed?”
Once in a while we catch glimpses of the place we
started from, as we are going up elevations; though descending again, the
average rise is apparent. So, expecting these things, we take advantage of
every opportunity to increase the ascent and avoid precipices - for it is said
that mountainous regions abound in such things.
Also remember that there are many unexpended remnants
of past Karma - “mental deposits”, Patanjali calls them - that you have called
for, in order to balance up your account. They have come and will come. Be careful not to incur new
indebtedness, and thus delay the final settlement. You know the difficulties
and should fortify yourself to pass over them. No one can do this for you, as
you well know.
It is well to feel, also, that in your apparent
isolation, you are not alone. This “feeling” should help you and I think it
does. Keep it up.
As ever, R. C.
000
“Initial Steps on the Path” was published in our associated websites on 7 January 2019. The
article is reproduced from the book “The
Friendly Philosopher”, by Robert Crosbie, Theosophy Co., Los Angeles, 1945,
415 pp., see pp. 13-15. It transcribes Letter 5 in the part entitled “The
Spirit in the Body”. Longer paragraphs have been divided in shorter ones, in
order to make a contemplative reading easier.
000
On 14 September 2016, after examining the
state of the esoteric movement worldwide, a group of students decided to found
the Independent Lodge of Theosophists. Two of the priorities
adopted by the ILT are learning from the past and building
a better future.
000