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April 1962 to June 1962

Pages 56-58 – The Theosophical Movement – April 1962 (pp. 232-234)

Who was H.P.B.? — “known otherwise to us,” said a Master. What kind of a divine incarnation was hers? Some spoke of her as even less than a chela. Like the housemaids in Kipling’s poem, “They talk a lot of loving, but what do they understand?” Her recorded Message radiates its knowledge to our lower mind, can radiate it to our Higher Mind, can further make our Buddhi active, and so forth. The more I learn the greater is my amazement at what she knew. And think who or what keeps us going when we know our foibles and frailties, our errors of omission and commission! When assailed one’s whole temptation is to give up. What keeps us going? I, for one, am convinced it is her compassion. H.P.B.’s knowledge, its memory, its depth and her magnanimity and love protect and guide in the darkest hour. Consider this viewpoint calmly and dispassionately. But for her record of the Teachings and the Masters, I would feel lonely.

To understand the real H.P.B. is difficult and it does take time. Her avatara, appearance or personality was and is apt to mislead. The Masters Themselves wrote of her and Her and it requires some viveka [discrimination] to evaluate Their words and accord them the right place. What was hidden behind the “peculiar mannerisms” of her personality? She had a purpose every time— to help, to instruct, to guide, to protect; always an unselfish purpose founded upon Compassion Absolute (see the clauses in the Voice on pp. 75-76). The testing of people’s fidelity was rare. She wanted them to be faithful to the Teachings and to the Real Pitris and Masters. My own view is that as an Occultist she was deliberate and purposeful every hour and in every event. She was Dharma-pravin, knew not only what to say but also how to act. Her deeds were small and great yagnas, sacrifices. Holiness was in her heart. To my way of thinking she made no mistakes. The safe way to proceed is from the Teachings to the Teacher. No doubt H.P.B. baffles, but every time calm consideration reveals her as a Being of Light and Sacrifice, the Justice which is Mercy and Mercy ever just.

She did not belong to our Kali Yuga or even to our Fifth-Race evolution, though she was affected by both. An incarnation like hers cannot be evaluated by our rules, our cycles, etc. Herein is a clue to understand her. Her motives and methods were hers, deliberate in wisdom and in compassion.

H.P.B. is our anchor when we are in harbour; our compass when we are travelling abroad, to high heaven or to dark hell. We have to find our Dharma as an inner force to shape our outer Karma. You are wise in determining that every day and in whatever way you can you will strengthen your perception about H.P.B. The more you study the more you will find what a Personage she is.

Devotion to H.P.B., if it is of the right type, and so enduring and lasting, must be rooted in her recorded message. It is as we assimilate her writings that we see the breadth and depth of her mind and the magic power of her heart.

Among us who look upon H.P.B. as our Guru there ought to be a bond of love and devotion. It seems to me that among our students, if they in their own consciousness truly regard H.P.B. as Teacher, there ought to be the sign or omen of mutual affection and trust. Where this is absent, real attachment to H.P.B. remains to be born.

About devotion to H.P.B.: you are bound to develop this virtue as you study and serve. She did not love Humanity because she taught the race; she loved all mankind and therefore she came to teach, for ignorance is the great foe. You will have slowly to deepen as well as widen your sphere of service. That also will come.

As to an intermediary on the Way to Chelaship, even Lay Chelaship, for this cycle it is H.P.B. and remains so. She is akin to our Higher Manas joined to Atma-Buddhi. She is alive in her instructions. Then, she has said that Judge is the Antahkarana, the Bridge, and the implication is that our own Antahkarana is the principle of right personal action.

Chelaship in this cycle, especially the beginning of such a life, is different, thanks to the sacrifices of H.P.B. She has done a tremendous beneficence to all devotees and aspirants by opening a regular door to the Masters. The knock at the door becomes necessary.

That H.P.B. is the Guru is not a truth to be spoken from the platform as is so often done. What I mean is that so often students speak without any real feeling or true understanding. Reread Judge’s article “Blavatskianism In and Out of Season.” That H.P.B. was an Adept-Soul who can doubt if he is a student of the S.D.? But how many of those who repeat “our Guru H.P.B.” from the platform are real, intelligent devotees?

As to the biographies of H.P.B., there are several attacks written by or under the inspiration of the Roman Catholic Church. There is not a biography of hers which is, from my point of view, very reliable, even those which are favourable and are written by her friends naturally are partial and do not do justice to her colossal mind and her lion heart. These will have to be read for what they are worth, for it is one thing to know about the events and incidents in the life of a person and altogether another thing to understand their real significance and interpret them accurately. I am saying this because my approach to H. P. Blavatsky has been through her works. Her Secret Doctrine has been

a constant companion for over half a century; and, knowing her mind, not only versatile but profound, I have come to the conclusion that her personality was but a mask and that a really powerful intelligence worked within it.

Of course all students want to know about the real H.P.B., but there is hardly anything that is printed which would give you an absolutely clear picture. You can read several books, but between the facts and the interpretation there is a hiatus, and we shall have to bridge that gulf. It seems to me that the very best we at the present hour have to do is to study her writings, because invariably the law of the spiritual life is: From the teachings to the teacher. It is only by an elevated mind that we can understand the great mind of H.P.B. So the study of The Secret Doctrine and the promulgation of its doctrines is very necessary for the purpose of reading the books on H.P.B. to determine what is what.

In the case of the martyrdom of a great soul like Jesus or Gandhiji, however, or the sorrows and persecutions visited upon our H.P.B., another aspect of Karma has to be taken into account: the Karma of the group, nation or race which they are trying to help and for which they become, as it were, a focus, drawing upon themselves the opposition of all reactionary forces. Is there a Prophet anywhere who does not have the priests of all creeds in league against him? It was Jewish orthodoxy that martyred Jesus as aggressive Hindu orthodoxy martyred Gandhiji. Gandhiii’s martyrdom, like the crucifixion of Jesus, was his own deliberate action. Both clearly foresaw what was ahead; both acted in the knowledge of the forces they were challenging and both were therefore willing martyrs. Suffering may be voluntarily undergone, not only for self-purification and self-development, but also for the sake of others — in the case of H.P.B. and Gandhiji, for the sake of the world. 

Pages 59-60 – The Theosophical Movement – May 1962 (pp. 276-277)

You are right — Compassion is the mother of the Paramitas and we have in our higher nature the Creative Power which everywhere produces the mighty magic of Prakriti. You have it in your soul and with its help you must make Vairagya your first-born child in the present personality. Also in you is Wisdom, the other side of Compassion. Each one of us is Purusha, Wisdom; and also each is the Feminine Power, Nature, Shakti; these two as parents produce the first-born, who brings to us the new Life rooted in Vairagya. Think along this line and the Great Vairagis, the Blessed Holy Ones, will bless you with the gift of more than vision, the touch of Vairagya in your consciousness.

Turning to your remark about compassion: you will please study carefully the definition and description of compassion given on pp. 75-76 of The Voice of the Silence. Note that compassion is described in very precise terms. We cannot develop it by intellectual study only. We have to take into account the study of what are called the Divine Virtues or Paramitas. What Logos, Verbum or Word is to metaphysical knowledge, that compassion is to ethical science. It has seven great aspects which are called the seven Paramitas. These Paramitas, like the metaphysical pairs of Simon Magus, go two by two. Please consult The Voice of the Silence and put down your Paramitas like the seven globes of the planetary chain. You will thus find that Dana and Prajna make a pair; Shila and Dhyana make another pair; Kshanti and Virya make the third pair. Remains the middle Paramita — Vairagya, desirelessness, dispassion. detachment, but which is also the higher desire and the spiritual attachment to the parent and the source of all seven Paramitas. namely, Compassion Absolute. This again is a matter of practice. We will not be able to develop these divine qualities or virtues without trying to live in terms of these virtues, not in their lower, but in their higher or divine aspect.

Yes, Vairagya is the starting Paramita. The Gita speaks of Dana, Tapas, Yagna later, but the very second discourse on Buddhi Yoga demands detachment — not caring for the results or fruits of actions. We must act; we must not be inactive, but be detached from consideration of the fruits of deeds. All men possess charity as all men possess Buddhi, but it is, in most cases, tamasic or rajasic. The inner spiritual life cannot truly commence without a base, a foundation of Vairagya.

The light of daring, of Virya, follows Vairagya — dispassion. We become fearless because we develop desirelessness. With a simultaneous unfoldment of patience, daring becomes sattvic. The order of the Paramitas is: Vairagya first and then Kshanti and Virya as a pair. This should be understood and deliberately practiced. Begin with daring and patience as mental-moral qualities. Action on the outer plane will follow naturally. That is always the principle of inner application — mind-feeling the cause, speech-action the effect. The reverse is what is ordinarily called Hatha-Yoga. The next pair is Shila and Dhyana, and the final one is Dana and Prajna. The ordinary kindliness, charity, etc., of the good need to be handled deliberately, according to plan, to become spiritual.

Remember that real detachment or Vairagya comes from and through attachments and we have to use those very attachments to loosen the fetters of personal Karma by the right performance of duties. Look upon your present circumstances as very suitable avenues to unfold real and universal understanding, true and impersonal sympathy and affection.

High aiming is a protection against egotism. We grow, have to, humbly looking at what remains to be achieved. For earnest students who aspire and also sincerely apply the principles it soon becomes necessary to acquire something of the starting Paramita, Vairagya. But for the worldly-minded good man the starting Paramita has to be Dana. Knowledge makes the difference in the very formulation of our aim and ideal — high or low. Once a Master wrote words to the effect that negative goodness will not do for chelaship. So. without knowledge, men and women cannot become good.

Pages 61-62 – The Theosophical Movement – June 1962 (pp. 315-316)

Patience is a sublime virtue. This Paramitâ, on the downward arc, is the highest for men and women who have not yet any conception of the higher life. But the patience which cultivates Virya — for Kshanti and Virya form a pair — is the higher patience and both are the progeny (they are known as the daughter and the son) of dispassion — Vairagya.

Patience itself is a healing-power and very much indeed can be gained both spiritually and psychically through patience. Active and positive benefit accrues from the practice of this virtue when during its expression and observance the mind is kept fecundated by spiritual verities and ideas. The Gita, the Voice, Light on the Path and The Light of Asia are not time-killers as so many books are; they are purifiers, builders, strengtheners and polishers of human nature; potent is their action, when properly used, on the blood and, through it, on the nerves and muscles. Difficult and hard to perceive as it may be for you, a quiet reflection on the fact that we get not only what we deserve but also that which we desire and that which is the very best for us — that will help you. There are special times for each of us when the teachings learnt can be more strenuously practised.

The second virtue of Shila needs to be studied and understood; have you looked at it from the viewpoint of personal application to yourself? Note the kinship between word and act, and note Karmic action. What is Karmic action? Action done under the force of your own destiny? And what about the intelligent Action of the Great Law which restores the harmony we break? What do we mean when we say that we face our own Karma? Our students do not take into account the Omniscience of the Law which is not only Exact Justice but also Infinite Mercy.

The Dhyana Paramita should not be confused with the exercises in meditation. This virtue of Ceaseless Contemplation of Metta-Compassion-Mercy is the result of Vairagya and Kshanti-Virya. Dhyana is one of the pair, the other being Shila. Study Dhyana and Shila as a pair, one supporting and improving the other in us.

Shila-harmony develops as Dhyana, attentive contemplation, progresses, and Dhyana. grows in intensity as Shila establishes itself and reveals its power of binding word and deed on the plane of effects as thought and feeling on the plane of causes. It is true that harmony in word and act sounds and seems easier; also note that Shila is on the arc of descent. The Dhyana Paramita means “ceaseless contemplation” as a virtue-feeling. It is the Narjol state, i.e., that of a saintly Adept. Now this contemplation is the result of Dhyana and Samadhi. You must study Patanjali to place Dhyana. There are Pratyahara, Dharana, Dhyana and Samadhi. Also compare the four states of the fourfold Dhyana Marga.

As to Dana and Prajna: All human beings have a seed of love and charity, but how few make that seed useful in the right way! Thought bestowed on charity and love purifies and elevates and then Dana-Prajna is conceived — seeing with the Eye of Dana. That conception has its subjective period — an antenatal, embryonic existence; then it is born and acts of charity and love are done. But, all through, the intellectual process has to be kept up. To love is to understand all and to forgive all non-lovableness. But there is also yoga with love-expressions which are pure and so lovable. To become lovable is a step in the development of Dana-Prajna.

Real Prajna is Compassion Absolute. There are seven states of Prajna and correspondingly seven of Compassion Absolute. Reread pp. 75-76 of the Voice and note what creates Compassion Absolute. It stands at the Gate of the Inner Path of Renunciation. Dana, corresponds to Globe A in evolution. It starts there, but the important real starter is Globe D. In the middle of the Fourth Round and on the Fourth Globe real human evolution commences.

Prajna is the power or the capacity that gives rise to perception. The Parabrahman of the Vedantic metaphysicians is the Unconscious of the Advaitees who name it Chidakasam and Chinmatra. This contains within itself the potentiality of every condition of Prajna and results as consciousness on the one hand and as the objective universe on the other (the Motion and Space, Spirit and Matter of the First Fundamental) by the operation of its latent shakti, the power which generates thought (the Fohat of the S.D.). There are seven states of Prajna; consciousness perceives matter at seven levels, the highest of which is the above-mentioned Unconscious, i.e., the Universal Consciousness which is non-self-conscious. These cosmic ultimates are good to dwell upon when Vairagya is to be unfolded.

The practice of Prajna at our level means, does it not. improving and elevating our present power of perception? The highest perception is the development of the seventh Paramita, which implies the sight of Paramarthasatya — Altruistic Truth or Compassionate Wisdom. Make clean and clear your sight, we are told. This is the common exercise, whatever our perception. We have a sight of knowledge, and another of love. To coalesce them is to become single-eyed. Our feelings are personal and selfish, and our thoughts follow them, and so we act as human animals. There is a coming together that is accomplished ignorantly or by false knowledge. Prajna's development begins with the unfoldment of Dana; and also Dhyana's development shows in our harmony in words and works — Shila. Vairagya provides the key; are we dispassionate and desireless? It is hourly watching of ourselves, and the lower nature is powerful in its demands and imperious to boot!