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April 1965 to June 1965

Pages 148-150 – The Theosophical Movement – April 1965 (pp. 256-258)

The individual is neglected by the State which considers itself important. Between the Welfare State and the Communist one there is only a little difference, but that little is vital. The power of the vote and free expression of views is possible in the former. This is a gain for the upholding of the ideal of the Individual. To change and transform that individual, self-education through discipline is necessary, and here the State falling prey to the force of the cycle begins to go wrong. Educating and disciplining the Kama-Manas is the duty of the State to the citizen. It is, alas! wrongly performed.

Of course present-day democracy is only mobocracy and Welfare State is for the State and not for the citizen. Totalitarianism may overtake poor India. Educating the individual in the right way is not done; that would require Theosophical perception in the education officers at New Delhi and elsewhere.

Economic and other conditions in the country, and especially in big cities like Bombay, are worsening. The astral light is bound to be affected, and in turn to affect people. There will be an increase of unemployment among the youngsters and a great deal of discontent. You will have to keep very calm and steady in the midst of all this.

What you say about education having undergone a change is true, but the whole philosophy of living has considerably changed since the two wars — whether the change is for the better is another matter. It is certainly true that the present system of education has its drawbacks; the children, the parents, as well as the teachers are overburdened. Not only that, but wrong education has contributed a great deal to the confusion of thought and the turmoil that prevail in the world, and we very much need to change the present imperfect educational system with its competition basis, over-specialization and lack of synthesis. Pupils today are taught “subjects” instead of how to think for themselves and to handle the tools of learning, with the result that few of the graduates which our schools and colleges turn out can be said to be truly educated. And this is because we do not pause to consider the aim of education, to which H.P.B. has pointed in The Key to Theosophy. The pressing need of our civilization is Theosophical education. In several U.L.T. Centres an important piece of work is carried on — educating the children, not so much teaching them the tenets of Theosophy as helping them to acquire a Theosophical attitude to the whole of life and enabling them to see that each one has the power to educate himself. It is better never to urge the young, but rather to encourage when they ask for help, and guide them when we see the opportunity without their knowing that we are acting.

Who cares in our real circle — Masters and chelas —about originality? “Thus have I heard” is our program, policy and also process. The more you “plagiarize,” the better. Listen to these words of Mahatma K. H.: “From the right point of view, if you will know, it is only the expression of another person’s original ideas, some independent sentence, a thought, which in its brief completeness is capable of being constructed into a wise motto or maxim that could be constituted into what is regarded as plagiarism — the pilfering of another person’s ‘brain property’. There is not a book but is the shadow of some other book, the concrete image, very often, of the astral body of it in some other work upon the same or approximate subject. I agree entirely with Dr. Cromwell when he says that ‘true talent will become original in the very act of engaging itself with the ideas of others’; nay will often convert the dross of previous authors into the golden ore that shines forth to the world as its own peculiar creation. ‘From a series of extravagant and weak Italian romances, Shakespeare took the plots, the characters, and the major part of the incidents of those dramatic works which have exalted his name, as an original writer, above that of every other in the annals of literature.’ ” So there you have it.

In your articles for The Theosophical Movement, keep it in mind to combine both thought and aspiration. The T.M. is for the student and some substance for his mental teeth is necessary. Nobody ever grew on the sweetness and light of good sentiment. A little of the latter to mellow the hard cold facts of reason and thought makes a fine chemical combination. And please distinguish between mechanical mixture and chemical combination! Try to aim at simplicity in Theosophical writing.

You should try to improve your writing by suitable study. Gathering of ideas and thoughts is one thing; developing of style, lucid, clear, economical, is another. For acquiring style, one should study different good styles. You will need to give some time to proper reading — I mean literature. I have often thought that Addison’s Spectator provides an excellent basis for the formation of style in writing. The Bible as literature, Shakespeare and such viable writings will prove valuable to you. Then, important, there is osmosis. As we saturate ourselves in reading our chosen model we osmose his elementals and assimilation takes place. Your reading of good literature should be varied. Have you ever read Longinus’ “On the Sublime”? It is full of the art of real writing.

I know you are slow at writing, but speed is not all: in fact, is speed even desirable? What is needed is calmness within and steady pen-motion without. Compactness and frugality in words, grace of sentence, links between the paragraphs of an essay, all emerge when the mind is free of mundane affinities. For our work this mental state is necessary. Study-preparation, collection of points, etc., naturally come first and take time, but then the “blessed mood” must be evoked and undisturbed conditions must sustain it till we write to the end, or to a suitable breaking point. It will all come to you.

You need a calm interior whence emerge real thoughts and the grace of graciousness. We are aiming not at spasmodic calmness, now and then, such as intuitive poets have when they pour forth their verse and song. We are trying to get a condition for the Inspiration which comes from within because the body has become “agitated” by and in sensitiveness, and the mind a calm lake in which fall the unbroken images of Akasha.

“There is only one standard by which we may judge true literature. Whatever the style in which it is written or whatever its objective, it is real literature only if it raises mankind to higher levels of life.” —Rajendra Prasad.

Pages 151-152 – The Theosophical Movement – May 1965 (pp. 301-302)

It is one of the tests that every one of us has to go through to see that the world is not too much with us. A new proportion between the inner and the outer is necessary as a first step so that the outer may ultimately become a reflection of the inner.

Look within, for there you are strong and resourceful. That within is apt to be forgotten, for memory is a trickster. Remember, “Thou art That.” To remember that, “Let not thy senses make a playground of thy mind.”

What you need now is regular and steadfast study and practice of the Discipline. Some of you are so immersed in the outer life and work that mind and heart get neglected. So you better give yourself a Theosophical chance of regular meditation and self-examination.

I know you will be anxious these days; this also will pass away. It is we, each one of us, who should stabilize ourselves — taking a firm position with the end in view. Live within by the aid of study, work for others, and unfold the Unity in your own heart. The United Spirit of Life which is should be recognized, be realized. This is Metta — Divine Impersonal Pity and Compassion.

You must seek the archetype for every typal action and thus get hold of the Law of Analogy and Correspondence. Of course it is taxing; and that is because we are surrounded by mundane vibrations of the five senses and the five organs. In the midst of illusions we are touching the Real. Every word is used both in prose and poetry; and, just as good and noble prose is poetry of its kind, so every prosaic and mundane thing has its poetic and spiritual roots.

What are the methods by which we can obtain the art of sacrifice? Now it all depends in what sense the word “sacrifice” is used. If it is used in the ordinary sense of sacrificing oneself for the good of others, then it comes in the moral sphere of action in day-to-day living. But if the word sacrifice is used in the sense of yagna, then it applies to every action and every deed of ours. However trivial it may be, it can be made sacramental or holy by a right kind of knowledge which is available. Spiritual knowledge can be utilized to make every act a sacred and a holy act, and the distinction between the secular and the sacred is done away with and every secular act becomes sacramental.

Let us hold on to the principle that whatever his temperament — lower psychic or higher spiritual — the probationer meets his trials and tests and stands or fails. Judge and Damodar succeeded where so many others failed. None, none can escape the “probation.”

Inner Egoic strength comes fast and strong if we study regularly and attentively. You will gain that strength and the balance which follows it in the course of time. Do not lose heart; be courageous and persevering.

How are you? I don’t mean bodily; for, on that I do get reports. How are you within yourself? A very, very big portion of your ailment is rooted in your Kama-Manas and there no doctor, no Master, can do anything save give advice and make suggestions. You alone have to do the needful. Why not take advantage of your bodily disability and work on and with your mental attitude and outlook? Get well soon, but thoroughly well.

It is gladsome news that you have returned to your city and are eager to participate in the Work there. It is necessary, however, to note the changes in your health, and unless you are quite well and strong enough I hope you will not overdo things. Our devotion to work ought to enable us to be discriminative and to prompt us to recognize our duty to our physical body and its health, without which proper service cannot be rendered on this plane. If, therefore, in your laudable enthusiasm you feel zealous to act and to do, I hope you will check yourself and go with care and deliberation.

Pranic currents are what are absorbed by the Astral Nadis and Chakras from the Ocean of Jiva. They circulate in the astral body as blood circulates in the gross body. As a result of circulation these currents absorb and assimilate our thoughts and feelings as blood does our bodily food. Then animal magnetism results. Prana absorbed from Jiva is healthful; in conjunction with the prevailing thought-feeling-moods, animal magnetism is generated. It is through the last named that our “lives” go out, with our personal stamp upon them.

Pages 153-155 – The Theosophical Movement – June 1965 (pp. 345-347)

Of course it is only through H.P.B. that the lost knowledge about the living presence and loving labour of the Masters has come to us. But in very many places those like Judge, Damodar, etc., have written out of their knowledge and experience and this is a great aid. Feeling the Master is not a mundane emotional experience; it is the Higher Feeling — we do not see, but we feel. It is a memory and an anticipation. We have known the Lodge and the Brothers in ages past. They brought to birth self-consciousness in us and imprinted Fiery Wisdom which we now name innate ideas. It is of the substance of Divine Intuition. This latent memory is awakened by a contact with Theosophy in particular and with mysticism, etc., in general. Definite knowledge about the Masters is possible. But, to begin with, you need theoretical knowledge acquired by study and that inward experience in Faith felt, known and realized.

The Masters ought not to remain for you abstractions. They are Living Men. A re-study of our Pamphlet No. 13, the whole of it, will prove useful. Their own letters reveal Their human side; these do not reveal Their Divinity so very well, for that is hidden behind Their humanity. No doubt physical-plane contact has its advantages, but it also has its grave dangers. “Seek not for thy Guru in the pleasure-ground of senses,” and it is equally significant if we take the other number of the pair and say, “Seek not for thy Guru in the pain-ground of senses,” for They are of the substance of Joy, Ananda. In the Hall of Wisdom, i.e., in the detachment created by meditation-study in Jagrat and thence proceeding to Sushupti, we can touch Their real nature. Our Theosophical work often becomes irksome because we proceed by worldly ways instead of turning within to the calm of Manas which follows the detachment of Antahkarana and is followed by the Compassion of Buddhi. Imagination in Jagrat aids the passage to realization of Them as Beings of Power, Holiness and Compassion. The Higher Self is difficult to reach, as Judge says. Therefore seek the Bridge, the Masters. Make Them real, make Them a part and portion of all your waking hours. There are strength and bliss in the very effort.

It is through the Higher Mind that Masters can be realized. But in that Mind, on its plane, we, so to speak, already know Them. The Life is to be lived here; the personal life has to be transformed, made porous, as Judge says. Our tempers and moods, our temperament, these have to be attended to. In hours of study and meditation we may feel Them; it is in the routine of hourly events that They should be felt. The outer world can be shut off in periods of study and meditation. How not to be affected by it when writing letters and reading proofs, and how to feel Them in such tasks, is our problem. Therefore, it is not only thought but life — prana, if you please — which is needed. Thought brings Them to the mind, but how to embody the feeling and memory of Them in our vocations and in our recreations? How to understand and utilize Their ubiquitous nature? We forget all about Them, Their very existence, when eating and sitting and doing our routine chores. To live the Life, now and here, is our task, and both now and here are continuous. We have to struggle here against the world; we are caught and shuttered by and in it. Keeping a quiet mind, a deliberate attitude, and using the presence of calmness which ideation upon Them creates — that is our solemn duty.

As to our remembrance in the affairs of life of the existence of the Masters: It is true that we have to make the Master the sole object of devotion. It cannot be done as speedily as we wish. The faculty of right remembrance is the clue. Remembering the Master more and more because we aspire to gain His Eye, His Ear and His Speech or guidance, we must come to the recognition that He is all the time everywhere, in all our affairs. Nitya Guru, He who is our Guide and Friend, the giver of Karma and Dharma, reveals also His ubiquitous nature — this is the ideal and we have by our earnestness attracted His recognition. We do feel inspiration in an increasing way — breadthwise and depthwise.

We should not expect recognition from the Masters even when we have become devotees. All that I would advise you is: go on in silence and secrecy with study and reflection. Universalize your mind; impersonalize your heart; work on your own personality. Your form of service — writing, correspondence, conversation, cultivating friends (sat-sang) should be persisted in. Steadfastness is triple — according to the gunas. Please reflect up upon the verse in the Gita on sattvic steadfastness (holding power).

Masters teach, help, guide, instruct, inspire, bless. They leave chelas free to absorb, to osmose what they can, how they can; but They adjust the mind of the chela. They do not interfere with the chela’s Karma but aid him to do his duty by his own Karma and thus learn.

As to how we get ideas from Nirmanakayas and Adepts: Numerous are the grades and types of these Beings. There are those who are not fully evolved but are on their way to the Great Renunciation. The Beings who form the Guardian Wall are of one type. Some of these High Ones, it is said, continuously meditate, radiating Influences which may be absorbed by whosoever is consubstantial. They do not direct these at this or that person. Similarly the Mahatmas, including our Blessed Masters, send out thoughts and these fall on any member of the human race. Then there are men in this world who have done noble work, e.g., Lincoln, Gandhiji, etc., who receive specially formulated help in the shape of ideas. They may be compared to chelas of Masters who receive specific aid from their respective Gurus. Supposing you are writing an article; you have become concentrated and the currents of your thought become consubstantial with what the Nirmanakayas or Mahatmas have ideated upon; then you catch the benign influence and you may not know anything about it; or, being an informed student of the Esoteric Philosophy, you may feel that some help was derived if not specifically given. That is one thing. Another: because of your devotion you may attract the attention of some Helper who may drop an idea to enable you to get along by developing it. Or you are a chela who may be aided by your own Guru, unconsciously to yourself or deliberately, so that you become aware of the source.

The mantramic words of H.P.B.— “Where thought can pass they can come”—are not only profound; they are true. Also, in the term “ubiquity” much is enshrined. For the ignorant it is entombed. Out of tombs we have to create our shrines. We live in the midst of death; this is not only true on the plane of gross matter and of the body. For us the truth is that we do not live; we keep company of the dead, having known and touched Life.

Individualized personalities are those of the great perfected Adepts. Mahatmas have personalities, but they are not personalities in the sense of our personalities. There is a division between our personalities and individualities. When a personality is purified and elevated and becomes a channel and an instrument of the individuality, then that personality is an individualized personality.