Tuesday, May 19, 2015

38-2015 -The True Teaching of the Ancient Wisdom

After a long journey to the northern part of Europe via ocean liner, I am very happy to be back in California.  Even though we have a drought and there's very little rain, we certainly had our share of "stormy weather" from the time we left Boston the storm followed us across the Atlantic, to Ireland, England, France, Belgium, Netherlands and into Denmark where we disembarked and flew to Dublin, Ireland for several "very rainy windy days". 

The result has caused my brother to have severe bronchitis, my sister to be hospitalized with the "flu plus bronchitis and fluid around the heart", and myself to have bronchitis - yet, we never missed a city or a tour and the people were wonderful everywhere we went.

Today, I wanted you to understand what it means to be a student or chela of the Ascended Hierarchy.  This is the time of Kali Yug or as the bible says = "The End Times".  So, what is expected of us, who will be part of the workers in the field, acting as mediators between Hierarchy and Humanity?

Here's what Madame H. B. Blavatsky (a high disciple of the Ascended Masters) said about the great work:

"There are not in the West  half-a-dozen among the fervent hundreds who call themselves "Occultists' who have even an approximately correct idea of the nature of the Science they seek to master.  With a few exceptions, they are all on the highway to sorcery....Let them first learn the true relation in which the Occult Sciences stand to Occultism... (IT) differs from Magic and other secret sciences as the glorious sun does from a rush-light, as the immutable and immortal Spirit of Man - the reflection of the Absolute, Causeless and Unknowable ALL - differs from the mortal clay - the human body ... (The Word) OCCULTISM is certainly misleading, translated as it stands from the compound word Gupta-Vidya (Secret Knowledge.) But the knowledge of what?  Some of the Sanskrit terms may help us.

  "There are four (out of the many other) names of the various kinds of Esoteric Knowledge or Sciences given, even in the exoteric Puranas.  There is :
(1)  Yajna-Vidya, knowledge of the occult powers awakened in Nature by the performance of certain religious ceremonies and rites.

 (2) Maha Vidya, the 'great knowledge', the magic of the Kabalists and of the Tantrika worship, often Sorcery of the worst description.
(3) Gupta-Vidya, knowledge of the mystic powers residing in Sound (Ether), hence in the Mantras (chanted prayers of incantations), and depending on the rhythm and melody used; in other words, a magical performance based on knowledge of the Forces of Nature and their correlation; and
(4) ATMA-VIDYA, a term which is translated simply 'Knowledge of the Soul' true Wisdom by the Orientalists, but which means far more.

  "This last is the only kind of Occultism that any Theosophist who admires 'Light on the Path,' and who would be wise and unselfish, ought to strive after.  All the rest is some branch of the 'Occult Sciences,' i.e., arts based on the knowledge of the ultimate essence of all things in the kingdoms of Nature-such as minerals, plants and animals-hence of things pertaining to the realm of material nature, however invisible that essence may be, and howsoever much it has hitherto eluded the grasp of Science.....
Siddhis (or the Arhat powers) are only for those who are able to 'lead the life,' and  to comply with the terrible sacrifices required for such a training, and to comply with them to the very letter.  Let them know at once and remember always, that true Occultism or Theosophy is the 'Great Renunciation of SELF,'  unconditionally and absolutely, in thought as in action.  It is ALTRUISM, and it throws him who practices it out of the ranks of the living altogether.  'Not for himself, but for the world he lives,' as soon as he has pledged himself to the work.  Much is forgiven during the first years of probation.  But, no sooner is he 'accepted' than his personality must disappear, and he has to become a mere beneficent force in Nature.  There are two poles for him after that, two paths, and no midway pole of rest.

  He has either to ASCEND laboriously, step by step, often through numerous incarnations and no Devachanic break  (here we are talking about "resting between lives- some call it Purgatory -mf) the golden ladder leading to Mahatmaship
(The ARHAT or BODHISATTVA CONDITION), -he will let himself slide down the ladder at the first false step,and roll down into Dugpa-ship....(back to the material world - mf).

   "All this is either unknown or left out of sight altogether.  Indeed, one who is able to follow the silent evolution of the preliminary aspirations of the candidates often find strange ideas quietly akin possession of their minds.  There are those whose reasoning powers have been so distorted by foreign influences that they imagine that animal passions can be so sublimated and elevated that their fury, force and fire can -, so to speak, be turned inwards... until their collective and unexpanded strength enables their possessor to enter the true Sanctuary of the Soul, and stand therein in the presence of the MASTER - the HIGHER SELF.,,, Oh, poor blind visionaries!...Strange aberration of the human mind.  Can it be so?  Let us argue:

  "The 'Master' in the Sanctuary of our souls is 'the Higher Self' - the divine spirit whose consciousness is based upon and derived solely (at any rate during the mortal life of the man in whom it is active) from the mind, which we have agreed to call the Human Soul (the 'Spiritual Soul' being the vehicle of the Spirit.)  In its turn the former (there erosional or human soul) is a compound, in its highest form of spiritual aspirations, volitions and divine love; and in its lower aspect, of animal desires and terrestrial passions imparted to it by its association with its vehicle, the seat of all these... the inner animal.  (It) is the instinctual 'animal soul,' and is the hotbed of those passions which ... are lulled instead of being KILLED, ...And where, on what neutral ground, can they be imprisoned so as not to affect man???

  "The fierce passions of love and lust are still alive, and they are allowed to still remain in the place of their birth - that same animal soul ...It is thus the mind alone - the sole link and medium between the man of earth and the Higher Self - that is the only sufferer, and which is in incessant danger of being dragged down by those  passions, that may be reawakened at any moment and perish in the abyss of matter...How can harmony prevail and conquer, when the soul is stained and distracted with the turmoil of passions and the terrestrial desires of the bodily senses, or even of the'Astral man'?

  "For this 'Astral' - the shadowy 'double' (in the animal as in man) is not the companion of the divine Ego but of the earthly body. It is the link between the personal self, the lower consciousness of Manas, and the Body, and is the vehicle of transitory, not of immortal life...  It is only when the power of the passions is dead altogether, and when they have been crushed and annihilated in the retort of an unflinching will; when not only all the lusts and longings of the flesh are dead, but also the recognition of the personal Self is killed out and the 'Astral' has been reduced in consequence to a cipher, that the Union with the 'Higher Self' can take place.  Then when the 'Astral' reflects only the conquered man, the still living but no more the longing, selfish personality, then the brilliant Augoeides, the divine SELF, can vibrate in conscious harmony with both the poles of the human Entity - the man of matter purified, and the ever pure Spiritual Soul - and stand in the presence of the MASTER SELF, the Christos of the mystic Gnostic, blended, merged into and one with IT for ever.

  "How, then, can it be thought possible for a man to enter the 'strait gate' of occultism when his daily and hourly thoughts are bound up with worldly things, desires of possession and power, with lust, ambition, and duties which, however honorable, are still of the earth, earthy?  Even the love for wife and family - the purest as the most unselfish of human affections - is a barrier to real occultism... While the heart is full of thoughts for a little group of selves, near and dear to us, how shall the rest of mankind fare in our souls? What percentage of love and care will there remain to bestow on the 'great orphan' (Humanity)? And how shall the 'still small voice' (the Voice of the Silence - mf) make itself heard in a soul entirely occupied with its own privileged tenants...yet, he who would profit by the wisdom of the universal mind, has to reach it through the whole of Humanity, without distinction of race, complexion, religion, or social status.  It is altruism, not ego-ism even in its most legal and noble conception, that can lead the unit to merge its little Self in the Universal Selves.  It is to these needs and to this work that the true disciple of true Occultism has to devote himself if he would obtain theo sophy,(the absorption into Hierarchy  through divine Wisdom and Knowledge -mf).

  "The aspirant has to choose absolutely between the life of the world and the life of Occultism...it would be a ceaseless, a maddening struggle for almost any married man, who would pursue true practical Occultism, instead of its theoretical philosophy.  For he would find himself ever hesitating between the voice of the impersonal divine love of Humanity, and that of the personal, terrestrial love...Worse than this.  for, whoever indulges, after having pledged himself to OCULTISM, in gratification of a terrestrial love or lust, must feel an almost immediate result - that of being irresistibly dragged from the impersonal divine state down to the lower plane of matter.  Sensual, or even mental, self-gratification involves the immediate loss of the powers of spiritual discernment; the voice of the MASTER can no longer be distinguished from that of one's passions, or even that of a Dugpa; the right from wrong; sound morality from mere casuistry.  The Dead Sea fruit assumes the most glorious mystic appearance... although it is the intention that decides primarily whether white or black magic is exercised, yet the results even of involuntary sorcery cannot fail to be productive of bad Karma ...Sorcery is any kind of evil influence exercised upon other persons, who suffer, or make other persona to suffer, in consequence...such causes produced have to call forth effects, and these are evidenced in the just laws of Retribution.

  "Much of this may be avoided if people will only abstain from rushing into practices neither the nature nor importance of which they understand...We are in the Kali-Yuga and its fatal influence is a thousand-fold more powerful in the West than it is in the East; hence the easy preys made by the Powers of the Age of Darkness in this cyclic  struggle, and the many delusions under which the world is now laboring."

  "Behold the truth before you!  a clean life, an open mind, a pure heart, an eager intellect, an unveiled spiritual perception,  a brotherliness for one's co-disciple, a readiness to give and receive advice and instruction, a loyal sense of duty to the Teacher, a willing obedience to the behests of TRUTH, once we have placed our confidence in, and believe that Teacher to be in possession of it; a courageous endurance of personal injustice, a brave declaration of principles, a valiant defense of those who are unjustly attacked, and a constant eye to the ideal of human progression and perfection which the secret science (Gupta Vidya) depicts - these are the golden stairs up the steps of which the earner may climb to the Temple of Divine Wisdom.  Say this to those who have volunteered to be taught by you."
  Letter to H.P B. from her Master(concerning her students)

  "Tell them....' As pure water lured into the scavenger's bucket is befouled and unfit for use, so is divine truth when poured into the consciousness of a Sensualist....Observe, that the first of the steps of gold which mount towards the Temple of Truth is - A CLEAN LIFE.  This means a purity of body, and a still greater purity of mind, heart and spirit."
    Letter to H. P.B. from her Master (Morya) concerning her students.

  "There is a very very ancient maxim far older than the time of the Romans or the Greeks...It is a maxim all of them  ought to remember - and live accordingly ...a sound and pure mind requires a sound and pure body.
Bodily purity every adept takes precautions to keep ... Most of them know this ..But though they have been repeatedly told of this sine qua non rule on the Path of Theosophy and Chelaship, how few of them have given attention to it...Behold, how many of them are ...debauchees, Guilty of secret immorality in more than one form...Though such a person with any of the faults are above declared should fill the world with his charities, and make his name known throughout every nation, he would make no advancement in the practical occult sciences, but be continually slipping backward.  The 'six and ten transcendental virtues,' the Paramitas, are not for full grown Yogis and priests alone, but for all those who would enter the "Path.""
  Letter to H.P.B. from her Master concerning her students)

End of Lesson (Note:  these requirements for treading the path of initiation are for those who want to achieve Divine Wisdom ..to make the ultimate sacrifice via the destruction of the lower manus and/or Ego, which will then open the doors to the Higher Self.  It is always up to the individual where he/she wishes to be upon the ladder of Ascension; but this article truly lays down the laws, according to Hierarchy of the requirements that must be adhered to when committing oneself to becoming a Mahatma.
Margaret Mary - May, 2015

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