“Compassion, the Truth at the heart of our universe” is a treatise of Sacrifice, Devotion,

and Higher Ethics in the Bhagavad Gita, Narada’s Bhakti-Sutras, Voice of the Silence, and
other mystical texts, viewed through the prism of Theosophy.

Christos A Bartzokas was born in Athens, Greece, 13th November

1947. He was educated at a state Gymnasium and the Medical
School, University of Athens.

Following postgraduate training in Liverpool, England, he was ap-

pointed Senior Lecturer and NHS Consultant in Clinical Microbiology
& Infection Prevention at Liverpool University and Royal Liverpool
Hospital (1978); Clatterbridge Hospital (1986). He has published
numerous research articles, chapters, and books.

He has always been interested in the fundamental principles of life.

As an undergraduate, he became acquainted with Masonry and The-
osophy. In his thirties, he studied comparative religion and philoso-
phy. In his forties, his earlier attraction to Theosophy was rekindled.
With mind applied to the works of HP Blavatsky and WQ Judge, he
elected to retire from medicine (1998) in order to pursue these, as
well as his long-standing interests in higher ethics and the welfare of
humanity, full-time. He has since developed advanced courses for
theosophists and independent thinkers on the Secret Doctrine, Mys-
ticism, and Moral Excellence (2001). He travels extensively giving lec-
tures and seminars to various philosophical groups.

In 2005, he founded the Philaletheians, a company of kindred souls

who seek to reaffirm the eternal verities in today’s world.

He is associated with several humanistic organisations and supports

individuals in their studies in the UK and abroad.
First published in Great Britain 2005 by the Philaletheians, Ty Ucha, Hafod Road, Gwernymynydd,
Mold CH7 5JS.

Copyright © CA Bartzokas, 2005. All rights reserved.

ISBN 0 9550400 0 0 hardback

0 9550400 1 9 e-Book

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data.

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

Front cover

The Marbled Sun (1998)

Courtesy of the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) consortium. SOHO is a project of inter-
national cooperation between the European Space Agency and the National Aeronautics and Space
Administration.

Extreme ultraviolet images from the solar corona are transmitted to Earth by the SOHO spacecraft in
black & white. In May 1998, nearly simultaneous images from three ultraviolet telescopes were col-
our-coded red, yellow, and blue and then digitally merged into one composite image. The tricoloured
observation of the Sun revealed features that no instrument could otherwise capture.

“The Sun we see, gives nothing of itself, because it is a reflection; a bundle of electro-magnetic forces,
one of the countless milliards of ‘Knots of Fohat.’ Fohat is called the ‘Thread of primeval Light,’ the
‘Ball of thread’ of Ariadne, indeed, in this labyrinth of chaotic matter. This thread runs through the
seven planes tying itself into knots. Every plane being septenary, there are thus forty-nine mystical
and physical forces, [the] larger knots forming stars, suns and systems, the smaller, planets, and so
on.” — Blavatsky Collected Writings, (TRANSACTIONS OF THE BLAVATSKY LODGE) X p. 376; [Commentary
on Stanza III 5.]

Back cover

Le Ravissement de Psyche (1895)

Alphonse William Bouguereau (1825 – 1905). Oil on canvas, 209 x 120 cm. Private collection.

Cover design by John Burrows, MCSD

Printed and bound in England by Blissetts Digital & Design, London

Wxw|vtàxw àÉ tÄÄ _ÉäxÜá Éy gÜâà{
Contents

PREFACE .................................................................................... 11
Compiler’s notes 15
Book structure 17
Keywords glossary: Christos, Desire, Duty, God, Love, Man 18
Abbreviations and explanations 26

INTRODUCTORY THOUGHTS ............................................................ 27

Re-gaining spiritual knowledge 27
The inner wisdom of love 32
Assimilation of the universe’s laws is the first key to manhood 38
Surrender of the fleeting to the eternal is the final key 40
Sacrificing others is a crime against nature 44
An approach to The Secret Doctrine 50

CHAPTER 1 OUR MOST PRECIOUS GEMS ........................................... 55

Parabrahman or Absoluteness is the One and Only Reality 59
Mūlaprakçiti or noumenon of matter is a veil thrown over Parabrahman 61
Logos or Word is divine thought concealed 62
Fohat or Light of Logos is divine thought revealed 65
Genealogy and gender of Logos and Its Light 68
Pause for inward reflection 70

CHAPTER 2 PREHISTORIC CATECHISM OF PRACTICAL THEOSOPHY ........ 75

On the First Truth of Theosophy 80
On the Second Truth of Theosophy 83
On the Third Truth of Theosophy 84
Ten more Truths 85
The One becomes Two Ones: Parabrahman and Logos 87
The Three live within the One 88
Logos ever unfolds 90
(a) In the Bhagavad Gītā 90
(b) Logos in the light of Theosophy 92

CHAPTER 3 DEITY IS LAW AND VICE VERSA ..................................... 93

The essence of deity is Compassion, Harmony, and Love 96
Its manifestations are governed by the laws of nature 101
Nature incessantly shadows the divine plan 103

7
 COMPASSION

CHAPTER 4 ONE LAW FOR ALL: THREE FUNCTIONS .......................... 105

4.1 Karma-action 109
4.1 (a) In the Bhagavad Gītā 109
4.1 (b) Karma in the light of Theosophy 120
4.2 Yugas-cycles 124
4.2 (a) In the Bhagavad Gītā 124
4.2 (b) Yugas in the light of Theosophy 125
4.3 Yajña-Compassion / Sacrifice 130
4.3 (a) In the Bhagavad Gītā 130
4.3 (b) Yajña in the light of Theosophy 133

CHAPTER 5 NĀRADA AND KRISHNA SPEAK WITH ONE VOICE ............. 145
Who is Nārada? 145
He is the Deva èishi of Esotericism 146
He impelled Animal Man towards intellectual freedom 148
Nārada’s aphorisms on Divine Love and Kçishõa’s precepts to Arjuna are
impossible to tell apart 150

CHAPTER 6 OUR WATCHERS AND GUARDIANS ................................ 177

Avatārs are our Watchers and Guardians 179
The real Kçishõa is Christos: Internal Light, not external symbols 187

CHAPTER 7 LISTEN TO THE “STILL SMALL VOICE”............................ 191

What is the Voice? 193
It is the heart and pulse of the universe 195
It is the Voice of the Great Sacrifice 197
What the Voice is not 201
Who hears the Voice? 202
Voice of the Silence and Light on the Path: Two books, One Voice 207

CHAPTER 8 TIPS FOR PILGRIMS .................................................. 213

Pierce the veil of illusion 216
Faithfully seek the darkness within, for, faith is Light 223
Faithfully confirm your experience, for, faith brings Knowledge 228
Faithfully validate your imagination, for, faith establishes Will 231
Devotedly feel the great heart within, for, devotion to all is True Love 235
Realise your ideals 238
Live your dreams 241
Axe the aśvattha tree 246
Slay your mind 250
Charity begins at home? 253
Be temperate! 254

8
 CONTENTS

Act in person but impersonally 262

Thoughts and emotions are one and the same 262
Action speaks louder than words 265
Higher and lower altruism 268
Charity is a debt of honour 270
Merge your self in Self 272
Seek out the fifth way of loving 276
Listen to the clarion call 278

CHAPTER 9 COMPASSION THROBS AT THE HEART OF THE UNIVERSE .... 281

CONCLUDING THOUGHTS ............................................................. 287
APPENDICES A TO K ................................................................... 299
Appendix A Theosophists described 301
Appendix B Action, renunciation, and their endless variants 302
Appendix C At the threshold of the two paths 303
Appendix D Parabrahman: aspects, epithets, and synonyms 305
Appendix E Mūlaprakçiti: aspects, epithets, and synonyms 309
Appendix F Logos: aspects, epithets, and synonyms 312
Difference between Logos and Demiurgos 318
Difference between Logos and Īśvara 318
Logos in Science, Philosophy, and Religion 319
Logos in Gnostic Systems 320
Epithets of Isis 320
Appendix G Fohat: aspects, epithets, and synonyms 322
Appendix H AUM: definitions, derivatives, parallels 325
Appendix I Conscience and consciousness 328
Higher conscience 331
Lower conscience 332
Conscience-smitten 334
Appendix J A marriage made in heaven 336
Appendix K Ālaya: aspects, epithets, and synonyms 338

REFERENCES ............................................................................. 341

Abridged references 341
Selected editions of the Bhagavad Gītā 345
Translations with introductory essay, annotations and commentaries 345
Translations with introductory essay, and annotations 345
Translations only 346
Monographs 346
Selected editions of Nārada Bhakti-Sūtras 347
Selected articles in Blavatsky Collected Writings 347
INDEX…………………………………………………………………………..... 349

9
 PREFACE

The deeper individualised consciousness pervades matter, the stronger the

yearning for an “unshakeable deliverance of the heart,” in the words of Lord
Buddha. Distressed and lost in the valley of matter, pilgrims are longing for
1
asylum in that “mental devotion, which is knowledge.” Distinguished by
romanticism, the spirit of unrest and drive for spiritual progress that ap-
2
pears at the close of every epoch, they are set apart by a search for ideals
and values that, to others, seem unattainable. It is for the return journey of
such considered and incurably romantic souls, who are “unexpecting, pure,
just, impartial, devoid of fear, and who have forsaken interest in the results
3
of action,” that this anthology from the sacred literature of the East has
been assembled. And for all young souls, who may be heartened when they
realise the magnitude and extent of Compassion. Although not aimed at
Buddhists, Hindus or secular students of Oriental philosophy, who may not
be acquainted with the Esoteric Sciences, they, too, may derive benefit and
inspiration. But devotees to the Cause of Theosophy and to the Founders of
the modern Theosophical Movement are likely to appreciate this effort most.

Theosophy has greatly enhanced apprehension of the mysteries of Universe,

Man, and Nature: mysteries that were previously hinted at, but not disclosed
to, the public at large. Two generations after HP Blavatsky integrated the
world’s sciences, religions, and philosophies, eclectic thinkers are still in the
process of assimilating her voluminous output. Altruism, however, the intel-
ligent application of universal truths in everyday life, is not instantly recog-
nisable in The Secret Doctrine, which is the epitome of Theosophy itself. And
conversely, its metaphysical basis is explained neither in devotional texts
like the Bhagavad Gītā and Nārada Bhakti-Sūtras, nor in esoteric instruction
manuals like The Voice of the Silence and Light on the Path.

By bringing together ethics and metaphysics from inner streams of higher

knowledge, this work aims to demonstrate that the assertion in its title is not
a mere figure of speech. Compassion is the Truth at the heart of our uni-
verse.

1
Cf. Bhagavad Gītā, 2 vs. 49
2
Cf. Grove’s Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 1928; [definition of Romanticism.]
3
Cf. Bhagavad Gītā, 12 vs. 16

11
 COMPASSION

Two broad areas of uncertainty have prompted a closer look at the deeper
meanings of Compassion, Sacrifice, and Higher Ethics:

1 Although Universal Brotherhood is ontologically implied within the all-

embracing concepts of the first proposition of The Secret Doctrine, its
ethical implications are not immediately apparent. And even though in
1
The Voice of the Silence Compassion is referred to as “the Law of Laws,”
this pivotal notion has not been linked with Law in the second proposi-
tion either. In Chapter 4, the unravelling of two enigmatic sūtras in the
Bhagavad Gītā and Bhāgavata-Purāõa, will demonstrate that (a) hidden
between the cosmogenesis of the first and the anthropogenesis of the
third, Compassion governs Universe and Man; and that (b) yuga-cycles,
the theme of the second proposition of The Secret Doctrine, is one of three
facets of Deity or Law—the other two being karma-action and yajña-
compassion / sacrifice.
2 As the Upanishads, Gautama Buddha, and Śaükarāchārya are said to
be the Lights of Eastern Wisdom, so The Voice of the Silence, Bhagavad
Gītā, and Light on the Path are its jewels. Having perceived that a com-
mon thread runs through the latter triplet, intuitive students often won-
der how exactly these texts relate to each other and to the teachings of
HP Blavatsky. Are they complementary variations of the same theme, or
are they mere elaborations of different aspects of esoteric philosophy? Is
there an underlying concordance linking them with the premises of The-
osophy? Though unselfish action is the dominant theme in the Bhaga-
vad Gītā, its philosophical basis is alluded to here and there but not
adequately explained. It is only when Lord Kçishõa’s precepts are
matched with The Secret Doctrine’s eternal verities (Chapter 2), that they
all come into being. Further, when Nārada’s aphorisms on divine love
were compared with those advocated in the Gītā (Chapter 5), a remark-
able concordance emerged. And when the “still small voices” of The Voice
of the Silence and Light on the Path were compared (Chapter 7), these
priceless little books, too, seem to speak with one Voice, the VOICE OF THE
GREAT SACRIFICE.

This work does not purport to contain new material; not even new perspec-
tives on old thoughts. It is merely a compilation of excerpts that connect the
ethical precepts of the jewels of Theosophy with their metaphysical roots in
the Collected Writings of HP Blavatsky, the Mahātma Letters to AP Sinnett,
and selected commentaries by ancient and modern thinkers. Its keynote
echoes Blavatsky’s aspirations as set out in the “Original Programme” Manu-
script:

1
Cf. “Compassion is no attribute. It is the LAW of Laws—eternal Harmony, Ālaya’s SELF; a shoreless
universal essence, the light of everlasting Right, and fitness of all things, the law of love eternal.”
Voice of the Silence, fragm. II vs. 300, pp. 69-70

12
 PREFACE

It is esoteric philosophy alone, the spiritual and psychic blending of

man with Nature that, by revealing fundamental truths, can bring
that much desired mediate state between the two extremes of hu-
man Egotism and divine Altruism and finally lead to the alleviation
1
of human suffering.

Its objectives are two-fold:

• To bring forth the innermost essence of Compassion / Sacrifice so that

their primacy and that of Altruism is appreciated—both in esoteric and
in practical, everyday, terms.

• To demonstrate that, like the sūtrātman of the Vedānta philosophy, true

philanthropy is the connecting thread between Mysticism, Occultism,
and the Heart of Being.

Even brief explanatory notes to the major sources of reference herein, their
authors and the historical settings of the Theosophical Movement would
have rendered this work unwieldy. Therefore, a degree of familiarity with
such background is assumed. Nevertheless, preliminary to the pivotal com-
pilation in Chapter 4, Chapters 1 – 3 were prepared for those who may not
be thoroughly acquainted with certain key philosophical terms. The first
Chapter is the most important because it deals with the esoteric basis of the
Ageless Wisdom. Readers should try to form a mental image of the three
eternal truths—no matter how patchy it may appear at first. For, without a
good grasp of their underlying verities and implications, one cannot begin to
perceive the TRUTH of Truths: that Divine Love is the Soul, Heart, and Pulse
of the Universe.

This work began in 1996 as study notes from the Heart Doctrine. It subse-
quently branched out in a series of integrative theosophical studies. In 2001,
the original line of enquiry was offered to fellow Theosophists and others as a
perpetual course of personal development. It has since been reworked in its
present format for the benefit of those who have to study single-handedly.

I find myself hopelessly indebted to Mrs Dara A Eklund for editing the book
with such great care and insight, as well as for her infinite patience and
kindness.

A further debt of gratitude is owed to Mrs Carol Shelbourne and Mr John

Barrow for their long-standing encouragement and support.

Thanks are most gratefully tendered to Dr Christopher J Tuplin for reading

first draft, to Messrs Richard I Robb, Nicholas C Weeks, J Ramón Sordo,
David C Beck, and Paul B Taylor for commenting upon subsequent drafts,
and to Mr Adam Khan for reading the final draft.

1
Blavatsky Collected Writings, (“ORIGINAL PROGRAMME” MANUSCRIPT) VII p. 146 fn.

13
 COMPASSION

I would be delighted to share with fellow travellers along the same journey
further perspectives of the boundless “Spirit of Love, Truth, and Wisdom in
1
the Universe . . . in which we live and move and have our Being.”

CA Bartzokas
[email protected]

1
Blavatsky Collected Writings, (ONE ETERNAL TRUTH) XIII p. 269. Cf. “For ‘In him we live, and move,
and have our being;’ as even some of your own poets have said, | ‘For we too are his offspring.’ ” |
Acts 17, 28; (Paul quoting Aratus’ Phainomena.)

14
 PREFACE

Compiler’s notes
Construction

Most excerpts are verbatim, but see notes under Typography below. In some
instances, the original text was selectively edited and abridged.

Side captions in bold are provided for all major compilations to act as subti-
tles, and to impart the salient points of the excerpts when read sequentially.
This is a key feature of the book. Compilations, for which no side captions
were deemed necessary, are differentiated from the Compiler’s text by a
wider left margin.

This book is first and foremost an anthology of excerpts from the world’s
greatest writings. The Compiler’s text is meant to introduce, interconnect,
and comment upon the ideas presented. As it does not detract from the
power and integrity of the primary sources, it may be skipped altogether.

Typography

With so many non-English terms and quotations, the convention of italicis-

ing foreign words was abandoned in the Compiler’s text. Italics are used only
to indicate emphases, antitheses, and titles of publications.

The North American usage of double quotation marks and punctuation was
adopted throughout: commas and periods are positioned inside quotation
marks; colons and semicolons outside. Since every single imported sentence
is (technically) a quotation, conventional marks were omitted from the main
compilations.

For Ancient Greek, Latin, and Western European quotations, the original
and a transliteration is often given in the footnotes. Although Thomas Taylor
and other classicists omitted accents from Greek characters, these have
been re-introduced in keeping with those applied to Sanskrit and Pali words.
Linguistic limitations precluded the display of Asian languages characters.

Romanised Sanskrit terms were corrected according to a modified Interna-

tional System for Transliteration, such as was used in the Blavatsky Collected
Writings Index, with the help of Mr David Reigle. The Library of Congress
Transliteration System was similarly adopted for the occasional Tibetan
terms used, also with the help of Mr Reigle and his wife Nancy.

The main body text was set in Bookman Old Style 10.5 points. Some San-
skrit and Tibetan terms were formatted in Times CSX (Classical Sanskrit eX-
tended) 11 points with the help of a Bhikkhu Mangalo.

15
 COMPASSION

References

Whilst many sources of reference in this anthology have been gathered from
the world’s earliest texts of the East, both occult and extant, their Western
echoes were limited to those published in English.

Authorities and annotations are indicated by bold superscripted numbers in

the text and at the foot of each page. Frequently quoted works have been
abridged, as indicated under References.

16
 PREFACE

Book structure

INTRODUCTORY THOUGHTS

CHAPTER 1 Preparatory compilations of the key

OUR MOST PRECIOUS GEMS metaphysical concepts: Parabrah-
man, Mūlaprakçiti, Logos, Fohat.

CHAPTER 2 Correlation of the Bhagavad Gītā’s

PREHISTORIC CATECHISM OF PRACTICAL metaphysical allusions with the
THEOSOPHY three fundamental propositions of
The Secret Doctrine.

CHAPTER 3 Preparatory compilation to Chapter

DEITY IS LAW AND VICE VERSA 4.

CHAPTER 4 The Gordian knot of the second

ONE LAW FOR ALL: THREE FUNCTIONS proposition of The Secret Doctrine
unravelled according to the Gīta and
its implications highlighted after HP
Blavatsky.

CHAPTER 5 Correlation of Nārada’s devotional

NĀRADA AND KRISHNA SPEAK WITH ONE sūtras with Kçishõa’s precepts to Ar-
VOICE juna.

CHAPTER 6 Preparatory compilation to Chapter

OUR WATCHERS AND GUARDIANS 7.

CHAPTER 7 Compilations on the source and na-

LISTEN TO THE “STILL SMALL VOICE” ture of the “still small voice,” fol-
lowed by a comparative analysis of
The Voice of the Silence and Light on
the Path.

CHAPTER 8 Compilations on faith, imagination,

TIPS FOR PILGRIMS and devotion as a means of over-
coming illusion, followed by eight
essays on personal development.

CHAPTER 9 Compilation on the fount of Com-

COMPASSION THROBS AT THE HEART OF passion / Sacrifice.
THE UNIVERSE

CONCLUDING THOUGHTS

17
Keywords glossary:
Christos, Desire, Duty, God, Love, Man
Christos and Chrishna are One and the same: Internal Light, not external
symbols.

Although both appellations are identical, the old spelling of the former with a
K has been maintained to differentiate its Sanskrit root from its Greek de-
rivative that subsequently prevailed in the West. HP Blavatsky has prepared
a valuable annotation on the etymology of these synonyms:

On the best authority, the derivation of the Greek Christos is

shown from the Sanskrit root ghçish, “rub”; thus: gharsh-ā-mi-to,
“to rub,” and ghçish-ña-s, “flayed, sore.” Moreover, Kçish, which
means in one sense to plough and make furrows, means also to
cause pain, “to torture, to torment,” and ghçish-ña-s, “rubbing”—all
these terms relating to Chrēstos and Christos conditions. One has
to die in Chrēstos, i.e., kill one’s personality and its passions, to
blot our every idea of separateness from one’s “Father,” the Divine
Spirit in man; to become one with the eternal and absolute Life and
Light (SAT) before one can reach the glorious state of Christos, the
1
regenerated man, the man in spiritual freedom.

Kāma-Desire and manas-mind are forever entangled.

A popular belief in the Christianised West is that the universe has been “cre-
ated” out of the blue! HP Blavatsky explains:

Creation is an incorrect word to use, as no religion, not even the

sect of the Viśishñ-ādvaitins in India—one which anthropomor-
phizes even Parabrahman—believes in creation out of nihil as
Christians and Jews do, but in evolution out of pre-existing mate-
2
rials.

Action should not be confused with aimless motion or merely doing some-
thing. Says Proclus:

. . . The word πράττειν, to act, is asserted of those only who energize

according to the dianoëtic power, but the word ποιείν, to do, is as-
serted of those who energize in a different manner from this. Ac-

1
Blavatsky Collected Writings, (THE ESOTERIC CHARACTER OF THE GOSPELS, II) VIII p. 201 fn.
2
Secret Doctrine, I p. 233 fn.

18
 KEYWORDS

tions therefore and makings have their proper boundaries, instru-

1
ments, and times;
2
Karma-action is motivated by Kāma-Erōs -Phanēs-Desire, the primeval force
that brings divine ideas into being by the power of Imagination. Éliphas Lévi
asserts that the latter is the instrument of adaptation of the world. Blavatsky
3
says that this is precisely how “Will-Power becomes a living power”; and how
the divine mind wills to create a World and its Saviours:

It was by Kriyāśakti, that mysterious and divine power latent in the

will of every man, and which if not called to life, quickened and de-
veloped by Yoga-training, remains dormant in 999,999 men out of
a million, and gets atrophied. This power is explained in the
“Twelve Signs of the Zodiac,” as follows:

“. . . Kriyāśakti—the mysterious power of thought which en-

ables it to produce external, perceptible, phenomenal results
by its own inherent energy. The ancients held that any idea
will manifest itself externally, if one’s attention [and Will] is
deeply concentrated upon it. Similarly, an intense volition will
be followed by the desired result. A Yogi generally performs his
wonders by means of Ichchhāśakti [Will-power] and Kri-
yāśakti.”

The Third Race had thus created the so-called SONS OF WILL AND
YOGA, or the “ancestors” (the spiritual forefathers) of all the subse-
quent and present Arhats, or Mahātmas, in a truly immaculate
way. They were indeed created, not begotten, as were their brethren
of the Fourth Race, who were generated sexually after the separa-
tion of sexes, the Fall of Man. For creation is but the result of will
acting on phenomenal matter, the calling forth out of it the pri-
mordial divine Light and eternal Life. They were the “holy seed-
4
grain” of the future Saviors of Humanity.
5
Kāma-Erōs-Desire is often referred to as Will or Power. In its outmost mani-
festation, this unquenchable thirst for self-conscious existence manifests as
the Force of Love: taõhā with the Buddhists, tçishõā with the Hindus. Often

1
Taylor T & Sydenham F (Transl. & Comm.). The Works of Plato: Extracts from the Ms. Scholia of Pro-
clus on the Cratylus. Vol. V (XIII of the Thomas Taylor series); Frome: The Prometheus Trust, 1996
(1st ed.); p. 549; Teubner text, ed. Pasquali 43
2
Herōs, anglicised as hero, is synonymous with Erōs, “with a trifling mutation for the sake of the
name.”—Plato: The Cratylus, 398d-e (transl. T Taylor).
3
Cf. Key to Theosophy, p. 68
4
Secret Doctrine, II p. 173; [quoting article by TS Row in: The Theosophist, III (November 1881) pp.
41-44.]
5
Vide Blavatsky Collected Writings, (WILL AND DESIRE) VIII p. 109

19
 COMPASSION

symbolised as an ever-burning fire in the bosom of Parabrahman, it is the

very centre and essence of being.

Socrates points out “that those who first established names were no despi-
cable persons, but men who investigated sublime concerns, and were em-
1
ployed in continual meditation and study.” He then explains to Hermogenes
the meaning of Oυσία (Essence), Eπιθυμία and Πόθος (Desire), Ερως (Love),
Ον (Being), and Αλήθεια (Truth):

As with respect to this which we call ουσία, essence, there are

some who call it εσσία, and others again ωσία. In the first place,
therefore, it is rational to call the essence of things Εστία, accord-
ing to one of these names, εσσία: and because we denominate that
which participates of essence Εστία essence, Vesta may, in conse-
quence of this, be properly called Εστία: for our ancestors were ac-
2
customed to call ουσία, essence, εσσία.

But neither is it difficult to discover the meaning of επιθυμία de-

sire: for it evinces a power proceeding to θυμός anger. But θυμός,
anger, derives its appellation from θύσεως and ζέσεως, raging and
ardour. And again, ίμερος, amatory desire, was so called from ρω,
or a flowing which vehemently attracts the soul; for because it flows
excited, and desiring the possession of things, it strongly allures the
soul through the incitement of its flowing. And hence, from the
whole of this power, it is called ίμερος. But πόθος, desire, was so
called, from signifying that it is not conversant with present amato-
rial desire, and its effluxive streams, like ίμερος, but with that
which is elsewhere situated, and is absent. But έρως, love, received
its appellation from implying that it flows inwardly from an exter-
nal source; and that this flowing is not the property of him by
whom it is possessed, but that it is adventitious through the eyes.
And hence love was called by our ancestors έσρος, from εσρείν, to
flow inwardly. But at present it is called έρως, through the inser-
3
tion of an ω instead of ο.

It appears then that this word όνομα, a name, was composed from
that discourse which asserts that όν, being, is that about which
name inquires. But this will be more evident to you, in that we call
ονομαστόν, or capable of being named; for in this it clearly appears
that name is an enquiry about being. With respect to αλήθεια, truth,
this name seems to have been mingled, as well as many others; for
this name appears to have received its composition from the divine

1
Plato: The Cratylus, 401b (transl. T Taylor)
2
Ibid. 401c
3
Ibid. 419e-420b

20
 KEYWORDS

lation of being, and therefore implies that it is θεία άλη, a divine

wandering. But ψεύδος, falsehood, signifies the contrary to lation.
For here again the institutor of names blames that which detains
and compels any thing to rest. This name, however, is assimilated
to those who are asleep; but the addition of the ψ conceals its
meaning. But όν, being, and ουσία essence, harmonize with truth,
by receiving the addition of an ι; for then they will signify ιόν, or
that which is in progression. And again, το ούκ ον, or non-being, is
1
by some denominated ούκ ιόν; that is, not proceeding.

Kāma-desire, karma-action, and manas-mind are ontologically distinct con-

cepts. Their interplay, however, culminates in complex emotions and feel-
ings. In the section of Chapter 8 entitled Act in person, but impersonally,
Emotions will be traced to their underlying determinants for, without profi-
ciency in the Science of Emotions, few can overcome their lower propensities.

Man’s dharma or Duty is to know Itself and then, by sacrificing personal

consciousness or being, to also experience true life or perfect consciousness,
which is non-being.

Dharma, a Sanskrit word often employed in the Bhagavad Gītā, is habitually

translated as duty and, occasionally, as truth. HP Blavatsky points out that
“ ‘Duty’ is an incorrect and unhappy expression”:

“Property” would be the better word. “Duty” is that which a person

is bound by any natural, moral, or legal obligation to do or refrain
from doing and cannot be applied but to intelligent and reasoning
2
beings. Fire will burn and cannot “refrain” from doing so.

[“. . . the highest, the best, the most beneficial . . . and omni-
present Religion or dharma of a rational being . . . is not only
to know, but also to experience . . . personally, i.e., to feel this .
. . unconscious immateriality or Paramātma—the Infinity and
Eternity of Existence and Happiness. . . . This state of uncon-
scious immateriality . . . is the true or eternal state of every be-
ing, for saving it there can be found no other true existence;
therefore, every rational being’s dharma or natural duty and
Religion is first to acquire the dhyāna (knowledge) or vidyā of
its real Self, the Paramātma, and then by the annihilation of its
ātma, or worldly self or soul to experience the infinity of Hap-
3
piness prevalent in its unconscious Immateriality.”]

1
Plato: The Cratylus, 421a-c (transl. T Taylor)
2
[The selection below is from an article by Vishõu Bāwā, of which Blavatsky referred to as teachings
of “the highest stage of Philosophical ultra-Spiritual Pantheism and Buddhism.”—Comp.]
Cf. Blavatsky Collected Writings, III (FOOTNOTES TO “TRUE RELIGION DEFINED”) p. 141
3
Ibid. pp. 141-42; [quoting Vishõu Bāwā.]

21
 COMPASSION

These connotations of Dharma are a prime example of how hopeless a task it

is of translating spiritual words into modern languages. No attempt has been
made in this work to substitute Dharma’s common rendering as duty with a
better word. Nonetheless, readers ought to keep in mind the exegesis above
whenever they come across the word duty, particularly in WQ Judge’s edi-
tion of the Gītā.

God is an Eternal Principle unfolding from within without and reflecting

upon Itself through ever-higher realms of objective existence.

Judge, in his recension of the Bhagavad Gītā, AK Taimni in his interpreta-

tion of Nārada’s Bhakti-Sūtras and many other authors, including HP
Blavatsky, have followed the convention of referring to the Eternal Principle
within us simply as “God.” This is probably because amongst Anglo-Saxons
God is the pre-eminent word for a Supreme Being. Nonetheless, in the mono-
theism of the West, God conjures up images of an anthropomorphic being,
“that makes two thirds of humanity the slaves of a handful of those who de-
1
ceive them under the false pretence of saving them,” as Master Koot Hoomi
observes. High initiates and adepts “believe in “gods” and know no “God,”
2
but one Universal, unrelated, and unconditioned Deity.” Blavatsky defines
God as follows:

Our Deity is the eternal, incessantly evolving, not creating, builder

of the universe; that universe itself unfolding out of its own es-
sence, not being made. It is a sphere, without circumference, in its
symbolism, which has but one ever-acting attribute embracing all
other existing or thinkable attributes—ITSELF. It is the one law,
giving the impulse to manifested, eternal, and immutable laws,
within that never-manifesting, because absolute LAW, which in its
3
manifesting periods is The Ever-Becoming.

When the Theosophists and Occultists say that God is no BEING,

for IT is nothing, No-Thing, they are more reverential and religiously
respectful to the Deity than those who call God a HE, and thus
4
make of Him a gigantic MALE.

Nārada refers to Deity simply as this rather than as Ātman, Brahman, or

other “divine” names. Prabhavānanda suggests that “use of the pronoun
‘this’ in contrast to ‘that’ suggests that the Ultimate Reality, no matter by
what name It may be called, is nearer than the nearest. It is the innermost
Self of our being; and is to be found within the sanctuary of our inner heart

1
Cf. Mahātma Letter 10 (88), p. 58; 3rd Combined ed.
2
Cf. Secret Doctrine, I p. 295 fn.
3
Key to Theosophy, p. 65
4
Secret Doctrine, I p. 352

22
 KEYWORDS

1
and in the heart of all beings.” No “salaried priest” or other go-between is
needed as Plutarch tersely remarks in a typically laconic dialogue:

Spartan. — Is it to thee, or to God, that I must confess?

Priest. — To God.
2
Spartan. — Then, man, stand back!

Here is how Diogenes Laertius refers to Stoic theology:

They [the Stoics] say that god is an animal which is immortal and
rational or intelligent, perfect in happiness, not admitting of any
evil, provident towards the world and its occupants, but not an-
thropomorphic. He is the creator of the whole and, as it were, the
father of all, both generally and, in particular, that part of him
which pervades all things, which is called by many descriptions ac-
cording to his powers. For they call him Zeus [Dia] as the cause [di’
hon] of all things; Zēn in so far as he is responsible for, or per-
vades, life [zēn]; Athena because his commanding-faculty stretches
3
into the ether; Hera because it stretches into the air; . . . (etc.)

And how the ne plus ultra of Stoicism conveys the perceptual experience of
“a fifth class” of thinkers:

Concerning the gods there are some who say that the Divine does
not exist, others that it exists but is inactive and indifferent and
takes no thought for anything, others again that God does exist
and takes thought but only for great things and things in the heav-
ens, but for nothing on earth; and a fourth class say that God
takes thought also for earthly and human things, but only in a
general way, and has no care for individuals: and there is a fifth
class, to whom belong Odysseus and Socrates, who say

where’er I move
4
Thou seest me.

Since arbitrarily replacing the term god in this compilation with Ever Becom-
5
ing, “Eternal Principle,” for example, or simply This, might have caused more
confusion, God has been left alone, except in this section.

1
Cf. Prabhavānanda S. Nārada’s Way of Divine Love: Nārada Bhakti-Sūtras. (1st Indian ed. 1972)
Madras: Śri Ramakçishõa Math, 1986; p. 12
2
Isis Unveiled, II p. 212; [quoting Plutarch: Laconic Apophthegms.]
3
The Hellenistic Philosophers, p. 323
4
Matheson PE (Transl.). Epictetus: Discourses Books 1 and 2. (reprint of 1st ed. 1916 by The Claren-
don Press, Oxford); New York: Dover Publications, 2004; I, 12, p. 27
5
Cf. Blavatsky Collected Writings, (FOOTNOTES TO “GLEANINGS FROM ĖLIPHAS LÉVI”) IV p. 291

23
 COMPASSION

Other aspects, epithets, and synonyms of god in esoteric works and exoteric
sciences, philosophy, and religions are shown in Appendix F, p. 312.

Divine Compassion is the Love of God for self-conscious reflection.

In its long descent from ancient times down to modern English, Love, as a
word and as a feeling, has become too carnalised to allow an appreciation of
its immaculate meaning. What makes the world go around is Kāma-Erōs-
Phanēs-Cupid, a deep longing (Pōthos) for sentient existence—the motivator
proper for all action, whether ethical or not. It is the divine agāpe-love for
Man and Nature. Dionysius the Areopagite explains that agāpe (αγάπη) is
God’s “unshakeable” longing for self-conscious reflection:

When, using unlike images, we speak of desire in connection with

Intellectual Beings we must understand by this a divine love of the
Immaterial, above reason and mind, and an enduring and unshak-
able superessential longing for pure and passionless contempla-
tion, and true, sempiternal, intelligible participation in the most
sublime and purest Light, and in the eternal and most perfect
1
Beauty.

Unlike Erōs and Love, Compassion has not been sullied by modern vocabu-
laries and, therefore, it has been chosen instead of Divine Love in the title.
Blavatsky defines Compassion as “an abstract, impersonal law whose na-
ture, being absolute Harmony, is thrown into confusion by discord, suffering
2
and sin.”

Man and humanity are One and the same. Men are shadows of the real Man.
Man in singular and with a capital M to describe (a) the whole human race,
(b) the human species or mankind, and (c) the male of our species, is pecu-
liar to the English language. Raymond Williams explains:

It was simpler when Man was a generalisation distinguished from

God, as in “man purposith and god disposith” (1450); the one sin-
gular depended on the other, and the creation and control of Man
3
(Man-kind) by God was assumed.
4
In Greek, for example, although anthrōpos (άνθρωπος) or abstract male cor-
1 2
responds to Man and anthrōpotes or humanity at large, there is anēr

1
Dionysius the Areopagite: Mystical Theology, p. 26
2
Voice of the Silence, fragm. III note 31 (to vs. 301, p. 70)
3
Williams R. Keywords: a vocabulary of culture and society. (2nd ed.) London: Fontana Press, 1988
4
In Cratylus (399c), Socrates explains to Hermogenes that man, anthrōpos (άνθρωπος) is a contrac-
tion of a three-word sentence (αναθρών α όπωπε), namely “contemplating what he beholds.” Com-
menting on the etymology of the ansated cross, Blavatsky quotes Professor Seyffarth saying, “the
Tanis stone translates it repeatedly by anthrōpos (man), and this very word is alphabetically written
(Egyptian) ank.” Blavatsky Collected Writings, (CLASSIFICATION OF “PRINCIPLES”) VII p. 297

24
 KEYWORDS

(ανήρ) for the male, and gynē (γυνή) for the female gender. Here is how Soc-
rates backtracks their etymology:

. . . Το άρρεν, that is, the male nature, and ανήρ man, are derived
from a similar origin, that is, from άνω ροή, or a flowing upwards.
But the name woman appears to me to imply begetting; and the
name for the female nature seems to be so called from the pap or
breast. But the pap or breast, O Hermogenes! seems to derive its
appellation from causing to germinate and shoot forth, like things
3
which are irrigated.

Since the general stampede towards political correctness of the 1970’s, there
has been a tendency to replace man in man-kind with human; Man, with
4
men and women; and He, with he and she. As users of recycled paper set
themselves apart from other users of pulped wood, so those who attempt to
humanise by prefixing hu to Man believe that lips alone can correct inequity
and prejudice. Moreover, referring to men and women as male and female, as
if the former pair did not include the meanings of the latter, accentuates dif-
ferences of appearance and stirs up lower propensities. Downgrading think-
ing people to a gender is as degrading as speciating humanity to human-
kind. Such attitudes encourage Speciesism, “the assumption that man is
superior to all other species of animals and that he is therefore justified in
5
exploiting them to his own advantage.” They also offer spurious justification
for animal Man to abuse his own kin. Although the sexual connotations and
implications of Man in contemporary English do not arise in the higher
metaphysics of this compilation, two distinctions were applied throughout
the Compiler’s essays and notes:
6
1 As man comes from the Sanskrit verbal root man, to think, Man has
been retained in capitalised singular to denote “thinking humanity.” And
because both man- and human-kind refer to Man’s animal nature, their
use has been abandoned. Instead, when the intention is to emphasise
the propensities of our species, the epithets used by HP Blavatsky, where
Man is qualified as animal, earthly, material, mortal, terrestrial or
worldly (as opposed to hu-man, heavenly, spiritual, immortal, celestial or
divine) have been adopted.
2 Human beings, people, individuals, or “those” are used instead of men.

1
Άνθρωπότης has not been adopted into English.
2
Cf. Sanskrit nar, Welsh ner.
3
Plato: The Cratylus, 414a (transl. T Taylor)
4
Old English used wer and wif to distinguish the sexes, but wer began to disappear late 13th cen-
tury and was replaced by man. (Cf. http://www.etymonline.com)
5
Cf. Chambers [British English] Dictionary
6
Cf. Sanskrit words manas and manu.

25
Abbreviations and explanations

Annot. Annotator
Anon. Anonymous
BDZ Boris de Zirkoff
bk. Book
ch. Chapter
Cf. Compare
com. Comment
Com. Commentator
Comp. Compiler
Ed. (s) Editor (s)
ed. Edition
... Ellipse
fn. Footnote
fo. Foreword
fragm. Fragment (specifically for The Voice of the Silence)
glos. Glossary (mainly for The Voice of the Silence)
i.e. Id est, that is
Ibid. Ibidem, in the same place
introd. Introduction
no. Number
op. cit. Opere citato, in the work cited
p. Page
pp. Pages
¶ Paragraph
pref. Preface
publ. Published
qu. Quoted
rl. Rule (specifically for Light on the Path)
Transc. Transcriber
Transl. Translator / translation
Vide See
Vide supra /infra See above / below
Vol. (s) Volume (s)
vs. Verse (specifically for the Bhagavad Gītā and The
Voice of the Silence)

26
 INTRODUCTORY THOUGHTS

Re-gaining spiritual knowledge

Ever since the distinction between experiment and experience in the 18th cen-
tury, and their division into practical (objective) and inner (subjective)
knowledge (experience) respectively, the onset of a mass migration towards
the former can be traced. Notions about science, method, and truth—what
has been retrospectively termed the scientific revolution—hardened to the
organisation, materials and methods of the Natural Sciences, primarily Phys-
1
ics, Chemistry and Biology. In the ensuing exploration of matter, its expo-
nents became so absorbed in analysing myriads of facts and figures, that
their pre-eminent aim—to find truth, that changeless and undisputed real-
ity—was largely forgotten. Truth has always remained a non-negotiable and
ever-shifting secret. Robert Frost was sententiously brief when he shared the
frustration of many thinkers:

We dance round in a ring and suppose,

2
But the secret sits in the middle and knows.

The prevailing belief, that the modern and the objective are far more reliable
sources of knowledge than their long forgotten archetypal fountains, under-
mines the value of our spiritual inheritance. It also heightens the conflict be-
tween our perception as spectators of our little world and the unspeakable
suffering of the real world. Could it be that the magnificent body of higher
knowledge, which has been painstakingly assembled and verified by a pro-
cession of sages since time immemorial, is itself the key to Frost’s secret?
And that such Ageless Wisdom cannot be disregarded as old myths and un-
authenticated beliefs of primitive societies—without obscuring further the
perception of its critics? BP Wadia explains the central inadequacy of the
materialistic and mechanistic approach to learning:

Modern knowledge is not in a position to define, describe or ex-

pound the nature of that Law which is at once the Deity and the
Universe—for the two are one. It is not in a position to do so be-
cause it deals mainly with one of the aspects, the material uni-

1
Cf. Williams R. Keywords: a vocabulary of culture and society. (2nd ed.) London: Fontana Press,
1988
2
Frost R: The Secret Sits [a distich] in: The Poetry of Robert Frost (EC Lathem, Ed.). London: Jona-
than Cape, 1971; p. 362

27
 INTRODUCTORY THOUGHTS

verse, and is therefore contacting the effect side of the Law. When
it emphasizes the research of Living Forms and Conscious Intelli-
gences instead of forms of life and modes of motion it will touch the
causal aspect of the Law which is Deity, universal, impersonal,
ever-Becoming, rooted in Be-ness and the basis and playground for
1
the birth and death of all Beings—atoms or gods or intelligences.
2
“There is nothing new under the Sun,” “there is nothing new except what is
3
forgotten.” Whatever we can possibly need, or ever wanted, is within us. Re-
ferring to Shakespeare, Dryden noted that:

He was naturally learned; he needed not the spectacles of books to

4
read nature; he looked inwards, and found her there.

Plato implies that intelligence (νόησις) is the soul’s perpetual desire for new
experience. Noesis comes from:

. . . Tου νέου έσις, or the desire of that which is new: but that
things are new, signifies that they perpetually subsist in becoming
to be. Hence, that the soul desires things of this kind, is indicated
by him who established this name νεόησις: for it was not as first
called νόησις, but two ε ε ought to be substituted instead of η, so
5
as to produce νεόεσις.

The intractable difficulty in gaining real knowledge can be traced in the di-
rection followed by our ever-shifting fields of consciousness. We are condi-
tioned to enquire outwardly, except during periods of deliberate introspec-
tion. In such modes of consciousness, however, we are prone to mistake
sensations for reality, foes for friends. Few can evaluate such a torrential
flow of sensory information impartially and make sense of it. In order to
highlight the importance of inwardly directed awareness, Kañha Upanishad
admonishes the Supreme Lord for having “inflicted an injury upon the
6
sense-organs in creating them with outgoing tendencies.” Unlike Shake-
speare, most of us continue to rely on second-hand knowledge until such a
time as our faculties are sufficiently developed to allow access to our inner
fountain of knowledge and potencies. Only then, we will realise that all we
ever sought has always been within us.

1
Studies in the SD, bk. I (2nd series) vi, p. 91
2
Ecclésiastes, 1, 9
3
(Il n’y a de nouveau que ce qui est oublié. Attributed to Mlle Bertin, Milliner to Marie-Antoinette.)—
King’s Quotations
4
John Dryden: Essay of Dramatic Poesy. (Bloomsbury Treasury of Quotations, 1994)
5
Plato: The Cratylus, 411d-e (transl. T Taylor)
6
Cf. Kañha Upanishad, II, i, 1

28
 RE-GAINING SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE

What is it then that misguides us so convincingly as to make some think

that insights, for example, because they are subjective they must be mean-
ingless and irrelevant? It is an outwardly misplaced centre of being, an I-
ness set apart from the One-ness, which has gradually encouraged the as-
sumption of an identity that is different from, and thus elevated above, eve-
ryone else. Such distinctions exist only in the mind of the beholder giving
1
rise to the “great dire heresy of separateness.” This I-ness or egocentricity is
a mistaken identity and, in itself, the proximal cause of the sum total of dis-
cord and misery in the world. Small wonder that in their self-imposed exclu-
sion from the solidarity of the One Life there are many who feel cut-off and
lonely. From the universal standpoint, they have lost their bearings.

We all search and research, but only those who look inwardly can hope to
find lasting peace and happiness. Here lies the etymon of occultism and its
unsuspected effectiveness in spiritual development. Even selfishness is but
love misdirected. Said of Pompey in Cicero:

Good heavens! Was there ever anything so foolish as a man to be

2
in love with himself without a rival to dispute his claims?

Māyā, or the power of self-ideation, is what tricks us to think we are apart

from rest of the world. It makes us believe that we are truly individuals, ca-
pable of independent existence. That is why the term māyā is generally in-
terpreted as illusion. But without its make-believe power, no sentient, objec-
tive existence is possible either. It seems that during unimaginably long pe-
riods of self-conscious reflection, the reflection itself overgrew unchecked,
eclipsed our “Father in Heaven,” and started playing god on Earth, ruler of
its own little world of shadows. This is the origin of selfishness, “that feeling
which seeks after the aggrandisement of one’s own egotistic personality to
3
the exclusion of others.” It is selfishness and the itch for power that cuts us
off from our fellow human beings around us and from the Self within. Such
are the bitter fruits of “independence.” Strictly speaking, no form of life, nei-
ther the lowest nor the highest, is capable of independent existence. A world
can only exist when all its parts co-operate with each other in perfect har-
mony, where perpetual sacrifice of its parts sustains the whole, and where
the higher by uplifting the lower sanctions the communion of Love. Belief in
independent existence is a reliable sign of delusion.

This world is all a fleeting show,

For man’s illusion given;
The smiles of joy, the tears of woe,

1
Voice of the Silence, fragm. I vs. 37, p. 9
2
Marcus Tullius Cicero: Epistolæ ad Q. Fratrem, 3, 84; (O dii quam ineptus! quam se ipse amans
sine rivali!)—King’s Quotations
3
Cf. Blavatsky Collected Writings, (CAN THE MAHĀTMAS BE SELFISH?) VI p. 264

29
 INTRODUCTORY THOUGHTS

Deceitful shine, deceitful flow,—

1
There’s nothing true but Heaven.

Mighty Man, therefore, is nothing greater than mere self-ideating bundles of

pseudo-infinite duration. Kçishõa-Christos, who lives in the heart of every-
man, explains this mystery to Arjuna:

Even though myself unborn, of changeless essence, and the lord of

all existence, yet in presiding over nature—which is mine—I am
born but through my own māyā, the mystic power of self-ideation,
2
the eternal thought in the eternal mind.

A distinct feature of the One Consciousness ever-propelling aspects of Itself

into objective existence, as a means of It exploring higher and higher states
of possible perception, is to endow Animal Man with self-conscious mind. HP
Blavatsky recounts:

The breath of heaven, or rather the breath of life, called in the Bible
Nephesh, is in every animal, in every animate speck as in every
mineral atom. But none of these has, like man, the consciousness
of the nature of that highest Being, as none has that divine har-
mony in its form which man possesses. It is, as Novalis said, and
no one since has said it better, as repeated by Carlyle:

“There is but one temple in the universe, and that is the Body
of Man. Nothing is holier than that high form . . . We touch
Heaven when we lay our hand on a human body!” . . . This
sounds like a mere flourish of rhetoric [adds Carlyle], but it is
not so. If well meditated, it will turn out to be a scientific fact;
the expression . . . of the actual truth of the thing. We are the
3
miracle of miracles—the great inscrutable Mystery of God.”

During unimaginably long periods of self-ideation, or self-reflection if you

prefer, it seems that we have somehow lost touch with our true centre of be-
ing, the One Life, and replaced It with I, Master with Man, Absolute Truth
(Paramārtha-satya) with relative truth (Saüvçiti-satya).

“Paramārthasatya” is self-consciousness in Sanskrit, Svasaüve-

danā, or the “self-analysing reflection”—from two words, parama
(above everything) and artha (comprehension), satya meaning ab-
solute true being, or esse. In Tibetan, Paramārthasatya is Don-
dampai-denpa. The opposite of this absolute reality, or actuality, is

1
Thomas Moore: This World is all a Fleeting Show
2
Bhagavad Gītā, 4 vs. 6
3
Secret Doctrine, I p. 212; [qu. in: Carlyle’s On Heroes, Hero-Worship and the Heroic in History
(1874), p. 9.]

30
 RE-GAINING SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE

Saüvçiti satya—the relative truth only—“Saüvçiti” meaning “false

conception” and being the origin of illusion, Māyā; in Tibetan
1
Kundzobchi-denpa, “illusion-creating appearance.”

In our highest state, we are a company of highly individualised rays of cos-

mic mind (ātman), emanated from exalted noetic intelligence (paramātman).
In other words, we are nothing more than a society of pseudo-universal non-
selves role-playing within the One Life. The multitude is thinly attracted to
such metaphysical considerations believing them to be too abstruse, too
“esoteric.” And because the outwards pull of māyā is so powerful, so daz-
zling, and so absorbing, there is neither the inclination nor the incentive to
forego its glamour in favour of some inner state of being, whose existence is
not even suspected. Such are the untoward effects of māyā. Its power con-
verts the cosmic dream to make-believe realities so persuasively as to make
us doubt the former and accept the latter as the only truth; and to act ra-
tionally, albeit foolishly. Under its deluding influence, selfishness ignores the
indwelling divine principle, which is at the heart of our being, and substi-
tutes its sovereign with a cruel ruler, a playground of his own senses. This
ruler is the personal mind or personality. Many, if not all, of the nightmares
and drudgery of life come from the whims of this deceptive master—not from
other lower natures, who are our companions in the same journey, but
whom we invariably hold responsible for our pains as well as our pleasures.

Fascinated by the endless novelties and the seductive glamour of sentient

existence, Man surveys his universe—ever adding “the endowments of the
2
mind to the charms of [his] person.” “His mind is captivated by the charm of
3
novelty.” Overfed by the sweet delicacies of personal life, he accumulates
4
gravitas. Kipling says that he is gathering “too much ego in his cosmos.” His
5
“little personality constitutes the whole universe,” says Blavatsky.

1
Secret Doctrine, I p. 48 fn.
2
Cf. Ovid: Ars Amatoria, 2, 112; (Ingenii dotes corporis adde bonis.)—King’s Quotations
3
Cf. Ovid: Metamorphoses, 4, 284. (Dulcique animos novitate tenebo.)—King’s Quotations
4
Cf. Rudyard Kipling: Life’s Handicap, Bertran and Bimi
5
Cf. Blavatsky Collected Writings, (THE BEACON OF THE UNKNOWN, II) XI p. 252

31
The inner wisdom of love
Irrigated by compassion and charity immortal, there is a stupendous body of
Knowledge that explains the interplay of Being, of Non-being, and of Becom-
ing. Philosophically, this Knowledge has been variously referred to as Ar-
chaic Wisdom-Religion, Atma-Vidya, Eclectic Philosophy, Esoteric Knowl-
1
edge, Philaletheia, Secret or Heart Doctrine, Theosophia. Existentially, It
unravels the mystery of consciousness and helps sincere enquirers to learn
the Science of Life and practice the Art of Living. Mystically speaking, how-
ever, only those of exceptional moral purity “may approach nearer to It, and
2
receive, in that state, true knowledge and wonderful insight.” That Inner
Knowledge or Divine Wisdom is the quintessence of our spiritual inheritance.

These are not mere words: they are Truths. They sustain Heaven and Earth.
Their veracity has been corroborated by the experience of an unbroken line
of thinkers and mystics, who are promulgating them from generation to gen-
eration: orally and through certain texts that because of the reverence in
which they are held, as well as their antiquity, they are referred to as sacred:
they uplift the mind and enlighten the heart.

It is to guide humanity through the deepening darkness and delusion of our

age that in 1875 a group of GREAT SOULS launched the modern Theosophical
Movement “to show that Nature is not a ‘fortuitous concurrence of atoms,’
3
and to assign to man his rightful place in the scheme of the Universe.” HP
Blavatsky, its chief exponent and author, has assembled in The Secret Doc-
trine the oldest tenets of Asiatic and early European religions, as well as the
major streams of philosophy, into a meaningful whole. “Its teachings ante-
4
date the Vedas.” It has been written by higher minds for the benefit of lower
minds.

Blavatsky’s own intellectual power and philosophical finesse are unparal-

leled. She follows “precisely that method of investigation which is termed by
Spinoza ‘the scientific method.’ It starts from, and proceeds only on ‘princi-
ples clearly defined and accurately known’, and is therefore ‘the only one’
5
which can lead to true knowledge.” In the Theory of Scientific Method,
Spinoza explains how one can grasp clear and distinct ideas:

So long as we are dealing with the Investigation of things, we must

never infer anything from abstractions, and we shall take very
great care not to mix up the things that are only in the intellect

1
The Greek word Theosophia has been anglicised as Theosophy.
2
Blavatsky Collected Writings (WHAT IS THEOSOPHY?), II p. 93; [quoting Porphyry.]
3
Cf. Secret Doctrine, I p. viii
4
Cf. ibid. I p. xxxvii
5
Cf. Blavatsky Collected Writings, (FOOTNOTES TO “THE SWAMI OF ALMORA”) IV p. 569

32
 THE INNER WISDOM OF LOVE

with those that are real. But the best conclusion will have to be
drawn from some particular affirmative essence, or, from a true
and legitimate definition. For from universal axioms alone the intel-
lect cannot descend to singulars, since axioms extend to infinity,
and do not determine the intellect to the contemplation of one sin-
1
gular thing rather than another.

Pre-eminent in the firmament of Eternal Ideals and Truths, which have been
brought into the open for the first time, there are three universal concep-
2
tions, three guiding stars to light humanity’s or the “great Orphan’s” home-
ward journey. They underpin all other doctrines. Their essence and implica-
tions may be summarised as follows:

Cosmogenesis (First Proposition). The Universe is underpinned by an Omni-

present Reality, One and Secondless, Attributeless, Eternal, Impersonal, Per-
fect Consciousness. Though Parentless Itself, It is the Universal Parent of All.
It is the Parabrahman of the Vedantists, That of the Chhandogya Upanishad,
The Absolute of Hegel, The Good of the Platonists, The One Life of the Bud-
dhists. That Reality contains within Itself (a) the root of all individualised
consciousness, and (b) the substratum of matter, different aspects of which
3
It, the Infinite, exhibits periodically “to the perception of finite Minds”
through:

• Unconscious universal mind (first Logos), still within the bosom of

Parabrahman, giving birth to
• Conscious universal mind (second Logos) or manifested universe and, fi-
nally,
• Self-conscious personal mind, humanity or Man (third Logos)—a Son of
Necessity.

On the plane of manifestation, spirit and matter or duality, par excellence,

are the two prime aspects of the One Reality. They are inseparable and in-
terdependent. They are modifications of the One consciousness, the One and
only capacity of Perception eternally reflecting upon Itself.

Law governs Universe and Man (Second Proposition). Impulses from an un-
quenchable Desire for self-analysing reflection give rise to an eternal proces-
sion from Darkness to Light, bringing continuously aspects of Conscious-
ness into being through countless worlds and planets, cycles and epicycles,
and reabsorbing them before another period of manifestation.

1
Curley E. A Spinoza Reader: The Ethics and Other Works. Princeton: Princeton University Press,
1994; pp. 51-52
2
Cf. Mahātma Letter 8 (15), p. 32; 3rd Combined ed.
3
Secret Doctrine, II p. 487

33
 INTRODUCTORY THOUGHTS

The appearance and disappearance of the Universe are pictured as

outbreathing and inbreathing of the ‘Great Breath,’ which is eter-
nal, and which, being Motion, is one of the three aspects of the Ab-
1
solute—Abstract Space and Duration being the other two.

The Law of Periodicity is indissolubly linked with Necessity. Together with

Compassion, it is the highest Deity that finite minds can possibly imagine.
Thus, Deity is LAW and vice versa. And the ever-pulsating Great Heart that in
contracting forgets and in expanding remembers the Truth of truths, pro-
duces the Eternity of the Pilgrim or Man.

Man is that noble endogenous plant which grows, like the palm,
2
from within without.

Amnesia and memory of the evolving One Reality alternate within us cycli-
cally, as day and night, as consciousness and unconsciousness. In fact, eve-
rything is going around in circles: like the flow of blood which, when the
spiritual heart contracts, is thrust away from be-ness; and when it expands,
it brings the essence of being back to its source.

Anthropogenesis (Third Proposition). Once more, from the Circle of Infinity or

Zero arises the Circle of Necessity or relative Finiteness. It marks the dawn
of another Manvantara, or Nature’s recurring march through the deepest re-
cesses of Objectivity onwards and upwards to ever-higher realms of Subjec-
tivity. By successive incarnations, and through the toils and drudgery of life,
we spiral towards our divine counterpart. Inividually, we are all companions
along a journey of discovering Self through self. Collectively, we are One
Thinking Man, a Son of Necessity.

Starting upon the long journey immaculate; descending more and

more into sinful matter, and having connected himself with every
atom in manifested Space—the Pilgrim, having struggled through
and suffered in every form of life and being, is only at the bottom of
the valley of matter, and half through his cycle, when he has iden-
tified himself with collective Humanity. This, he has made in his
3
own image . . . and acquired individuality, first by natural im-
pulse, and then by self-induced and self-devised efforts (checked
4
by its Karma).

This periodic apostasy of consciousness, from the eternal harmony of un-

conscious subjectivity down to the discord of conscious objectivity, endows
every part with the intelligence of the whole. Eventually, those who under-

1
Cf. Secret Doctrine, I p. 43
2
Cf. Emerson: Uses of Great Men, ¶ 6; (p. 716.)
3
Cf. Secret Doctrine, I p. 268
4
Cf. ibid. I p. 17

34
 THE INNER WISDOM OF LOVE

stood the intrinsic unity of Life will begin to renounce their worldly selves in
favour of All Selves by acting altruistically for the whole, of which they are
but an infinitesimal part. Only then, will they begin to identify once again
with the “Over Soul” of Love, Truth, and Wisdom, bringing back the nectar of
individual experience to the Great Heart. This onwards and upwards march
1 2
“from mineral and plant, up to the holiest archangel” is our Natural Duty,
Religion and Destiny. Esoterically, Man is a manifestation of the World’s
Soul here on Earth. Exoterically, Man is humanity at large, the “Love of
3
Gods.”

In other words, we are dual aspects of One Reality. Our consciousness is an

individualised modification of One Consciousness, alternating periodically
between wakefulness and dreamless sleep, forgetfulness and remembrance,
life and death. A conscious recognition of our core identity with the Soul of
the World energises the quest for self-realisation by our own inward exer-
tions and by good thoughts and deeds towards all, untainted by personal in-
terests. For, we are our brothers’ keepers. This is what is meant by living
Theosophy. A true Theosophist “is one who makes Theosophy a living power
4
in his life.”

The awe-inspiring cosmic ultimates of The Secret Doctrine are reliable refer-
5
ence points to Blavatsky’s “archaic Wisdom-Religion” or Perennial Wisdom,
guiding generations of aspirants in their quest for “mutual-culture before self-
6
culture to begin with” and, ultimately, self-realisation or self-actualisation.
Concepts such as Franz Hartmann’s “shinning centre” or William Quan
Judge’s “presiding spirit” can disperse the fog of materialism if pondered
7
upon with “. . . an open mind, a pure heart, an eager intellect. . . ”

Without a spiritual recognition of the fundamental principles of Na-

ture, a seeking from a superficial point of view for a discovery of
the mysteries of being is like an unfruitful wandering in a fog. It re-
sembles a search from the periphery of a sphere of unknown extent
for a centre whose locality is unknown; while if we have once a cor-
rect conception of the situation of that shinning centre, its light
will act as a guiding star in our wanderings through the fogs which
8
pervade the realm of phenomena.

1
Secret Doctrine, I p. 17
2
Vide supra Keywords for dharma-duty defining notes.
3
Oxyrhynchus Papyrus, 1380.109 (ii AD)
4
Cf. Blavatsky Collected Writings, (“GOING TO AND FROM IN THE EARTH”) XII p. 28
5
Ibid. (WHAT IS THEOSOPHY?) II p. 89
6
Cf. ibid. (“ORIGINAL PROGRAMME” MANUSCRIPT) VII p. 160
7
Ibid. (E. S. INSTRUCTION NO. III) XII p. 591
8
Occult Medicine, p. 88

35
 INTRODUCTORY THOUGHTS

. . . the substratum, or support, for the whole Cosmos, is the pre-

siding spirit, and all the various changes in life, whether of a mate-
rial nature or solely in mental states, are cognizable because the
presiding spirit within is not modifiable. Were it otherwise, then we
would have no memory, for with each passing event, we, becoming
merged in it, could not remember anything, that is, we would see
no changes. There must therefore be something eternally persist-
ing, which is the witness and perceiver of every passing change, it-
self unchangeable. All objects, and all states of what western phi-
losophers call Mind, are modifications, for in order to be seen or
known by us, there must be some change, either partial or total,
from a precedent state. The perceiver of these changes is the inner
1
man—Arjuna-Kçishõa.

When the two aspects of Universal LAW implicit in the second proposition,
the law of ethical causation (karma-action) and the law of activity ever alter-
nating with rest (yugas-cycles) are assimilated, personal responsibility is re-
stored and hope dawns for the weary pilgrim. When the sober condition of
the third proposition is enacted, self-reliance, a prerequisite for self-
redemption, strengthens. By the intuition of the higher mind, we can begin
to understand the sublime verity of the “One Life for All” and to act accord-
ingly and without hesitation. Then, action becomes altruism as much as “in-
2
action in a deed of mercy becomes an action in a deadly sin.” Living The-
osophy may one day afford a mystical perception of the interior world, awak-
ening the Great Self within, the “Heavenly Man,” so that we will all begin to
live for each other, forgetting ourselves in the midst of the many selves, who
are formerly and forever our brothers and sisters. The sheer power and far
reaching significance of these deceptively simple ideas cannot be fully
grasped without intelligent enquiry, unyielding perseverance, effortful study,
and thoughtful conduct.

Charles Kingsley makes Hypatia, the Alexandrian expounder of Plato and

Plotinus, explain the World’s Greater Mysteries:

From It and for It the universal Soul thrills through the whole
Creation, doing the behests of that Reason from which it over-
flowed, unwillingly, into the storm and crowd of material appear-
ances; warring with the brute forces of gross matter, crushing all
which is foul and dissonant to itself, and clasping to its bosom the
beautiful, and all wherein it discovers its own reflex; impressing on
it its signature, reproducing from it its own likeness, whether star,
or daemon, or soul of the elect:—and yet, as the poet hints in an-
thropomorphic language, haunted all the while by a sadness—

1
Notes on the Bhagavad Gītā, p. 23
2
Cf. Voice of the Silence, fragm. II vs. 135, p. 31

36
 THE INNER WISDOM OF LOVE

weighed down amid all its labours by the sense of a fate—by the
thought of that First One from whom the Soul is originally de-
scended; from whom it, and its Father the Reason before it, parted
themselves when they dared to think and act, and assert their own
1
free will.

Ay. To believe in the old creeds, while every one else is dropping
away from them . . . To believe in spite of disappointments . . . To
hope against hope . . . To show oneself superior to the herd, by
seeing boundless depths of living glory in myths which have be-
come dark and dead to them . . . To struggle to the last against the
new and vulgar superstitions of a rotting age, for the faith of my
forefathers, for the old gods, the old heroes, the old sages who
gauged the mysteries of heaven and earth—and perhaps to con-
quer—at least to have my reward! To be welcomed into the celestial
ranks of the heroic—to rise to the immortal gods, to the ineffable
powers, onward, upward ever, through ages and through eternities,
till I find my home at last, and vanish in the glory of the Nameless
2
and the Absolute One! . . .

Smile if you will. But ask me not to teach you things unspeakable,
above all sciences, which the word-battle of dialectic, the discursive
struggles of reason can never reach, but which must be seen only,
and when seen confessed to be unspeakable. Hence, . . . thou
sneering Cynic!—hence, thou sense-worshipping Stoic, who fanci-
est that the soul is to derive her knowledge from those material ap-
pearances which she herself creates! . . . and yet no: stay and
sneer if you will. It is but a little time—a few days longer in this
prison-house of our degradation, and each thing shall return to its
own fountain; the blood-drop to the abysmal heart, and the water
to the river, and the river to the shining sea; and the dew-drop
which fell from heaven shall rise to heaven again, shaking off the
dust-grains which weighed it down, thawed from the earth-frost
which chained it here to herb and sward, upward and upward ever
through stars and suns, through gods, and through the parents of
the gods, purer and purer through successive lives, till it enters
3
The Nothing, which is The All, and finds its home at last. . .

1
Hypatia, pp. 92-93
2
Ibid. p. 12
3
Ibid. p. 94

37
Assimilation of the universe’s laws is the first key
to manhood
Altruism and idealism, fellowship and brotherhood, philanthropy and hu-
maneness, ahimsa and harmlessness,—they are all shades of the one Great
Ethic that is borne out of The Secret Doctrine’s first premise. BP Wadia, a
Theosophist of unsurpassed erudition and devotion to the Cause, examines
the relationship of these noble concepts with the underlying reality of the
One Life and explains how living them here and now can bring about the
dramatic metamorphosis asserted in the third.

Understanding by the higher mind and apperception by intuition

are not sufficient unless these produce the action, which is altru-
ism. . . . The lower fourfold man, the quaternary, has to become tri-
une, and The Secret Doctrine, which is a book of practical occult-
ism, helps us to achieve this task. The higher triad has to be trans-
formed into the Sacred Tetractys—that is the goal taught in the mes-
sage of H.P.B. The single energy of altruism unifies all actions,
which are undertaken in terms of the understanding of the univer-
sals and executed in terms of the intuitive apperception of the
1
Heart. . . . If we decide to acquire the knowledge about universals,
which is the one sure way to free our mind from the hooks of
kamic particulars, we are bound to touch the plane of intuition in
due season, and then naturally our Creative Will will work altruis-
tically. But we must not wait for compassion to express altruism
and only ponder over the cosmic ultimates, determined to see the
one in the many; while thus occupied we must devote time in pay-
ing attention to The Voice of the Silence and making use of The Key
to Theosophy, so as to help the awakening intuition and the awak-
2
ening altruism.

Wadia went further and defined the objectives of would-be Theosophists, or

those intelligent, diligent, and aspiring minds, as follows:

To perceive the interrelation and interdependence of man and na-

ture;

To correlate the correspondence subsisting between universals and

particulars;

To cognize our minds as the playground of the energies of the

Spirit and of the shadows cast by the movements of Matter;

To practice the doctrine of Universal Brotherhood;

1
Studies in the SD, bk. I (2nd series) iv, p. 77
2
Ibid. p. 79

38
 —all these are the descriptions of one and the same process, in dif-
1
ferent tongues, of metaphysics or of ethics.

And for the benefit of those who may think that ethics somehow differ from
metaphysics, Wadia picked out two extracts from the writings of HP Blavat-
sky, where “the same identical truth” of altruism is put across in an ethical
and in a metaphysical presentation. They are reproduced in Appendix A,
Theosophists described, p. 301.

1
Studies in the SD, bk. I (2nd series) iv, p. 81

39
Surrender of the fleeting to the eternal is the final
key
Had it been shorter, The Voice of the Silence could have been a subtitle befit-
ting The Secret Doctrine. Its stirring ethics are in harmony with the humbling
metaphysics of Theosophy. Sylvia Cranston noted the similarity between the
GREAT SACRIFICE of the Voice and the Pledge of Kuan-yin, the Buddhist God-
dess of Mercy:

Never will I seek nor receive private individual salvation;

Never will I enter into final peace alone;
But forever and everywhere will I live and
1
Strive for the redemption of every creature throughout the world.

A detailed analysis of the Voice, “the only true exposition in English of the
Heart Doctrine of the Mahāyāna and its noble ideal of self-sacrifice for hu-
2
manity,” is outside the scope of this study. However, a brief synopsis is here
presented so that the defining selections on sacrifice by BP Wadia and WQ
Judge that follow immediately after can be fully appreciated.

The Voice addresses those who are about to begin journeying inwardly,
through a process that is commonly described as the path of liberation or,
simply, yoga. This path leads to a consummation of the divine spark with its
parent flame, a conscious re-union of our higher Self with the Self of All.

Appalled and depressed by the hopelessness of life, there are those who long
to escape from the wheel of endless cycles of life and death by exchanging
fleeting enjoyments and thrills with everlasting joy and peace. The Voice out-
lines the alternative to the well-trodden solitary path of oblivion from hu-
manity: the path of compassion that the elect tread out of boundless pity for
the world of mortals.

Examples of Paths of action, renunciation, and their endless variants in dif-

ferent philosophies and religions are shown in Appendix B, p. 302.

The Voice of the Silence (first fragment) details the probationary path when,
at a certain stage of personal development, a “still small voice” is heard by
the virtuous in the sacred solitude of their heart. As it will be shown in
Chapter 7, “the voice of the silence” is not any voice. It is the Voice of our
planet’s Highest Chohan. It is Logos or Word itself, Divine Thought univer-
sally diffused. It is Sound eternal, Vāch. It is our Inner God or Divine Con-
sciousness that speaks audibly to the mind. Having renounced eternal rest
and peace, That Wondrous Light remains here on Earth so that the path of

1
Cranston S. HPB: The Extraordinary Life and Influence of Helena Blavatsky, Founder of the Modern
Theosophical Movement. New York: GP Putman’s Sons, 1994; p. 407
2
Cf. Voice of the Silence (Peking ed. fo.)

40
 THE FINAL KEY TO MANHOOD

struggling humanity is kept illumined by Its quintessence until the next

Torch Bearer of this GREAT SACRIFICE emerges.
The Two Paths (middle fragment) is the heart of this wonderful text, where
the open path of personal liberation is contrasted with the secret path of
sublime renunciation. By stepping into the rugged path of the fourfold dhy-
āna with false learning and pride, the crowd plans to escape from the world
by sacrificing humanity to self. On the other path, compassionate and hum-
1
ble, the elect begin to ascend a steeper path leading to the moral excellence
of the pāramitā heights. Eventually, those who succeed choose to remain
here on Earth to help us out—unthanked and unperceived by the populace,
2
Humble because of knowledge; mighty by sacrifice.

For,
3
Compassion and humility meet in Love.

Slaying the lower mind is a prerequisite before stepping into the second
path, the path of woe and self-immolation. Menticide, however, is but a mi-
nor sacrifice. The Voice aspires to entice us towards a much greater sacrifice
than the mere renunciation of the personal as the latter can only liberate us
from the tyrannies and miseries of the flesh. It aims at renouncing the liberty
itself. This is the overriding aim of The Voice of the Silence and that is why
this little book is priceless. The objectives and key features of the “open eye”
versus the “secret heart” are compared in Appendix C, At the threshold of the
two paths, p. 303.

The Seven Portals (third fragment) contrasts the second or ārya path with
the blissful path of yogis that leads to the “heaven” of nirvāõa. It is one of the
most stirring invocations of compassion for our world and its endless suffer-
ing. The anxiety of the unknown author of the Golden Precepts to bring out
humaneness and mercy is poignant, almost palpable. Only by sacrificing self
to the altar of humanity and by bitter duty can Animal Man come of age.
This is the pith and marrow of Theosophy, as BP Wadia explains:

Just as Fohat is related to the One Life metaphysically, so the cen-

tral teaching of this real Wisdom of the Great Sages is related to
the doctrine of Universal Brotherhood. That central teaching is
called the Path of Great Renunciation and is distinct and different

1
Cf. “. . . With the Pythagoreans . . . humility was no virtue, though in modern times it is considered
to be the greatest of the virtues. With Aristotle likewise it is no virtue: for in his Nicomachean Ethics
[TTS vol. XXII] he says, ‘that all humble men are flatterers, and all flatterers are humble.’ ” Taylor T
(Transl. & Comm.). Iamblichus on the Mysteries of the Egyptians, Chaldeans, and Assyrians, and Life
of Pythagoras. (Vol. XVII of the Thomas Taylor Series); Sturminster Newton: The Prometheus Trust,
2004; [THE LIFE OF PYTHAGORAS] XXXII, p. 280 fn.
2
Rudyard Kipling: The Islanders
3
Science of the Emotions, p. 90

41
 INTRODUCTORY THOUGHTS

from the Path of Liberation or Emancipation. This path of Great

Renunciation is not the one ordinarily known among Eastern yogis
and sannyāsis, swamis and fakirs. That Path of Renunciation
(Tyaga and Sannyāsa Margas) is walked in the hope, for the pur-
pose, and with the motive of gaining Liberation or Moksha. The
Path of Great Renunciation taught in Esoteric Philosophy is not the
means and the channel for liberation of the human spirit, but
leads to the conscious and deliberate Renunciation of that libera-
tion—“Nirvāõas, gained and lost from boundless pity and compas-
sion for the world of deluded mortals.” The path of renunciation of
actions, and of fruits of actions which leads to Liberation is called
in Esoteric Philosophy the Open Path; the Path of Great Renuncia-
tion leads the Mukta and Nirvāõee “to don the miseries of ‘Secret
life’,” and produces “mental woe unspeakable; woe for the living
Dead and helpless pity for the men of karmic sorrow.” This is
1
called the Secret Path.

Altruism is the key to Theosophy. True Theosophists are those philanthro-

pists who strive to help their brothers and sisters here on Earth: not those
2
who forsake their own kin by crossing “to the other shore” or nirvāõa,
3
“which is oblivion of the World and men for ever.” Altruism or “other-
interest” is a synthetic word. It implies impersonal, unconditional love for
others, brotherly love, vivre pour l’autrui. It is the antonym of egotism or
“self-interest.” It is as if Compte coined it to coincide with the launch of the
Theosophical Society in 1875, just as great music was often composed for
special occasions.

Continues Wadia:

Without hesitation it can be asserted that the teachings contained

in The Secret Doctrine will not be thoroughly understood by one
who is not actively altruistic. It will remain a sealed book in spite of
higher understanding and intuitive perceptions, unless these two
are made use of on the plane of action. What distinguishes a The-
osophist from a student of Theosophy is this altruism. In The Key
to Theosophy it is said, “Theosophist is, who Theosophy does”—not
thinks, not studies, not feels, but does. Speaking of the pledged
member of her esoteric school, H.P.B. said that he “has to become
a thorough altruist” (Key, p. 20) . . . “The only palliative to the evils
of life is union and harmony—a Brotherhood IN ACTU, and altruism
4
not simply in name.” (SD, I p. 644)

1
Studies in the SD, bk. II (2nd series) iii, p. 46
2
Cf. Voice of the Silence, fragm. III vs. 206, p. 47 & vs. 251, p. 58
3
Cf. ibid. fragm. II vs. 186, p. 42
4
Studies in the SD, bk. I (2nd series) iv, p. 78

42
 THE FINAL KEY TO MANHOOD

WQ Judge in his analysis of the second chapter of the Holy Bhagavad Gītā
comments upon the reasons for the secrecy surrounding the first School of
Initiation:

It is secret, because, founded in nature and having only real Hiero-

phants at the head, its privacy cannot be invaded without the real
key. And that key, in each degree, is the aspirant himself. Until
that aspirant has become in fact the sign and the key, he cannot
enter the degree above him. As a whole then, and in each degree, it
1
is self-protective.

The Voice of the silence sheds light on the path of self-immolation. It is

Kçishõa in His song of life. It is Nārada in His aphorisms of higher devotion.
The Voice is the real author of the Golden Precepts. It remains here, on
Earth, to ensure safe passage for all. Only then will It ascend to Its “Mercy
Seat on the Throne.” And who knows? Some of those who have listened to It
and acted upon Its behest might be destined at some future kalpa to keep
the torch alight until the last pilgrim in another planet has returned home
2
safely. Ultimately, “the last shall be the greatest.”

1
Blavatsky Collected Writings, (PRACTICAL OCCULTISM) IX p. 162 fn; [BDZ quoting The Path, II (11)
February 1888 p. 330, where WQ Judge analyses the Second Chapter of the Bhagavad-Gītā.]
2
Voice of the Silence, fragm. II vs. 188, p. 42

43
Sacrificing others is a crime against nature
The entire universe owes its very being to the greatest of all sacrifices, that of
Aja Purusha, the unborn or lamb. It was slaughtered at the foundation of the
world so that the world may live. The higher the consciousness of the sacrifi-
cer and the lower that of its beneficiaries, the greater the sacrifice. Logos fal-
ling into deep objectivity is an infinitely greater sacrifice than the privations
of a rising individuality. For, the former fructifies Earthly Man en masse to-
wards ever-higher realms of self-consciousness; the latter brings home the
treasures of individual sentient reflection. But, as the repercussions of
higher life are not even suspected by hoi polloi, the significance of Logoic
1
Sacrifice and the exalted motives of Samyak Sambuddha will forever remain
2
riddles to the spiritual selfishness of Pratyeka Buddha.

Similarly to Love, the significance of Sacrifice has been grossly tainted by

Selfishness. Without exception, all misconceptions about such a noble act
stem from outwardly looking perspectives and narrow, personal interests. In
Sacrifice proper, there are at least three defining attributes.

1 Sacrifice is always a voluntary, not an enforced, act.

In the ambivalence of the West, the theological dogma of “Christ’s offering of

3
himself as mankind’s saviour” has undergone an astonishing expansion of
meanings, including to “give up, surrender, for a higher good or for mere ad-
4
vantage; to make a victim of; to sell at a loss.” Even Man’s barbarity against
Man and Nature is often disguised as sacrifice in euphemisms and the hy-
perbole of our age. Vivisectionists, for example, often refer to laboratory ani-
mals as “sacrificed” rather than “killed,” thus elevating themselves to priest-
hood and their science to religion.

HP Blavatsky backtracks sacrifice to humanity’s real benefactors, to the:

. . . voluntary sacrifice of the Fiery Angels, whose nature was

5
Knowledge and Love.

. . . the surname Christos is based on, and the story of the Cruci-
fixion derived from, events that preceded it. Everywhere, in India as
in Egypt, in Chaldea as in Greece, all these legends were built
upon one and the same primitive type; the voluntary sacrifice of
the logoi—the rays of the one LOGOS, the direct manifested emana-

1
Cf. Voice of the Silence, fragm. II vs. 188, p. 42
2
Cf. ibid. vs. 191, p. 43
3
Chambers [British English] Dictionary
4
Ibid.
5
Secret Doctrine, II p. 246

44
 CRIMES AGAINST NATURE

tion from the One ever-concealed Infinite and Unknown—whose

1
rays incarnated in mankind.
2
T Subba Row, a learned “VEDANTIN ADVAITEE of the esoteric Āryan school,”
explains the true meaning of the “Blood of Christ”:

Christ took advantage of the Jewish tendency to sacrifice, and gave

it a certain turn, and made it more or less identical with the trans-
fer of blood in the final Initiation. That is the meaning of the final
Initiation—the mysterious thing going to happen when he goes to
join the permanent counterpart, in Nirvāõa, of his Ray. The Blood
of Christ is the spiritual life that flows from Christ—his Daivī
3
prakçiti.

Master Koot Hoomi refers to the choice of action that is inherent in sacrifice
4
in the context of the awful privations that Blavatsky herself has endured:

. . . Until that day of final triumph someone has to be sacrificed—

though we accept but voluntary victims. The ungrateful task did
lay her low and desolate in the ruins of misery, misapprehension,
and isolation: but she will have her reward in the hereafter for we
5
never were ungrateful.

2 Defiling the altars of gods with blood is worse than murder.

God is not to be worshipped with sacrifices and blood; for what

pleasure can He have in the slaughter of the innocent? But with a
pure mind, a good and honest purpose, Temples are not to be built
for Him with stones piled on high; God is to be consecrated in the
6
breast of each.

The cruel death sentence of Iphigenia by Agamemnon has been euphemised

as sacrifice. It epitomises Man’s wickedness. Her ordeal will never be forgot-
ten particularly as horrifying crimes against humanity are still being carried
out to this day—remorselessly and unashamedly. In one of the most affect-
ing descriptions of her demise, Lucretius points at the link between supersti-
tion and wickedness:

1
Blavatsky Collected Writings, (THE ESOTERIC CHARACTER OF THE GOSPELS) VIII p. 200
2
Ibid. (IN RE “BUSIRIS”) IV pp. 191
3
Esoteric Writings, VII (1) p. 532
4
Cf. “They [the leaders and the founders of the theosophical movement] sacrifice to it all comfort, all
worldly prosperity, and success, even to their good name and reputation—aye, even to their hon-
our—to receive in return incessant and ceaseless obloquy, relentless persecution, untiring slander,
constant ingratitude, and misunderstanding of their best efforts, blows, and buffets from all sides—
when by simply dropping their work they would find themselves immediately released from every re-
sponsibility, shielded from every further attack.” Key to Theosophy, p. 257
5
Mahātma Letter 9 (18), p. 51; 3rd Combined ed.
6
Lucius Annaeus Seneca: Fragment, V, 204.—Mead’s Quotations

45
 INTRODUCTORY THOUGHTS

Raised by the hands of men, she was led trembling to the altar. Not
for her the sacrament of marriage and the loud chant of Hymen. It
was her fate in the very hour of marriage to fall a sinless victim to a
sinful rite, slaughtered to her greater grief by a father’s hand, so
that a fleet might sail under happy auspices. Such are the heights
1
of wickedness to which men are driven by superstition.

Iphigenia’s betrayal has been immortalised by Aeschylus, Euripides, Racine,

Gluck, Goethe. Though an allegory, her story is also telling of the extent that
exoteric interpretations of ancient legends obscured esoteric truths. It echoes
2
human offerings to Artemis Tauropolos. However, neither the Iliad, the
Ramayana of the West, nor the Odyssey mention her ordeal.

Blavatsky points out that the “the ancient Trojans and their ancestors were
3
pure Āryans” and gives a hint that connects the inconsistent accounts of
4
Iphigenia’s legend with the èig-Veda.

3 Sacrifice proper is unselfish love of humanity in person and in secret.

Charity cannot be delegated to surrogates, any more than Avatārs can vi-
cariously atone for our sins. Although in a material world material help is
always needed, the altruism of tax-exempt donations or charity by proxy,
and the kind of altruism advocated by Theosophy are miles apart, for:

. . . Altruism must be founded on the rock of knowledge of the uni-

versals, and devotion to the Law of which they are the manifested
aspects. If there is danger in head learning, if there are risks in-
volved in the lower devotion to which reference has been made, so
also there is a peculiar glamour which the life of charity and ser-
vice throws on the Soul. Altruism engendered by the lower mind
and energized by the lower devotion is not true altruism. Activities
of the lower mind vitalize our personal nature—not always and
necessarily evil—and they impel us to actions which under the im-
pacts of civilization very often become philanthropic and altruistic.
The mind free from attacks of kāma is energised by the compas-
sionate reason or Buddhi, and thus wedded is ensouled by the Self
of Creative-Power, which is the true doer of deeds. Then comes into
manifestation the higher altruism in which charity is just and not
merely kind, altruism which enables man to discard the crutch of
dependence and to stand on his own feet in self-trust. From this it

1
Latham RE (Transl.). Lucretius On the Nature of the Universe. London: Penguin Books, 1951; p. 30
2
A virgin goddess on the shores of Tauri.
3
Cf. Secret Doctrine, II p. 101
4
Cf. “Vāch—‘the melodious cow’ (èig-Veda) ‘from whom mankind was produced’ (Bhāgavata-Purāõa)
is shown in the Aitareya-Brāhmaõa as pursued by her father Brahmā, who was moved by an illicit
passion, and changed her into a deer.” Secret Doctrine, II p. 418 fn.

46
 CRIMES AGAINST NATURE

will be seen how all three powers of the Spirit must work conjointly
1
if spirit-life is to prevail.

Sacrifice is simply the destruction of the lower nature, the false individuality
or sheer selfishness, to put it plainly. It is a kind of mental suicide. What has
to be sacrificed is the lower mind or personality, our most precious posses-
sion. As desireless deeds can only flower out of self-effacement, so humane-
ness can only come out of true love for others. And, if there is no self any
longer to nurture, there can be no self-interest in the deeds either.

In sacrifice proper it is the personal desires-thoughts or Kāma-manas that

are to be slayed, our lower nature. Devotedly surrendering all personal con-
cerns to the impersonal mind within is the means. One has to become totally
selfless, without even a grain of selfishness polluting Self. True sacrifice is
driven by unreserved love for humanity. It is a spontaneous and joyful act.
Therefore, pre-meditation, impatience, resentment, or even analysis of the
motives during the course of some merciful action, are reliable indicators
that such action is prompted and personal: it is either an attempt to please
self, or a gesture to appease a guilty conscience. Invisible are charity’s hand:

True charity opens her purse strings with an invisible hand and:

“Finishing its act, exists no more . . .”

2
It shuns Fame, and is never ostentatious.

The charity that hastens to proclaim its good deeds, ceases to be

3
charity, and is only pride and ostentation.

Those considering treading the path of renunciation should be aware of such

pitfalls from the outset. Otherwise, the very entity they plan to slay is likely
to provide plausible excuses for its reprieve and divert efforts outwardly for a
scapegoat to be slaughtered instead or, worse, a fellow human being.

It is befitting to end this section with a selection of excerpts from Porphyry

who, in his Abstinence from Animal Food, affords telling insights to prehis-
toric sacrificial customs and practices:

It seems that the period is of immense antiquity, from which a na-

4
tion the most learned of all others as Theophrastus says, and who
inhabit the most sacred region made by the Nile, began first, from

1
Studies in the SD, bk. I (2nd series) iv, pp. 78-79
2
Blavatsky Collected Writings, (OUR CYCLE AND THE NEXT) XI p. 196; [quoting Matthew Prior’s “Para-
phrase on the Thirteen Chapter of The First Epistle to the Corinthians.” In: Prior M. Charity. (The
Works of the English Poets from Chaucer to Cowper; including the Series Edited with Prefaces, Bio-
graphical and Critical, by Dr. Samuel Johnson: and the Most Approved Translations.) Ed. Alexander
Chalmers. 21 vols. Vol. 11. London: C. Wittingham, 1810—Comp.]
3
William Hutton—Mead’s Quotations
4
I.e., The Egyptians.

47
 INTRODUCTORY THOUGHTS

the vestal hearth, to sacrifice to the celestial Gods, not myrrh, or

cassia, nor the first-fruits of things mingled with the crocus of
frankincense; for these were assumed many generations after-
wards, in consequence of error gradually increasing, when men,
wanting the necessaries of life, offered, with great labour and many
tears, some drops of these, as first-fruits to the Gods. Hence, they
did not at first sacrifice these, but grass, which, as certain soft
wool of prolific nature, they plucked with their hands. For the
earth produced trees prior to animals; and long before trees grass,
which germinates annually. Hence, gathering the blades and roots,
and all the germs of this herb, they committed them to the flames,
as a sacrifice to the visible celestial Gods, to whom they paid im-
mortal honour through fire. For to these, also, we preserve in tem-
ples an immortal fire, because it is especially most similar to these
divinities. But from the exhalation or smoke (εκ δε της θυμιάσεως) of
things produced in the earth, they called the offerings θυμιατήρια,
thumiatēria; to sacrifice, they called θυείν, thueīn, and the sacri-
fices, θυσίαι, thusīai; all which, as if unfolding the error which was
afterwards introduced, we not rightly interpret; since we call the
worship of the Gods through the immolation of animal thusīa. But
so careful were the ancients not to transgress this custom, that
against those who, neglecting the pristine, introduced novel modes
of sacrificing, they employed execrations, and therefore they now
denominate the substances which are used for fumigations
αρώματα, arōmata, i.e. aromatics, [or things of an execrable na-
1
ture.—TT.]

This mode, however, of offering first-fruits in sacrifices, having, at

length, proceeded to great illegality, the assumption of immola-
tions, most dire and full of cruelty, was introduced; so that it
would seem that the execrations, which were formerly uttered
against us, have now received their consummation, in consequence
of men slaughtering animals, and defiling altars with blood; and
this commenced from that period in which mankind tasted of
blood, through having experienced the evils of famine and war. Di-
vinity, therefore, as Theophrastus says, being indignant, appears
to have inflicted a punishment adapted to the crime. Hence some
men became atheists; but others, in consequence of forming erro-
neous conceptions of a divine nature, may be more justly called
2
κακόφρονες, kakōphrones, than κακόθεοι, kakōtheoi, because they
think that the Gods are depraved, and in no respect naturally more
excellent than we are. Thus, therefore, some were seen to live with-
out sacrificing any thing, and without offering the first-fruits of

1
Abstinence from Animal Food, bk. 2 (¶ 5), pp. 46-47
2
I.e., May be rather called malevolent than unhappy.

48
 CRIMES AGAINST NATURE

their possessions to the Gods; but others sacrificed improperly,

1
and made use of illegal oblations.

. . . When friendship and a proper sense of the duties pertaining to

kindred natures, was possessed by all men, no one slaughtered
any living being, in consequence of thinking that other animals
were allied to him. But when strife, and tumult, every kind of con-
tention, and the principle of war, invaded mankind, then, for the
2
first time, no one in reality spared any one of his kindred natures.
. . . Being filled with animal diet, we have arrived at this manifold
illegality in our life by slaughtering animals, and using them for
food. For neither it is proper that the altars of the Gods should be
defiled with murder, nor that food of this kind should be touched
3
by men, as neither is it fit that men should eat one another;

To the Gods, indeed, the excellent offering is a pure intellect and

an impassive soul, and also a moderate oblation of our own prop-
erty and of other things, and this not negligently, but with the
greatest alacrity. For the honours which we pay to the Gods should
be accompanied by the same promptitude as that with which we
give the first seat to worthy men, and with which we rise to salute
4
them, and not by the promptitude with which we pay a tribute.

1
Abstinence from Animal Food, bk. 2 (¶ 7), p. 48
2
Ibid. (¶ 22), pp. 56-57
3
Ibid. (¶ 28), p. 61
4
Ibid. (¶ 61), p. 79

49
An approach to The Secret Doctrine
Four key concepts, which one should hold fast when studying The Secret
1
Doctrine, were dictated by HP Blavatsky to Robert Bowen. They are known
colloquially as the Bowen Notes and are here reproduced in full.

These uplifting truths will not only enlighten the study of The Secret Doc-
trine. They will equally confer great benefit whether the mind is applied to
other works of Blavatsky or to any occult text. Indeed, if kept in the back of
the mind constantly, they can help students to appraise the experience of be-
ing and becoming far more effectively than any other means.

A few related selections, also from the pen of Blavatsky, have been added af-
ter the second and the fourth.

Come to the S.D. without any hope of getting the final Truth
of existence from it, or with any idea other than seeing how
far it may lead TOWARDS the Truth. . . . No matter what one
may study in the S.D. let the mind hold fast, as the basis of
its ideation, to the following ideas.
2
— Helena Petrovna Blavatsky

We are dual aspects [The first idea is] the FUNDAMENTAL UNITY
of the One Reality. OF ALL EXISTENCE. This unity is a thing al-
Our consciousness is an together different from the common notion of
individualised modification unity—as when we say that a nation or an
of the One Consciousness. army is united; or that this planet is united to
that by lines of magnetic force or the like. The
teaching is not that. It is that existence is ONE
THING, not any collection of things linked to-
gether. Fundamentally there is ONE BEING.
The BEING has two aspects, positive and
negative. The positive is Spirit, or CON-
SCIOUSNESS. The negative is SUBSTANCE,
the subject of consciousness. This Being is the
Absolute in its primary manifestation. Being
absolute there is nothing outside it. It is ALL-
BEING. It is indivisible, else it would not be
3
absolute. . . .

1
They were first published under the title Madame Blavatsky on how to study Theosophy, in: The-
osophy in Ireland (1932), and subsequently republished by various organisations.
2
Bowen Notes, p. 8
3
Ibid.

50
 AN APPROACH TO THE SECRET DOCTRINE

. . . If a portion could be separated, that re-

maining could not be absolute, because there
would at once arise the question of COMPARI-
SON between it and the separated part. Com-
parison is incompatible with any idea of abso-
luteness. Therefore it is clear that this funda-
mental ONE EXISTENCE, or Absolute Being,
must be the REALITY in every form there is. . .
. The Atom, the Man, the God are each sepa-
rately, as well as all collectively, Absolute Be-
ing in their last analysis, that is their REAL
INDIVIDUALITY. It is this idea which must be
held always in the background of the mind to
form the basis for every conception that arises
from study of the S.D. The moment one lets it
go (and it is most easy to do so when engaged
in any of the many intricate aspects of the
Esoteric Philosophy) the idea of SEPARATION
1
supervenes, and the study loses its value.
Everything is alive The second idea to hold fast is that THERE IS
and conscious. NO DEAD MATTER. Every last atom is alive. It
There is no dead matter. cannot be otherwise since every atom is itself
fundamentally Absolute Being. Therefore there
is no such thing as “spaces” or Ether, or
Ākāśa, or call it what you like, in which angels
and elementals disport themselves like trout in
water. That’s a common idea. The true idea
shows every atom of substance no matter of
2
what plane to be in itself a LIFE.
Now the Occultists, [a] who trace every atom
in the universe, whether an aggregate or sin-
gle, to One Unity, or Universal Life; [b] who do
not recognize that anything in Nature can be
inorganic; [c] who know of no such thing as
dead matter—the Occultists are consistent
with their doctrine of Spirit and Soul when
speaking of memory in every atom, of will and
3
sensation.

1
Bowen Notes, pp. 8-9
2
Ibid. p. 9
3
Secret Doctrine, II p. 672

51
INTRODUCTORY THOUGHTS

We are a microcosm The third basic idea to be held is that Man is

of the universe. the MICROCOSM. As he is so, then all the Hi-
erarchies of the Heavens exist within him. But
in truth, there is neither Macrocosm nor Mi-
crocosm but ONE EXISTENCE. Great and
small are such only as viewed by a limited
consciousness.
As it is above, [The] fourth and last basic idea to be held is
so it is below. that expressed in the Great Hermetic Axiom. It
There is only One Life really sums up and synthesizes all the others:
and One LAW.
“As is the Inner, so is the Outer;
as is the Great, so is the Small;
as it is above, so it is below:
there is but ONE LIFE AND LAW;
and he that worketh it is ONE.
Nothing is Inner, nothing is Outer;
nothing is GREAT, nothing is Small;
nothing is High, nothing is Low,
1
in the Divine Economy.”
“Analogy is the . . . the only true Ariadne’s thread that can
guiding law in Nature,” lead us, through the inextricable paths of her
domain, toward her primal and final myster-
ies. Nature, as a creative potency, is infinite,
and no generation of physical scientists can
ever boast of having exhausted the list of her
ways and methods, however uniform the laws
2
upon which she proceeds. . . . the first law in
nature is uniformity in diversity, and the sec-
ond—analogy. “As above, so below.” That time
is gone by forever, when, although our pious
ancestors believed that our earth was in the
centre of the universe, the church and her ar-
rogant servants could insist that we should
regard as a blasphemy the supposition that
any other planet could be inhabited. Adam
and Eve, the Serpent, and the Original Sin fol-
lowed by atonement through blood, have been
too long in the way, and thus was universal
truth sacrificed to the insane conceit of us lit-
3
tle men.

1
Bowen Notes, pp. 9-10
2
Secret Doctrine, II pp. 153-54
3
Ibid. II p. 699

52
 AN APPROACH TO THE SECRET DOCTRINE

. . . [Therefore] no Eastern Initiate would

speak of spheres “above us, between the earth
and the airs,” even the highest, as there is no
such division or measurement in occult
speech, no “above” as no “below,” but an eter-
nal “within,” within two other withins, or the
planes of subjectivity merging gradually into
that of terrestrial objectivity—this being for
1
man the last one, his own plane.

1
Secret Doctrine, I p. 671-72

53
 CHAPTER 1
OUR MOST PRECIOUS GEMS

Reading the S D page by page as one reads any other book will only end in confusion.
The first thing to do, even if it takes years, is to get some grasp of the “Three Fundamen-
tal Principles” given in the Proem.
1
— Helena Petrovna Blavatsky

This is perhaps the single most important hint to prospective students of The
Secret Doctrine by HP Blavatsky: no one can possibly grasp its meaning
without a thorough appreciation of its universal assertions. Hence, no oppor-
tunity is lost in this work either to repeat or to express the same ideas in dif-
ferent words.

Taking into account that there is nothing higher than justice because “that
2
which is justice is truth,” and paraphrasing St Thomas’ apophthegm that “a
thing is not just because God wills it, but God wills it because it is just,” one
can confidently assert that the fundamentals of Theosophy are not true sim-
ply because they are postulated in The Secret Doctrine. They are true be-
cause they are LAW, the Eternal Principle of the manifested Universe. They
are the rocks of esoteric science, beginningless, endless, immovable. They
are the building blocks of life, the three alchemical agents par excellence.
3
“The divine is divine only in so far as it is just.”
4
Even to this day, the philosopher’s stone or first alchemic agent is thought
to be a stone or mineral long sought after by alchemists as a means of trans-
5
forming base metals to gold. Motivated by greed for effortless wealth rather
than by scientific enquiry, many are so preoccupied with the stones that
they have failed to notice the stars in this old metaphor. They have con-

1
Bowen Notes, p. 6
2
Cf. Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, I, iv, 14
3
Blavatsky Collected Writings, (THE SIBYL) VI p. 144; [quoting Socrates.]
4
The other two being the Alkahest or universal spiritual solvent, and the Elixir vitae, a substance
held capable of prolonging life indefinitely.
5
Chambers [British English] Dictionary

55
COMPASSION | CHAPTER 1

firmed though, “the pepper plant will not give birth to roses, nor the sweet
1
jessamine’s silver star to thorn or thistle turn.”

It is incorrect to think that there exists any special “powder of pro-

jection,” or “philosopher’s stone,” or “elixir of life.” The latter lurks
in every flower, in every stone and mineral throughout the globe. It
is the ultimate essence of everything on its way to higher and
2
higher evolution.

Interpreting the “occult significance of the words Vāch and Hiraõyagarbha in

their application to ‘sound’ and ‘light’ ” Blavatsky points out that:

The word Hiraõya does not mean “gold” but the golden light of di-
vine knowledge, the first principle in whose womb is contained the
light of the eternal truth which illuminates the liberated soul when
it has reached its highest abode. It is, in short, the “Philosopher’s
Stone” of the alchemist, and the Eternal Light of the Fire Philoso-
3
pher.

Commenting upon a translation of Éliphas Lévi’s Dogme et Rituel de la Haute

Magie, she explains that:

The STONE is no stone at all, but the “rock”—foundation of absolute

4
knowledge—our seventh principle.

Later, in the same article, she adds:

[É Lévi] uses the cautious phraseology of the Mediaeval Alchemists,

and no one having ever explained to the uninitiated public that the
“Word” is no word, and the “Stone” is no stone, the occult sciences
are suffering thereby under the opprobrium of mockery and igno-
5
rance.

Equally disheartened by the profound metaphysics of The Secret Doctrine,

many of those fortunate to have come across this awe-inspiring text have
abandoned the prospect of dwelling further upon its great truths. They may
have not been even aware of Blavatsky’s sound advice to Bowen and others.
Or, more likely, they may have been put off by a formidable array of pre-
cepts, which may appear too abstract, too cold, too unyielding—just as the
philosophical stones are thought to be.

1
Cf. Voice of the Silence, fragm. II vs. 147, p. 34
2
Blavatsky Collected Writings, (E. S. INSTRUCTION NO. III) XII p. 603
3
Ibid. (A GREAT LIGHT UNDER A BUSHEL) II p. 285 fn.
4
Ibid. (FOOTNOTES TO “GLEANINGS FROM ĖLIPHAS LÉVI”) IV p. 290
5
Ibid. p. 291

56
 OUR MOST PRECIOUS GEMS

There is another way of reading, which is, indeed, the only one of
any use with many authors. It is reading, not between the lines but
within the words. In fact, it is deciphering a profound cipher. All
alchemical works are written in the cipher of which I speak; it has
been used by the great philosophers and poets of all time. It is
used systematically by the adepts in life and knowledge, who,
seemingly giving out their deepest wisdom, hide in the very words
which frame it its actual mystery. They cannot do more. There is a
law of nature which insists that a man shall read these mysteries
1
for himself. By no other method can he obtain them.

During Man’s relentless obsession with materialism, even philosophy itself

has been divested from its original connotation. Amongst occultists, philoso-
2
phy has always meant wisdom of love, or kāma-erōs (abstract) desire for
sentient reflection: not love of wisdom as it is commonly rendered in English.
Thus, the object of contemporary philosophy is no longer the pursuit of
higher knowledge: it has become another domain of “head learning,” as
Thomas Taylor, the English Platonist, observes:

Such as these however are the men who are ignorantly called men
of learning, who are celebrated as prodigies of genius, who form the
literary taste of the present generation; and who, like Homer’s
mice, impiously nibble the veil of Wisdom, and would willingly de-
3
stroy the work of her celestial hands!

True philosophy is Love’s never-ending quest for ever-higher realms of “Self-

4
analysing reflection.” And its cornerstones are neither fundamental merely
because they deal with the essence of being, nor pre-eminent because they
well from the Heart of Being. They are fundamental and pre-eminent be-
5
cause they are Love Itself or “Homogenous Sympathy.” Neither sophistry
nor tapas can penetrate their shield. Unreserved and unconditional love for
humanity is the only means of solving the riddle of the philosopher’s stone,
and to realise the Truth of truths.

You wish to live aright (and who does not?)

If virtue holds the secret, don’t defer;
Be off with pleasures, and be on with her.

1
Light on the Path, com. I pp. 28-29
2
Phanēs or pōthos, in Greek.
3
Taylor T (Transl. & Annot.) The Cratylus, Phaedo, Parmenides, Timaeus and Critias of Plato. (1st ed.
1793); Minneapolis: Wizards Bookshelf, 1976. (Secret Doctrine Reference Series); introd. p. 22.
4
Cf. Secret Doctrine, I p. 48 fn.
5
Blavatsky Collected Writings, (FOOTNOTES TO “THE ALCHEMISTS”) XII p. 55; [commenting on the Fire
of the Alchemists of the Middle Ages.]

57
COMPASSION | CHAPTER 1

But no: you think all morals sophist’s tricks,

1
Bring virtue down to words, a grove to sticks.

One difficulty admitted by students of The Secret Doctrine, comes from a be-
wildering assortment of philosophical concepts and foreign terms, which are
often used interchangeably. Because they have been drawn from the world’s
major religions and philosophies since time immemorial and are, therefore,
couched in a multiplicity of archaic languages, their original meaning cannot
be readily imparted into English—or any other modern language for that
matter. Yet, without a firm grasp of the gems of esoteric philosophy, the pri-
mal role of Compassion / Sacrifice or the LAW of the LAWS will continue to
remain elusive.

For all these reasons, rather than adopting the terms of a particular school
of philosophy, the plethora of metaphysical concepts expounded in The Se-
cret Doctrine was reduced to four: Parabrahman, Mūlaprakçiti, Logos, and
Fohat. These are not mere words that can be understood by another word in
the spiritually deprived vocabularies of modern diction: they are complex
philosophical ideas. Their principal aspects will be outlined in separate com-
pilations below.

Other aspects, epithets, and synonyms of these key terms are shown in Ap-
pendices D to G.

1
Quintilian: Epistolæ, 1, 6, 29; (Vis recte vivere? Quis non? | Si virtus hoc una potest dare; fortis
omissis | Hoc age deliciis. Virtutem verba putas, et | Lucum ligna.)—King’s Quotations

58
 OUR MOST PRECIOUS GEMS

Parabrahman or Absoluteness is the One and Only

Reality

There is no God, [The high initiates and adepts] believe in

save That Eternal “gods” and know no “God,” but one Universal
1
Universal Principle, unrelated and unconditioned Deity, . . . which
2
the vulgar hoi polloi call, “God,” and we—
3
“Eternal Principle.” . . . It is belief in God and
Gods that makes two-thirds of humanity the
slaves of a handful of those who deceive them
under the false pretence of saving them. Is not
man ever ready to commit any kind of evil if
told that his God or Gods demand the crime—
voluntary victim of an illusionary God, the ab-
4
ject slave of his crafty ministers?
“The One and Secondless.” . . . reality. The impersonal and nameless uni-
5
versal Principle. . . . the basis of conditioned
6
Being whether subjective or objective. . . .
Parabrahman is not “God,” because It is not a
God. “It is that which is supreme, and not su-
preme (parāvara),” explains Muõóaka Upani-
shad (II, 2.8). IT is “Supreme” as CAUSE, not
supreme as effect. Parabrahman is simply, as
a “Secondless Reality,” the all inclusive Kos-
7
mos—or, rather, the infinite Cosmic Space —
8
in the highest spiritual sense.
“Parabrahman by itself . . . It is seen by the Logos with a veil thrown
cannot be seen as it is.” over it [Mūlaprakçiti], and that veil is the
mighty expanse of cosmic matter. It is the ba-
9
sis of material manifestations in the cosmos.

1
Secret Doctrine, I p. 295 fn.
2
[Οί πολλοί, the many; i.e., the masses, the rabble, the vulgar—Comp.]
3
Blavatsky Collected Writings, (FOOTNOTES TO “GLEANINGS FROM ĖLIPHAS LÉVI”) IV p. 291
4
Mahātma Letter 10 (88), p. 58; 3rd Combined ed.
5
Theosophical Glossary, p. 248
6
Secret Doctrine, I p. 15
7
[Mundane egg.]
8
Secret Doctrine, I p. 6
9
Philosophy of the Bhagavad Gītā, (1st lecture) pp. 9-10

59
COMPASSION | CHAPTER 1

It is a forever The Universe is the periodical manifestation of

inconceivable, this unknown Absolute Essence. To call it “es-
unknown and sence,” however, is to sin against the very
unknowable spirit of the philosophy. For though the noun
1
Reality. may be derived in this case from the verb esse,
“to be,” yet IT cannot be identified with a being
of any kind, that can be conceived by human
intellect. IT is best described as neither spirit
nor matter, but both. “Parabrahman and Mū-
laprakçiti” are One, in reality, yet two in the
Universal conception of the manifested, even
in the conception of the One Logos, its first
manifestation to which . . . IT appears from the
objective standpoint of the One Logos as Mū-
laprakçiti and not as Parabrahman; as its veil
and not the ONE REALITY hidden behind, which
2
is unconditioned and absolute.

[Other aspects, epithets and synonyms of

Parabrahman are shown in Appendix D, p.
305.]

1
[Or “The One Unknowable CAUSALITY” that can only be known through Its manifestations. (Cf. Se-
cret Doctrine, I p. 139)—Comp.]
2
Secret Doctrine, I pp. 273-74

60
 OUR MOST PRECIOUS GEMS

Mūlaprakçiti or noumenon of matter is a veil

thrown over Parabrahman

Mūlaprakçiti is a [a] Is Undifferentiated.

condition of nirvāõa, [b] Not dead, as Purusha—the one life—always
exists in it.
[c] Not temporary but eternal.
[d] When subject to changes it always loses its
name, reassuming it after returning to its
original undifferentiated condition.
[e] Not partial but co-extensive with space.
[f) Eternally exists in the universe in whatever
Avasthā (state or condition) a particular hu-
1
man being may be.
. . . Instead of being identical with Avidyā, im-
plies the absence of Avidyā. It is the highest
2
state of non being—the condition of Nirvāõa.
A sort of veil thrown Mūlaprakçiti, which [in the Bhagavad Gītā] is
over Parabrahman. sometimes called Avyaktam, and in other
places, Kūtasñham, which means simply the
undifferentiated element. Nevertheless Para-
brahman seems to be the one foundation for
all physical phenomena, or for all phenomena
that are generally referred to Mūlaprakçiti. . . .
Were it not for this essence [of Parabrahman],
there could be no physical body. But these at-
tributes do not spring from Parabrahman it-
self, but from Mūlaprakçiti which is its veil;
Mūlaprakçiti is the veil of Parabrahman. It is
not Parabrahman itself, but merely its appear-
3
ance. It is purely phenomenal. It is no doubt
far more persistent than any other kind of ob-
jective existence. Being the first mode or mani-
festation of the only absolute and uncondi-
tioned reality, it seems to be the basis of all

1
Modified after Esoteric Writings, VI (7) pp. 517-18
2
Esoteric Writings, VI (7) pp. 518-19
3
Cf. “. . . esoteric teaching differs from the Vedāntin doctrines of both the Adwaita and the
Viùishñadwaita schools. For it says that, while Mūlaprakçiti, the noumenon, is self-existing and with-
out any origin—is, in short, parentless, Anupādaka (as one with Brahmam)— prakçiti, its phenome-
non, is periodical and no better than a phantasm of the former;” (Secret Doctrine, I p. 62; commen-
tary on Stanza III 1(a).]

61
COMPASSION | CHAPTER 1

1
subsequent manifestations.
2
Only Logos knows [Likewise], “PROPATOR is known but to the
Mūlaprakçiti. only-begotten Son . . . that is to the mind”
3
(nous).

[Other aspects, epithets and synonyms of Mū-

laprakçiti are shown in Appendix E, p. 309.]

Logos or Word is divine thought concealed

The One becomes There are . . . two “Ones”—the One on the un-
Two Ones: reachable plane of Absoluteness and Infinity,
Parabrahman and Logos. on which no speculation is possible, and the
Second “One” on the plane of Emanations. The
former can neither emanate nor be divided, as
it is eternal, absolute, and immutable. The
Second, being, so to speak, the reflection of
the first One (for it is the Logos or Īśvara, in
the Universe of Illusion), can do all this. It
emanates from itself . . . the seven Rays or
Dhyāni-Chohans; in other words, the Homo-
geneous becomes the Heterogeneous, the “Pro-
4
tyle” differentiates into the Elements. . . . “The
Egyptians . . . distinguished between an Older
and Younger Horus; the former the brother of
5
Osiris; the latter the Son of Osiris and Isis” . .
. The first is the Idea of the world remaining in
the Demiurgic Mind, “born in darkness before
the creation of the world.” The second Horus is
this “Idea” going forth from the Logos, becom-
ing clothed with matter, and assuming an ac-
6
tual existence.
“Chaos ceases, through the effulgence of the
Ray of Primordial light dissipating total dark-
ness by the help of the great magic power of

1
Philosophy of the Bhagavad Gītā, (3rd lecture) p. 42
2
Or Bythos, “the first father of unfathomable nature, which is the second Logos.” (Cf. Secret Doc-
trine, I p. 349)
3
Secret Doctrine, I p. 349
4
Ibid. I p. 130
5
Ibid. I p. 348; [quoting Dunlap’s Vestiges of Spirit-History of Man, 1858, pp. 189-90.]
6
Ibid. I p. 348; [quoting Movers’ Die Phonizier, 1841, I p. 268.]

62
 OUR MOST PRECIOUS GEMS

1
the word of the [Central] Sun.”

Logos is divine [In Greek theology, Logos is Word and Rea-

2
thought concealed. son, a divine plan that is mirrored in the
manifested deity, an outward effect of a cause,
3
which remains forever] “an unknown and un-
4 5
knowable power.” . . . [As] “speech is the Lo-
6
gos of thought,” . . . [so] Logos is the mirror re-
flecting DIVINE MIND, and the Universe is the
7
mirror of the Logos. . . . Logos reflects all in
the Universe of Pleroma, so man reflects in
himself all that he sees and finds in his Uni-
8
verse, the Earth. . . . [Logos] is not material or
physical in its constitution, and it is not objec-
tive; it is not different . . . from Parabrahman,
and yet at the same time it is different from it
in having an individualised existence. . . . It
has consciousness and an individuality of its
own. . . . it is the only personal God, perhaps,
that exists in the cosmos. . . . such centres of
energy [Logoi] are almost innumerable in the
9
bosom of Parabrahman.

1
Secret Doctrine, I p. 231; [Commentary on Stanza VII 3 (a) & quoting from the Book of the
Dead.]
2
Cf. “[Chrysippus] says that divine power resides in reason and in the mind and intellect of univer-
sal nature. He says that god is the world itself, and the universal pervasiveness of its mind; also that
he is the world’s own commanding-faculty, since he is located in intellect and reason; that he is the
common nature of things, universal and all-embracing; also the force of fate and the necessity of fu-
ture events.” (Cicero: On the nature of the gods 1.39; in: The Hellenistic Philosophers, p. 323)
3
[In her innocence, Psyche admitted to “her wicked sisters” (i.e., Nature and Imagination) that “I
have never seen my husband’s face and I have no idea from where he comes from.” (Golden Ass, bk.
5, p. 86.)—Comp.] Also cf. “Cupid, the god, is the seventh principle or the Brahm of the Vedāntin,
and Psyche is its vehicle, the sixth or spiritual soul. As soon as she feels herself distinct from her
‘consort’—and sees him—she loses him. Study the ‘Heresy of Individuality’—and you will under-
stand.” Blavatsky Collected Writings, (FOOTNOTES TO “GLEANINGS FROM ĖLIPHAS LÉVI”) IV p. 264
4
Cf. “I don’t pretend to understand the Universe—it’s a great deal bigger than I am. People ought to
be modester.” (Carlyle: Remark to W Allingham qu. in: Wilson & Wilson’s McArthur’s Carlyle in Old
Age.)—King’s Quotations
5
Secret Doctrine, I p. 19 fn; [quoting Spencer.]
6
Theosophical Glossary, p. 190
7
Cf. “The Ātman, the Knower, the Lord of all, the real being, is the cause of all the vision that is in
the universe, but it is impossible for Him to see Himself or know Himself, excepting through reflec-
tion. You cannot see your own face except in a mirror, and so the Ātman, the Self, cannot see Its own
nature until It is reflected, and this whole universe, therefore, is the Self trying to realize Itself.”
Vivekānanda qu. in: Prabhavānanda’s Nārada’s Way of Divine Love: Nārada Bhakti-Sūtras. (1st In-
dian ed. 1972); Madras: Śri Ramakçishõa Math, 1986; p. 16
8
Secret Doctrine, II p. 25
9
Philosophy of the Bhagavad Gītā, (1st lecture) pp. 8-9

63
COMPASSION | CHAPTER 1

Its Light, Fohat, is divine Logos reflects the whole cosmos in itself, or, . .
1
thought revealed. . the whole cosmos exists in the Logos in its
germ, . . . the germ in which the whole plan of
the solar system eternally exists. The image
existing in the Logos becomes expanded and
amplified when communicated to its light [Fo-
hat or Daivīprakçiti], and is manifested in mat-
ter when the light acts upon Mūlaprakçiti. No
impulse, no energy, no form in the cosmos can
ever come into existence without having its
original conception in the field of chit, which
2
constitutes the demiurgic mind of the Logos.
Poimandres, the “Thought Divine” personified,
says:

The Light is I, I am the Nous [the mind or

Manu], I am thy God, and I am far older
than the moist principle which escapes
from the shadow [“Darkness,” or the con-
cealed Deity]. I am the germ of thought,
the resplendent Word, the Son of God. All
that thus sees and hears in thee is the
Verbum of the Master, it is the Thought
3
[Mahat] which is God, the Father.
“The difference between . . . [is] the same as between Ātma, Buddhi,
Spirit, Voice and Word” and Manas, in one sense. Spirit emanates
from the unknown Darkness, the mystery into
which none of us can penetrate. That Spirit—
call it the “Spirit of God” or Primordial Sub-
stance—mirrors itself in the Waters of Space—
or the still undifferentiated matter of the fu-
ture Universe—and produces thereby the first
flutter of differentiation in the homogeneity of
4
primordial matter.

[Other aspects, epithets and synonyms of Lo-

gos are shown in Appendix F, p. 312.]

1
Cf. “I was a gem concealed; | Me my burning revealed.”—Koran; [qu. in: Emerson’s Love, ¶ 1; p.
60.]
2
Philosophy of the Bhagavad Gītā, (3rd lecture) p. 64
3
Secret Doctrine, I p. 74. Cf. “By ‘God, the Father,’ the seventh principle in Man and Kosmos are
here unmistakably meant, this principle being inseparable in its Esse and Nature from the seventh
Cosmic principle. In one sense it is the Logos of the Greeks and the Avalokiteśvara of the esoteric
Buddhists.” (Ibid. I p. 74 fn.)
4
Blavatsky Collected Writings, (TRANSACTIONS OF THE BLAVATSKY LODGE) X p. 406

64
 OUR MOST PRECIOUS GEMS

Fohat or Light of Logos is divine thought revealed

1
Fohat is the The light [of the Logos] is, as it were, a cloak,
Flame of the Light, or a mask, with which the Logos is enabled to
the ultimate Knower make its appearance. The real centre of the
of Parabrahman. light is not visible even to the highest spiritual
perception of man. It is this truth which is
briefly expressed in that priceless little book
Light on the Path, when it says:

It is beyond you; because when you reach

it you have lost yourself. It is unattainable
because it for ever recedes. You will enter
the light, but you will never touch the
2
flame.
Understand my Parāprakçiti (Daivīprakçiti),
as something distinct from this. This
Daivīprakçiti is the one life by which the
3
whole Universe is supported.
It causes the One [In the manifested world, Fohat] is that occult,
to become Two and Three. electric, vital power, which, under the Will of
the Creative Logos, unites and brings together
all forms, giving them the first impulse which
becomes in time Law. . . . But in the unmani-
fested Universe, Fohat is no more this, than
Erōs is the later brilliant winged Cupid, or
LOVE. Fohat has naught to do with Kosmos
yet, since Kosmos is not born, and the gods
still sleep in the bosom of “Father-Mother.” He
is an abstract philosophical idea. He produces
nothing yet by himself; he is simply that po-
tential creative power in virtue of whose action
the NOUMENON of all future phenomena di-
vides, so to speak, but to reunite in a mystic
4
supersensuous act, and emit the creative ray.

1
Cf. “The Occultists call this light Daivīprakçiti in the East, and light of Christos in the West. It is the
light of the LOGOS, the direct reflection of the ever-Unknowable on the plane of Universal manifesta-
tion.” (Secret Doctrine, II p. 38)
2
Philosophy of the Bhagavad Gītā, (3rd lecture) pp. 52-53; [quoting Light on the Path, I rl. 12, p. 8.]
3
Ibid. p. 48; [quoting Gītā, 7 vs. 5.]
4
Secret Doctrine, I p. 109

65
COMPASSION | CHAPTER 1

When the “Divine Son” [Logos] breaks forth,

then Fohat becomes the propelling force, the
active Power which causes the ONE to become
TWO and THREE—on the Cosmic plane of mani-
festation. The triple One differentiates into the
many, and then Fohat is transformed into that
force which brings together the elemental at-
oms and makes them aggregate and com-
1
bine. . . . Fohat, the constructive force of
Cosmic Electricity, is said, metaphorically, to
have sprung, like Rudra from Brahmā, “from
the brain of the Father and the bosom of the
Mother,” and then to have metamorphosed
himself into a male and a female, i.e., polarity,
2
into positive and negative electricity.
3
By linking the subjective Creation or evolution is commenced by the
thought of Logos with Its intellectual energy of the Logos. The universe
objective manifestation, in its infinite details and with its wonderful
laws, does not spring into existence by mere
chance, nor does it spring into existence
merely on account of the potentialities locked
up in Mūlaprakçiti. . . . Matter acquires all its
attributes and all its powers which, in course
of time, give such wonderful results in the
4
course of evolution, by the action of this light
that emanates from the Logos upon Mūla-
prakçiti. . . . This light of Logos is the link, so
to speak, between objective matter and subjec-
tive thought of Īśvara. It is called in several
Buddhist books Fohat. It is the One instru-
ment with which the Logos works. What
springs up in the Logos at first is simply an
image, a conception of what it is to be in the
cosmos. This light or energy catches the image
and impresses it upon the cosmic matter
5
which is already manifested.

1
Secret Doctrine, I p. 109
2
Ibid. I p. 145
3
Cf. “True Esoteric philosophy . . . speaks neither of ‘creation’ nor of ‘evolution’ in the sense the exo-
teric religions do. All these personified Powers are not evolutions from one another, but so many as-
pects of the one and sole manifestation of the ABSOLUTE all.” Secret Doctrine, I p. 350
4
Cf. “There are three kinds of light in Occultism, as in the Kabala. (1) The Abstract and Absolute
Light, which is Darkness; (2) The Light of the Manifested-Unmanifested, called by some the Logos;
and (3) The latter Light reflected in the Dhyāni-Chohans, the minor Logoi (the Elōhīm, collectively),
who, in their turn, shed it on the objective Universe.” Secret Doctrine, II p. 37
5
Philosophy of the Bhagavad Gītā, (1st lecture) p. 12

66
 OUR MOST PRECIOUS GEMS

Fohat enables divine love Fohat, in his capacity of DIVINE LOVE (Erōs),
to be realised in the the electric Power of affinity and sympathy, is
world of being. shown allegorically as trying to bring the pure
Spirit, the Ray inseparable from the ONE abso-
lute, into union with the Soul, the two consti-
tuting in Man the MONAD, and in Nature the
first link between the ever-unconditioned and
1
the manifested. . . . The “innumerable incar-
nations of Spirit,” and “the ceaseless pulse
and current of Desire” refer, the first one, to
our doctrine of Karmic and cyclic rebirths, the
second—to ERŌS, not the later god of material,
physiological love, but to the divine desire in
the gods, as well as in all nature, to create and
give life to Beings. This, the Rays of the one
“dark,” because invisible and incomprehensi-
ble, FLAME could achieve only by themselves
2
descending into matter.

[Other aspects, epithets and synonyms of Fo-

hat are shown in Appendix G, p. 322.]

1
Secret Doctrine, I p. 119
2
Ibid. II p. 234; [commenting on the “The true esoteric view about ‘Satan,’ . . . brought out in an ap-
pendix, entitled ‘The Secret of Satan,’ to the second ed. of Dr. A. Kingsford’s Perfect Way.”—Ibid. p.
233.]

67
COMPASSION | CHAPTER 1

Genealogy and gender of Logos and Its Light

Originally, The Gnostic Sophia, “Wisdom,” who is “the

1
Logoi were female Mother” of the Ogdoad (Aditi, in a certain
everywhere. sense, with her eight sons), is the Holy Ghost
and the Creator of all, as in the ancient sys-
tems. The “Father” is a far later invention. The
earliest manifested Logos was female every-
where—the mother of the seven planetary
2
powers.
Brahmā, the first Ain-Soph is called the “Fiery Soul of the Peli-
procreating male, can” in the Book of the Numbers appearing
is the keynote to all with every Manvantara as Nārāyana, or
Logoi—“divine sons from Svāyambhuva (the Self-Existent), and pene-
3
immaculate mothers” trating into the Mundane Egg, it emerges from
—well before these it at the end of the divine incubation as
became father’s sons. Brahmā or Prajāpati, a progenitor of the future
Universe into which he expands. He is Pu-
rusha (spirit), but he is also Prakçiti (matter).
Therefore it is only after separating himself
into two halves—Brahmā-Vāch (the female)
and Brahmā-Virāj (the male), that the Prajā-
4
pati becomes the male Brahmā. . . . Hence all
the higher gods of antiquity were all “Sons of
the Mother” before they become those of the
“Father.” The Logoi, like Jupiter or Zeus, Son
of Kronos-Saturn, “Infinite Time” (or Kala), in
their origin were represented as male-female.
Zeus is said to be the “beautiful Virgin,” and
5
Venus is made bearded. Apollo is originally
bisexual, so is Brahmā-Vāch in Manu and the
Purāõas. Osiris is interchangeable with Isis,
and Horus is of both sexes. Finally, St. John’s
vision in Revelation, that of the Logos, who is
now connected with Jesus—is hermaphrodite,
6
for he is described as having female breasts.

1
Plural of Logos—Comp.
2
Secret Doctrine, I p. 72 fn.
3
Cf. ibid. I p. 91
4
Ibid. I pp. 80-81
5
Cf. “When Venus addressed Psyche, she called herself ‘mother-in-law.’ ” Golden Ass, bk. 6 p. 98
6
Secret Doctrine, I p. 72 fn.

68
 OUR MOST PRECIOUS GEMS

The mother, wife, and The Mother of Mercy and Knowledge is called
daughter of Logos was “the triple” of Kuan-Shih-Yin because in her
the triple Kuan-shih-yin, correlations, metaphysical and cosmical, she
before She became known is the “Mother, the Wife and the Daughter” of
1
as Father, Son, and the Logos, just as in the later theological
Holy Ghost. translations she became “the Father, Son and
(the female) Holy Ghost”—the Śakti or En-
2
ergy—the Essence of the three.
Fohat is both the mother Thus in the Esotericism of the Vedantins,
and daughter of Logos. Daivīprakçiti [or Fohat], the Light manifested
through Īśvara, the Logos, is at one and the
same time the Mother and also the Daughter
of the Logos or Verbum of Parabrahman; while
in that of the trans-Himalayan teachings it
is—in the hierarchy of allegorical and meta-
physical theogony—“the MOTHER,” or abstract,
ideal matter, Mūlaprakçiti, the Root of Nature;
from the metaphysical standpoint, a correla-
tion of Ādi-Bhūta, manifested in the Logos,
Avalokiteśvara; and from the purely occult and
Cosmical, Fohat, the “Son of Sons,” the an-
drogynous energy resulting from this “Light of
the Logos,” and which manifests in the plane
of the objective Universe as the hidden, as
much as the revealed, Electricity—which is
3
LIFE.
Therefore, When Christos manifests himself in man as
when Christos, his Saviour, it is from the womb, as it were, of
manifests in Man, this divine light that he is born. So it is only
his Light is his daughter when the Logos is manifested in man that he
rather than his mother. becomes the child of this light of the Logos—
this Māyā—but in the course of cosmic mani-
festation this Daivīprakçiti, instead of being
the mother of the Logos, should, strictly
4
speaking, be called the daughter of the Logos.

1
Cf. “Kuan-shih-yin, then, is ‘the Son identical with his Father’ mystically, or the Logos.” Secret Doc-
trine, I p. 472
2
Secret Doctrine, I p. 136
3
Ibid. I pp. 136-37
4
Philosophy of the Bhagavad Gītā, (1st lecture) p. 11

69
COMPASSION | CHAPTER 1

Pause for inward reflection

The only God we must recognize and pray1

to, or rather act in unison with, is that spirit
of God of which our body is the temple, and in which it dwelleth.
2
— Helena Petrovna Blavatsky

Glimpses of the Eternal Reality within us can only be gathered by a calm

and cool mind energised by pure living and edified by altruistic action. “By
3
studying and assimilating its eternal verities” the transmutation of ardent
aspirations into philosopher’s gold begins. Eventually, all our ideals will have
to be realised here, on Earth. For the faithful and staunch servitors of LAW
nothing is impossible.

Responding to the question whether apart from “the outward petition to an

unknown God as the addressee” there is any other kind of prayer, HP
Blavatsky affirmed: “Most decidedly; we call it WILL-PRAYER, and it is rather
4
an internal command than a petition.” In the following selections, Master
Koot Hoomi, Blavatsky, and Judge describe key features of this inner and si-
lent development:

For a clearer comprehension of the extremely abstruse and at first

incomprehensible theories of our occult doctrine, never allow the
serenity of your mind to be disturbed during your hours of literary
labour, nor before you set to work. It is upon the serene and placid
surface of the unruffled mind that the visions gathered from the
invisible find a representation in the visible world. Otherwise you
would vainly seek those visions, those flashes of sudden light
which have already helped to solve so many of the minor problems
and which alone can bring the truth before the eye of the soul. It is
with jealous care that we have to guard our mind-plane from all
the adverse influences which daily arise in our passage through
5
earth-life.

Meditation is silent and unuttered prayer, or, as Plato expressed it,

“the ardent turning of the soul toward the divine; not to ask any
particular good (as in the common meaning of prayer), but for good
itself—for the universal Supreme Good” of which we are a part on
6
earth, and out of the essence of which we have all emerged. . . .

1
Cf. “ . . . while we are in this prison-house of matter, we must wear our chain; even wear it grace-
fully, if we have the good taste; and make the base necessities of this body of shame symbolic of the
divine food of the reason.” Hypatia, p. 13
2
Key to Theosophy, p. 71
3
Cf. ibid. p. 57
4
Cf. ibid. p. 67
5
Mahātma Letter 11 (65), 3rd Combined ed.
6
Key to Theosophy, p. 10

70
 OUR MOST PRECIOUS GEMS

1
Nor . . . prayer is a petition. It is a mystery rather; an occult proc-
ess by which finite and conditioned thoughts and desires, unable
to be assimilated by the absolute spirit which is unconditioned, are
translated into spiritual wills and the will; such process being
called “spiritual transmutation.” The intensity of our ardent aspira-
tions changes prayer into the “philosopher’s stone,” or that which
transmutes lead into pure gold. The only homogeneous essence,
our “will-prayer” becomes the active or creative force, producing ef-
2
fects according to our desire.

The very instant a high aspiration is entertained, that instant the

3
spiritual fire begins to work, and if the aspiration is made perma-
nent by action inside and outside, then, the heat being constantly
thus applied to the heavy lead-like material of the lower nature, the
melting and refining process goes on silently but surely, adding
power to the inner body which acts again on the outer body, and
giving to all a strength and consistency which will lead to the grad-
ual acquirement of true wisdom. This is what is meant by the al-
chemical and Rosicrucian saying or theory that lead or base metal
may be turned into gold by the use of the “red powder.” The oppo-
site saying is also true, that by the use of the black powder the
4
precious metal may be turned into lead.

Breathtaking is the birth of a universe and its progressive clothing in matter.

And, as diligent study demonstrates, metaphysical concepts are not cold and
irrelevant abstractions. On the contrary, even faint insights are so elating
that students often break into spontaneous rapture towards the Eternal
Principle within us. Metaphysics are the heart of occultism, says Blavatsky:

For, outside of metaphysics no occult philosophy, no esotericism is

possible. It is like trying to explain the aspirations and affections,
the love and hatred, the most private and sacred workings in the
soul and mind of the living man, by an anatomical description of
5
the chest and brain of his dead body.

For those who, doing justice to a book by reading it from cover to cover, have
just reached this page there now follows a special invocation to meditation
as a pause for inward reflection. This heart-stirring adoration of the Pure In-
tellectual Essence, Logos or Deity if you prefer, was included by Thomas Tay-
lor in his 1795 translation of Apuleius’ Fable of Cupid and Psychē, at the re-

1
Cf. [Common] “prayer is often sorcery.” Secret Doctrine, I p. 469
2
Key to Theosophy, p. 68
3
Cf. “. . . One of the fires spoken of by the alchemists and referred to by those who have written
about the Rosicrucians and the Fire Philosophers.” Echoes of the Orient, III p. 459
4
Echoes of the Orient, III p. 459
5
Secret Doctrine, I pp. 169-70

71
COMPASSION | CHAPTER 1

1
quest of a friend with “thirst after knowledge and elegant taste.” The zeal of
this learned Platonist in polishing the Gems of Esotericism is inspiring; his
passionate and fluent utterance magnificent:

To the Whole of a Pure Intellectual Essence,

Considered as forming One Intelligible World

O Fairest offspring of a fire unknown!

Splendour immense, all-comprehending god;
Thy blest intelligible world I’ll sing,
And celebrate the beauty it contains.
Witness, ye shining stars, that nightly roll
With ever wakeful and rejoicing fires:
Witness, thou moon, whose ever changing orb
Gives due perfection to material forms:
And thou, O sun! bright ruler of the stars
And sacred arbiter of pious souls
Witness the constant tribute of my praise;
Witness the mystic ardour of my soul.
To thee my wings, From Hyle’s dire abode
I stretch, impatient of a speedy flight:
That rapid to the palace I may rise,
And in the good’s bright vestibule exult.
For there the great intelligible gods,
Like daz’ling lamps, in spheres of crystal shine;
Ineffably announcing by their light
Th’abode of deity’s o’erflowing fount.
All perfect father, may thy piercing eye
Shine on my soul with sacred hymns replete,
And rouse conceptions bright with mental fire!
Now from the barriers of the race divine,
Urg’d by the Muse’s vivid fire, I start;
And rapid to the goal of sacred verse,
To gain the soul’s Olympic honours, run.
A voice divine in intellect’s retreats.
Now gently murmurs with inspiring sound.
O blessed father, deity sublime!
Propitious listen to my suppliant prayer,
And haste my union with thy beauteous world:
Thy world with ev’ry excellence endu’d,
And with ideas omniform replete.
There shines the sun with intellectual light,
And ev’ry star is there a mental sun.

1
Taylor T (Transl.). In: The Fable of Cupid and Psyche by Apuleius. (1st ed. 1795); Los Angeles: Phi-
losophical Research Society Inc, 1977; pp. 136-38. Or, in: Medicina Mentis. Brook: The Shrine of
Wisdom, 1974; pp. 46-47

72
 OUR MOST PRECIOUS GEMS

Each contains all; yet sep’rate and distinct

Particulars their proper character preserve.
There all is truly all, immensely great,
Motion is pure, abiding without change;
And ev’ry part exists a perfect whole.
O grant my soul the lynx’s piercing eye,
That I may penetrate the depth divine
Thy blest intelligible world contains.
There each inhabitant, with boundless view,
Light within light perpetually perceives;
Nor finds in ought vacuity to check
Th’ unweary’d energies of mental sight.
But all things there with pow’r untam’d subsist,
And each by seeing more abundant sees.
Now in my phantasy from sense refin’d,
A lucid image of a globe appears,
Throughout diaphanous; whose orb contains
The sun, and stars, and ev’ry mundane form,
And all things shine in each divinely fair.
And while this lucid spectacle remains,
My soul attempts to frame a brighter sphere:
Devoid of bulk, subsisting without place,
And from the images of matter free.
Come then, blest parent of that sphere divine,
Whose mental image anxious I explore;
Come with thy own intelligible world,
And all the gods its beauteous realms contain.
With all things come conspiring into one:
That thus with thee, in perfect union join’d,
My soul may recognize thy matchless fire;
May vig’rous rise to his occult retreats,
And fly alone to solitary good.

73
 CHAPTER 2
PREHISTORIC CATECHISM OF
PRACTICAL THEOSOPHY

After studying an early translation of the Bhagavad Gītā, Schlegel expressed

1
pious gratitude to its unknown author, “. . . by whose oracles the mind is
snatched with a certain ineffable pleasure towards everything lofty, eternal
2
and divine.” Hundreds of translations in the last century alone are not only
telling testimony to its universal appeal and profound influence; they also
concede the inadequacy of modern vocabularies in imparting higher knowl-
edge, as they lack in density of expression, field of meanings, and the dignity
that Sanskrit has bestowed to the original verses.

WQ Judge’s recension, being distinguished by an empowering simplicity, is

the source of all quotations from the Gītā in this Chapter and throughout the
book. But when he criticised AP Sinnett’s Esoteric Buddhism as “nearly all
3
the leading portions of the [secret] doctrine are to be found broadly stated in
4
the Bhagavad Gītā,” HP Blavatsky, responding in her capacity as editor of
the Theosophist, did not believe that the “American brother” was justified in
his remarks:

The knowledge given out in Esoteric Buddhism is, most decidedly,

“given out for the first time,” inasmuch as the allegories that lie
scattered in the Hindu sacred literature are now for the first time
clearly explained to the world of the profane. Since the birth of the
Theosophical Society and the publication of Isis, it is being re-
peated daily that all the Esoteric Wisdom of the ages lies concealed
in the Vedas, the Upanishads and Bhagavad Gītā. Yet, unto the
day of the first appearance of Esoteric Buddhism, and for long cen-

1
The Bhagavad Gītā is attributed to Vyāsa.
2
Arnold E (Transl.). The Song Celestial or Bhagavad Gītā. London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner &
Co Ltd, 1927, pref. vii; [quoting Schlegel “. . . cujus oraculis mens ad excelsa quæque, æterna atque
divina, cum inenarrabili quādam delectatione rapitur—te primum, inquam, salvere jubeo, et vestigia
tua semper adoro.” — transl. CJ Tuplin]
3
[Which, AP Sinnett stated, “is now being given out for the first time”—Comp.]
4
Cf. The Theosophist, 1884: V (5-53) p. 122

75
COMPASSION | CHAPTER 2

turies back, these doctrines remained a sealed letter to all but a

few initiated Brahmans who had always kept the spirit of it to
themselves. The allegorical text was taken literally by the educated
and the uneducated, the first laughing secretly at the fables and
the latter falling into superstitious worship, and owing to the vari-
1
ety of the interpretations—splitting into numerous sects.

Adding credence to the universal consensus that its ethics are ageless, there
is astronomical evidence that the Gītā is a very much older text than it is
generally supposed. In fact, its precepts are those of the Paurāõika-Eclectic
School of philosophy, which is the precursor of Theosophy. In other words,
the Gītā is an ancient manual of practical Theosophy. That is why it has at-
tracted such an unprecedented wealth of commentaries, from Śaükarā-
chārya to contemporary thinkers. And that is why Theosophists, mystics,
and independent thinkers alike hold it in such high esteem: its noble ances-
try as well as its timeless message is intuitively recognised.

The Bhagavad Gītā is In view of the great resemblance between

a manual of initiation, many of the fundamental “truths” of Christi-
anity and the “myths” of Brāhmanism, there
have been serious attempts . . . to prove that
the Bhagavad Gītā and most of the Brāh-
maõas and the Purāõas are of a far later date
than the Mosaic Books and even than the Gos-
pels. But were it possible that an enforced
success should be obtained in this direction,
such argument cannot achieve its object, since
the èig-Veda remains. Brought down to the
most modern limits of the age assigned to it,
its date cannot be made to overlap that of the
2
Pentateuch, which is admittedly later. . . . The
idea that the Gītā may after all be one of the
ancient books of initiations—now most of
them lost—has never occurred to them. Yet—
like the Book of Job very wrongly incorporated
into the Bible, since it is the allegorical and
double record of (1) the Egyptian sacred mys-
teries in the temples and (2) of the disembod-
ied Soul appearing before Osiris, and the Hall
of Amenti, to be judged according to its
Karma—the Gītā is a record of the ancient
3
teaching during the Mystery of Initiation.

1
Blavatsky Collected Writings, (THE BHAGAVAD GĪTĀ AND “ESOTERIC BUDDHISM”) VI p. 147
2
Ibid. (EASTERN AND WESTERN OCCULTISM) XIV p. 240
3
Ibid. (FOOTNOTES TO “GLEANINGS FROM ĖLIPHAS LÉVI”) IV p. 124

76
 CATECHISM OF PRACTICAL THEOSOPHY

At least 27 millennia old. The Bhagavad Gītā, as well as the Bhāgavata,

makes mention of an observation which points
to a still more remote antiquity than the one
discovered by Mr. Bentley. The passages are
given in order below:
“I am the Mārgaśīrsha [viz. the first]
amongst the months and the spring [viz.
the first] among the seasons.”
This shows that at one time the first month of
spring was Mārgaśīrsha. A season includes
two months, and the mention of a month sug-
gests the season.
“I am the Saüvatsara among the years
[which are five in number], and the spring
among the seasons, and the Mārgaśīrsha
among the months, and the Abhijit among
the asterisms [which are twenty-eight in
number].”
This clearly points out that at one time in the
first year called Saüvatsara, or the quinquen-
nial age, the Madhu, that is, the first month of
spring, was Mārgaśīrsha, and Abhijit was the
first of the asterisms. It then coincided with
the vernal equinoctial point, and hence from it
the asterisms were counted. To find the date of
this observation: There are three asterisms
from the beginning of Mūla to the beginning of
Abhijit, and hence the date in question is at
1
least 16,335 + 3/7 X 90 X 72 = 19,112 or
about 20,000 B.C. The Saüvatsara at this
time began in Bhādrapādā the winter solstitial
2
month.
So far then 20,000 years are mathematically
proven for the antiquity of the Vedas. And this
is simply exoteric. . . .

“The great ancestor of Yudhishthira

reigned 27,000 years . . . at the close of
3
the brazen age.”

1
[Calculation as corrected in vol. XIV of the 1995 reprint of Blavatsky Collected Writings—Comp.]
2
Blavatsky Collected Writings, (SECRET CYCLES, A PROOF FROM THE BHAGAVAD-GĪTĀ ) XIV pp. 364-65;
[quoting from Kçishõa Śāstri Godbole’s article on the “Antiquity of the Vedas” (The Theosophist, vol.
III, October 1881, pp. 22-23), citing J. Bentley’s Historical View of Hindu Astronomy, from the earliest
dawn of that science in India, down to the present time, etc., Calcutta, 1823; London, 1825; p. 5.]
3
Ibid. pp. 364-65; [quoting from S. A. Mackey’ Asiatic Researches, vol. II p. 103; [BDZ notes: Origi-
nally published 1788-1839, the entire series has been reprinted by Cosmo Pubs, New Delhi, 1979.]

77
COMPASSION | CHAPTER 2

Its catechism is of the In Indian philosophy [there are] only six rec-
Seventh School of ognized systems, which are known as the
Indian philosophy, Shaó-Darśana, literally the six demonstrations
or “six schools.”. . Namely:

(1) Nyāya, the logical school of èishi Gau-

tama;

(2) Vaiśeshika, the atomic system of

Kaõāda;
(3) Sāükhya, the pantheistic school of
Kapila;

(4) Yoga, the mystical school of Patañjali;

(5) Pūrva (early) Mīmāüsā;

(6) Uttara (later) Mīmāüsā, of Vyāsa, which
is called Vedānta.
There is a seventh school, which is a much
later one, the Paurāõika, or the eclectic school
which presents the teachings of the Bhagavad-
Gītā, but is not included in the number of the
ancient Darśanas. None of the other, later
1
schools are taken into account.
It is a precursor of There were Theosophists before the Christian
the Eclectic School era, not-withstanding that the Christian writ-
of Theosophy. ers ascribe the development of the Eclectic
theosophical system, to the early part of the
third century of their Era. . . . But history
shows it [Theosophy] revived by Ammonius
Saccas, the founder of the Neo-Platonic
School. He and his disciples called themselves
“Philaletheians”—lovers of the truth; while
others termed them the “Analogists,” on ac-
count of their method of interpreting all sacred
legends, symbolical myths and mysteries, by a
rule of analogy or correspondence, so that
events which had occurred in the external
world were regarded as expressing operations
2
and experiences of the human soul.

1
Blavatsky Collected Writings, (NEO-BUDDHISM) XII p. 343 & fn.
2
Ibid. II (WHAT IS THEOSOPHY?) p. 88; based on A. Wilder’s New Platonism and Alchemy. [1869]; San
Diego: Wizards Bookshelf, 1975.

78
 CATECHISM OF PRACTICAL THEOSOPHY

Hence, the Buddhistic, Vedantic and Magian,

or Zoroastrian, systems were taught in the
Eclectic Theosophical School along with all the
philosophies of Greece. Hence also, that pre-
eminently Buddhistic and Indian feature
among the ancient Theosophists of Alexandria,
of due reverence for parents and aged persons;
a fraternal affection for the whole human race;
and a compassionate feeling for even the
dumb animals. . . . His chief object in order,
as [Ammonius Saccas] believed, to achieve all
others, was to extract from the various reli-
gious teachings, as from a many-chorded in-
strument, one full and harmonious melody,
which would find response in every truth-
1
loving heart.
Its author is In some very peculiar sense Kçishõa is the real
Kçishõa-Christos, Christ. Your Christ is simply a feeble image, as
the “still small voice.” it were, of Kçishõa—a mere reflection. It is from
the standpoint of that mysterious Voice that
Kçishõa is speaking in the Bhagavad Gītā. It is
that Voice that is speaking. Hence the impor-
tance of that book. It contains more of the real
teaching of Christ than any other book which
now exists. But it is open to any man to obtain
the teaching of Christ in himself from the “still
2
small voice.”

1
Blavatsky Collected Writings, II (WHAT IS THEOSOPHY?) p. 89; based on A. Wilder’s New Platonism
and Alchemy. [1869]; San Diego: Wizards Bookshelf, 1975.
2
Esoteric Writings, VII (1) pp. 532-33

79
COMPASSION | CHAPTER 2

On the First Truth of Theosophy

The three Great Truths of The Secret Doctrine will be now matched with cor-
responding aphorisms from the Gītā. As the latter was originally intended for
the use of those who were familiar with higher metaphysics, their concor-
dance is in the spirit rather than the letter. T Subba Row, a prominent com-
mentator on the Gītā, explains:

The Bhagavad-Gītā starts from certain premises, which are not ex-
plained at length—they are simply alluded to here and there, and
quoted for the purpose of enforcing the doctrine, or as authorities,
and Kçishõa does not go into the details of the philosophy which is
their foundation. . . . This philosophy I cannot gather or deduce
from the Bhagavad-Gītā itself; but I can show that the premises
1
with which it starts are therein indicated with sufficient clearness.

According to Row, the Gītā is a “discourse addressed by a Guru to a chelā

2
who has fully determined upon the renunciation of all worldly desires.”
Kçishõa is the guru; Arjuna, the chelā or pupil. “Vyāsa looked upon Arjuna
as man, or rather the real monad in man; and upon Kçishõa as the Logos, or
3
the spirit that comes to save Man.” The ontological postulates and exegesis
of The Secret Doctrine focus the higher mind. The intimate dialogue between
Kçishõa and Arjuna appeals to intuition. Enlightened mind awakens intui-
tion, which is spiritual knowledge.

The universals of The Secret Doctrine ought not to be viewed as abstract phi-
losophical ideas. They are cognitive keys to the higher faculties of the soul.
This Chapter, therefore, aims not only to correlate the metaphysics of The
Secret Doctrine with those hinted at in the Gītā, but also to remind students
of these great truths so that they are prepared to receive the expansion of
the second premise of Theosophy in the light of the Gītā (Chapter 4), which is
a unique feature of this study. Though not every sentence in The Secret Doc-
trine’s proem can be matched exactly with a verse in the Gītā, its three
propositions are here reproduced in full.

1
Philosophy of the Bhagavad Gītā, (1st lecture) p. 2
2
Cf. Esoteric Writings, I (7) p. 95
3
Cf. ibid. p. 93

80
 CATECHISM OF PRACTICAL THEOSOPHY

Secret Doctrine Bhagavad Gītā

The Secret Doctrine establishes . . . I myself never was not, nor thou,
(a) An Omnipresent, Eternal, nor all the princes of the earth; nor
Boundless, and Immutable PRINCI- shall we ever hereafter cease to
2
PLE on which all speculation is im- be. . . . There is no existence for
possible, since it transcends the that which does not exist, nor is
power of human conception and there any non existence for what
could only be dwarfed by any hu- exists. Learn that He by whom all
man expression or similitude. It is things were formed is incorruptible,
beyond the range and reach of and that no one is able to effect the
thought—in the words of Māõóūkya destruction of IT, which is inex-
3
Upanishad, “unthinkable and un- haustible. . . . for it is indivisible,
speakable” [Verse 7.] inconsumable, incorruptible, . . .
eternal, universal, permanent, im-
4
movable; . . . it is invisible, incon-
5
ceivable, and unalterable . . .

There is one absolute reality, which All this universe is pervaded by me

antecedes all manifested, condi- in my invisible form; all things exist
tioned, being. This Infinite and in me, but I do not exist in them.
Eternal Cause . . . is the rootless Nor are all things in me; behold this
root of “all that was, is, or ever shall my divine mystery: myself causing
be.” It is . . . devoid of all attributes things to exist and supporting them
6
and is essentially without any rela- all but dwelling not in them.
tion to manifested, finite Being. It is
There are two kinds of beings in the
“Be-ness” rather than Being (in
world, the one divisible, the other
Sanskrit, Sat), and is beyond all
1 indivisible; the divisible is all things
thought or speculation.
and the creatures, the indivisible is
called Kūtasñha, or he who standeth
on high unaffected. But there is an-
other spirit designated as the Su-
preme Spirit—Paramātma,—which
permeates and sustains the three
7
worlds.

1
Secret Doctrine, I p. 14
2
Bhagavad Gītā, 2 vs. 12
3
Ibid. 2 vs. 16-17
4
Ibid. 2 vs. 24
5
Ibid. 2 vs. 25
6
Ibid. 9 vs. 4-5
7
Ibid. 15 vs. 16-17. Cf. “These three worlds are the three planes of being, the terrestrial, astral and
the spiritual.” Voice of the Silence, fragm. III notes 27 & 34 to vs. 288 & 306, pp. 66 & 71; pp. 94 &
95 in glos. of Chinese & Centenary eds.

81
COMPASSION | CHAPTER 2

This “Be-ness” is symbolised in the Understand that all things are in

Secret Doctrine under two aspects. me even as the mighty air which
2
passes everywhere is in space.
. . . [a] absolute abstract Space,
representing bare subjectivity, There is nothing . . . in the three
the one thing which no human regions of the universe which it is
mind can either exclude from necessary for me to perform, nor
any conception, or conceive of anything possible to obtain which I
by itself. have not obtained; and yet I am
3
constantly in action.
. . . . [b] absolute abstract
Motion representing
Unconditioned Consciousness.

. . . . Consciousness is
inconceivable to us apart from
change, and motion best symbolizes
change, its essential characteristic.
This latter aspect of the one Reality,
is also symbolised by the term “The
Great Breath,” a symbol sufficiently
graphic to need no further elucida-
tion. Thus, then, the first funda-
mental axiom of the Secret Doctrine
is this metaphysical ONE ABSO-
LUTE—BE-NESS—symbolized by
finite intelligence as the
1
theological Trinity.

1
Secret Doctrine, I p. 14
2
Bhagavad Gītā, 9 vs. 6
3
Ibid. 3 vs. 22

82
 CATECHISM OF PRACTICAL THEOSOPHY

On the Second Truth of Theosophy

Secret Doctrine Bhagavad Gītā

Further, I produce myself among creatures .

The Secret Doctrine affirms: . . whenever there is a decline of
(b) The Eternity of the Universe in virtue and an insurrection of vice
toto as a boundless plane; periodi- and injustice in the world; and thus
cally “the playground of numberless I incarnate from age to age for the
Universes incessantly manifesting preservation of the just, the
and disappearing,” called “the destruction of the wicked, and the
3
manifesting stars,” and the “sparks establishment of righteousness.
of Eternity.” “The Eternity of the
Pilgrim” is like a wink of the Eye of
Self-Existence
(Book of Dzyan).

“The appearance and disappear- I now draw in and now let forth; I
ance of Worlds is like a regular tidal am death and immortality; I am the
1
ebb, flux and reflux.” cause unseen and the
4
visible effect.
This second assertion of the Secret
Doctrine is the absolute universal-
ity of that law of periodicity, of flux
and reflux, ebb and flow, which
physical science has observed and
recorded in all departments of na-
ture. An alternation such as that of
Day and Night, Life and Death,
Sleeping and Waking, is a fact so
common, so perfectly universal and
without exception, that it is easy to
comprehend that in it we see one of
the absolutely fundamental laws
2
of the universe.

1
Secret Doctrine, I pp. 16-17
2
Ibid. I pp. 16-17
3
Bhagavad Gītā, 4 vs. 7-8
4
Ibid. 9 vs. 19

83
COMPASSION | CHAPTER 2

On the Third Truth of Theosophy

Secret Doctrine Bhagavad Gītā

Moreover, Brahman the Supreme is the ex-

the Secret Doctrine teaches: haustless. Adhyātma is the name of
(c) The fundamental identity of all my being manifesting as the Indi-
Souls with the Universal Over-Soul, vidual Self. Karma is the emana-
the latter being itself an aspect of tion, which causes the existence
2
the Unknown Root; and the obliga- and reproduction of creatures.
tory pilgrimage for every Soul—a There dwelleth in the heart of every
spark of the former—through the creature . . . the Master—Īśvara—
Cycle of Incarnation (or “Necessity”) who by his magic power causeth all
in accordance with Cyclic and Kar- things and creatures to revolve
1
mic law, during the whole term. mounted upon the universal wheel
3
of time.

In other words, no purely spiritual Being born again he comes in con-

Buddhi (divine Soul) can have an tact with the knowledge which be-
independent (conscious) existence longed to him in his former body,
before the spark which issued from and from that time he struggles
4
the pure Essence of the Universal more diligently towards perfection .
Sixth principle—or the OVER-SOUL— . . For even unwittingly, by reason
has (a) passed through every ele- of that past practice, he is led and
mental form of the phenomenal works on. Even if only a mere en-
world of that Manvantara, and (b) quirer, he reaches beyond the word
5
acquired individuality, first by of the Vedas. . . . But the devotee
natural impulse, and then by self- who, striving with all his might, ob-
induced and self-devised efforts taineth perfection because of efforts
(checked by its Karma), thus as- continued through many births,
6
cending through all the degrees of goeth to the supreme goal.
intelligence, from the lowest to the
highest Manas, from mineral and
plant, up to the holiest archangel
(Dhyāni-Buddha).

1
Secret Doctrine, I p. 17
2
Bhagavad Gītā, 8 vs. 3
3
Ibid. 18 vs. 61
4
Ibid. 6 vs. 43
5
Ibid. 6 vs. 44
6
Ibid. 6 vs. 45

84
 CATECHISM OF PRACTICAL THEOSOPHY

The pivotal doctrine of the Esoteric For those who worship me, re-
philosophy admits no privileges or nouncing in me all their actions,
special gifts in man, save those won regarding me as the supreme goal
by his own Ego through personal and meditating on me alone, if their
effort and merit throughout a long thoughts are turned to me, I pres-
series of metempsychoses and ently become the saviour from this
1 2
reincarnations. ocean of incarnations and death.

Ten more Truths

Eleven years before The Secret Doctrine was first published, HP Blavatsky
had summarised the fundamentals of Oriental philosophy in Isis Unveiled (II
pp. 587-90), so that “the principles of natural law involved in the several
3
phenomena hereinafter described” could be comprehended. These are not
as fundamental as the three premises of The Secret Doctrine. But, because
they are instructive as well as enlightening, they are reproduced below for
the sake of completeness.

1st. There is no miracle. Everything that happens is the result of

law—eternal, immutable, ever active. . . .

2nd. Nature is triune: there is a visible, objective nature; an invisi-

ble, indwelling, energizing nature, the exact model of the other, and
its vital principle; and, above these two, spirit, source of all forces,
alone eternal and indestructible. The lower two constantly change;
the higher third does not.

3rd. Man is also triune: he has his objective, physical body; his vi-
talizing astral body (or soul), the real man; and these two are
brooded over and illuminated by the third—the sovereign, the im-
mortal spirit. When the real man succeeds in merging himself with
the latter, he becomes an immortal entity.

1
Secret Doctrine, I p. 17
2
Bhagavad Gītā, 12 vs. 6-7
3
Cf. Isis Unveiled, II p. 587

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COMPASSION | CHAPTER 2

4th. Magic, as a science, is the knowledge of these principles, and of

the way by which the omniscience and omnipotence of the spirit
and its control over nature’s forces may be acquired by the indi-
vidual while still in the body. Magic, as an art, is the application of
this knowledge in practice.

5th. Arcane knowledge misapplied, is sorcery; beneficently used,

true magic or WISDOM.

6th. Mediumship is the opposite of adeptship; the medium is the

passive instrument of foreign influences, the adept actively controls
himself and all inferior potencies.

7th. All things that ever were, that are, or that will be, having their
record upon the astral light, or tablet of the unseen universe, the
initiated adept, by using the vision of his own spirit, can know all
that has been known or can be known.

8th. Races of men differ in spiritual gifts as in color, stature, or any

other external quality; among some peoples seership naturally pre-
vails, among others mediumship. Some are addicted to sorcery,
and transmit its secret rules of practice from generation to genera-
tion, with a range of psychical phenomena, more or less wide, as
the result.

9th. One phase of magical skill is the voluntary and conscious

withdrawal of the inner man (astral form) from the outer man
(physical body). In the cases of some mediums withdrawal occurs,
but it is unconscious and involuntary. With the latter the body is
more or less cataleptic at such times; but with the Adept the ab-
sence of the astral form would not be noticed, for the physical
senses are alert, and the individual appears only as though in a fit
of abstraction—“a brown study,” as some call it.

10th. The cornerstone of MAGIC is an intimate practical knowledge

of magnetism and electricity, their qualities, correlations, and po-
tencies. Especially necessary is a familiarity with their effects in
and upon the animal kingdom and man. . . . In a few words, MAGIC
is spiritual WISDOM; nature, the material ally, pupil and servant of
1
the magician.

1
Cf. Isis Unveiled, II pp. 587-90

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 CATECHISM OF PRACTICAL THEOSOPHY

The One becomes Two Ones:

Parabrahman and Logos
As a conclusion to the universal truths, there now follows a short compila-
tion, also from The Secret Doctrine, where HP Blavatsky emends the double
mystery of trinity and immaculate conception. Grasping the emanations of
the One Life would have been much more arduous without an appreciation
of the protean logoic functions. In the following excerpts, she describes the
cosmic events that come to being immediately after the “reawakening of Cos-
mic Ideation concurrently with the emergence of Cosmic Substance”:

Then, absolute wisdom mirrors itself in its Ideation; which, by a

transcendental process, superior to and incomprehensible by hu-
man Consciousness, results in Cosmic Energy (Fohat). Thrilling
through the bosom of inert Substance, Fohat impels it to activity,
and guides its primary differentiations on all the Seven planes of
1
Cosmic Consciousness. . . . When the “Divine Son” breaks forth,
then, Fohat becomes the propelling force, the active Power which
causes the ONE to become TWO and THREE—on the Cosmic plane of
manifestation. The triple ONE differentiates into the many, and
then Fohat is transformed into that force which brings together the
2
elemental atoms and makes them aggregate and combine.
3
The Primordial Substance had not yet passed out of its precosmic
latency into differentiated objectivity . . . But, as the hour strikes
and it becomes receptive of the Fohatic impress of the Divine
Thought (the Logos . . . )—its heart opens. It differentiates, and the
THREE (Father, Mother, Son) are transformed into four. Herein lies
4 5
the origin of the double mystery of Trinity and the immaculate
6 7
conception. . . . The union of these three principles depends upon
a fourth—the LIFE which radiates from the summits of the Un-
reachable, to become an universally diffused Essence on the mani-

1
Secret Doctrine, I p. 328
2
Ibid. I p. 109
3
[Mūlaprakçiti.]
4
Cf. “Without the son (the germ of consciousness in the Logos roused into activity at the time of
Cosmic evolution) there is no Father of Mother. The father and the Holy Ghost [Fohat or Daivīp-
rakçiti] come into existence when the Son is born, and this is the true occult explanation of the Trin-
ity in Unity and Unity in Trinity.” Esoteric Writings, II (3) pp. 139-40
5
Cf. “Mother becomes the immaculate mother only when the differentiation of spirit and matter is
complete. . . . The mother is, therefore, the immaculate matter before it is differentiated under the
breath of the pre-cosmic Fohat, when it becomes the ‘immaculate mother’ of the ‘Son’ or the mani-
fested Universe, in form. It is the latter which begins the hierarchy that will end with Humanity or
man.” Blavatsky Collected Writings, (TRANSACTIONS OF THE BLAVATSKY LODGE) X p. 397
6
Secret Doctrine, I p. 58; [Commentary on Stanza II 4 (a).]
7
[The trinity Father-Mother-Son—Comp.]

87
COMPASSION | CHAPTER 2

1
fested planes of Existence. And this QUATERNARY (Father, Mother,
Son, as a UNITY, and a quaternary, as a living manifestation) has
been the means of leading to the very archaic Idea of Immaculate
Conception, now finally crystallized into a dogma of the Christian
Church, which carnalized this metaphysical idea beyond any
2
common sense. . . . The immaculate Virgin-Mother, . . . is over-
shadowed, not impregnated, by the Universal MYSTERY—when she
3
emerges from her state of Laya or undifferentiated condition.

The Three live within the One

In order to dispel any remaining uncertainties about the basis of the Ageless
Wisdom, key aspects of the primal trinity of AUM have been expanded, and
its triune hypostasis within the One Life highlighted, so that its protean
4
meanings as a triad and as a quaternary are wholly appreciated.

Defining notes on AUM and further examples of derivatives and parallels are
shown in Appendix H, p. 325.

1
Cf. “Kabalists say this: ‘The Deity is one, because It is infinite. It is triple, because it is ever mani-
festing.’ This manifestation is triple in its aspects, for it requires, as Aristotle has it, three principles
for every natural body to become objective: privation, form and matter.” Secret Doctrine, I p. 59
2
Secret Doctrine, I p. 59
3
Ibid. I p. 88
4
The table was drawn from The Secret Doctrine, the Upanishads, Bhagavān ôās’ Science of Peace: an
attempt at an exposition of the first principles of the Science of Self, Adhyātma-Vidyā, Theosophical
Publishing Society (London & Benares) 1904; and the latter’s three-volume work on the Science of
the Sacred Word, being a summarised translation of the Pranava-Vada of Gargyana. Theosophical
Publishing Society (Adyar) 1910, 1911 & 1913—Comp.

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 CATECHISM OF PRACTICAL THEOSOPHY

1
A U M A+U+M
Within
Parabrahman

Archetypes Father Mother Son The Three

2
(gender) (male) (female) (neuter) in One

3
Consciousness Wakeful state Dream state Deep sleep Turīya
(quaternary) (1st quarter) (2nd quarter) (3rd quarter) (4th quarter)

Cosmic rays Self Non-Self Their bond The forever

(ātm an) (an-ātman) and relation concealed
(nisheda) triune differen-
tiation within
Parabrahman

Eternal swan Brahmā Prakçiti Brahma

5
(kala-haüsa) (right wing) (left wing) (tail) (head)
The real kala- Haüsa and a-
4
haüsa haüsa

1
A + U + M or the three immortal rays (symbolised by a point, a line and a triangle) become the ALL
by bonding with Parabrahman; or, mathematically expressed, their summation (1 + 2 + 3 + 4) be-
comes the Pythagorean decad or sum total of human knowledge. This higher immortal triad within
the One Life is the Pythagorean Tetractys (Number Four); it is symbolised by a square and emblem-
atised by ten dots within an equilateral triangle. Amongst Western Cabbalists Tetractys is referred to
as Tetragrammaton (a four-letter word). Our personality, or the “lower quaternary,” is a reflection of
a higher quaternary or “Heavenly Man.” According to ôās, the latter is the object of all enquiries, the
ultimate motive, and the final aim—Comp.
2
Cf. “This QUATERNARY (Father, Mother, Son, as a UNITY, and a quaternary, as a living manifestation)
has been the means of leading to the very archaic Idea of Immaculate Conception, now finally crys-
tallized into a dogma of the Christian Church, which carnalized this metaphysical idea beyond any
common sense.” Secret Doctrine, I p. 59
3
Cf. “. . . Prajna, the knower par excellence, is the witness of the general consciousness. . . . Visva
[waking state], Taijasa [dream state], and Prajna [deep sleep] are not three different souls, but three
names by which Turīya, or Pure Consciousness, is known while functioning in the three states of
waking, dreaming, and deep sleep.” Upanishads, p. 375
4
Cf. “Brahma (neuter) is called kalahaüsa, meaning . . . the Eternal Swan or goose, and so is
Brahmā, the Creator. A great mistake is thus brought under notice; it is Brahma (neuter) who ought
to be referred to as Haüsa-Vahāna (He who uses the swan as his Vehicle) and not Brahmā the Crea-
tor, who is the real Kalahaüsa, while Brahma (neuter) is haüsa, and ‘a-haüsa.’ ” (Secret Doctrine, I p.
20.) Also cf. . . . “The ‘swan or goose’ (Haüsa) is the symbol of that male or temporary deity, as he,
the emanation of the primordial Ray, is made to serve as a Vahāna or vehicle for that divine Ray,
which otherwise could not manifest itself in the Universe, being, antiphrastically, itself an emanation
of ‘Darkness’—for our human intellect, at any rate. It is Brahmā, then, who is Kala-Haüsa, and the
Ray, the Haüsa-Vahāna.” Ibid. p. 80
5
Cf. “The head of the swan is half-metre (ardha-matra), that shifting tone which is made as one
passes in tone from the A to the U, and from the U to the M. The head also symbolises the Con-
sciousness which is guiding the pronunciation, hence the onward progress of the mystic flight of this
bird of eternity.” Cf. Voice of the Silence, fragm. I notes 10 & 16 to vs. 19 & 22, p. 5;—pp. 74-75 in
glos. of Chinese & Centenary eds.

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COMPASSION | CHAPTER 2

Logos ever unfolds

From unconscious universal intelligence down to conscious human mind,
Fohat is sketching out the divine plan. Central to what HP Blavatsky once
called the “materialization of the ever-immaterial and Unknowable Princi-
1
ple,” is the attainment of Manhood. TS Row describes the evolution of indi-
vidualised consciousness, or “the One Great Unit (the Logos), which is Itself
2
the seven-vowelled sign, the Breath crystallised into the WORD.”

As individuality is rendered more and more definite, and becomes

more and more differentiated from other individualities by man’s
own surroundings, and the intellectual and moral impulses he
generates and the effect of his own Karma, the principles of which
3
he is composed become more defined.

The progressive differentiation of Logos, according to the Gītā, is presented in

the compilation below. Its key features according to The Secret Doctrine, are
illustrated in the Table that follows immediately after.

(a) In the Bhagavad Gītā

First Logos

Unconscious Neither the assemblage of the Gods nor the

universal mind. Adept Kings know my origin, because I am the
4
origin of all the Gods and of the Adepts. . . .
The great Brahman is . . . my womb in which I
place the seed; from that . . . is the production
of all existing things. This great Brahman is
the womb for all those various forms which are
produced from any womb, and I am the Father
5
who provideth the seed. . . . I am the embodi-
ment of the Supreme Ruler, and of the incor-
ruptible, of the unmodifying, and of the eternal
6
law, and of endless bliss.

1
Cf. Secret Doctrine, II p. 503
2
Ibid. I p. 79
3
Philosophy of the Bhagavad Gītā, (1st lecture) p. 17
4
Bhagavad Gītā, 10 vs. 2
5
Ibid. 14 vs. 3-4
6
Ibid. 14 vs. 27

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 CATECHISM OF PRACTICAL THEOSOPHY

Second Logos

Conscious I am the father and the mother of this uni-

universal mind. verse, the grandsire and the preserver; I am
the goal, the Comforter, the Lord, the Witness,
the resting place, the asylum, and the Friend;
I am the origin and the dissolution, the recep-
1
tacle, the storehouse, and the eternal seed. . .
I enter the earth supporting all living things by
my power, and I am that property of sap which
is taste, nourishing all the herbs and plants of
the field. Becoming the internal fire of the liv-
ing, I associate with the upward and down-
ward breathing, and cause the four kinds of
2
food to digest.

Third Logos

Conscious, So in former days, the seven great Sages and

human mind. the four Manus who are of my nature were
born of my mind, and from them sprang this
world. He who knoweth perfectly this perma-
nence and mystic faculty of mine becometh
3
without doubt possessed of unshaken faith. . .
It is even a portion of myself which, having as-
sumed life in this world of conditioned exis-
tence, draweth together the five senses and
the mind in order that it may obtain a body
4
and may leave it again. . . . I am in the hearts
of all men, and from me come memory, knowl-
5
edge, and also the loss of both.

1
Bhagavad Gītā, 9 vs. 17-18
2
Ibid. 15 vs. 13-14
3
Ibid. 10 vs. 6-7
4
Ibid. 15 vs. 7
5
Ibid. 15 vs. 15

91
 1
(b) Logos in the light of Theosophy
Or, the Eternal Pilgrimage from Darkness to Light

B
Parabrahman, Absoluteness, the One Life

Perfect consciousness, containing within Itself the pre-

cosmic ideation or germ of the consciousness to be mani-
fested, and precosmic root substance.

A
First Logos or primary manifestation
of the Universe
Unconscious universal mind, impersonal, unmanifest, the
fount and origin of forces and potencies that are about to
surge into manifestation.

C
Second Logos or secondary manifestation of
the Universe

Conscious universal mind, link between unmanifested and

manifested planes.

D
Third Logos or tertiary manifestation
of the Universe

Conscious individualised mind, self-consciousness,

or humanity.

1
Cf. “The first illustration being a plain disk B, the second one in the Archaic symbol shows A, a
disk with a point in it—the first differentiation in the periodical manifestations of the ever-eternal na-
ture, sexless and infinite ‘Aditi in THAT’ (èig-Veda), the point in the disk, or potential Space within
abstract Space. In its third stage the point is transformed into a diameter, thus C. It now symbolizes
a divine immaculate Mother-Nature within the all-embracing absolute Infinitude. When the diameter
line is crossed by a vertical one D, it becomes the mundane cross. Humanity has reached its third
Root-Race; it is the sign for the origin of human life to begin. When the circumference disappears
and leaves only the ¨ it is a sign that the fall of man into matter is accomplished, and the fourth
race begins.” (Secret Doctrine, I pp. 4-5.) Also cf. “In the Occult meaning [A] it is the primordial Idea-
tion, the plane of the double-sexed logos, the first differentiation of the ever-unknowable PRINCIPLE or
abstract Nature, sexless and infinite. The point represents the first formation of the root of all things
growing out of the rootless ROOT, or what the Vedāntins call ‘Parabrahm.’ It is the periodical and
ever-recurring primordial manifestation after every ‘Night of Brahmā,’ or of potential space within
abstract space: not Jehovah, assuredly not; but the ‘Unknown God’ of the Athenians, the IT which St.
Paul, the master Mason and the INITIATE, declared unto them. It is the unmanifested Logos.” Blavat-
sky Collected Writings, (MISCELLANEOUS NOTES) X pp. 241-42
2
Cf. “It has its centre everywhere, but its circumference nowhere.” [Plotinus qu. in: Wolters C
(Transl.). The Cloud of Unknowing and Other Works. London: Penguin Books, 1978; p. 201.]
3
Cf. “Of European Pantheists.” Secret Doctrine, I p. 16
4
Cf. “Of the Platonists.” Ibid. II p. 544
5
Or “Man.” Cf. Secret Doctrine, II p. 25

92
 CHAPTER 3
DEITY IS LAW AND VICE VERSA

Law being a word of many meanings, it often evokes a multitude of images.

In preparation for the following Chapter, which is an expansion of the second
proposition of The Secret Doctrine, LAW or Deity is here defined metaphysi-
cally and contrasted with the lesser laws of Nature.

Order is heaven’s first Law.

1
— Alexander Pope

Deity is boundless and The radical unity of the ultimate essence of

infinite expansion, each constituent part of compounds in Na-
ture—from Star to mineral Atom, from the
highest Dhyān-Chohan to the smallest infu-
soria . . . and whether applied to the spiritual,
intellectual, or physical worlds—this is the one
fundamental law in Occult Science. “The Deity
is boundless and infinite expansion,” says an
2
Occult axiom.
Governed by One LAW, Plato having been initiated, could not believe
in a personal God—a gigantic Shadow of Man.
His epithets of “Monarch and Lawgiver of the
Universe” bear an abstract meaning well un-
derstood by every Occultist, who, no less than
any Christian, believes in the One Law that
governs the Universe, recognizing it at the
3
same time as immutable. . . . Cosmology is . .
. the physiology of the universe spiritualized,
4
for there is but one law.

1
Pope: An Essay on man, IV, 49
2
Secret Doctrine, I p. 120
3
Ibid. II p. 554
4
Mahātma Letter 13 (44), p. 71; 3rd Combined ed.

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COMPASSION | CHAPTER 3

The operating Law, [Esoterically,] “The first was Mahat,” says

The fundamental Law, Liïga-Purāõa; for the ONE (the That) is neither
The One radical Cause, first nor last but ALL. Exoterically, however,
The omnipresent Reality, this manifestation is the work of the “Supreme
Latent in every atom. One” (a natural effect, rather, of an Eternal
The Universe Itself! Cause); . . . Esoteric philosophy renders it “the
1
operating LAW.”
The fundamental Law in . . . [the “accumu-
lated Wisdom of the Ages”], the central point
from which all emerged, around and toward
which all gravitates, and upon which is hung
the philosophy of the rest, is the One homoge-
nous divine SUBSTANCE-PRINCIPLE, the one
radical cause. . . . It is the omnipresent Real-
ity: impersonal, because it contains all and
everything. Its impersonality is the fundamen-
tal conception of the System. It is latent in
every atom in the Universe, and is the Uni-
2
verse itself.
The Infinite can only The immutably Infinite and the absolutely
will, think, and act, Boundless can neither will, think, nor act. To
by becoming finite: do this, it has to become finite, and it does so,
Its ray penetrates by its ray penetrating into the mundane egg—
the Infinite Space, infinite space—and emanating from it as a fi-
and expands from nite god. All this is left to the ray latent in the
within without. one. When the period arrives, the absolute will
expands naturally the force within it, accord-
ing to the Law of which it is the inner and ul-
3
timate Essence.
First come the SELF-EXISTENT on this Earth.
They are the ‘Spiritual Lives’ projected by the
absolute WILL and LAW, at the dawn of every
rebirth of the worlds. These LIVES are the di-
vine “Śishña” [the seed-Manus, or the Prajāpa-
4
tis and the Pitçis].

1
Secret Doctrine, I p. 451
2
Ibid. I p. 273
3
Ibid. I p. 354
4
Ibid. II p. 164; [Commentary on Stanza VII (24).]

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 DEITY IS LAW AND VICE VERSA

Guided by Fohat, Logos “Just as a human being is composed of seven

evolves to omnipresent principles, differentiated matter in the solar
1
mind and life immanent system exists in seven different conditions.”
in matter. So does Fohat. He is One and Seven, and on
the Cosmic plane is behind all such manifes-
tations as light, heat, sound, adhesion, etc.,
etc., and is the “spirit” of ELECTRICITY, which is
the LIFE of the Universe. As an abstraction, we
call it the ONE LIFE; as an objective and evident
Reality, we speak of a septenary scale of mani-
festation, which begins at the upper rung with
the One Unknowable CAUSALITY, and ends as
Omnipresent Mind and Life immanent in every
Atom of Matter. Thus, while science speaks of
its evolution through brute matter, blind force,
and senseless motion, the Occultists point to
intelligent LAW and sentient LIFE, and add that
2
Fohat is the guiding Spirit of all this.
Unknowable Causality, [The Absolute] is absolutely incognizable and
Its phenomena and LAW non-existent outside its phenomena, and de-
are inseparable pends entirely on its ever-correlating Forces,
and interdependent. dependent in their turn on the ONE GREAT
3
LAW.

Therefore, It is idle to speak of “laws arising when Deity

Deity IS LAW prepares to create” for: (a) laws, or rather LAW
and is eternal and uncreated; and (b) Deity is LAW,
4
LAW is Deity. and vice versa.

1
[Quoting T Subba Row’s article “A Personal and an Impersonal God,” The Theosophist, IV (February
1888) p. 105.]
2
Secret Doctrine, I p. 139
3
Blavatsky Collected Writings, (ARE DREAMS BUT IDLE VISIONS?) III p. 436 fn.
4
Secret Doctrine, I p. 152

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COMPASSION | CHAPTER 3

The essence of deity is Compassion, Harmony,

and Love
Reflecting upon the “spiritual mystery” and self-sacrifice of Father Damien,
“a true Theosophist in daily life and practice—the latter the greatest ideal of
1
every genuine follower of the Wisdom-Religion,” and of Sister Gertrude, who
“. . . simply did the bidding of her master—to the very letter. She prepared to
go unknown and unrewarded in this life to an almost certain death, pre-
ceded by years of incessant physical torture from the most loathsome of all
2
diseases. And she did it, not as the Scribes and Pharisees who perform their
prescribed duties in the open streets and public Synagogues, but verily as
the Master had commanded: alone, in the secluded closet of her inner life
and face to face only with ‘her Father in secret,’ trying to conceal the grand-
3
est and noblest of all human acts, as another tries to hide a crime,” here is
how HP Blavatsky illustrates higher ethics or practical Theosophy:

Thence the ceaseless and untiring self-sacrifice of such natures to

what appears religious duty, but which in sober truth is the very
essence and esse of the dormant Individuality—“divine compas-
sion,” which is “no attribute” but verily “the LAW of LAWS—eternal
4
Harmony, Ālaya’s SELF.” It is this compassion, crystallized in our
very being, that whispers night and day to such as Father Damien
and Sister Rose Gertrude—“Can there be bliss when there are men
who suffer? Shalt thou be saved and hear the others cry?” Yet,
“Personality”—having been blinded by training and religious educa-
tion to the real presence and nature of the HIGHER SELF—
recognizes not its voice, but confusing it in its helpless ignorance
with the external and extraneous Form which it was taught to re-
gard as divine Reality—it sends heavenward and outside instead of
addressing them inwardly, thoughts and prayers, the realization of
which is in its SELF. It says in the beautiful words of Dante Gabriel
Rossetti but with a higher application:

. . . “For lo! thy law is passed

That this my love should manifestly be
To serve and honour thee;
And so I do; and my delight is full,
5
Accepted by the servant of thy rule.”

1
Vide Key to Theosophy, p. 239: “What Theosophists think of Father Damien”
2
[Leprosy—Comp.]
3
Blavatsky Collected Writings, (THE LAST SONG OF THE SWAN) XII pp. 113-14
4
[Quoting The Voice of the Silence, fragm. II vs. 300, pp. 69-70.]
5
Blavatsky Collected Writings, (THE LAST SONG OF THE SWAN) XII p. 114

96
 DEITY IS LAW AND VICE VERSA

Ālaya is the Divine Soul of That which alone stands as an undying and
Thought and Compassion, ceaseless evidence and proof of the existence
the Perpetually of that One Principle, is the presence of an
Reasoning Deity. undeniable design in kosmic mechanism, the
birth, growth, death and transformation of
everything in the universe, from the silent and
unreachable stars down to the humble lichen,
from man to the invisible lives now called mi-
crobes. Hence the universal acception of
“Thought Divine,” the Anima Mundi of all an-
tiquity. This idea of Mahat (the great) Akāsha
or Brahmā’s aura of transformation with the
Hindus, of Ālaya, “the divine Soul of thought
and compassion” of the trans-Himālayan mys-
tics; of Plato’s “perpetually reasoning Divin-
1
ity,” is the oldest of all the doctrines now
2
know to, and believed in, by man.
It pervades, permeates, and [Anima Mundi is] The “Soul of the World,” the
animates Man and Gods. same as Ālaya of the Northern Buddhists; the
divine Essence which pervades, permeates,
animates, and informs all things, from the
smallest atom of matter to man and god. It is
in a sense “the seven-skinned Mother” of the
stanzas in the Secret Doctrine; the essence of
seven planes of sentiency, consciousness, and
differentiation, both moral and physical. In its
highest aspect it is Nirvāõa; in its lowest, the
Astral Light. It was feminine with the Gnos-
tics, the early Christians, and the Nazarenes;
bisexual with other sects, who considered it
only in its four lower planes, of igneous and
ethereal nature in the objective world of forms,
and divine and spiritual in its three higher
planes. When it is said that every human soul
was born by detaching itself from the Anima
Mundi, it is meant, esoterically, that our
higher Egos are of an essence identical with It,
and Mahat is a radiation of the ever unknown
3
Universal ABSOLUTE.

1
Cf. “Agathon (Gr.) Plato’s Supreme Deity, lit. ‘the good.’ Our ĀLAYA or the Soul of the World.” Key to
Theosophy, p. 310 (glos.)
2
Blavatsky Collected Writings, (THE MIND IN NATURE) XIII p. 267
3
Key to Theosophy, pp. 314-15 (glos.)

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COMPASSION | CHAPTER 3

Though eternal and Ālaya is literally the “Soul of the World” or An-
changeless in Its inner ima Mundi, the “Over-Soul” of Emerson, and
essence, It alters during according to esoteric teaching it changes peri-
Its outer manifestations. odically its nature. Ālaya, though eternal and
changeless in its inner essence on the planes
It is the Soul of the World. which are unreachable by either men or Cos-
mic Gods (Dhyāni-Buddhas), alters during the
active life-period with respect to the lower
planes, ours included. During that time not
only the Dhyāni-Buddhas are one with Ālaya
in Soul and Essence, but even the man strong
in the Yoga (mystic meditation) “is able to
merge his soul with it” (Āryāsaïgha, the Bu-
mapa school). This is not Nirvāõa, but a condi-
1
tion next to it.
It is Knowledge Itself. Ālaya alone having an absolute and eternal ex-
istence, can alone have absolute knowledge;
and even the Initiate, in his Nirmāõakāya body
may commit an occasional mistake in accept-
ing the false for the true in his explorations of
2
the “Causeless” World.
3
Divine Grace is Grace (χάρις ) is a difficult word to translate. It
Its spiritual aspect; corresponds to the higher aspect of Ākāśa. The
Astral Light, Its psychic. two aspects are as follows:

Spiritual Plane: Ālaya (Soul of Universe);

Ākāśa.

Psychic Plane: Prakçiti (Matter or Nature);

4
Astral Light or Serpent.
Ālaya’s fiery essence This “Fire” is that of Ālaya, the “World-Soul,”
is Love and Harmony. the essence of which is LOVE, i.e., homogenous
Sympathy, which is Harmony, or the “Music of
the Spheres.” Vide The Voice of the Silence,
5
IIIrd Treatise, page 69.

1
Secret Doctrine, I p. 48; [Commentary on Stanza I 9 (a).]
2
Blavatsky Collected Writings, (A FEW MORE MISCONCEPTIONS CORRECTED) XIV p. 439
3
[In Greek—Comp.]
4
Blavatsky Collected Writings, (NOTES ON THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO JOHN) XI p. 490
5
Ibid. (FOOTNOTES TO “THE ALCHEMISTS”) XII p. 55; [commenting on the Fire of the Alchemists of the
Middle Ages.]

98
 DEITY IS LAW AND VICE VERSA

It springs from the In the Orphic Hymns, the Erōs-Phanēs evolves

union of the Divine Mind from the divine Egg, which the Aethereal
with Primordial Matter. Winds impregnate, wind being “the Spirit of
the unknown Darkness”—“the spirit of God” . .
. the divine “Idea,” says Plato, “who is said to
move Aether.”

“In the Hindu Kañhakopanishad, Purusha, the

divine spirit, already stands before the original
matter, from whose union springs the great
1
soul of the world, Mahā-ātman, the Spirit of
2
Life, etc., etc.” . . . The latter appellations are
all identical with Anima Mundi, or the “Univer-
sal Soul,” the astral light of the Kabalist and
3
the Occultist, or the “Egg of Darkness.”
Divine Mind is the Father of It is not difficult for a Theosophist to recognize
Intelligence and Truth, the in this “God” (a) the UNIVERSAL MIND in its
4
“Bosom of the Mother,” cosmic aspect; and (b) the Higher Ego in man
our source and essence in its microcosmic. For, as Plato says, He is
of being. not the truth nor the intelligence, “but the Fa-
ther of it”; i.e., the “Father” of the Lower Ma-
nas, our personal “brain-mind,” which de-
pends for its manifestations on the organs of
sense. Though this eternal essence of things
may not be perceptible by our physical senses,
it may be apprehended by the mind of those
who are not wilfully obtuse. . . This “God” is
the Universal Mind, Ālaya, the source from
which the “God” in each one of us has ema-
5
nated.
’Tis mind that all things sees and hears;
6
What else exists is deaf and blind.

1
Cf. “The Primordial Substance had not yet passed out of its precosmic latency into differentiated
objectivity, or even become the (to man, so far,) invisible Protyle of Science. But, as the hour strikes
and it becomes receptive of the Fohatic impress of the Divine Thought (the Logos, or the male aspect
of the Anima Mundi, Ālaya)—its heart opens. It differentiates, and the three (Father, Mother, Son) are
transformed into four.” Secret Doctrine, I p. 58; [Commentary on Stanza II 4 (a).]
2
[Quoting A. Weber, Akademische Vorlesungen, 1876, p. 255.]
3
Secret Doctrine, I p. 365 & fn.
4
Blavatsky Collected Writings, (E.S. INSTRUCTION NO. III) XII p. 636
5
Ibid. (OLD PHILOSOPHERS AND MODERN CRITICS), VI p. 203 & fn.
6
Taylor T (Transl. & Comm.). Iamblichus on the Mysteries of the Egyptians, Chaldeans, and Assyr-
ians, and Life of Pythagoras. (Vol. XVII of the Thomas Taylor Series); Sturminster Newton: The Pro-
metheus Trust, 2004; [THE LIFE OF PYTHAGORAS] XXXII, p. 280

99
COMPASSION | CHAPTER 3

Ālaya is the Heart In the Yogāchāra system of the contemplative

and the Soul Mahāyāna school, Ālaya is both the Universal
of the Universe, Soul (Anima Mundi) and the Self of a pro-
gressed adept. “He who is strong in the Yoga
can introduce at will his Ālaya by means of
meditation into the true Nature of Existence.”

The “Ālaya has an absolute eternal existence,”

1
says Āryāsaïgha—the rival of Nāgārjuna.
[Man’s] Buddhi stands to the divine Root-
Essence in the same relation as Mūlaprakçiti
to Parabrahman, in the Vedānta School; or as
Ālaya, the Universal Soul, to the One Eternal
Spirit, or that which is beyond Spirit. It is its
human vehicle, one remove from that Absolute
which can have no relation whatever to the fi-
2
nite and the conditioned.
Cosmic Buddhi, the emanation of the Spiritual
Soul Ālaya, is the vehicle of Mahat only when
that Buddhi corresponds to Prakçiti. Then it is
called Mahā-Buddhi. This Buddhi differenti-
ates through seven planes, whereas the Bud-
dhi in man is the vehicle of Atman which vehi-
cle is of the essence of the highest plane of
3
Akaśa and therefore does not differentiate.
“. . . one eternal Truth, and . . . in which we live and move and have our
one infinite changeless Being . . . . We are all Brothers. Let us then
Spirit of Love, Truth and love, help, and mutually defend each other
Wisdom in the Universe, against any Spirit of untruth or deception,
4
as one Light for all . . . “ “without distinction of race, creed or colour.”

[Other aspects, epithets and synonyms of

Ālaya are shown in Appendix K, p. 338.]

1
Secret Doctrine, I p. 49; [Commentary on Stanza I 9 (b).]
2
Blavatsky Collected Writings, (E.S. INSTRUCTION NO. III) XII p. 630
3
Ibid. (TRANSACTIONS OF THE BLAVATSKY LODGE) X p. 324; [Analysis of Stanza II 3.]
4
Ibid. (ONE ETERNAL TRUTH) XIII p. 269. Cf. “For ‘In him we live, and move, and have our being;’ as
even some of your own poets have said, | ‘For we too are his offspring.’ ” | Acts 17, 28; (Paul quoting
Aratus’ Phainomena).

100
 DEITY IS LAW AND VICE VERSA

Its manifestations are governed by the laws of

nature

Wisdom and Nature always speak the same.

1
— Juvenal

Laws of Nature are the With Plato, the Primal Being is an emanation
established relations of the Demiurgic Mind (Nous), which contains
between divine ideation, from the eternity the “idea” of the “to be cre-
thirsting for sentient life, ated world” within itself, and which idea he
2
and its expression produces out of himself. The laws of nature
in the worlds of form. are the established relations of this idea to the
forms of its manifestations; “these forms,” says
Schopenhauer, “are time, space, and causal-
ity. Through time and space the idea varies in
3
its numberless manifestations.”
The author of For the Occultists who say that the author of
the Book of Nature nature is nature itself, something indistinct
is Nature Itself, and inseparable from the Deity, it follows that
those who are conversant with the occult laws
of nature, and know how to change and pro-
voke new conditions in either, may—not mod-
ify the laws, but work and do the same in ac-
4
cordance with those immutable laws.
Working incessantly It is argued that the Universal Evolution, oth-
by uniform Laws. erwise, the gradual development of species in
all the kingdoms of nature, works by uniform
laws. This is admitted, and the law enforced
far more strictly in Esoteric than in modern
Science. But we are told also, that it is equally
a law that “development works from the less to
the more perfect, and from the simpler to the
more complicated, by incessant changes,
small in themselves, but constantly accumu-
5
lating in the required direction.”

1
Juvenal 14, 321; (Nunquam aliud natura, aliud sapientia dicit.)—King’s Quotations
2
Vide Movers, Die Phonizier, I, 268. [Proclus on the Parmenides, C; Cf. Cory, Anc. Fragm., 1832, pp.
247-48.]
3
Isis Unveiled, I pp. 55-56
4
Secret Doctrine, I p. 489 fn.
5
Ibid. II p. 731; [quoting Laing, Modern Science and Modern Thought, p. 94.]

101
COMPASSION | CHAPTER 3

Nature is beyond [Theosophy regards all books], on account of

argument and dialectics, the human element contained in them, as in-
ferior to the Book of Nature; to read which and
comprehend it correctly, the innate powers of
the soul must be highly developed. Ideal laws
can be perceived by the intuitive faculty alone;
they are beyond the domain of argument and
dialectics, and no one can understand or
rightly appreciate them through the explana-
tions of another mind, though even this mind
1
be claiming a direct revelation.
For, the operative field of Buddha taught that the primitive Substance is
uncreated, unconscious, eternal and unchangeable. Its vehicle is the
and infinite natural LAW is pure, luminous ether, the boundless, infinite
2
parentless, eternal, Space. Space.
. . . Hence, the Arahat secret doctrine on cos-
mogony admits but one absolute, indestructi-
ble, eternal, and uncreated UNCONSCIOUSNESS
(so to translate), of an element (the word being
used for want of a better term) absolutely in-
dependent of everything else in the universe; a
something ever present or ubiquitous, a Pres-
ence which ever was, is, and will be, whether
there is a God, gods or none; whether there is
a universe or no universe; existing during the
eternal cycles of Mahā Yugas, during the Pra-
layas as during the periods of Manvantara:
and this is SPACE, the field for the operation of
the eternal Forces and natural Law, the basis .
. . upon which take place the eternal intercor-
relations of Ākāśa-Prakçiti, guided by the un-
conscious regular pulsations of Śakti—the
breath or power of a conscious deity, the the-
ists would say—the eternal energy of an eter-
nal, unconscious Law, say the Buddhists.
Space then, or Fan, Bar-nang (Mahā-Śūnyatā)
or, as it is called by Lao-tze, the “Emptiness” is
3
the nature of the Buddhist Absolute.

1
Blavatsky Collected Writings, (WHAT ARE THE THEOSOPHISTS?) II p. 103
2
Ibid. (NIRVĀNA-MOKSHA) XIV p. 419
3
Ibid. (THE SEVENFOLD PRINCIPLE IN MAN) III p. 423

102
 DEITY IS LAW AND VICE VERSA

Nature incessantly shadows the divine plan

Duration and Motion are “There exists in Nature one universal Law with
Nature’s primary attributes, two primary manifesting laws as its attrib-
utes—Motion and Duration. There is but one
eternal infinite uncreated Law—the ‘One Life’
of the Buddhist Arhats, or the Parabrahm of
1
the Vedantins-Advaitas.”
Spirit, Matter, and Motion, But can the Absolute have any relation to the
are Her eternal attributes. conditioned or the finite? Reason and meta-
physical philosophy answer alike—No. The
“Self-existent” can only be the Absolute, and
esoteric philosophy calls it therefore the
“Causeless Cause,” the Absolute Root of all,
with no attributes, properties or conditions. It
is the one UNIVERSAL LAW of which immortal
man is a part, and which, therefore, he senses
under the only possible aspects—those of ab-
solute immutability transformed into absolute
activity—on this plane of illusion—or eternal
ceaseless motion, the ever Becoming. Spirit,
Matter, Motion, are the three attributes, on
this our plane. In that of self-existence the
three are ONE and indivisible. Hence we say
that Spirit, Matter, and Motion are eternal, be-
2
cause [they are] one, under three aspects.
The Sun imparts to All It is the Sun-fluids or Emanations that impart
Motion and awakens All all motion and awaken all into life in the Solar
into life, System. It is attraction and repulsion, but not
as understood by modern physics and accord-
ing to the laws of gravity; but in harmony with
the laws of manvantaric motion designed from
the early Saüdhyā, the Dawn of the rebuilding
and higher reformation of the System. These
laws are immutable; but the motion of all the
bodies—which motion is diverse and alters
with every minor Kalpa—is regulated by the
Movers, the Intelligences within the Cosmic
3
Soul.

1
Blavatsky Collected Writings, (FOOTNOTES TO “GLEANINGS FROM ĖLIPHAS LÉVI”) IV p. 291; [suggesting
what É Lévi “ought, without risking to divulge more than permitted, to have said” regarding Nature’s
essential Law—Comp.]
2
Ibid. (MISCELLANEOUS NOTES) IX p. 98
3
Secret Doctrine, I pp. 529-30

103
COMPASSION | CHAPTER 3

“There is no rest There is an inherent law—not only in the pri-

or cessation of motion mordial, but also in the manifested matter of
in Nature.” our phenomenal plane—by which Nature cor-
relates her geometrical forms, and later, also,
her compound elements; and in which there is
no place for accident or chance. It is a funda-
mental law in Occultism, that there is no rest
1
or cessation of motion in Nature.

1
“It is the knowledge of this law that permits and helps the Arhat to perform his Siddhis, or various
phenomena, such as disintegration of matter, [and] the transport of objects from one place to an-
other.” Secret Doctrine, I p. 97 & fn.

104
 CHAPTER 4
ONE LAW FOR ALL: THREE
FUNCTIONS

Just as without a good grounding in Theosophy one cannot recognise the

basis for the kind of impartial action advocated in the Bhagavad Gītā, so
without an appreciation of the profound meaning and significance of two en-
igmatic verses in the Gītā and the Bhāgavata-Purāõa, one cannot readily
grasp the quintessence of Deity in The Secret Doctrine. With a deceptively
simple sentence, Kçishõa touches the heart of the universe: the three func-
tions of DEITY or LAW. The same may also be viewed as the “mission state-
ment” of Avatārs, thus shedding light on the Compassion and Sacrifice in-
herent in such exalted states of Consciousness.

I produce myself among creatures, O son of Bhārata, whenever

there is a decline of virtue and an insurrection of vice and injustice
in the world; and thus I incarnate from age to age for the preserva-
tion of the just, the destruction of the wicked, and the establish-
1
ment of righteousness.

And “what is the most just thing” according to Pythagoras?

2
To sacrifice.

In the Bhāgavata-Purāõa, Prahlāóa addresses Narasimha, a half man - half

lion avatāric appearance of Vishõu, with remarkable similarity:

. . . O All-powerful Lord! Incarnating Thyself as man, animal, fish,

èishi and celestial, in different Yugas (ages), Thou dost destroy the
wicked and protect the worlds. Though Thou protectest the
Dharma appropriate to every age, Thy presence is hidden in the

1
Bhagavad Gītā, 4 vs. 7-8. Cf. “We do not send any Messiah until and unless there is extreme suf-
fering and distress.” Koran, 7, 94
2
Taylor T (Transl. & Comm.). Iamblichus on the Mysteries of the Egyptians, Chaldeans, and Assyr-
ians, and Life of Pythagoras. (Vol. XVII of the Thomas Taylor Series); Sturminster Newton: The Pro-
metheus Trust, 2004; [THE LIFE OF PYTHAGORAS] XVIII, pp. 229-30

105
COMPASSION | CHAPTER 4

age of Kali. Thou art therefore known as Triyuga, or one whose

1
manifestations are confined to the three Yugas.

Enlightening is BP Wadia’s analysis of the triple LAW, in the light of Lord

Kçishõa’s proclamation to Arjuna:

The manifested universe is called in The Secret Doctrine the Son of

Necessity. Every microcosmos is a Son of Necessity. The rising of
the Wave—the universe—in the Ocean of Absoluteness is under
2
Law. . . . In the Circle of Infinity arises, under and as Law, the
3
Circle of Necessity or finiteness. This Law has three aspects corre-
sponding to the three in the Ever Concealed Unity—the Law of
Karma (Action), of Cycles (Yugas), and of Yajña (Sacrifice / Com-
passion). . . . This three fold function of the One Law is not outside
4
of man or the universe. It is within each.

The pre-eminence of sacrifice is not readily apparent in the Proem of The Se-
cret Doctrine. Of the space devoted to outline the first proposition, less than a
quarter is given to the second, the law of periodicity (yugas-cycles). The other
two aspects of the triune LAW, karma-action and yajña-compassion / sacri-
fice, are not mentioned—although karma is linked with yugas in the anthro-
pogenesis of the third.

Nevertheless, Compassion and Sacrifice have always been the dominant

themes in all HP Blavatsky’s works. But they are not always expressed in
words to which our lower minds are accustomed to, or which we expect to
hear. More often than not, they are couched in abstract philosophical terms.
A meander of synonyms, qualifying epithets, and descriptive sentences from
the pen of Blavatsky, where Altruism, Compassion, and Divine Love are im-
5
plicit, has been gathered below. In 1888, the year that The Secret Doctrine
was published, she wrote:

If there is one thing that Lucifer proposes to preach and enforce

throughout the next year, more than any other subject, it is—

1
Srimad Bhāgavata, VII, 9, 38
2
[The “boundless circle” or zero—Comp.]
3
[Κύκλος Άνάγκης, “Unavoidable Cycle”—Comp.]
4
Studies in the SD, bk. I (3rd series) v, p. 135
5
Absolute, Absolutely boundless, Ālaya’s Self, All is One, Altruism, Boundless, Infinite Expansion,
Causeless Cause, Central point around and toward which All gravitates, Central point from which All
emerges, Compassion Itself, Deity Itself, Divine substance-principle, Eternal, Eternal Harmony, Ever-
acting, Ever-periodically recurring, Fundamental, Harmony Itself, Homogeneous, Immutable, Immu-
tably Infinite, Impersonal Reality, Infinite, Intelligent, Latent in every atom, Natural LAW, Never-erring
LAW, Nirguõa, Omnipresent Reality, Parabrahman, Parentless, Perfect equilibrium, Radical Cause,
Self-Existent, The Absolute, The Absolute Root of All, The Changeless LAW, The fundamental LAW in
Theosophy, The Great Architect, The Great LAW, The LAW of Brotherhood, The LAW of Compassion /
Sacrifice, The LAW of Laws, The Lawgiver of the Universe, The Monarch of the Universe, The One, The
One Existence, The One Life, The One Reality, The Operating LAW, The Supreme One, The Universe
Itself, Unbound, Without attributes, Unconscious Deity, Uncreated, Universal LAW, Universal Over-
Soul, Yajña—Comp.

106
 ONE LAW FOR ALL: THREE FUNCTIONS

CHARITY; unrelenting charity toward the shortcomings of one’s

neighbour, untiring charity with regard to the wants of one poorer
than oneself. Charity is the scope of all theosophical teachings, the
synthesis of all and every virtue. . . . how true and great these
words of the eminent American poet, Joaquin Miller:

“All you can hold in your cold dead hand,

1
Is what you have given away . . .”

Colton and Bacon echo Miller’s reason:

Posthumous charities are the very essence of selfishness when be-

2
queathed by those who, even alive, would part with nothing.

He that defers his charity until he is dead is, if a man weighs it

3
rightly, rather liberal of another man’s than of his own.

The colossal task that the Masters of Wisdom and Blavatsky have under-
taken to compare “several dozens of philosophies and over half-a-dozen of
4
world-religions” against the odds, is another manifestation of compassion in
action. The Secret Doctrine is their deed. No sooner does one begin to reflect
upon its teachings that gratitude for all those that inform and sustain our
life springs naturally from the heart, philanthropy becomes the raison d’être,
empathy motivates mercy.

Divine love is what makes the Great Heart throb when “the Seventh Eternity
5
Thrills through Infinitude.” That is why The Secret Doctrine’s first premise is
the most important: because impersonal love or universal sympathy is more
dear to the spiritual heart than anything else. Ethical action cannot be
commanded. It wells naturally from the rocks of Theosophy. Neither canons
nor commandments can bring out humaneness; otherwise, with so many of
them and so often repeated, our planet would have been a paradise long ago.
And because it is selfishness that obscures insight, it is up to us to remove
this impediment “by studying and assimilating [Theosophy’s] eternal veri-
6
ties” and by unselfish conduct. Not by divine intervention but through sin-
gle-minded devotion to humanity the wisdom of love can be attained.

1
Blavatsky Collected Writings, (OUR THIRD VOLUME) X p. 95. Also cf. “. . . Charity, generosity, high
morality, kindness, truthfulness and all the virtues inculcated by ethics, are of vastly more impor-
tance than learning and study without them. Much study will lead to book-knowledge, but unless
the waking man follows to the best of his ability the ethical precepts he will lose most of his work by
death. At death he leaves the brain that learned, that pored over books and knew by heart all the
formulae of Kabalism, alchemy, and what not, but he saves only so much of real character as he
made during life.” Echoes of the Orient, III p. 460
2
Charles Caleb Colton—Mead’s Quotations
3
Francis Bacon: Collection of Sentences, no. 55.—Mead’s Quotations
4
Cf. Blavatsky Collected Writings, (MISTAKEN NOTIONS ON THE SECRET DOCTRINE) XII p. 235
5
Cf. Secret Doctrine, I p. 62
6
Cf. Key to Theosophy, p. 57

107
COMPASSION | CHAPTER 4

You will best honour God by making your mind like unto Him, and
this you can do by virtue alone. For only virtue can draw the soul
1
upward to that which is akin to it.

The Gordian knot of the second proposition of The Secret Doctrine will now
be unravelled by examining each of the three aspects of Deity, according to
the Gīta and in the light of Theosophy.

1
Zimmern A (Transl.). Porphyry’s Letter to His Wife Marcella. (1st ed. 1855); Grand Rapids: Phanes
Press, 1986; (¶ 16), p. 49.

108
4.1 Karma-action
4.1 (a) In the Bhagavad Gītā

Statesman, yet friend to truth! Of soul sincere

In action faithful, and in honour clear;
Who broke no promise, served no private end,
Who gained no title, and who lost no friend;
1
— Alexander Pope

I create neither the faculty The Lord of the world creates neither the fac-
of acting, nor actions ulty of acting, nor actions, nor the connection
themselves, nor the between action and its fruits; but nature pre-
connection between vaileth in these. The Lord receives no man’s
cause and effect. deeds, be they sinful or full of merit. The truth
is obscured by that which is not true, and
2
therefore all creatures are led astray.
Cause and effect are Nature or prakçiti is said to be that which op-
produced by Nature. erates in producing cause and effect in ac-
Pain and pleasure are tions; individual spirit or purusha is said to be
functions of Individualised the cause of experiencing pain and pleasure.
Spirit, when invested For spirit when invested with matter or
with matter. prakçiti experienceth the qualities which pro-
ceed from prakçiti, its connection with these
qualities is the cause of its rebirth in good and
3
evil wombs. . . . He, who seeth that all his ac-
tions are performed by Nature only, and that
4
the self within is not the actor, sees indeed.
Thus, neither actions nor Actions affect me not, nor have I any expecta-
their fruits can affect me. tions from the fruits of actions. He who com-
prehendeth me to be thus is not held by the
5
bonds of action to rebirth.

1
Pope: Moral Essays. To Mr. Addison (epistle V, l, 67)
2
Bhagavad Gītā, 5 vs. 14-15
3
Ibid. 13 vs. 20-21
4
Ibid. 13 vs. 29. Also cf. [On our outwardly-looking senses being the causes of action] “Hear me . . .
State this wonderful mystery . . . Hear also the assignment of causes exhaustively. The nose, and the
tongue, and the eye, and the skin, and the ear as the fifth [organ of sense], mind, and understand-
ing, these seven [senses] should be understood to be the causes of [the knowledge of] qualities.
Smell, and taste, and color, sound, and touch as the fifth, the object of the mental operation, and the
object of the understanding [the highest spiritual sense or perception], these seven are causes of ac-
tion. He who smells, he who eats, he who sees, he who speaks, and he who hears as the fifth, he who
thinks, and he who understands, these seven should be understood to be the causes of the agents.
These [the agents], being possessed of qualities [sattva, rājas, tamas], enjoy their own qualities,
agreeable and disagreeable.” Anugītā [qu. in: Secret Doctrine, I pp. 534-35.]
5
Ibid. 4 vs. 14

109
COMPASSION | CHAPTER 4

“The path of action Those who wish for success to their works in
is obscure.” Who sees this life sacrifice to the gods; and in this world
inaction in action, and success from their actions soon cometh to
1
action in inaction is wise. pass. . . . The ancients . . . who longed for
eternal salvation, having discovered this, still
performed works. Wherefore perform thou
works even as they were performed by the an-
cients in former times. Even sages have been
deluded as to what is action and what inac-
tion; therefore I shall explain to thee what is
action by a knowledge of which thou shalt be
liberated from evil. One must learn well what
is action to be performed, what is not to be,
and what is inaction. The path of action is ob-
scure. That man who sees inaction in action
and action in inaction is wise among men; he
is a true devotee and a perfect performer of all
2
action.
Propelled into action A man enjoyeth not freedom from action from
by eternity, you cannot the non-commencement of that which he hath
outwit egotism by to do; nor doth he obtain happiness from a to-
3
abandoning action. tal abandonment of action.
Any action No one ever resteth a moment inactive. Every
is superior to inaction. man is involuntarily urged to act by the quali-
4
ties which spring from nature. . . . But he who
having subdued all his passions performeth
with his active faculties all the duties of life,
unconcerned as to their result, is to be es-
teemed. Do thou perform the proper actions:
action is superior to inaction. The journey of
thy mortal frame cannot be accomplished by
5
inaction.
Inertia is false devotion. He who remains inert, restraining the senses
and organs, yet pondering with his heart upon
objects of sense, is called a false pietist of be-
6
wildered soul.

1
Bhagavad Gītā, 4 vs. 12
2
Ibid. 4 vs. 15-18
3
Ibid. 3 vs. 4
4
Ibid. 3 vs. 5
5
Ibid. 3 vs. 7-8
6
Ibid. 3 vs. 6

110
 ONE LAW FOR ALL: KARMA-ACTION

Dedicating all actions to me All actions performed other than as sacrifice

is much wiser than unto God make the actor bound by action.
pursuing your own ends. Abandon, then, . . . all selfish motives, and in
1
action perform thy duty for him alone.
Impartial action is not only Yet the performance of works is by far inferior
superior to mere action, to mental devotion. . . Seek an asylum, then,
in this mental devotion, which is knowledge;
for miserable and unhappy are those whose
2
impulse to action is found in its reward. . . .
For those who are thus united to knowledge
and devoted, who have renounced all reward
for their actions, meet no rebirth in this life,
and go to that eternal blissful abode which is
free from all disease and untouched by trou-
3
bles.
It is also superior to the Renunciation of action and devotion through
renunciation of action. action are both means of final emancipation,
Only works devoted to me but of these two devotion through action is
can free you from the better than renunciation. He is considered to
bonds of duality. be an ascetic who seeks nothing and nothing
rejects, being free from the influence of the
“pairs of opposites” . . . without trouble he is
released from the bonds forged by action.
Children only and not the wise speak of re-
nunciation of action and of right performance
of action as being different. He who perfectly
4
practices the one receives the fruits of both.
Renunciation of all action But to attain true renunciation of action with-
is difficult anyway. out devotion through action is difficult; . . .
while the devotee who is engaged in the right
practice of his duties approacheth the Su-
5
preme Spirit in no long time.

1
Bhagavad Gītā, 3 vs. 9
2
Ibid. 2 vs. 49
3
Ibid. 2 vs. 51
4
Ibid. 5 vs. 2-4
5
Ibid. 5 vs. 6

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COMPASSION | CHAPTER 4

Inaction, therefore, is not a It is impossible for mortals to utterly abandon

wise option: its effects will actions; but he who gives up the results of ac-
persist and accrue tion is the true renouncer. The threefold re-
after death. sults of action—unwished for, wished for, and
mixed—accrue after death to those who do not
practice this renunciation, but no results fol-
1
low those who perfectly renounce.
Yoga is the skill of . . . there are two modes of devotion: that of
impersonal action those who follow the Sāükhya or speculative
or true devotion. science, which is the exercise of reason in con-
templation; and that of the followers of the
Yoga school, which is devotion in the perform-
2
ance of action.
Single-mindedness and In this system of Yoga no effort is wasted, nor
faith are prerequisite to are there any evil consequences, and even a
such an efficient and safe little of this practice delivereth a man from
path of inner development. great risk. In this path there is only one single
object, and this of a steady, constant nature;
but widely-branched is the faith and infinite
are the objects of those who follow not this
3
system.
Pure, just, impartial, My devotee who is unexpecting, pure, just,
unexpecting, equal-minded impartial, devoid of fear, and who hath for-
to friend or foe, the same saken interest in the results of action, is dear
4
in honour and dishonour, unto me. . . . He also is worthy of my love who
unaffected by pleasure and neither rejoiceth nor findeth fault, who neither
pain, indefatigable in action lamenteth nor coveteth, and being my servant
irrespective of the outcome, hath forsaken interest in both good and evil
and with a heart full of love results. He also is my beloved servant who is
resting on me. These are equal-minded to friend or foe, the same in
the hallmarks of honour and dishonour, in cold and heat, in
true devotees. pain and pleasure, and is unsolicitous about
the event of things; to whom praise and blame
are as one; who is of little speech, content with
whatever cometh to pass, who hath no fixed
habitation, and whose heart, full of devotion,
5
is firmly fixed.

1
Bhagavad Gītā, 18 vs. 11-12
2
Ibid. 3 vs. 3
3
Ibid. 2 vs. 40-41
4
Cf. “Brave soldiers need neither orders nor constant encouragement. . . . As said by me in S.D.
Ātma is Karma, so all results flowing from sincere work will be right, if you are detached.” [Master
Morya qu. in: Echoes of the Orient, I p. lvi.]
5
Bhagavad Gītā, 12 vs. 16-19

112
 ONE LAW FOR ALL: KARMA-ACTION

Whilst you cannot avoid But if thou wilt not perform the duty of thy
the battlefield of life, calling and fight out the field, thou wilt aban-
don thy natural duty and thy honour, and be
guilty of a crime. Mankind will speak of thy ill
fame as infinite, and for one who hath been
respected in the world ill fame is worse than
death. The generals of the armies will think
that thy retirement from the field arose from
fear, and even amongst those by whom thou
wert wont to be thought great of soul thou
shalt become despicable. Thine enemies will
speak of thee in words which are unworthy to
be spoken, depreciating thy courage and abili-
ties; what can be more dreadful than this! If
thou art slain thou shalt attain heaven; if vic-
torious, the world shall be thy reward; where-
fore . . . arise with determination fixed for the
1
battle.
Still, through unselfish Make pleasure and pain, gain and loss, victory
action, you can break the and defeat, the same to thee, and then prepare
bonds of attachment and for battle, for thus and thus alone shalt thou
2
rise above the illusion in action still be free from sin. . . . Thus thou
of separateness. shalt be delivered from the good and evil ex-
periences which are the bonds of action; and
thy heart being joined to renunciation and to
3
the practice of action, thou shalt come to me.
It is your selfish actions But those who eat not but what is left of the
that keep you bound to offerings shall be purified of all their trans-
oceans of births and deaths, gressions. Those who dress their meat but for
ever demeaning yourself, themselves eat the bread of sin, being them-
4
and living in vain. selves sin incarnate. . . . He who, sinfully de-
lighting in the gratification of his passions,
doth not cause this wheel thus already set in
5
motion to continue revolving, liveth in vain.

1
Bhagavad Gītā, 2 vs. 33-37
2
Ibid. 2 vs. 38
3
Ibid. 9 vs. 28
4
Ibid. 3 vs. 13
5
Ibid. 3 vs. 16

113
COMPASSION | CHAPTER 4

Dedicate your actions to For those who worship me, renouncing in me

me, turn you thoughts to all their actions, regarding me as the supreme
me, place your heart on me, goal and meditating on me alone, if their
and I will save you. thoughts are turned to me, I presently become
the saviour from this ocean of incarnations
and death. Place, then, thy heart on me, pene-
trate me with thy understanding, and thou
1
shalt without doubt hereafter dwell in me.
The fetters of duality are Those who are free from pride of self and
not broken by abandoning whose discrimination is perfected, who have
action itself but by rising prevailed over the fault of attachment to ac-
above the separateness of tion, who are constantly employed in devotion
the false individuality. to meditation upon the Supreme Spirit, who
Then, with unfettered mind have renounced desire and are free from the
and mastered emotions, influence of the opposites known as pleasure
you can begin to act in the and pain, are undeluded, and proceed to that
2
interests of humanity. place which endureth forever. . . . The highest
perfection of freedom from action is attained
through renunciation by him who in all works
3
has an unfettered mind and subdued heart.
Truly disinterested action The man who is devoted and not attached to
implies total disregard the fruit of his actions obtains tranquility;
for the fruits of the action. whilst he who through desire has attachment
for the fruit of action is bound down thereby.
The self-restrained sage having with his heart
renounced all actions, dwells at rest in the
“nine gate city of his abode,” neither acting nor
4
causing to act. . . . The bards conceive that
the forsaking of actions which have a desired
object is renunciation or Sannyāsa; the wise
call the disregard of the fruit of every action
5
true disinterestedness in action.

1
Bhagavad Gītā, 12 vs. 6-8
2
Ibid. 15 vs. 5
3
Ibid. 18 vs. 49
4
Ibid. 5 vs. 12-13
5
Ibid. 18 vs. 2

114
 ONE LAW FOR ALL: KARMA-ACTION

Impartial works rank above If after constant practice [of concentration],

meditation, knowledge, and thou art still unable [steadfastly to fix thy
concentration, in that order. heart and mind on me], follow me by actions
performed for me; for by doing works for me
thou shalt attain perfection. But if thou art
unequal even to this, then, being self-
restrained, place all thy works, failures and
successes alike, on me, abandoning in me the
fruit of every action. For knowledge is better
than constant practice, meditation is superior
to knowledge, renunciation of the fruit of ac-
tion to meditation; final emancipation immedi-
1
ately results from such renunciation.
Throw every deed on me, All actions are effected by the qualities of na-
and with your mind set on ture. The man deluded by ignorance thinks, “I
me, fight without anguish, am the actor.” But he . . . who is acquainted
egotism, or expectations. with the nature of the two distinctions of
cause and effect, knowing that the qualities
act only in the qualities, and that the Self is
2
distinct from them, is not attached in action. .
. . Throwing every deed on me, and with thy
meditation fixed upon the Higher Self, resolve
to fight, without expectation, devoid of egotism
3
and free from anguish.
Let your motive for action Let, then, the motive for action be in the action
be in the action itself, itself, and not in the event. Do not be incited
and not in the event. to actions by the hope of their reward, nor let
4
thy life be spent in inaction. Firmly persist-
ing, in Yoga, perform thy duty . . . and laying
aside all desire for any benefit to thyself from
action, make the event equal to thee, whether
it be success or failure. Equal-mindedness is
5
called Yoga.

1
Bhagavad Gītā, 12 vs. 10-12
2
Ibid. 3 vs. 27-28
3
Ibid. 3 vs. 30
4
Cf. “Let not the fruit of action and inaction be thy motive.” Voice of the Silence, fragm. II vs. 177 p.
40
5
Bhagavad Gītā, 2 vs. 47-48

115
COMPASSION | CHAPTER 4

Please the self within. But the man who only taketh delight in the
Do what you believe it is Self within, is satisfied with that and content
your duty to do, oblivious to with that alone, hath no selfish interest in ac-
both occasion and outcome. tion. He hath no interest either in that which
is done or that which is not done; and there is
not, in all things which have been created, any
object on which he may place dependence.
Therefore perform thou that which thou hast
to do, at all times unmindful of the event; for
the man who doeth that which he hath to do,
without attachment to the result, obtaineth
1
the Supreme.
Set an example by acting . . . whatever is practised by the most excellent
without personal interest. men, that is also practised by others. The
2
world follows whatever example they set. . . .
As the ignorant perform the duties of life from
the hope of reward, so the wise man, from the
wish to bring the world to duty and benefit
mankind, should perform his actions without
motives of interest. He should not create con-
fusion in the understandings of the ignorant,
who are inclined to outward works, but by be-
ing himself engaged in action should cause
3
them to act also. . . . he who is perfectly
enlightened should not unsettle those whose
discrimination is weak and knowledge incom-
plete, nor cause them to relax from their
4
duty.
Although there is nothing There is nothing . . . in the three regions of the
that I can possibly obtain, universe which it is necessary for me to per-
I am indefatigable in action. form, nor anything possible to obtain which I
have not obtained; and yet I am constantly in
action. If I were not indefatigable in action, all
men would presently follow my example. . . . If
I did not perform actions these creatures
would perish; I should be the cause of confu-
sion of castes, and should have slain all these
5
creatures.

1
Bhagavad Gītā, 3 vs. 17-19
2
Ibid. 3 vs. 20-21
3
Ibid. 3 vs. 25-26
4
Ibid. 3 vs. 29
5
Ibid. 3 vs. 22-24

116
 ONE LAW FOR ALL: KARMA-ACTION

Act, therefore, without Those who have spiritual discrimination call

any desire for reward, him wise whose undertakings are all free from
unrecognised, with mind desire, for his actions are consumed in the fire
and body subdued, of knowledge. He abandoneth the desire to see
the same in success and a reward for his actions, is free, contented,
failure, contented with and upon nothing dependeth, and although
whatever you may engaged in action he really doeth nothing; he
receive fortuitously. is not solicitous of results, with mind and
body subdued and being above enjoyment
from objects, doing with the body alone the
acts of the body, he does not subject himself
to rebirth. He is contented with whatever he
receives fortuitously, is free from the influence
of the “pairs of opposites” and from envy, the
same in success and failure; even though he
act he is not bound by the bonds of action. All
the actions of such a man who is free from
self-interest, who is devoted, with heart set
upon spiritual knowledge, and whose acts are
sacrifices for the sake of the Supreme, are dis-
1
solved and left without effect on him.
Because, ultimately, Beings are nourished by food, food is pro-
all actions come from me, duced by rain, rain comes from sacrifice, and
and sacrifice is performed sacrifice is performed by action. Know that ac-
by action, I am always tion comes from the Supreme Spirit who is
present in your sacrifice. one; wherefore the all-pervading Spirit is at all
2
times present in the sacrifice. . . . All these
sacrifices of so many kinds are displayed in
the sight of God; know that they all spring
from action, and, comprehending this, thou
3
shalt obtain an eternal release.

1
Bhagavad Gītā, 4 vs. 19-23
2
Ibid. 3 vs. 14-15
3
Ibid. 4 vs. 32

117
COMPASSION | CHAPTER 4

As the leaf of the lotus is The man of purified heart, having his body
unaffected by water, fully controlled, his senses restrained, and for
so impartial action leaves whom the only self is the Self of all creatures,
you untainted by sin. is not tainted although performing actions.
The devotee who knows the divine truth thin-
keth “I am doing nothing” in seeing, hearing,
touching, smelling, eating, moving, sleeping,
breathing; even when speaking, letting go or
taking, opening or closing his eyes, he sayeth,
“the senses and organs move by natural im-
pulse to their appropriate objects.” Whoever in
acting dedicates his actions to the Supreme
Spirit and puts aside all selfish interest in
their result is untouched by sin, even as the
leaf of the lotus is unaffected by the waters.
The truly devoted, for the purification of the
heart, perform actions with their bodies, their
minds, their understanding, and their senses,
1
putting away all self-interest.
Only with total self- Out of kindness to thee [Arjuna] by my divine
surrender and single- power I have shown thee my supreme form,
minded devotion to me, the universe, resplendent, infinite, primeval,
expressed as unconditional and which has never been beheld by any other
love of humanity in than thee. Neither by studying the Vedas, nor
thoughts and in deeds, by alms-giving, nor by sacrificial rites, nor by
I can be approached, deeds, nor by the severest mortification of the
seen, and known in truth. flesh can I be seen in this form by any other
than thee . . . Having beheld my form thus aw-
ful, be not disturbed nor let thy faculties be
confounded, but with fears allayed and happi-
ness of heart look upon this other form of
2
mine again. . . . I am to be approached and
seen and known in truth by means of that de-
votion which has me alone as the object. He
whose actions are for me alone, who estee-
meth me the supreme goal, who is my servant
only, without attachment to the results of ac-
tion and free from enmity towards any crea-
3
ture, cometh to me . . .

1
Bhagavad Gītā, 5 vs. 7-11
2
Ibid. 11 vs. 47-49
3
Ibid. 11 vs. 54-55

118
 ONE LAW FOR ALL: KARMA-ACTION

The ultimate object of . . . I will now tell thee what is the object of
wisdom is Self-realisation, wisdom, from knowing which a man enjoys
a conscious awareness of immortality; it is that which has no beginning,
our true identity where you, even the supreme Brahman, and of which it
me, and all are One again. cannot be said that it is either Being or Non-
Being. It has hands and feet in all directions;
eyes, heads, mouths, and ears in every direc-
tion; it is immanent in the world, possessing
the vast whole. Itself without organs, it is re-
flected by all the senses and faculties; unat-
tached, yet supporting all; without qualities,
yet the witness of them all. It is within and
without all creatures animate and inanimate;
it is inconceivable because of its subtlety, and
although near it is afar off. Although undi-
vided, it appeareth as divided among crea-
tures, and while it sustains existing things, it
is also to be known as their destroyer and
creator. It is the light of all lights, and is de-
clared to be beyond all darkness; and it is
wisdom itself, the object of wisdom, and that
which is to be obtained by wisdom; in the
1
hearts of all it ever presideth.

1
Bhagavad Gītā, 13 vs. 12-17

119
COMPASSION | CHAPTER 4

4.1 (b) Karma in the light of Theosophy

Man is his own star; and the soul that can

Render an honest and a perfect man,
Commands all light, all influence, all fate;
Nothing to him falls early or too late.
Our acts our angels are, of good or ill,
Our fatal shadows that walk by us still.
1
— Francis Beaumont & John Fletcher

Propelled to eternity, Immutable laws cannot arise, since they are

Karma governs harmony, eternal and uncreated, propelled in the Eter-
or perfect equilibrium. nity, and that God himself, if such a thing ex-
isted, could never have the power of stopping
them. . . . we recognize but one law in the Uni-
verse, the law of harmony, of perfect EQUILIB-
2
RIUM.

Karma is action Karma is a word of many meanings, and has a

and, therefore, cause. special term for almost every one of its as-
Because Altruism is at the pects. It means, as a synonym of sin, the per-
heart of the universe, formance of some action for the attainment of
Karma, too, as the Law of an object of worldly, hence selfish, desire,
ethical causation, which cannot fail to be hurtful to somebody
depends on Altruism. else. Karman is action, the Cause; and Karma
3
again is “the law of ethical causation”; the ef-
fect of an act produced egotistically, when the
4
great law of harmony depends on altruism.
LAW governs Karma, The ONE LIFE is closely related the one Law
the World of Being, which governs the World of Being—KARMA. . . .
at the first flutter of renascent life, Svabhavat,
“the mutable radiance of the Immutable Dark-
ness unconscious in Eternity,” passes, at
every new rebirth of Kosmos, from an inactive
state into one of intense activity; that it differ-
entiates and then begins its work through that
5
differentiation. This work is KARMA.

1
Beaumont & Fletcher: The Honest Man’s Fortune, epilogue
2
Mahātma Letter 22 (90), p. 137; 3rd Combined ed. Vide also “ONE LAW in nature being perfect EQUI-
LIBRIUM”; [qu. in: Blavatsky Collected Writings, (THE SIX-POINTED AND FIVE-POINTED STARS) III p. 313.]
3
Cf. “Two things fill my mind with ever-increasing wonder and awe, the more often and the more in-
tensely the reflection dwells on them: the starry heavens above me, and the moral law within me.”
Kant: Critique of Pure Reason, conclusion
4
Secret Doctrine, II p. 302 fn.
5
Ibid. I pp. 634-35

120
 ONE LAW FOR ALL: KARMA-ACTION

Impartially, to Man For, instead of remaining a mere blind, func-

and angel alike, tioning medium, impelled and guided by fath-
omless LAW, the “rebellious” Angel claimed and
enforced his right of independent judgement
and will, his right of free-agency and responsi-
bility, since man and angel are alike under
1
Karmic Law.
Proceeding from Furthermore, the one absolute, ever-acting
one eternity to another, and never-erring law, which proceeds on the
plunging spirit deeper same lines from one eternity (or Manvantara)
into objectivity, before to the other—ever furnishing an ascending
liberating it through flesh, scale for the manifested, or that which we call
the great Illusion (Mahā-Māyā), but plunging
Spirit deeper and deeper into materiality on
the one hand, and then redeeming it through
flesh and liberating it—this law, we say, uses
for these purposes the Beings from other and
higher planes, men, or Minds (Manus), in ac-
2
cordance with their Karmic exigencies.
Karma is action itself. This Law—whether Conscious or Uncon-
scious—predestines nothing and no one. It ex-
ists from and in Eternity truly, for it is ETER-
NITY itself; and as such, since no act can be
coequal with eternity, it cannot be said to act,
3
for it is ACTION itself.
4
By encouraging self- There is one eternal Law in nature, one that
reliance, Karma frees always tends to adjust contraries and to pro-
us from the despotism duce final harmony. It is owing to this law of
of anthropomorphic gods. spiritual development superseding the physi-
cal and purely intellectual, that mankind will
become freed from its false gods, and find it-
5
self finally—SELF-REDEEMED.

1
Secret Doctrine, I pp. 193-94
2
Ibid. II pp. 87-88
3
Ibid. II pp. 304-05
4
Cf. “It is the eternal not ourselves that makes for righteousness.” Matthew Arnold: Literature and
Dogma, viii, 31
5
Secret Doctrine, II p. 420

121
COMPASSION | CHAPTER 4

When you begin to act from Therefore, if anyone is helpless before these
within, helping everything immutable laws, it is not ourselves, the artifi-
that lives, you will grow cers of our destinies, but rather those angels,
to be your own Saviour, the guardians of harmony. Karma-Nemesis is
no more than the (spiritual) dynamical effect of
causes produced and forces awakened into ac-
tivity by our own actions. . . . This state will
last till man’s spiritual intuitions are fully
opened, which will not happen before we fairly
cast off our thick coats of matter; until we be-
gin acting from within, instead of ever follow-
ing impulses from without; namely, those pro-
duced by our physical senses and gross selfish
body. Until then the only palliative to the evils
of life is union and harmony—a Brotherhood
1
IN ACTU, and altruism not simply in name. The
suppression of one single bad cause will sup-
press not one, but a variety of bad effects. And
if a Brotherhood or even a number of Brother-
hoods may not be able to prevent nations from
occasionally cutting each other’s throats—still
unity in thought and action, and philosophical
research into the mysteries of being, will al-
ways prevent some, while trying to compre-
hend that which has hitherto remained to
them a riddle, from creating additional causes
in a world already so full of woe and evil.
Knowledge of Karma gives the conviction that
if —

“. . .virtue in distress, and vice in triumph

2
Make atheists of mankind,”
it is only because that mankind has ever shut
its eyes to the great truth that man is himself
his own savior as his own destroyer, that he
need not accuse Heaven and the gods, Fates
and Providence, of the apparent injustice that
reigns in the midst of humanity. But let him
rather remember and repeat this bit of Grecian
wisdom, which warns man to forbear accusing
That which —

1
Cf. “You speak right and true enough, but you have never acted rightly or truly yet.” (Recta et vera
loquere, sed neque vere neque recte adhuc fecisti unquam.) In: Plautus: Captivi, 5, 2, 7.—King’s Quo-
tations
2
BDZ notes: [John Dryden: Cleomenes (1697), act IV, scene 1.]

122
 ONE LAW FOR ALL: KARMA-ACTION

“Just, though mysterious, leads us on un-

erring
Through ways unmark’d from guilt to
1
punishment. . .”
—which are now the ways and the high road
on which move onward the great European na-
2
tions.
With “Truthfulness and . . . independent of any power in nature that
unswerving faith in could interfere: a law whose course is not to be
the law of Karma,” obstructed by any agency, not to be caused to
deviate by prayer or propitiatory exoteric
ceremonies [is one of the qualifications ex-
3
pected in a Chelā].
Eventually, when your spirit This [ever-present] spirit alone is immutable,
becomes so purified as to and therefore the forces of the universe, cause
re-unite with the “Father in and effect, are ever in perfect harmony with
Heaven” you might get a this one great Immutable Law. Spiritual Life is
glimpse of Truth Eternal. the one primordial principle above; Physical
Life is the Primordial principle below, but they
4
are one under their dual aspect. When the
Spirit is completely untrammelled from the fet-
ters of correlation, and its essence has become
so purified as to be reunited with its CAUSE, it
may—and yet who can tell whether it really
will—have a glimpse of the Eternal Truth. Till
then, let us not build ourselves idols in our
own image, and accept the shadow for the
5
Eternal Light.

1
Cf. “The angered gods have feet of wool.” (Di irati laneos pedes habent.) In: Macrobius 1, 8, 5.—
King’s Quotations
2
Secret Doctrine, I p. 644
3
Blavatsky Collected Writings, (CHELAS AND LAY CHELAS) IV p. 608
4
Cf. “So we grew together, like to a double cherry, seeming parted, but yet a union in partition; two
lovely berries moulded on one stem.” (Shakespeare: Midsummer Night’s Dream, III, ii, 208). Also cf.
“Two birds [the individual soul and the Supreme Self], united always [the two are inseparable and in-
terdependent companions, like an object and its reflection] and known by the same name [Ātman],
closely cling to the same tree [body]. One of them eats the sweet fruit; the other looks on without eat-
ing. . . . Seated on the same tree, the jīva moans [as the result of his identification with the body],
bewildered by his impotence. But when he beholds the other, the Lord worshipped by all, and His
glory, he then becomes free from grief.” Muõóaka, III, I, 1-2 & Svetasvatara Upanishads, IV, 6-7
5
Isis Unveiled, II p. 402

123
4.2 Yugas-cycles
4.2 (a) In the Bhagavad Gītā

Ships that pass in the night, and speak each other

in passing,
Only a signal shown and a distant voice in the darkness:
So on the ocean of life we pass and speak one another,
Only a look and a voice: then darkness again and a silence.
1
— Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

“As a man throweth away As the lord of this mortal frame experienceth
old garments and putteth therein infancy, youth, and old age, so in fu-
on new, even so the dweller ture incarnations will it meet the same. One
in the body, having quitted who is confirmed in this belief is not disturbed
3
its old mortal frames, by anything that may come to pass. . . . The
entereth into others antenatal state of beings is unknown; the
2
which are new.” middle state is evident; and their state after
death is not to be discovered. What in this is
4
there to lament? . . . Both I and thou have
passed through many births! . . . Mine are
known unto me, but thou knowest not of
5
thine.
As on the dawn of a day of Those who are acquainted with day and night
Brahmā all things know that the day of Brahmā is a thousand
issue forth from darkness revolutions of the yugas and that his night ex-
into the light, so on the tendeth for a thousand more. At the coming on
approach of the night of of that day all things issue forth from the un-
Brahmā they withdraw manifested into manifestation, so on the ap-
to the unmanifested, proach of that night they merge again into the
before re-emerging unmanifested. This collection of existing
on another day. things having thus come forth, is dissolved at
the approach of the night . . . ; and now again
on the coming of the day it emanates sponta-
6
neously.

1
Longfellow: Tales of a Wayside Inn, 3 (The Theologian’s Tale: Elizabeth, IV). Also cf. “And soon, too
soon, we part with pain, | To sail o’er silent seas again.” Thomas Moore: Meeting of the Ships
2
Bhagavad Gītā, 2 vs. 22
3
Ibid. 2 vs. 13
4
Ibid. 2 vs. 28
5
Ibid. 4 vs. 5
6
Ibid. 8 vs. 17-19

124
 ONE LAW FOR ALL: YUGAS-CYCLES

But there is That, which But there is that which upon the dissolution of
is never dissolved all things else is not destroyed; it is indivisible,
or destroyed: indestructible, and of another nature from the
It is exhaustless, visible. That called the unmanifested and ex-
indivisible, haustless is called the supreme goal, which
my supreme abode. having once attained they never more return—
1
it is my supreme abode.
I arise periodically, At the end of a kalpa all things return unto my
supervising Nature to nature, and then again at the beginning of an-
produce animate and other kalpa I cause them to evolve again. Tak-
inanimate Worlds, and ing control of my own nature I emanate again
causing Universes and again this whole assemblage of beings,
to orbit. without their will, by the power of the material
2
essence. . . . By reason of my supervision, na-
ture produceth the animate and inanimate
universe; it is through this cause . . . that the
3
universe revolveth.

4.2 (b) Yugas in the light of Theosophy

The One remains, the many change and pass;

Heaven’s light forever shines, earth’s shadows fly;
Life, like a dome of many-coloured glass
Stains the white radiance of eternity.
4
— Percy Bysshe Shelley

“The incognizable Cause . . . [is the first lesson taught in esoteric phi-
does not put forth losophy] . . . Now the collective Mind—the Uni-
evolution, whether versal—composed of various and numberless
consciously or Hosts of Creative Powers, however infinite in
unconsciously, but manifested Time, is still finite when contrasted
only exhibits periodically with the unborn and undecaying Space in its
different aspects of itself supreme essential aspect. That which is finite
to the perception cannot be perfect. Therefore there are inferior
of finite Minds.” Beings among those Hosts, but there never
were any devils or “disobedient Angels,” for the
simple reason that they are all governed by
5
Law.

1
Bhagavad Gītā, 8 vs. 20-21
2
Ibid. 9 vs. 7-8
3
Ibid. 9 vs. 10
4
Shelley: Adonais, 460
5
Secret Doctrine, II p. 487

125
COMPASSION | CHAPTER 4

The changeless LAW causes Therefore the “last vibration of the Seventh
great periods of activity and Eternity” was “fore-ordained”—by no God in
rest, the days and particular, but occurred in virtue of the eter-
nights of Brahmā, nal and changeless LAW which causes the
great periods of Activity and Rest, called so
graphically, and at the same time so poeti-
1
cally, the “Days and Nights of Brahmā.”
Governing birth, growth, The Worlds are built “in the likeness of older
decay, and rebirth on every Wheels”—i.e., those that existed in preceding
planet, through minor Manvantaras and went into Pralaya, because
and varying laws, the LAW for the birth, growth, and decay of
everything in Kosmos, from the Sun to the
glowworm in the grass, is ONE. It is an ever-
lasting work of perfection with every new ap-
pearance, but the Substance-Matter and
Forces are all one and the same. But this LAW
acts on every planet through minor and vary-
2
ing laws. . . . There is an eternal cyclic law of
rebirths, and the series is headed at every new
Manvantaric dawn by those who had enjoyed
their rest from reincarnations in previous Kal-
pas for incalculable Aeons—by the highest and
the earliest Nirvāõis. It was the turn of those
“Gods” to incarnate in the present Manvan-
3
tara.
Always running in circuits The one Life-principle when in action runs in
4
ever-descending circuits even as known in physical science. It
and re-ascending runs the round in human body, where the
the “circle of necessity,” head represents and is to the Microcosmos
(the physical world of matter) what the summit
of the cycle is to the Macrocosmos (the world
of universal spiritual Forces); and so with the
formation of worlds and the great descending
and ascending “circle of necessity.” All is one
5
Law.

1
Secret Doctrine, I p. 62; [Commentary on Stanza III 1 (b).]
2
Ibid. I pp. 144-45; [Commentary on Stanza VI 4 (a).]
3
Ibid. II p. 232
4
Cf. “All things from eternity are of like forms and come round in a circle.” Antoninus: Meditations,
II, 14
5
Mahātma Letter 13 (44), p. 73; 3rd Combined ed.

126
 ONE LAW FOR ALL: YUGAS-CYCLES

Thus producing the “The wayfarer who crosses millions of years, in

Eternity of the Pilgrim. the name of One, and the great green (primor-
dial water or Chaos) the name of the other,”. . .
one begetting millions of years in succession,
the other engulfing them, to restore them
1
back. . . . Man is certainly no special creation,
and he is the product of Nature’s gradual per-
fective work, like any other living unit on this
Earth. But this is only with regard to the hu-
man tabernacle. That which lives and thinks
in man and survives that frame, the master-
piece of evolution—is the “Eternal Pilgrim,” the
Protean differentiation in space and time of
2
the One Absolute “unknowable.”
“Like an immense chain The [following picture, ascribed to Berōsus,
whose upper end, the priest of the temple of Belus at Babylon]
the alpha, remains invisibly covers a whole inner wall of a subterranean
emanating from a Deity temple in the neighbourhood of a great Bud-
. . . it encircles our globe in dhistic pagoda, and is strikingly suggestive. . .
every direction; it leaves
“Imagine a given point in space as the
not even the darkest corner
primordial one; then with compasses draw
unvisited, before the other
a circle around this point; where the be-
end, the omega, turns back
ginning and the end unite together, ema-
on its way to be again
nation and reabsorption meet. The circle
received where it
3 itself is composed of innumerable smaller
first emanated.”
circles, like the rings of a bracelet, and
each of these minor rings forms the belt of
the goddess which represents that sphere.
As the curve of the arc approaches the ul-
timate point of the semi-circle—the nadir
of the grand cycle—at which is placed our
planet by the mystical painter, the face of
each successive goddess becomes more
dark and hideous than European imagina-
4
tion is able to conceive. . . . ”

1
Secret Doctrine, I p. 312; [quoting Gaston Maspero’s allusion to the periodical cycles of cosmic res-
urrection and human reincarnation.]
2
Ibid. II p. 728
3
Isis Unveiled, I p. 560
4
Ibid. I pp. 348-49

127
COMPASSION | CHAPTER 4

“. . . Every belt is covered with the repre-

sentations of plants, animals, and human
beings, belonging to the fauna, flora, and
anthropology of that particular sphere.
There is a certain distance between each
of the spheres, purposely marked; for, af-
ter the accomplishment of the circles
through various transmigrations, the soul
is allowed a time of temporary Nirvāõa,
during which space of time the ātman
loses all remembrance of past sorrows.
The intermediate aethereal space is filled
with strange beings. Those between the
highest aether and the earth below are the
creatures of a ‘middle nature,’ nature-
spirits, or, as the kabalists term it some-
1
times, the elementals.”
We are all companions . . . Mankind, from the First down to the last,
along the same journey, or Seventh Race, is composed of one and the
a journey of Self-discovery, same company of actors, who have descended
where spirit keeps from higher spheres to perform their artistic
2
exploring new dimensions tour on this our planet, Earth. Starting as
in matter, before pure spirits on our downward journey around
re-ascending to higher the world (verily!) with the knowledge of
and higher realms of truth—now feebly echoed in the Occult Doc-
self-knowledge. trines—inherent in us, cyclic law brings us
down to the reversed apex of matter, which is
lost down here on earth and the bottom of
which we have already struck; and then, the
same Law of spiritual gravity will make us
slowly ascend to still higher, still purer
3
spheres than those we started from. . . . Sta-
tistics of wars and of the periods (or cycles) of
the appearance of great men . . . of the periods
of development and progress at large commer-
cial centres; of the rise and fall of arts and sci-
ences; of cataclysms, . . . periods of extraordi-
nary cold and heat; cycles of revolutions, and
4
of the rise and fall of empires, etc.

1
Isis Unveiled, I pp. 348-49
2
Cf. “The universe is transformation; our life is what our thoughts make it.” Antoninus: Meditations,
IV, 3
3
Blavatsky Collected Writings, (THE POST-CHRISTIAN SUCCESSORS TO THE MYSTERIES) XIV p. 303
4
Ibid. (THE THEORY OF CYCLES) II p. 418

128
 ONE LAW FOR ALL: YUGAS-CYCLES

Every now and then Cyclic . . . The cycles must run their rounds. Periods
Law brings us together. of mental and moral light and darkness suc-
ceed each other, as day does with night. The
major and minor yugas must be accomplished
according to the established order of things.
And we, borne along on the mighty tide, can
only modify and direct some of its minor cur-
1
rents.

1
First Mahātma Letter from Master KH to AO Hume (dated 1st November 1880), p. 474. In: Appendix
I; Chronological ed. Also cf. “Dust to the dust! but the pure spirit shall flow back to the burning
fountain whence it came, a portion of the eternal.” Percy Bysshe Shelley: Adonais, 337

129
4.3 Yajña-Compassion / Sacrifice
4.3 (a) In the Bhagavad Gītā

We live in deeds, not years; in thoughts, not breaths; In

feelings, not in figures on a dial.
We should count time by heart-throbs. He most lives
Who thinks most, feels the noblest, acts the best.
1
— Phillips James Bailey

The desireless conduct that Some devotees give sacrifice to the Gods, while
follows apprehension of others, lighting the subtler fire of the Supreme
inner truths is much greater Spirit offer up themselves; still others make
than sacrifices made with sacrifice with the senses, beginning with hear-
the material body, ing, in the fire of self-restraint, and some give
material things, up all sense-delighting sounds, and others
silent study, again, illuminated by spiritual knowledge, sac-
or mere devotion. rifice all the functions of the senses and vital-
ity in the fire of devotion through self-
constraint. There are also those who perform
sacrifice by wealth given in alms, by mortifica-
tion, by devotion, and by silent study. Some
sacrifice the up-breathing in the down-
breathing and the down-breathing in the up-
breathing by blocking up the channels of in-
spiration and expiration; and others by stop-
ping the movements of both the life breaths;
still others by abstaining from food sacrifice
life in their life. All these different kinds of
worshipers are by their sacrifices purified from
their sins; but they who partake of the perfec-
tion of spiritual knowledge arising from such
sacrifices pass into the eternal Supreme
2
Spirit. . . . The sacrifice through spiritual
knowledge is superior to sacrifice made with
material things; every action without exception
3
is comprehended in spiritual knowledge . . .

1
Bailey: Festus, scene v; (A Country Town). Also cf. “Who well lives, long lives; for this age of ours |
Should not be numbered by years, daies, and hours.” (GS du Bartas: Days and Weekes, Fourth Day,
bk. II). “He who grown aged in this world of woe | In deeds, not years, piercing the depths of life, | So
that no wonder waits him.” (GG Byron: Childe Harold, canto III, stanza 5). “A life spent worthily
should be measured by a nobler line,—by deeds, not years.” (RB Sheridan: Pizarro, act IV, scene I).
“Why number years? His years man oft outstrips. | ’Tis deeds give age: let these be on your lips.”
(Quid numeras annos? vixi maturior annis. | Acta senem faciunt; hæc numeranda tibi.) Ovid: In
Liviam, 447;—King’s Quotations
2
Bhagavad Gītā, 4 vs. 24-31
3
Ibid. 4 vs. 33

130
 ONE LAW FOR ALL: YAJÑA-COMPASSION / SACRIFICE

As every form of life The Gods being nourished by worship with

is sustained by countless sacrifice, will grant you the enjoyment of your
other lives, if you offer wishes. He who enjoyeth what hath been given
nothing in return, unto him by them, and offereth not a portion
1
you are like a thief. unto them, is even as a thief. . . . For him who
maketh no sacrifices there is no part nor lot in
this world; how then shall he share in the
2
other . . . ?
When you manage to act He who, unattached to the fruit of his actions,
without any self-interest, performeth such actions as should be done is
you grow to be a devotee both a renouncer of action and a devotee of
of right action. right action; not he who liveth without kin-
dling the sacrificial fire and without ceremo-
nies. Know . . . that what they call Sannyās or
a forsaking of action is the same as Yoga or
the practice of devotion. No one without hav-
ing previously renounced all intentions can be
3
devoted.
Because I am the Lord I am he who is the Lord of all sacrifices, and
of all sacrifices, and their am also their enjoyer, but they do not under-
enjoyer, if you sincerely stand me truly and therefore they fall from
4
dedicate all your actions to heaven. . . . I accept and enjoy the offerings of
me, you will be freed from the humble soul who in his worship with a
the bonds of selfish action. pure heart offereth a leaf, a flower, or fruit, or
water unto me. Whatever thou doest, . . .
whatever thou eatest, whatever thou sacri-
ficest, whatever thou givest, whatever mortifi-
cation thou performest, commit each unto me.
Thus thou shalt be delivered from the good
and evil experiences which are the bonds of
action; and thy heart being joined to renuncia-
tion and to the practice of action, thou shalt
5
come to me.

1
Bhagavad Gītā, 3 vs. 12
2
Ibid. 4 vs. 31
3
Ibid. 6 vs. 1-2
4
Ibid. 9 vs. 24
5
Ibid. 9 vs. 26-28

131
COMPASSION | CHAPTER 4

Throw every deed on to me. If thou art unequal even to this [steadfastly to
Abandon in me the fruits of fix thy heart and mind on me], then, being
all actions. Desireless self-restrained, place all thy works, failures
action is a far more and successes alike, on me, abandoning in me
effective means to the fruit of every action. For knowledge is bet-
liberation than ter than constant practice [of concentration],
meditation, meditation is superior to knowledge, renuncia-
knowledge, tion of the fruit of action to meditation; final
and concentration. emancipation immediately results from such
1
renunciation.

1
Bhagavad Gītā, 12 vs. 11-12

132
 ONE LAW FOR ALL: YAJÑA-COMPASSION / SACRIFICE

4.3 (b) Yajña in the light of Theosophy

Love is the fulfilling of the law.

1
— Romans

2
Eternal and invisible The Yajña, say the Brahmans, exists from
Yajña is divine love or eternity, for it proceeded forth from the Su-
Compassion-Sacrifice. preme One, the Brahmā-Prajāpati, in whom it
lay dormant from “no beginning.” It is the key
to the TRAIVIDYĀ, the thrice sacred science con-
tained in the èig verses, which teaches the Ya-
jus or sacrificial mysteries. “The Yajña exists
as an invisible thing at all times, it is like the
latent power of electricity in an electrifying
machine, requiring only the operation of a
suitable apparatus in order to be elicited. It is
supposed to extend, when unrolled, from the
Āhavanīya or sacrificial fire into which all ob-
lations are thrown, to heaven, forming thus a
bridge or ladder, by means of which the sacri-
ficer can communicate with the world of gods
and spirits, and even ascend when alive to
their abodes.”

This Yajña is again one of the forms of the

Ākāśa, and the mystic word calling it into exis-
tence and pronounced mentally by the initi-
ated Priest is the Lost Word receiving impulse
3
through WILL POWER.

1
Romans, 13, 10
2
Cf. “[Yajña’s] symbol or representation is the constellation of Mriga-shiras (deer-head), and also a
form of Vishõu.” Theosophical Glossary, p. 375
3
Isis Unveiled, I pp. xliii-iv; [quoting M Haug’s Aitareya-Brāhmaõam, introd. pp. 73-74.]

133
COMPASSION | CHAPTER 4

Love for sentient existence . . . the modern etymology of the word “phi-
is the primordial impulse losophy,” which is interpreted “love of wis-
in Nature which, in time, dom,”. . . is nothing of the kind. The philoso-
becomes LAW. phers were scientists, and philosophy was a
real science—not simply verbiage, as it is in
our day. The term is composed of two Greek
words whose meaning is intended to convey its
secret sense, and ought to be interpreted as
“wisdom of love.” Now it is in the last word,
“love,” that lies hidden the esoteric signifi-
cance: for “love” does not stand here as a
noun, nor does it mean “affection” or “fond-
ness,” but is the term used for Erōs, that pri-
mordial principle in divine creation, synony-
1 2
mous with πόθος, the abstract desire in Na-
ture for procreation, resulting in an everlasting
series of phenomena. It means “divine love,”
that universal element of divine omnipresence
spread throughout Nature and which is at
3
once the chief cause and effect. The “wisdom
of love” (or “philosophia”) meant attraction to
and love of everything hidden beneath objec-
tive phenomena and the knowledge thereof.
Philosophy meant the highest Adeptship—love
of and assimilation with Deity. In his modesty
Pythagoras even refused to be called a Phi-
losopher (or one who knows every hidden
thing in things visible; cause and effect, or ab-
solute truth), and called himself simply a
Sage, an aspirant to philosophy, or to Wisdom
of Love—love in its exoteric meaning being as
degraded by men then as it is now by its
4
purely terrestrial application.

1
[Pōthos, Desire in Greek—Comp.]
2
Cf. “For Kāma [Desire], again, is in the èig-Veda the personification of that feeling which leads and
propels to creation. He was the first movement that stirred the ONE, after its manifestation from the
purely abstract principle, to create, ‘Desire first arose in It, which was the primal germ of mind; and
which sages, searching with their intellect, have discovered to be the bond which connects Entity
with Non-Entity.’ ” Secret Doctrine, II p. 176
3
Cf. “When tears to man Dame Nature did impart, | It was to prove she’d given a feeling heart; | It
is our noblest gift.” (Mollissima corda | Humano generi dare se natura fatetur, | Quæ lachrymas
dedid: hæc nostri pars optima sensus.) In: Juvenal: 15, 131;—King’s Quotations
4
Blavatsky Collected Writings, (THE ORIGIN OF THE MYSTERIES) XIV p. 255 fn.

134
 ONE LAW FOR ALL: YAJÑA-COMPASSION / SACRIFICE

Altruism is “the essence of [Theosophy] teaches, as foremost of all virtues,

our being, the mystery in us altruism and self-sacrifice, brotherhood and
that calls itself I.” compassion for every living creature, without,
for all that, worshipping Man or Humanity. . .
. For that alone which constitutes the real
Man is, in the words of Carlyle, “the essence of
our being, the mystery in us that calls itself
‘I’—. . . . a breath of Heaven; the Highest Being
1
reveals himself in man.” This denied, man is
but an animal—“the shame and scandal of the
2
Universe,” as Pascal puts it.
Fellowship and Everyone entering the [Theosophical] society is
brotherhood, philanthropy supposed to sympathize with the theory of es-
and humaneness, ahimsa sential brotherhood; a kinship which exists on
and harmlessness, the plane of the higher self, not on that of the
they are the connective racial, social, and mental dissimilarities and
3
tissue of the universe. antipathies. These elements of discord per-
tain to the physical man and are the result of
unequal development under the law of evolu-
tion. We believe the human body to be but the
shell, cover, or veil of the real entity; and those
who accept the esoteric philosophy and the
theory of “Karma,” (the universal law of ethical
causation) believe that the entity, as it travels
around certain major and minor cycles of exis-
tence with the whole mass of human beings,
takes on a different body at birth, and shells it
4
off at death, under the operation of this Kar-
mic law. Yet though it may thus clothe and re-
clothe itself a thousand times in a series of re-
incarnations, the entity is unchanged and un-
5
changeable, being of a divine nature, superior
6
to all environments on the earthly plane. . .

1
Cf. “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” John, 15, 13
2
Blavatsky Collected Writings, (THE BABEL OF MODERN THOUGHT) XIII p. 97. [Is it a coincidence that
the Bible advocates to “love your neighbor as yourself” ? (Άγάπα τόν πλησίον σου ώς σεαυτόν.)—
Leviticus, 19, 18 & Matthew, 19, 19
3
Cf. “Fellowship is heaven, and lack of fellowship is hell; | Fellowship is life, and lack of fellowship
is death; | And the deeds that ye do upon the earth, | It is for fellowship’s sake that ye do them.”
Morris: The Dream of John Ball, 4
4
Cf. “[There is no death], death is the veil which those who live call life: they sleep, and it is lifted.”
Percy Bysshe Shelley: Prometheus Unbound, III, iii, 113
5
Cf. “Thus all things are but altered, nothing dies.—Dryden” (Omnia mutantur, nihil interit.) In:
Ovid: Metamorphoses, 15,165—King’s Quotations
6
Blavatsky Collected Writings, (RECENT PROGRESS IN THEOSOPHY) XII p. 302

135
COMPASSION | CHAPTER 4

. . . It is the physical body only which has ra-

cial type, colour, sex, hatreds, ambitions, and
loves. So then, when we postulate the idea of
universal brotherhood, we wish it understood
that it is held in no Utopian sense, though we
do not dream of realizing it at once . . . Most
assuredly, if this view of the kinship of all
mankind could gain universal acceptance, the
improved sense of moral responsibility it
would engender would cause most social evils
and international asperities to disappear; for a
true altruism, instead of the present egoism,
1
would be the rule the world over.
Sacrifice is life. [Esoteric Philosophy] says “there is neither
Selfishness is death. death nor life, for both are illusions; being (or
Be-ness is the only reality! be-ness) is the only reality.”. . . “Life is Death,”
said Claude Bernard. The organism lives be-
cause its parts are ever dying. The survival of
the fittest is surely based on this truism. The
life of the superior whole requires the death of
the inferior, the death of the parts depending
on and being subservient to it. And, as life is
death, so death is life, and the whole great cy-
cle of lives forms but ONE EXISTENCE—the
2
worst day of which is on our planet.
Life without regard for Man accumulates knowledge, invents religions
others is not worth living. and philosophies, but himself remains still the
same. In his ceaseless chase after wealth and
honours and the will-o’-the-wisps of novelty,
enjoyment and ambition, he is ever moved by
3
one chief motor—vain selfishness. . . . Very
difficult it is for an embodied jīva to realize the
first truth of Vedānta and Buddhism that life,
embodied and individual life, in any form, is
essentially not worth living—because all its
pleasure is embittered with pain, and, even
more, because it cannot be maintained with-
out the intense selfishness of unremittingly
4
absorbing other individual lives.

1
Blavatsky Collected Writings, (RECENT PROGRESS IN THEOSOPHY) XII p. 302
2
Ibid. (THE ORIGIN OF EVIL) VIII p. 124
3
Ibid. (THOUGHTS ON ORMUZD AND AHRIMAN) XIII p. 131
4
Science of the Emotions, p. 474 fn.

136
 ONE LAW FOR ALL: YAJÑA-COMPASSION / SACRIFICE

Altruism in deeds, It has been always held that a true Theoso-

not words, phist must have no personal ends to serve, no
is the hallmark of favourite hobby to propagate, no special doc-
truly human beings. trine to enforce or to defend. For, to merit the
honorable title of Theosophist one must be an
altruist, above all; one ever ready to help
equally foe or friend, to act, rather than to
speak; and urge others to action, while never
losing an opportunity to work himself. But, if
no true Theosophist will ever dictate to his fel-
low brother or neighbour what this one should
believe or disbelieve in, nor force him to act on
lines which may be distasteful to him, however
proper they may appear to himself, there are
other duties which he has to attend to: (a) to
warn his brother of any danger the latter may
fail to see; and (b) to share his knowledge—if
he has acquired such—with those who have
been less fortunate than himself in opportuni-
1
ties for acquiring it. . . . Theosophical charity
in the heart of every true Theosophist must
urge him to eschew reprisals and never to re-
turn evil for evil, so long as truth damaging to
his enemies can be withheld without danger to
2
the cause.
“Inaction in a deed To feel “compassion” without an adequate
of mercy becomes an practical result ensuing from it is not to show
action in a deadly sin.” oneself an “Altruist” but the reverse. Real self-
development on the esoteric lines is action.
“Inaction in a deed of mercy becomes an action
3
in a deadly sin.” . . . He who does not say with
the Master: “Mercy alone opens the gate to
save the whole race of mankind” is unworthy
4
of that Master. . . . Our critic [G. W. Foote]
seems quite innocent of the distinction be-
5
tween theoretical and practical altruism.

1
Blavatsky Collected Writings, (WHY THE “VAHAN”?) XII p. 417-18
2
Ibid. (TO ALL THEOSOPHISTS) XI pp. 306-07
3
Voice of the Silence, fragm. II vs. 135, p. 31; qu. in: Blavatsky Collected Writings, (WHAT SHALL WE
DO FOR OUR FELLOW-MEN?) XI p. 469
4
Blavatsky Collected Writings, (WORLD IMPROVEMENT OR WORLD DELIVERANCE) XI p. 350. Cf. “For
Mercy has a human heart, | Pity a human face, |Love the human form divine, | And Peace the hu-
man dress.” Blake: The Divine Image
5
Ibid. (THE THERSITES OF FREETHOUGHT) XI p. 427

137
COMPASSION | CHAPTER 4

Unreserved, unselfish love When one falls into a love of self and love of
of humanity, is the only the world, with its pleasures, losing the divine
opening for Animal Man love of God and of the neighbor, he falls from
to become Human. life to death. The higher principles which con-
stitute the essential elements of his humanity
perish, and he lives only on the natural plane
of his faculties. Physically he exists, spiritually
he is dead. To all that pertains to the higher
and the only enduring phase of existence he is
as much dead as his body becomes dead to all
the activities, delights, and sensations of the
world when the spirit has left it. This spiritual
death results from disobedience of the laws of
spiritual life, which is followed by the same
penalty as the disobedience of the laws of the
natural life. But the spiritually dead have still
their delights; they have their intellectual en-
dowments and power, and intense activities.
All the animal delights are theirs, and to mul-
titudes of men and women these constitute
the highest ideal of human happiness. The
tireless pursuits of riches, of the amusements
and entertainments of social life; the cultiva-
tion of graces of manner, of taste in dress, of
social preferment, of scientific distinction, in-
toxicate and enrapture these dead-alive; but,
the eloquent preacher remarks, “these crea-
tures, with all their graces, rich attire, and
brilliant accomplishments, are dead in the eye
of the Lord and the angels, and when meas-
ured by the only true and immutable standard
have no more genuine life than skeletons
whose flesh has turned to dust.” A high devel-
opment of the intellectual faculties does not
imply spiritual and true life. Many of our
greatest scientists are but animate corpses—
they have no spiritual sight because their spir-
its have left them. So we might go through all
ages, examine all occupations, weigh all hu-
man attainments, and investigate all forms of
society, and we would find these spiritually
1
dead everywhere.

1
Isis Unveiled, I p. 318; [quoting & paraphrasing Rev. Chauncey Giles, D.D.]

138
 ONE LAW FOR ALL: YAJÑA-COMPASSION / SACRIFICE

Self-preservation is “Self-preservation” . . . is indeed and in truth a

a crime against humanity sure, if a slow, suicide, for it is a policy of mu-
“. . . ‘survival of the fittest’ tual homicide, because men by descending to
seems to mean the triumph its practical application amongst themselves,
1
of the most unprincipled.” merge more and more by a retrograde reinvo-
lution into the animal kingdom. This is what
the “struggle for life” is in reality, even on the
purely materialistic lines of political economy.
Once that this axiomatic truth is proved to all
men; the same instinct of self-preservation
only directed into its true channel will make
them turn to altruism—as their surest policy of
salvation. . . The “struggle for existence” ap-
plies only to the physical, never to the moral
plane of being. . . . It is not the policy of self-
preservation, not the welfare of one or another
personality in its finite and physical form that
will or can ever secure the desired object . . . ;
but only the weakening of the feeling of sepa-
rateness in the units which compose its chief
element. And such a weakening can only be
achieved by a process of inner enlightenment.
It is not violence that can ever insure bread
and comfort for all; nor is the kingdom of
peace and love, of mutual help and charity
and “food for all,” to be conquered by a cold,
reasoning, diplomatic policy. It is only by the
close brotherly union of men’s inner SELVES, of
soul-solidarity, of the growth and development
of that feeling which makes one suffer when
one thinks of the suffering of others, that the
reign of Justice and equality for all can ever be
inaugurated. . . When men will begin to realise
that it is precisely that ferocious personal self-
ishness, the chief motor in the “struggle for
life,” that lies at the very bottom and is the one
sole cause of human starvation; that it is that
other—national egoism and vanity, which stirs
up the States and rich individuals to . . . the
support of a swarm of social drones called
Cardinals and Bishops, the true parasites on
the bodies of their subordinates and their
2
flocks. . .

1
Blavatsky Collected Writings, (OCCULT PHENOMENA) II p. 490
2
Ibid. (THE THEOSOPHICAL SOCIETY) X pp. 74-75

139
COMPASSION | CHAPTER 4

There is no duty nobler As “There is no Religion higher than the

than self-sacrifice; Truth,” no deity greater than the latter, no
No deity higher than Truth. duty nobler than self-sacrifice, and that the
time for action is so short—shall not each of
you put his shoulder to the wheel of the heavy
car of our [Theosophical] Society and help us
to land it safely across the abyss of matter, on
1
to the safe side?
Everyone’s first duty is to The world has clouded the light of true knowl-
be ever ready to help all edge, and selfishness will not allow its resur-
those who are born under rection, for it excludes and will not recognize
the same immutable LAW. the whole fellowship of all those who were
2
born under the same immutable natural law. .
. . Nothing of that which is conducive to help
man, collectively or individually, to live—not
“happily”—but less unhappily in this world,
ought to be indifferent to the Theosophist-
Occultist. It is no concern of his whether his
help benefits a man in his worldly or spiritual
progress; his first duty is to be ever ready to
help if he can, without stopping to philoso-
3
phize.
“Let not the fierce Sun dry But let each burning human tear drop on thy
one tear of pain before heart and there remain; nor ever brush it off,
thyself hast wiped it from until the pain that caused it is removed. These
4
the sufferer’s eye.” tears, O thou of heart most merciful, these are
the streams that irrigate the fields of charity
immortal. ’Tis on such soil that grows the
5
midnight blossom of Buddha more difficult to
find, more rare to view than is the flower of the
Vogay tree. It is the seed of freedom from re-
birth. It isolates the Arhat both from strife and
lust, it leads him through the fields of Being
unto the peace and bliss known only in the
6
land of Silence and Non-Being.

1
Blavatsky Collected Writings, (WHY THE “VAHAN”?) XII p. 419
2
Mahātma Letter 38 (33), p. 249; 3rd Combined ed. Cf. “A great mind is above doing an unjust act,
above giving way to grief, above descending to buffoonery; and it would be invulnerable, if it did not
feel the pangs of compassion.” (Une grande âme est au-dessus de l’injustice, de la douleur, de la mo-
querie; et elle seroit invulnérable si elle ne souffroit par la compassion.) La Bruy?—King’s Quotations
3
Blavatsky Collected Writings, (WHAT SHALL WE DO FOR OUR FELLOW-MEN?) XI p. 465
4
Voice of the Silence, fragm. I vs. 60, p. 13
5
Adeptship—the “blossom of Bodhisattva.”
6
Voice of the Silence, fragm. I vs. 61-2, p. 13

140
 ONE LAW FOR ALL: YAJÑA-COMPASSION / SACRIFICE

“Can there be bliss when Thence the ceaseless and untiring self-
there are men who suffer? sacrifice of such natures [Sister Rose
Shalt thou be saved and Gertrude’s and Father Damien’s] to what ap-
hear the others cry?” pears religious duty, but which in sober truth
is the very essence and esse of the dormant
Individuality—“divine compassion,” which is
“no attribute” but verily the LAW of the LAWS—
eternal Harmony, Ālaya’s SELF.”. . . “Can
there be bliss when there are men who suffer?
1
Shalt thou be saved and hear the others cry?”
Yet, “Personality”—having been blinded by
training and religious education to the real
presence and nature of the HIGHER SELF—
recognizes not its voice, but confusing it in its
helpless ignorance with the external and ex-
traneous Form which it was taught to regard
as a divine Reality—it sends heaven-ward and
outside instead of addressing them inwardly,
thoughts and prayers, the realization of which
is in its SELF. It says it in the beautiful words
of Dante Gabriel Rossetti, but with a higher
application:

. . . “For lo! thy law is passed

That this my love should manifestly be
To serve and honour thee;
And so I do; and my delight is full,
2
Accepted by the servant of thy rule.”
This “compassion” must not be regarded in the
same light as “God, the divine love” of the The-
ists. Compassion stands here as an abstract,
impersonal law whose nature, being absolute
Harmony, is thrown into confusion by discord,
3
suffering and sin.

1
Cf. Voice of the Silence, fragm. III vs. 300, p. 69 & vs. 307, p. 71. Also cf. “Too greedy he is of life,
who still would live, when all the world around is perishing.” (Vitæ est avidus, quisquis non vult.)—
Seneca: Thyestes, 882
2
Blavatsky Collected Writings, (THE LAST SONG OF THE SWAN) XII p. 114
3
Voice of the Silence, fragm. III note 31 (to vs. 301, p. 70); p. 94 in glos. of Chinese & Centenary eds.
Also cf. “The more thou dost become at one with it, thy being melted in its BEING, the more thy Soul
unites with that which IS, the more thou wilt become COMPASSION ABSOLUTE.” Ibid. vs. 301

141
COMPASSION | CHAPTER 4

Therefore, fearlessly feed “If thou findest a hungry Serpent creeping into
the hungry serpents that thy house, seeking for food, and, out of fear it
creep into your house. should bite thee, instead of offering it milk thou
turnest it out to suffer and starve, thou turnest
away from the Path of Compassion. Thus ac-
1
teth the fainthearted and the selfish.”
Strive to help the divine . . . man ought to be ever striving to help the
evolution of ideas, divine evolution of Ideas, by becoming to the
by co-operating with best of his ability a co-worker with nature in
Nature in her cyclic task. the cyclic task. The ever-unknowable and in-
cognizable Kāçana alone, the Causeless Cause
of all causes, should have its shrine and altar
on the holy and ever untrodden ground of our
heart—invisible, intangible, unmentioned,
save through “the still small voice” of our spiri-
tual consciousness. Those who worship before
it, ought to do so in the silence and the sancti-
fied solitude of their Souls; making their spirit
the sole mediator between them and the Uni-
versal Spirit, their good actions the only
priests, and their sinful intentions the only
visible and objective sacrificial victims to the
2
Presence.
Surrender the personal to Esoterically, there is no other way, means or
the eternal and begin to method of sacrificing oneself “to the eternal”
work for humanity than by working and sacrificing oneself for the
and for all that lives. collective spirit of Life, embodied in, and (for
us) represented in its highest divine aspect by
3
Humanity alone.
Show to everybody that [The ethics of Theosophy] are the essence and
Theosophy is the “cream cream of the world’s ethics, gathered from the
of the world’s ethics.” teaching of all the world’s great reformers.
Therefore, you will find represented therein
Confucius and Zoroaster, Lao-tze and the
Bhagavad Gītā, the precepts of Gautama Bud-
dha and Jesus of Nazareth, of Hillel and his
school, as of Pythagoras, Socrates, Plato, and
4
their Schools.

1
Blavatsky Collected Writings, (E. S. INSTRUCTION NO. III) XII p. 587; [quoting verbatim an aphorism
from the Book of Precepts by her “Guru and Master.”]
2
Secret Doctrine, I p. 280
3
Blavatsky Collected Writings, (WHAT SHALL WE DO FOR OUR FELLOW-MEN?) XI p. 469
4
Key to Theosophy, pp. 48-49

142
 ONE LAW FOR ALL: YAJÑA-COMPASSION / SACRIFICE

“ ‘I am my brother’s Ascending . . . in the scale of manhood, we

keeper,’ is the cry of come to those who shadow forth the latent
repentant Cain, and the God in man in thoughts, words, and deeds of
divine summons of return divine self-sacrifice; the prerogative of their
to the lost Paradise.” God-head first manifesting in acts of real char-
ity, in pity of their suffering fellow-kind, or
from an intuitional feeling of duty, the first
heralding of accession to divine responsibility,
and the realization of the unity of all souls. “I
am by brother’s keeper,” is the cry of repen-
tant Cain, and the divine summons of return
to the lost Paradise. With this cry the struggle
for animal existence begins to yield to the
struggle for divine existence. By extending our
love to all men, aye, to animals as well, we joy
and sorrow with them, and expand our souls
towards the One that ever both sorrows and
joys with all, in an eternal bliss in which the
1
pleasure of joy and the pain of sorrow are not.

1
Blavatsky Collected Writings, (THE STRUGGLE FOR EXISTENCE) XI p. 149

143
 CHAPTER 5
NĀRADA AND KRISHNA SPEAK
WITH ONE VOICE

The esoteric character and contributions of Nārada are not as widely appre-
ciated as those expounded by Kçishõa. For this reason, they are here pre-
1
sented at some length. Nārada’s standing amongst the great benefactors of
humanity will become more apparent when His aphorisms on devotion are
compared with those of Kçishõa in the main section of this Chapter.

Who is Nārada?
In The Secret Doctrine, “Nārada is here, there, and everywhere; and yet, none
of the Purāõas gives the true characteristics of this great enemy of physical
2
procreation.” “Nārada [is] the son of Brahmā in Matsya-Purāõa, the progeny
3
of Kāśyapa, and the daughter of Daksha in the Vishõu-Purāõa. . . . ” Else-
where, Nārada is alleged to be “ ‘the first Adversary’ in individual human
4
form, . . . ‘the Strife maker,’. . . the great ‘Deceiver,’ ” the prototype of Satan.
These unflattering epithets do not imply ambitious or selfish motives. On the
contrary, Nārada is the Sage of the sages. He serves and guides “universal
5
progress and evolution.” He is a “bundle of apparent incongruities, yet a
6
wealth of philosophical tenets.”

[Nārada] “is Brahmaputra, a son of Brahmā, the male . . . in every

7
old cosmogony and Scripture.” . . . He is “one of the Greatest
èishis . . . a Deva èishi; . . . shown in constant and everlasting
8
feud with Brahmā, Daksha, and other gods and sages.” . . . Nārada

1
Defining terms have been placed in bold type by the Comp.
2
Cf. Secret Doctrine, II p. 48
3
Ibid. II pp. 47-48
4
Ibid. I p. 413
5
Ibid. II p. 49
6
Ibid. II p. 584
7
Ibid. I p. 413
8
Ibid. II p. 502

145
COMPASSION | CHAPTER 5

is the last of ten Prajāpatis or eminent saints named by Manu,

“in whom the Brahman theologians see prophets, ancestors of the
human race, and the Pundits simply consider as ten powerful
kings who lived in the Kçita-yuga, or the age of good (the ‘golden
1
age’ of the Greeks).”

Nārada abridged the Laws of Brahmā . “We read in the preface to

a treatise on legislation by Nārada,” says Jacolliot, “written by one
of his adepts, a client of Brahmanical power: ‘Manu having written
the laws of Brahmā, in 100,000 ślokas, or distichs, which formed
twenty-four books and a thousand chapters, gave the work to Nā-
rada, the sage of sages, who abridged it for the use of mankind to
12,000 verses, which he gave to a son of Bhçigu, named Sumati,
2
who, for the greater convenience of man, reduced them to 4,000’.” .
. . Nārada invented the Vīõā a lute-like ancient musical instru-
ment that chants the middle in a “ladder of mystic sounds,” or one
of seven manners of hearing the voice of the Higher Self that are
3
mentioned in The Voice of the Silence, where disciples are com-
pared with “the strings of the soul-echoing Vīõā,” and mankind
4
with “its sounding board.”

Nārada thought of the apophthegm:

“Never utter these words: ‘I do not know this—therefore it is false.’

One must study to know, know to understand, understand to
5
judge.”

He is the Deva èishi of Esotericism

Nārada is involved with occult doctrines . “Of all the Vedic

èishis, Nārada, as already shown, is the most incomprehensible,
because the most closely connected with the occult doctrines—
6
especially with the secret cycles and Kalpas.”

“Nārada is the Deva èishi of Occultism par excellence; . . . the

Occultist who does not ponder, analyze, and study Nārada from his
seven esoteric facets, will never be able to fathom certain anthropo-
logical, chronological, and even Cosmic Mysteries. He is one of the
Fires . . . and plays a part in the evolution of this Kalpa from its in-

1
Cf. Isis Unveiled, II p. 427; [quoting L. Jacolliot’s La Genèse de l’humanité, etc., pp. 169 & 170, cit-
ing Manu, bk. I, sl. 35.]
2
Ibid. I pp. 585-86; [quoting L. Jacolliot’s La Bible dans l’Inde, etc., p. 76.]
3
Cf. Voice of the Silence, fragm. I vs. 45, p. 10
4
Ibid. fragm. III vs. 226, p. 51
5
Cf. Isis Unveiled, I p. 628; [qu. at the end of vol. I.]
6
Cf. Secret Doctrine, II p. 82

146
 NĀRADA AND KŖISHŅA SPEAK WITH ONE VOICE

cipient, down to its final stage. He is an actor who appears in each

of the successive acts (Root-Races) of the present Manvantaric
drama, in the world allegories which strike the keynote of esoteri-
1
cism. . .

In Cis-Himalayan Occultism, Nārada is Pesh-Hun, “the mysterious

guiding intelligent power, which gives the impulse to, and regulates
2
the impetus of cycles, Kalpas, and universal events.” . . . “Pesh-
Hun is credited with having calculated and recorded all the astro-
nomical and cosmic cycles to come, . . . with having taught the
Science to the first gazers at the starry vault. . . . [and for author-
ing] a work among the Secret Books, called the Mirror of Futurity,
wherein all the Kalpas within Kalpas and cycles within the bosom
3
of Śesha, or infinite Time, are recorded.”

Nārada is a rebel against Brahmā . “In Esoteric Philosophy, the

Rudras (Kumāras, Ādityas, Gandharvas, Asuras, etc.) are the high-
est Dhyāni-Chohans or Devas as regards intellectuality. They are
those who, owing to their having acquired by self-development the
fivefold nature—hence the sacredness of number five—became in-
dependent of the pure Arūpa devas. This is a mystery very difficult
to realize and understand correctly. For, we see that those who
were ‘obedient to law’ are, equally with the rebels, doomed to be re-
born in every age. Nārada, the èishi, is cursed by Brahmā to inces-
sant peripateticism on Earth, i.e., to be constantly reborn. He is a
rebel against Brahmā, and yet has no worse fate than the Jayas—
the twelve great creative gods produced by Brahmā as his assis-
tants in the functions of creation. For the latter, lost in meditation,
only forgot to create; and for this, they are equally cursed by
Brahmā to be born in every Manvantara. And still they are
termed—together with the rebels—Chhandajas or those born of
4
their own will in human form! ”

“Nārada is the leader of the Gandharvas, the celestial singers,

and musicians ; esoterically, the reason for it is explained by the
fact that the latter (the Gandharvas) are ‘the instructors of men
in the secret sciences .’ It is they, who ‘loving the women of the
Earth,’ disclosed to them the mysteries of creation; or, as in the
Veda—the ‘heavenly Gandharva’ is a deity who knew and revealed
the secrets of heaven and divine truths, in general. If we remember

1
Cf. Secret Doctrine, II p. 83
2
Ibid. II p. 48. “This is perhaps the reason why, in the Bhagavad-Gītā, we are told that Brahmā had
communicated to Nārada in the beginning that all men whatsoever, even Mlechchhas, outcasts and
barbarians, might know the true nature of Vāsudeva and learn to have faith in that deity.” Ibid. fn.
3
Ibid. II p. 49
4
Ibid. II p. 585

147
COMPASSION | CHAPTER 5

what is said of this class of Angels in the Book of Enoch and in the
Bible, then the allegory is plain: their leader, Nārada, while refus-
ing to procreate, leads men to become gods. Moreover, all of these,
as stated in the Vedas, are Chhandajas (will-born), or incarnated
(in different Manvantaras) of their own will; they are shown in exo-
teric literature as existing age after age; some being ‘cursed to be
1
reborn,’ others, incarnating as a duty.” . . . [Finally, Nārada is]
2
“this virgin ascetic whom one finds in every age in the Purāõas.”

[Nārada is the leader of human affairs ] . . . “the ‘Messenger,’ or

the Greek Angelos, is the sole confidant and the executor of the
universal decrees of Karma and Ādi-Budha: a kind of active and
ever-incarnating Logos, who leads and guides human affairs from
the beginning to the end of the Kalpa. . . He is Karma’s visible ad-
juster on a general scale, the inspirer, and the leader of the great-
est heroes of this Manvantara. In the exoteric works he is referred
to by some very uncomplimentary names; such as ‘Kali-Kāraka,’
strife maker, ‘Kapi-vaktra,’ monkey-faced, and even ‘Piśuna,’ the
spy, though elsewhere he is called Deva-Brahmā. Even Sir W.
Jones was strongly impressed with this mysterious character from
what he gathered in his Sanskrit studies. He compares him to
Hermes and Mercury, and calls him ‘the eloquent messenger of
the Gods .’. . . It is he who has charge of our progress and national
weal or woe. It is he who brings on wars and puts an end to
3
them.”

He impelled Animal Man towards intellectual freedom

HP Blavatsky is rather elusive, if not tantalising, about the true identity of

this ubiquitous figure:

What Nārada really is, cannot be explained in print; nor would the
modern generations of the profane gather much from the informa-
tion. But it may be remarked, that if there is in the Hindu Pan-
theon a deity which resembles Jehovah, in, tempting by “sugges-
tion” of thoughts and “hardening” of the hearts of those whom he
would make his tools and victims, it is Nārada. Only with the latter
it is no desire to obtain a pretext for “plaguing,” and thus showing
that “I am the Lord God.” Nor is it through any ambitious or selfish
motive; but, verily, to serve and guide universal progress and evo-
4
lution.

1
Cf. Secret Doctrine, II p. 584
2
Ibid. II p. 323
3
Ibid. II p. 48 & 49
4
Ibid. II pp. 48-49

148
 NĀRADA AND KŖISHŅA SPEAK WITH ONE VOICE

A clue as to the meaning of the seemingly indicting statement reproduced in

the previous section, i.e., “Nārada was cursed by Brahmā to incessant peri-
pateticism on Earth,” is provided in the following statement:

Nārada belongs to that class of Brahmā’s, “first-born,” who have all

proven rebellious to the law of animal procreation, for which they
1
had to incarnate as men.

Later in The Secret Doctrine, while developing the subject of the “informing
principle in Man,” Blavatsky unravels the mystery of the “Rebels,” a mystery
that surrounds the GREAT SACRIFICE that prōtogonos Nārada has undertaken
2
for our sake. For, prōtogonoi or “The ‘First-Born’ are the LIFE, the heart and
3
pulse of the Universe; the Second are its MIND or Consciousness.”

This shows that not all men became incarnations of the “divine Re-
bels,” but only a few among them. The remainder had their fifth
principle simply quickened by the spark thrown into it, which ac-
counts for the great difference between the intellectual capacities of
men and races. Had not the “sons of Mahat,” [the quickeners of the
human Plant] speaking allegorically, skipped the intermediate
worlds, in their impulse toward intellectual freedom, the animal
man would never have been able to reach upward from this earth,
and attain through self-exertion his ultimate goal. The cyclic pil-
grimage would have to be performed through all the planes of exis-
tence half unconsciously, if not entirely so, as in the case of the
animals. It is owing to this rebellion of intellectual life against the
morbid inactivity of pure spirit, that we are what we are—self-
conscious, thinking men, with the capabilities and attributes of
Gods in us, for good as much as for evil. Hence the REBELS are our
saviors. Let the philosopher ponder well over this, and more than
one mystery will become clear to him. It is only by the attractive
force of the contrasts that the two opposites—Spirit and Matter—
can be cemented on Earth, and, smelted in the fire of self-
conscious experience and suffering, find themselves wedded in
4
Eternity.”

1
Secret Doctrine, II p. 82
2
[Plural of prōtogonos—Comp.]
3
Cf. Secret Doctrine, I p. 216; [Commentary on Stanza VII 1 (b).]
4
Ibid. II p. 103

149
COMPASSION | CHAPTER 5

Nārada’s aphorisms on Divine Love and Kçishõa’s

precepts to Arjuna are impossible to tell apart
Long after the war in the Mahābhārata ended, the Bhagavad Gītā has re-
mained a fixed star in the Eastern sky, guiding generations of aspirants—
including non-Hindus, and a growing number of non-sectarian devotees all
over the world. With hundreds of translations, interpretations, and essays
about its philosophy the Gītā is being somewhat overcooked. One wonders as
to what more can be said that has not been already said. In contrast, even
though the religious mysticism of Nārada’s Bhakti-Sūtras and the Gītā’s are
indistinguishable, the former has not been widely read in the West. It is time
to set both these sacred texts side by side.

Each of the eighty-one sūtras of Nārada is here compared with Kçishõa’s pre-
cepts to Arjuna. The former are from AK Taimni’s translation entitled Self
Realization through Love; the latter from WQ Judge’s rendition. Selected
commentaries on both texts and other monographs for further study are
listed at the end of the book under References.

The few Bhakti-Sūtras, for which there is no direct correspondence in the

Gītā, have been kept within their original sequence so that all can be seen in
their entirety. The numbers on the left correspond to Nārada’s sūtras and
also double as reference points.

150
 NĀRADA AND KŖISHŅA SPEAK WITH ONE VOICE

Nārada’s Bhakti Sūtras Kçishõa’s Bhagavad Gītā

1 As devotion towards God is This Supreme . . . within whom

necessary for attaining Self- all creatures are included and
realization, let us expound by whom all this is pervaded,
1
the doctrine of bhakti. may be attained by a devotion
2
which is intent on him alone.

2 Bhakti or devotion to God has I am to be approached and seen

the form of intense love and known in truth by means of
3
towards Him. that devotion which has
4
me alone as the object.

3 While the outer form of bhakti is For those who worship me,
emotional love, its innermost, renouncing in me all their
essential form is awareness of actions, regarding me as the
our Real nature, which is supreme goal and meditating on
eternal and beyond the me alone, if their thoughts are
5
realm of decay and death. turned to me . . . I presently
become the savior from this
ocean of incarnations and
6
death. . . . By this [supreme]
devotion to me, he knoweth
fundamentally who and what I
am and, having thus discovered
me, he enters into me without
7
any intermediate condition.

1
Nārada Bhakti Sūtra, vs. 1
2
Bhagavad Gītā, 8 vs. 22
3
Nārada Bhakti Sūtra, vs. 2
4
Bhagavad Gītā, 11 vs. 54
5
Nārada Bhakti Sūtra, vs. 3
6
Bhagavad Gītā, 12 vs. 6-7
7
Ibid. 18 vs. 55

151
COMPASSION | CHAPTER 5

4 By attaining which man The wise man, whom [the

becomes a Siddha, immortal senses] disturb not and to
1
and Self-satisfied. whom pain and pleasure are
the same, is fitted for
2
immortality. . . . But the man,
who only taketh delight in the
Self within, is satisfied with that
and content with that alone,
hath no selfish interest
3
in action.

5 On attaining love of God he He abandoneth the desire to see

does not desire anything, does a reward for his actions, is free,
not feel grief, does not hate contented, and upon nothing
anything, does not rejoice at dependeth, and although
anything and does not become engaged in action he really
4 5
enthusiastic about anything. doeth nothing.

6 By knowing which [God or the Their [the wise gifted with

One Reality] he becomes spiritual wisdom] very hearts
intoxicated with joy, quiet and minds are in me;
6
and Self-satisfied. enlightening one another and
constantly speaking of me, they
are full of enjoyment
7
and satisfaction.

7 It is not motivated by desire When the man, so living,

because it finds expression in, centers his heart in the true
and is attained by, the Self and is exempt from
elimination of all attachment to all desires, he is
8 9
worldly desires. said to have attained to yoga.

1
Nārada Bhakti Sūtra, vs. 4
2
Bhagavad Gītā, 2 vs. 15
3
Ibid. 3 vs. 17
4
Nārada Bhakti Sūtra, vs. 5
5
Bhagavad Gītā, 4 vs. 20
6
Nārada Bhakti Sūtra, vs. 6
7
Bhagavad Gītā, 10 vs. 9
8
Nārada Bhakti Sūtra, vs. 7
9
Bhagavad Gītā, 6 vs. 18

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 NĀRADA AND KŖISHŅA SPEAK WITH ONE VOICE

8 But elimination of desires does As the ignorant perform the

not mean stopping the duties of life from the hope of
performance of worldly reward, so the wise man, from
and religious duties but the wish to bring the world to
1
consecrating them to God. duty and benefit mankind,
should perform his actions
2
without motives of interest.

9 Desirelessness also means Supreme bliss surely cometh to

desiring nothing except Him the sage whose mind is thus at
and indifference towards all peace; whose passions and
that is antagonistic to Him, desires are thus subdued; who
or causes obstruction is thus in the true Self and free
3
to union with Him. from sin. He who is thus
devoted and free from sin
obtaineth without hindrance
the highest bliss—union
4
with the Supreme Spirit.

10 Single-hearted devotion means But the man who only taketh

giving up dependence on all delight in the Self within, is
other supports except the satisfied with that and content
5
object of devotion. with that alone, hath no selfish
interest in action. He hath no
interest either in that which is
done or that which is not done;
and there is not, in all things
which have been created, any
object on which he may
6
place dependence.

1
Nārada Bhakti Sūtra, vs. 8
2
Bhagavad Gītā, 3 vs. 25
3
Nārada Bhakti Sūtra, vs. 9
4
Bhagavad Gītā, 6 vs. 27-28
5
Nārada Bhakti Sūtra, vs. 10
6
Bhagavad Gītā, 3 vs. 17-18

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COMPASSION | CHAPTER 5

11 Indifference towards all that is Men being contented and

antagonistic to Him or devoted to their own proper
2
obstructs union with Him duties attain perfection. . . . He,
does not preclude conduct in who fulfils the duties obligated
accordance with Him or by nature, does not incur sin. A
performance of worldly man’s own natural duty, even
1
and religious duties. though stained with faults,
3
ought not to be abandoned.

12 The observance of practices He should not create confusion

prescribed by religious and in the understandings of the
social obligations should be ignorant, who are inclined to
continued even after faith in outward works, but by being
and love of God has become himself engaged in action
4 5
firm and deep. should cause them to act also.

13 Otherwise, there is a risk of his All beings fall into error by

falling from the state of devotion reason of the delusion of the
6
he has attained already. opposites which springs from
7
liking and disliking.

1
Nārada Bhakti Sūtra, vs. 11
2
Bhagavad Gītā, 18 vs. 45
3
Ibid. 18 vs. 47-48
4
Nārada Bhakti Sūtra, vs. 12
5
Bhagavad Gītā, 3 vs. 26
6
Nārada Bhakti Sūtra, vs. 13
7
Bhagavad Gītā, 7 vs. 27

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 NĀRADA AND KŖISHŅA SPEAK WITH ONE VOICE

14 Social customs and usages are As the ignorant perform the

to be observed only to the same duties of life from the hope of
extent as religious observances. reward, so the wise man, from
But the activities needed to the wish to bring the world to
maintain the body, such as duty and benefit mankind,
eating, dressing, etc. have to should perform his actions
2
be continued as long without motives of interest. . . .
1
as the body is alive. Those who practice severe
self-mortification [are] full of
delusion, torture the powers
and faculties, which are in the
body, and me also, who am in
the recesses of the innermost
heart; know that they are of
3
an infernal tendency.

15 The external indications of love Fixed in unbroken vows

of God according to diverse they worship, everywhere
4
opinions will now be stated. proclaiming me and
5
bowing down to me.

16 Devotion may be indicated by Whatever thou doest, . . .

ardour in the worship of whatever thou eatest,
the Lord according to whatever thou sacrificest,
6
the disciple of Parāśara. whatever thou givest,
whatever mortification thou
performest,
7
commit each unto me.

17 According to Garga, devotion Their very hearts and minds [of

may be indicated by the devotee those gifted with spiritual
giving frequently discourses on wisdom] are in me; enlightening
8
His glory and greatness. one another and constantly
speaking of me, they are full of
9
enjoyment and satisfaction.

1
Nārada Bhakti Sūtra, vs. 14
2
Bhagavad Gītā, 3 vs. 25
3
Ibid. 17 vs. 6
4
Nārada Bhakti Sūtra, vs. 15
5
Bhagavad Gītā, 9 vs. 14
6
Nārada Bhakti Sūtra, vs. 16
7
Bhagavad Gītā, 9 vs. 27
8
Nārada Bhakti Sūtra, vs. 17
9
Bhagavad Gītā, 10 vs. 9

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COMPASSION | CHAPTER 5

18 According to Śāõdilya devotion He whose heart is not attached

may be indicated by unhindered to objects of sense finds
enjoyment of bliss caused pleasure within himself,
1
by the love of God. and, through devotion,
united with the Supreme,
2
enjoys imperishable bliss.
4
19 According to Nārada, devotion [ ]
is indicated by the condition
of having dedicated all
observances whatsoever to Him
and by the feeling of extreme
uneasiness in losing Him
3
from memory.

20 There are such and such

instances of this kind
5
of devotion.

21 For instance we have the case

of the cowmaids of Vraja
who exemplified in their lives
the kind of devotion expounded
6
in this treatise.

1
Nārada Bhakti Sūtra, vs. 18
2
Bhagavad Gītā, 5 vs. 21
3
Nārada Bhakti Sūtra, vs. 19
4
In sūtras 19-24 Nārada refers to instances of devotion from the Holy Bhāgavata. Cf. “Just as name
and form are lost by sages experiencing Samadhi and rivers merging in the ocean, the intensely lov-
ing selves of the Gopikas lost in Me their separate existence—lost the awareness of their kith and kin
whom one looks upon as one’s own, lost even the consciousness of the very body with which one
identifies oneself.” (Srimad Bhāgavata, XI, 12, 12); “Their mind is always with me. I am their very
life-breath” (Ibid. X, 46, 4); “The really blessed people in all the worlds are these Gopikas who, being
ever absorbed in love for Kçishõa, always sing about him with their minds fixed on him—whether
they be milking, husking, churning, cleaning the floor, attending the children, or working in the gar-
den.” (Ibid. X, 44, 15); “Sexual passion directed towards Me with complete absorption in Me will not
end in sensual enjoyment. Just as grain boiled or fried loses its germinating capacity, association with
Me destroys the sensuous nature of passion.” (Ibid. X, 22, 26)
5
Nārada Bhakti Sūtra, vs. 20
6
Ibid. vs. 21

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 NĀRADA AND KŖISHŅA SPEAK WITH ONE VOICE

22 Even in the intense devotion of

a devotee felt towards an
incarnation of God there should
be no forgetting of the greatness
or Divinity of the object of
devotion in order to avoid
1
reproach or scandal.

23 Without the kind of attitude

mentioned above
the love of a bhakta will be
like the passionate love
2
of a paramour.

24 What distinguishes true love

from false passionate love is the
fact that the passionate lover
does not consider the happiness
of the beloved as his sole
concern but is mainly
concerned about his
3
own happiness.

25 It (the path of devotion) is

superior to that of

[a] Action, The performance of works is by

far inferior to mental devotion.

[b] Knowledge, Seek an asylum, then, in this

and mental devotion, which is
knowledge; for miserable and
unhappy are those whose
impulse to action is found
4
in its reward.

1
Nārada Bhakti Sūtra, vs. 22
2
Ibid. vs. 23
3
Ibid. vs. 24
4
Bhagavad Gītā, 2 vs. 49

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COMPASSION | CHAPTER 5

1
[c] Yoga [of Patañjali]. He who by means of Yoga is
mentally devoted dismisses
alike successful and
unsuccessful results, being
beyond them; Yoga is skill in
the performance of actions:
therefore do thou aspire
2
to this devotion.

26 Because the result of making There is no purifier in this

the effort to develop devotion is world to be compared to
3
more intense devotion. spiritual knowledge; and he
who is perfected in devotion
findeth spiritual knowledge
springing up spontaneously in
4
himself in the progress of time.

27 The path of devotion is higher The man who, having

than others also because of abandoned all desires, acts
God’s aversion to egotism without covetousness,
5
and love of meekness. selfishness, or pride, deeming
himself neither actor nor
6
possessor, attains to rest.

28 [Some say] that devotion can be Know also that I am the Knower
developed only through in every mortal body; that
7
jñāna or knowledge. knowledge which through the
soul is a realization of both the
known and the knower is alone
8
esteemed by me as wisdom.

1
Nārada Bhakti Sūtra, vs. 25
2
Bhagavad Gītā, 2 vs. 50
3
Nārada Bhakti Sūtra, vs. 26
4
Bhagavad Gītā, 4 vs. 38
5
Nārada Bhakti Sūtra, vs. 27
6
Bhagavad Gītā, 2 vs. 71
7
Nārada Bhakti Sūtra, vs. 28
8
Bhagavad Gītā, 13 vs. 2

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 NĀRADA AND KŖISHŅA SPEAK WITH ONE VOICE

29 Others say that they are . . . He who is perfected in

1
mutually dependent. devotion findeth spiritual
knowledge springing up
spontaneously in himself
2
in the progress of time.

30 According to Nārada, Ibid.

3
devotion is its own fruit.

31 The same phenomenon having . . . I am not to be seen, even as

been seen in a royal household I have shown myself to thee, by
in the manner of feeding and study of the Vedas, nor by
4
bestowing other favours. mortifications, nor alms giving,
nor sacrifices. I am to be
approached and seen and
known in truth by means of
that devotion which has me
5
alone as the object.
7
32 In this there is neither [ ]
satisfaction for the king
nor for those who are fed
6
or receive other favours.

33 Therefore, the path of devotion And he . . . who worships me

should be adopted exclusively with exclusive devotion, having
by those who desire to gain completely overcome the
freedom from the limitations qualities, is fitted to be
8
and illusions of worldly life. absorbed in Brahman
9
the Supreme.

1
Nārada Bhakti Sūtra, vs. 29
2
Bhagavad Gītā, 4 vs. 38
3
Nārada Bhakti Sūtra, vs. 30
4
Ibid. vs. 31
5
Bhagavad Gītā, 11 vs. 53-54
6
Nārada Bhakti Sūtra, vs. 32
7
[Cf. “Jesus said to [Thomas], ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father
except through me. If you know me, you will know my Father also . . .’ ” John, 14, 6-7—Comp.]
8
Nārada Bhakti Sūtra, vs. 33
9
Bhagavad Gītā, 14 vs. 26

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COMPASSION | CHAPTER 5

34 In the following aphorisms

are indicated the means of
developing devotion according
1
to the teachers of this subject.

35 The first means of developing Imbued with pure

devotion to God is to renounce discrimination, restraining
worldly objects or at least himself with resolution, having
attachment to them. The latter rejected the charms of sound
is essential and really and other objects of the senses,
2
more important. and casting off attachment and
3
dislike . . . a man is fitted to be
4
the Supreme Being.

36 Devotion is also cultivated most With thy heart place all thy
effectively by constant and works on me, prefer me to all
uninterrupted adoration else, exercise mental devotion
5
and remembrance of God. continually, and think
6
constantly of me.

37 Another method of developing Fixed in unbroken vows they

devotion is giving discourses on, worship, everywhere
or singing hymns, songs, etc. or proclaiming me and
8
listening to such discourses bowing down to me.
7
and hymns, etc.

1
Nārada Bhakti Sūtra, vs. 34
2
Ibid. vs. 35
3
Bhagavad Gītā, 18 vs. 51
4
Ibid. 18 vs. 53
5
Nārada Bhakti Sūtra, vs. 36
6
Bhagavad Gītā, 18 vs. 57
7
Nārada Bhakti Sūtra, vs. 37
8
Bhagavad Gītā, 9 vs. 14

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 NĀRADA AND KŖISHŅA SPEAK WITH ONE VOICE

38 But devotion is acquired chiefly Take sanctuary with him alone

1
and surely by the grace of the with all thy soul; by his grace,
Great Ones or the touch of thou shalt obtain supreme
2 3
Divine compassion. happiness, the eternal place.

39 It is difficult to come into In whatever form a devotee

personal contact with the Great desires with faith to worship, it
Ones and to say definitely how is I alone who inspire him with
and when an individual may be constancy therein, and
taken into Their company. depending on that faith he
But once this personal contact seeks the propitiation of that
is obtained it is infallible God, obtaining the object of
4
in its operation. his wishes as is ordained
5
by me alone.

40 This personal contact with the [Vide supra aphorism 38.]

Great Ones can be obtained
6
only by the grace of God.

41 Because there is no distinction Know also that I am the Knower

between Him and those whose in every mortal body; that
consciousness is established knowledge which through the
within the Divine soul is a realization of both the
7
consciousness. known and the knower is alone
8
esteemed by me as wisdom.

1
[Grace is all-embracing Love and Kindness, Logos’ boundless Compassion for all that lives, not a
sort of divine amnesty of karmic debts which will have to be settled in full one way or another. As
Master Morya observed in a letter to WQ Judge, even “Ātma is Karma.”] Echoes of the Orient, I p. lvi
—Comp.
Cf. “Grace (χάρις) is a difficult word to translate. It corresponds to the higher aspect of Ākāśa. The
two aspects are as follows:
Spiritual Plane: Ālaya (Soul of Universe); Ākāśa.
Psychic Plane: Prakçiti (Matter or Nature); Astral Light or Serpent.”
Blavatsky Collected Writings, (NOTES ON THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO JOHN) XI p. 490
Also cf. “In its general sense, Īśvara means ‘Lord;’ but the Īśvara of the mystic philosophers of India
was understood precisely as the union and communion of men with the Deity of the Greek mystics.
Īśvara-Prasāda means literally, in Sanskrit, grace. Both of the Mīmāüsās, treating of the most ab-
struse questions, explain Karma as merit, or the efficacy of works; Īśvara-Prasāda, as grace; and
Śraddha, as faith.” Isis Unveiled, II p. 591 fn.
2
Nārada Bhakti Sūtra, vs. 38
3
Bhagavad Gītā, 18 vs. 62
4
Nārada Bhakti Sūtra, vs. 39
5
Bhagavad Gītā, 7 vs. 21-22
6
Nārada Bhakti Sūtra, vs. 40
7
Ibid. vs. 41
8
Bhagavad Gītā, 13 vs. 2

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COMPASSION | CHAPTER 5

42 [Therefore] cultivate love of God Place thy heart upon me as I

1
alone, love of God alone. have declared myself to be,
serve me, offer unto me alone,
and bow down before me alone,
and thou shalt come to me;
I swear it, for thou art
2
dear to me.

43 Evil company should be It is lust which instigates [a

shunned and given up, man to commit offences]. It is
as far as possible, passion, sprung from the
3
at all times. quality of rājas; insatiable, and
full of sin. Know this to be the
4
enemy of man on earth.

44 Because association with evil Fast-bound by the hundred

persons or tendencies tends to cords of desire, prone to lust
develop lust, anger, infatuation and anger, [those with
with worldly objects, forgetting demoniacal dispositions] seek
of our spiritual ideals, and loss by injustice and the
of viveka, and this results accumulation of wealth for the
ultimately in the total ruin gratification of their own lusts
of our spiritual life and appetites. “This today hath
5
and potentialities. been acquired by me, and that
object of my heart I shall
obtain; this wealth I have, and
that also shall be mine. This foe
have I already slain, and others
will I forthwith vanquish; I am
the lord, I am powerful, and I
am happy. I am rich and with
precedence among men; where
is there another like unto me? I
shall make sacrifices, give alms,
and enjoy.” In this manner do
6
those speak who are deluded.

1
Nārada Bhakti Sūtra, vs. 42
2
Bhagavad Gītā, 18 vs. 65
3
Nārada Bhakti Sūtra, vs. 43
4
Bhagavad Gītā, 3 vs. 37
5
Nārada Bhakti Sūtra, vs. 44
6
Bhagavad Gītā, 16 vs. 12-15

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 NĀRADA AND KŖISHŅA SPEAK WITH ONE VOICE

45 These evil tendencies which are Confounded by all manner of

feeble and play like ripples in desires, entangled in the net of
the beginning ultimately begin delusion, firmly attached to the
to behave like a turbulent sea gratification of their desires,
2
by association with evil persons they descend into hell.
1
or evil thought and action.

46 Who crosses over the ocean of There dwelleth in the heart of

saüsāra, the world created by every creature, the Master—
3
the illusion of Māyā? . . . Īśvara—who by his magic power
causeth all things and crea-
tures to revolve mounted upon
the universal
4
wheel of time.

[a] He who gives up the He who, free from attachment

attachment to worldly objects or repulsion for objects,
and pursuits. experienceth them through the
senses and organs, with his
heart obedient to his will,
attains to tranquility
5
of thought.

[b] He who serves faithfully Of all devotees he is considered

the Great Ones. by me as the most devoted who,
with heart fixed on me, full of
6
faith, worships me.

1
Nārada Bhakti Sūtra, vs. 45
2
Bhagavad Gītā, 16 vs. 16
3
[This sentence is repeated twice—Comp.]
4
Bhagavad Gītā, 18 vs. 61
5
Ibid. 2 vs. 64
6
Ibid. 6 vs. 47

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COMPASSION | CHAPTER 5

[c] He who becomes selfless or The devotee who knows the

without the sense of “I” divine truth thinketh “I am
1
or “my”-ness. doing nothing” in seeing,
hearing, touching, smelling,
eating, moving, sleeping,
breathing; even when speaking,
letting go or taking, opening or
closing his eyes, he sayeth, “the
senses and organs move by
natural impulse to their
2
appropriate objects.”

47 [a] He crosses over the ocean of He who has attained to

saüsāra) who lives a retired life, meditation should constantly
strive to stay at rest in the
Supreme, remaining in solitude
and seclusion, having his body
and his thoughts under control,
without possessions and free
3
from hope.

[b] Who roots out . . . When one hath hewn down

wordily bonds, with the strong axe of
dispassion this Aśvattha tree
with its deeply-imbedded roots,
then that place is to be sought
after from which those who
there take refuge never more
4
return to rebirth . . .

1
Nārada Bhakti Sūtra, vs. 46
2
Bhagavad Gītā, 5 vs. 8-9
3
Ibid. 6 vs. 10
4
Ibid. 15 vs. 3-4

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 NĀRADA AND KŖISHŅA SPEAK WITH ONE VOICE

[c] Who rises above the Who doth not hate these
influence of the three guõas, qualities [guõas]—
and illumination, action, and
delusion—when they appear,
nor longeth for them when they
disappear; who, like one who is
of no party, sitteth as one
unconcerned about the three
qualities and undisturbed by
them, who being persuaded
that the qualities exist,
1
is moved not by them;

[d] Who gives up reliance of Who is of equal mind in pain

worldly possessions and pleasure, self-centered, to
for his security, whom a lump of earth, a stone,
or gold are as one; who is of
equal mind with those who love
or dislike, constant, the same
2
whether blamed or praised;

[e] [He crosses over the Who worships me with

3
ocean of saüsāra] exclusive devotion, having
completely overcome the
qualities, is fitted to be
absorbed in Brahma
4
the Supreme.

48 [a] Who renounces the Who, unattached to the fruit of

fruits of actions, his actions, performeth such
actions as should be done is
both a renouncer of action and
5
a devotee of right action.

1
Bhagavad Gītā, 14 vs. 22-23
2
Ibid. 14 vs. 24
3
Nārada Bhakti Sūtra, vs. 47
4
Bhagavad Gītā, 14 vs. 26
5
Ibid. 6 vs. 1

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COMPASSION | CHAPTER 5

[b] Who dedicates Whoever in acting dedicates his

all actions to God actions to the Supreme Spirit
and and puts aside all selfish
interest in their result is
untouched by sin, even as the
leaf of the lotus is unaffected
1
by the waters.

[c] Thereby, becomes free He is contented with whatever

from the influence of the he receives fortuitously, is free
2
pairs of opposites. from the influence of the “pairs
of opposites” and from envy, the
same in success and failure;
even though he act he is not
3
bound by the bonds of action.

49 Who lays aside even the [Arjuna]: What is the state of

injunctions of the sacred those men who, while they
scriptures to develop an neglect the precepts of the
undivided and uninterrupted Scriptures, yet worship in faith?
4
flow of love towards God. [Kçishõa:] The faith of mortals is
of three kinds, and is born from
their own disposition; it is of the
5
quality of truth—sattva,
action—rājas, and indiffer-
ence—tamas; . . . The faith of
each one . . . proceeds from the
sattva quality; the embodied
soul being gifted with faith,
each man is of the same nature
as that ideal on which
6
his faith is fixed.

1
Bhagavad Gītā, 5 vs. 10
2
Nārada Bhakti Sūtra, vs. 48
3
Bhagavad Gītā, 4 vs. 22
4
Nārada Bhakti Sūtra, vs. 49
5
Cf. “The ‘Root’ means . . . pure knowledge (Sattva), eternal (Nitya) unconditioned reality of SAT
(Satya), whether we call it Parabrahman or Mūlaprakçiti, for these are two aspects of the ONE. . . .
The original for Understanding is Sattva, which Śaükarāchārya renders antaþkaraõa. ‘Refined,’ he
says, ‘by sacrifices and other sanctifying operations.’ ‘In the Kañha, at p. 148, Sattva is said by
Śaükara to mean buddhi—a common use of the word.’ (Cf. K.T. Telang’s footnote in his translation of
the Sanatsujātīya, in Sacred Books of the East, vol. VIII, p. 193; 2nd ed., 1908). Whatever meaning
various schools may give to the term, Sattva is the name given among Occult students of the
Aryàsaïga School to the dual Monad or Ātma-Buddhi, and Ātma-Buddhi on this plane corresponds
to Parabrahman and Mūlaprakçiti on the higher plane.” Secret Doctrine, I pp. 68-69 & fn; [Commen-
tary on Stanza III 5 (b). THE ROOT REMAINS, THE LIGHT REMAINS, THE CURDS REMAIN, AND STILL OEAOHOO
(a) IS ONE (b).]
6
Bhagavad Gītā, 17 vs. 1-3

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 NĀRADA AND KŖISHŅA SPEAK WITH ONE VOICE

50 Such a devotee not only Even if the good of mankind

overcomes the illusions and only is considered by thee, the
limitations of the worldly life performance of thy duty will be
himself but also helps others to plain; for whatever is practised
do so by stimulating in them by the most excellent men, that
1
the devotion towards God. is also practised by others. The
world follows whatever
2
example they set.

51 The real nature of love of God Some regard the indwelling

cannot be described but is spirit as a wonder, whilst some
3
a matter of experience. speak and others hear of it with
astonishment; but no one
realizes it, although he may
4
have heard it described.
6
52 Like the taste of a [ ]
5
dumb person.

53 This intense real form of the It is even the same exhaustless,

love of God appears by itself secret, eternal doctrine I have
in a fit receptacle, this day communicated unto
7
i.e., real devotee. thee because thou art my
8
devotee and my friend.

54 This subtler and real form of [The branches of the Aśvattha

love of God is above the realm tree] growing out of the three
of guõas and worldly desires, qualities with the objects of
increases steadily from moment sense as the lesser shoots,
to moment, is of ceaseless flow, spread forth, some above and
exists in the subtler some below; and those roots
realms of being, which ramify below in the
and regions of mankind are the
9
connecting bonds of action.

1
Nārada Bhakti Sūtra, vs. 50
2
Bhagavad Gītā, 3 vs. 20-21
3
Nārada Bhakti Sūtra, vs. 51
4
Bhagavad Gītā, 2 vs. 29
5
Nārada Bhakti Sūtra, vs. 52
6
Cf. “He who has no personal knowledge but has only heard of many things cannot understand the
meaning of scriptures even as a spoon has no idea of the taste of the soup.” Mahābhārata, II, 55, i
7
Nārada Bhakti Sūtra, vs. 53
8
Bhagavad Gītā, 4 vs. 3
9
Ibid. 15 vs. 2

167
COMPASSION | CHAPTER 5

[a] is essentially of the Neither by studying the Vedas,

1
nature of experience. nor by alms-giving,
nor by sacrificial rites,
nor by deeds,
nor by the severest
mortification of the flesh
can I be seen in this form
2
by any other than thee.

55 Having attained that highest With thy heart place all thy
state of love of God the devotee works on me, prefer me to all
sees nothing but God, hears else, exercise mental devotion
nothing but God and thinks of continually, and think
3 4
nothing else except God. constantly of me.

56 The secondary or lower kind of Know also that the dispositions

devotion to God is threefold arising from the three qualities,
according as it is influenced by sattva, rājas, and tamas are
the three guõas or according to from me; they are in me, but
5
the three types of devotees. I am not in them. The whole
world, being deluded by these
dispositions which are born of
the three qualities, knoweth not
me distinct from them,
supreme, imperishable.
For this my divine illusive
power, acting through the
natural qualities, is difficult to
surmount, and those only can
surmount it who have
6
recourse to me alone.

1
Nārada Bhakti Sūtra, vs. 54
2
Bhagavad Gītā, 11 vs. 48
3
Nārada Bhakti Sūtra, vs. 55
4
Bhagavad Gītā, 18 vs. 57
5
Nārada Bhakti Sūtra, vs. 56
6
Bhagavad Gītā, 7 vs. 12-14

168
 NĀRADA AND KŖISHŅA SPEAK WITH ONE VOICE

57 Each preceding kind of devotion For knowledge is better than

is better or more effective constant practice, meditation is
1
than the succeeding one. superior to knowledge,
renunciation of the fruit of
action to meditation; final
emancipation immediately
results from such
2
renunciation.

58 It is easier to enter into This is the royal knowledge,

communion with God and to the royal mystery, the most
find Him through devotion than excellent purifier, clearly
3
by any other method. comprehensible, not opposed to
sacred law, easy to perform,
4
and inexhaustible.
6
59 It is not necessary to prove [ ]
what is stated in the previous
aphorism by any other method
because the result of devotion
5
itself provides the proof.

60 Utter peace of mind and Supreme bliss surely cometh to

supreme bliss are inherent in the sage whose mind is thus at
7
the very nature of devotion. peace; whose passions and
desires are thus subdued; who
is thus in the true Self
8
and free from sin.

1
Nārada Bhakti Sūtra, vs. 57
2
Bhagavad Gītā, 12 vs. 12
3
Nārada Bhakti Sūtra, vs. 58
4
Bhagavad Gītā, 9 vs. 2
5
Nārada Bhakti Sūtra, vs. 59
6
Cf. “Let them examine the proofs with the lamp of experience . . .” Isis Unveiled, I p. 340
7
Nārada Bhakti Sūtra, vs. 60
8
Bhagavad Gītā, 6 vs. 27

169
COMPASSION | CHAPTER 5

61 There should be no anxiety Even by action Janaka and

regarding social disorganization others attained perfection. Even
because the devotee continues if the good of mankind only is
to carry out his social and considered by thee, the
religious obligations, having performance of thy duty
2
dedicated these to God and will be plain;
1
being thus unaffected by them.

62 In the development of devotion A man’s own natural duty, even

social customs should not be though stained with faults,
neglected, but on the contrary ought not to be abandoned. For
attended to, at the same time all human acts are involved in
surrendering the fruits faults, as the fire is wrapped in
3 4
of actions to God. smoke. The highest perfection
of freedom from action is
attained through renunciation
by him who in all works has
an unfettered mind and
5
subdued heart.

63 The aspirant after devotion Those who are born with the
should not listen to talks demoniacal disposition . . . deny
about sex, wealth and the that the universe has any truth
6
conduct of unbelievers. in it, saying it is not governed
by law, declaring that it hath no
Spirit; they say creatures are
produced alone through the
union of the sexes, and that all
is for enjoyment only.
Maintaining this view, their
souls being ruined, their minds
contracted, with natures
perverted, enemies of the world,
7
they are born to destroy.

1
Nārada Bhakti Sūtra, vs. 61
2
Bhagavad Gītā, 3 vs. 20
3
Nārada Bhakti Sūtra, vs. 62
4
Bhagavad Gītā, 18 vs. 48
5
Ibid. 18 vs. 49
6
Nārada Bhakti Sūtra, vs. 63
7
Bhagavad Gītā, 16 vs. 7-9

170
 NĀRADA AND KŖISHŅA SPEAK WITH ONE VOICE

64 Self-conceit, arrogance, etc., Abandoning egotism, arrogance,

1
should be given up. violence, vanity, desire, anger,
pride, and possession, with
calmness ever present, a man is
2
fitted to be the Supreme Being.

65 Having, once for all, dedicated Throwing every deed on me,

all his activities and conduct to and with thy meditation fixed
God he should show (if at all; upon the Higher Self, resolve to
if it can’t be helped) desire, fight, without expectation,
resentment, self-assertion, etc., devoid of egotism and
3 4
towards Him only. free from anguish.

66 Having cultivated and then He whose actions are for me

risen above the secondary, alone, who esteemeth me the
triple form of devotion to God, supreme goal, who is my
the devotee should cultivate servant only, without
assiduously the primary form of attachment to the results
devotion in which he can adopt of action and free from enmity
any of the different kinds of towards any creature,
6
attitudes towards God, such as cometh to me.
those of a servant towards his
master or that of a wife
5
towards her husband.

67 Those who love God and God I am to be approached and seen

only and nothing else are and known in truth by means of
7
His primary or real devotees. that devotion which has me
8
alone as the object.

1
Nārada Bhakti Sūtra, vs. 64
2
Bhagavad Gītā, 18 vs. 53
3
Nārada Bhakti Sūtra, vs. 65
4
Bhagavad Gītā, 3 vs. 30
5
Nārada Bhakti Sūtra, vs. 66
6
Bhagavad Gītā, 11 vs. 55
7
Nārada Bhakti Sūtra, vs. 67
8
Bhagavad Gītā, 11 vs. 54

171
COMPASSION | CHAPTER 5

68 Conversing amongst themselves [Samjaya said that Arjuna

(about God and His attributes) became] overwhelmed with
with a choking voice, with hairs wonder, with hair standing
standing on end and with tears on end, bowed down his head
flowing down their cheeks, they before the Deity, and thus with
2
purify their families joined palms addressed him.
1
as well as the earth.

69 They add holiness to holy sites, [Vide supra aphorism 50.]

they give actions the character
of meritoriousness, they raise
mere writings to the status
3
of sacred scriptures.

70 They are aware of the presence

of God everywhere and
all the time, within them
4
and around them.

71 When a devotee who has found [Vide supra aphorism 42.]

God is present on this earth,
For those who, thinking of me
those who have passed over
as identical with all, constantly
into the superphysical realms
5 worship me, I bear the burden
after death and the celestial
of the responsibility
beings living in those realms 7
of their happiness.
also rejoice and even this
physical earth (which is
supposed to have a soul)
6
feels secure.

1
Nārada Bhakti Sūtra, vs. 68
2
Bhagavad Gītā, 11 vs. 14
3
Nārada Bhakti Sūtra, vs. 69
4
Ibid. vs. 70
5
Cf. “Once a Sowanee hath cross’d the seventh Path, all Nature thrills with joyous awe and feels
subdued. The silver star now twinkles out the news to the night-blossoms, the streamlet to the peb-
bles ripples out the tale; dark ocean waves will roar it to the rocks surf-bound, scent-laden breezes
sing it to the vales, and stately pines mysteriously whisper: ‘A Master has arisen, a MASTER OF THE
DAY.’ ” Voice of the Silence, fragm. III vs. 281, p. 65
6
Nārada Bhakti Sūtra, vs. 71
7
Bhagavad Gītā, 9 vs. 22

172
 NĀRADA AND KŖISHŅA SPEAK WITH ONE VOICE

72 Amongst the real devotees of Perceiving the same Lord

God, there can exist no present in everything and
distinctions of community, everywhere, he does not by the
learning, appearance, family, lower self destroy his own soul,
1 2
wealth, activity and the like. but goeth to the supreme end.

73 There are present in the minds All this universe is pervaded by

of those who have found God no me in my invisible form; all
distinctions of the kind referred things exist in me, but
4
to in the last aphorism because I do not exist in them.
they see all human beings,
nay, all living creatures, as
expressions and embodiments
of the Divine Life which
pervades everything and
is present in its fullness in the
3
heart of every human being.
6
74 In developing devotion, the [ ]
devotee should not depend
upon vain discussions
regarding the existence or
5
attributes of God.
8
75 Because vain discussions and [ ]
talking about God can go on
indefinitely without ever
arriving at the truth about Him
7
with certainty.

1
Nārada Bhakti Sūtra, vs. 72
2
Bhagavad Gītā, 13 vs. 28
3
Nārada Bhakti Sūtra, vs. 73
4
Bhagavad Gītā, 9 vs. 4
5
Nārada Bhakti Sūtra, vs. 74
6
Cf. “. . . Before thou takest thy first step, learn to discern the real from the false, the ever-fleeting
from the everlasting. Learn above all to separate Head-learning from Soul-Wisdom, the ‘Eye’ from the
‘Heart’ doctrine.” Voice of the Silence, fragm. II vs. 111, p. 25
7
Nārada Bhakti Sūtra, vs. 75
8
Cf. “. . . To reach the knowledge of that SELF, thou hast to give up Self to Non-Self, Being to Non-
Being, and then thou canst repose between the wings of the GREAT BIRD. [AUM]. . .” Voice of the Si-
lence, fragm. I vs. 19, p. 5

173
COMPASSION | CHAPTER 5

76 Treatises on devotion and He who abandoneth the

methods of its development ordinances of the Scriptures to
should be studied and reflected follow the dictates of his own
upon and observances and desires, attaineth neither
methods prescribed in them perfection nor happiness nor
1 2
should be practised regularly. the highest path. . . . The
sacrifice or worship which is
directed by Scripture and is
performed by those who expect
no reward but who are
convinced that it is necessary
to be done, is of the quality of
3
light, of goodness, of sattva.

77 Abandoning pleasure, pain, Abandoning egotism, arrogance,

desire, gain, etc., waiting violence, vanity, desire, anger,
patiently for devotion to develop pride, and possession, with
or appear in course of time, calmness ever present, a man is
5
the aspirant for devotion fitted to be the Supreme Being.
should not pass even half a
4
moment uselessly.

78 Harmlessness, truthfulness, Honouring the gods, the

cleanliness, kindness, and Brahmans, the teachers, and
other required virtues or traits the wise, purity, rectitude,
of character should be adopted chastity, and harmlessness are
and cultivated by the aspirant called mortification of the body.
6
for devotion. Gentle speech which causes no
anxiety, which is truthful and
friendly, and diligence in the
reading of the Scriptures, are
said to be austerities of speech.
Serenity of mind, mildness of
temper, silence, self-restraint,
absolute straightforwardness of
conduct, are called
7
mortification of the mind.

1
Nārada Bhakti Sūtra, vs. 76
2
Bhagavad Gītā, 16 vs. 23
3
Ibid. 17 vs. 11
4
Nārada Bhakti Sūtra, vs. 77
5
Bhagavad Gītā, 18 vs. 53
6
Nārada Bhakti Sūtra, vs. 78
7
Bhagavad Gītā, 17 vs. 14-16

174
 NĀRADA AND KŖISHŅA SPEAK WITH ONE VOICE

79 The Lord alone should be Even if the man of most evil

constantly and without any ways worship me with exclusive
anxiety remembered and devotion, he is to be considered
devotion directed to Him all the as righteous, for he hath judged
time with any attitude that the aright. Such a man soon
1
devotee feels inclined to adopt. becometh of a righteous soul
and obtaineth perpetual
happiness. I swear that he who
2
worships me never perisheth.

80 Being earnestly invoked In those for whom knowledge

He reveals Himself without of the true Self has dispersed
the least delay and fills ignorance, the Supreme,
His devotees with his influence as if lighted by the sun,
3 4
or presence. is revealed.

81 That love weighs heaviest I am the same to all creatures; I

with God was, is and will know not hatred nor favour; but
5
always remain true. those who serve me with love
6
dwell in me and I in them.

1
Nārada Bhakti Sūtra, vs. 79
2
Bhagavad Gītā, 9 vs. 30-31
3
Nārada Bhakti Sūtra, vs. 80
4
Bhagavad Gītā, 5 vs. 16
5
Nārada Bhakti Sūtra, vs. 81
6
Bhagavad Gītā, 9 vs. 29

175
 CHAPTER 6
OUR WATCHERS AND
GUARDIANS

This “Mystery” is found, for him who understands its right meaning, in the dialogue be-
tween Kçishõa and Arjuna, in the Bhagavad-Gītā, Chapter iv, 5-9. Says the Avatāra:

Many births of mine have passed, as also of yours, O Arjuna! All those I know, but
you do not know yours, O harasser of your enemies.
Although I am unborn, with exhaustless Ātman, and am the Lord of all that is; yet,
taking up the domination of my nature I am born by the power of illusion.
Whenever, O son of Bhārata, there is decline of Dharma [the right law] and the rise
of Adharma [the opposite of Dharma] there I manifest myself.
For the salvation of the good and the destruction of wickedness, for the establish-
ment of the law, I am born in every yuga.
Whoever comprehends truly my divine birth and action, he, O Arjuna, having aban-
doned the body does not receive rebirth; he comes to me.
1
—Bhagavad-Gītā

HP Blavatsky’s understated steadfastness in completing The Secret Doctrine

amidst worsening physical afflictions was made more valiant by the pangs of
previously closely guarded secrets being “given out.” Her anguish has been
captured by Watchmeister:

I have felt as though either paralysis or a split in the heart would

occur. I am cold as ice and four doses of digitalis in one day could
not quiet the heart. Well, let me only finish my Secret Doctrine. Last
night, instead of going to bed I was made to write until 1 o’clock.
The triple Mystery is given out—one I had thought they would
2
never have given out—that of . . .

What might this awesome “Triple Mystery” be? There is no evidence to sug-
gest that it refers to the Avatāric hypostases but, on account of the magni-
tude of Their sacrifice for humanity, Their continuous presence in the world
of mortals must rank the highest amongst all mysteries. This is how Blavat-
sky explains the triune essence of Bodhisattvas:

1
Blavatsky Collected Writings, (THE DOCTRINE OF AVATĀRAS) XIV p. 372
2
Wachtmeister C, et al. Reminiscences of H.P. Blavatsky and the Secret Doctrine. Wheaton: The The-
osophical Publishing House, 1976; p. 56

177
COMPASSION | CHAPTER 6

Buddhists of the Mahāyāna mystic system teach that each BUDDHA

manifests Himself (hypostatically or otherwise) simultaneously in
1
three worlds of Being, namely, [a] in the world of Kāma (concupis-
cence or desire—the sensuous universe or our earth) in the shape
of a man; [b] in the world of Rūpa (form, yet supersensuous) as a
Bodhisattva; and [c] in the highest Spiritual World (that of purely
incorporeal existences) as a Dhyāni-Buddha. The latter prevails
eternally in space and time, i.e., from one Mahā-Kalpa to the
other—the synthetic culmination of the three being Ādi-Buddha,
the Wisdom-Principle, which is Absolute, and therefore out of
space and time. Their inter-relation is the following: The Dhyāni-
Buddha, when the world needs a human Buddha, “creates”
through the power of Dhyāna (meditation, omnipotent devotion), a
mind-born son—a Bodhisattva—whose mission it is after the
physical death of his human, or Mānushya-Buddha, to continue
his work on earth till the appearance of the subsequent Buddha. . .
Thus, while the Buddha merges back into Nirvāõa whence it pro-
ceeded, the Bodhisattva remains behind to continue the Buddha’s
2
work upon earth.

And in more detail in The Secret Doctrine:

The divine, purely Ādi-Buddhic monad manifests as the universal

Buddhi (the Mahā-Buddhi or Mahat in Hindu philosophies) the
spiritual, omniscient and omnipotent root of divine intelligence, the
highest anima mundi or the Logos. This descends “like a flame
spreading from the eternal Fire, immoveable, without increase or
decrease, ever the same to the end” of the cycle of existence, and
becomes universal life on the Mundane Plane. From this Plane of
conscious Life shoot out, like seven fiery tongues, the Sons of Light
(the Logoi of Life); then the Dhyani-Buddhas of contemplation: the
concrete forms of their formless Fathers—the Seven Sons of Light,
still themselves, to whom may be applied the Brahmanical mystic
phrase: “Thou art ‘THAT’—Brahm.” It is from these Dhyani-Buddhas
that emanate their chhayas (Shadows), the Bodhisattvas of the ce-
lestial realms, the prototypes of the super-terrestrial Bodhisattvas,
and of the terrestrial Buddhas, and finally of men. The “Seven Sons
3
of Light” are also called “Stars.”

1
Cf. “These three worlds are the three planes of being, the terrestrial, astral and the spiritual.”
(Voice of the Silence, fragm. III notes 27 & 34 to vs. 288 & 306, pp. 66 & 71; pp. 94 & 95 in glos. of
Chinese & Centenary eds.). Also cf. “The [‘Creative, Formative, and Material’] Worlds are all subject
to Rulers or Regents—èishis and Pitris with the Hindus, Angels with the Jews and Christians, Gods,
with the Ancients in general.” Secret Doctrine, I p. 99; [Commentary on Stanza IV 5 (a).]
2
Blavatsky Collected Writings, (THE MYSTERY OF BUDDHA) XIV pp. 390-91
3
Secret Doctrine, I p. 572

178
 OUR WATCHERS AND GUARDIANS

Avatārs are our Watchers and Guardians

Whenever humanity slides Avalokiteśvara is the great Logos in its higher

deeper into materialism aspect and in the divine regions. But in the
and moral degradation, manifested planes, he is, like Daksha, the pro-
a Divine Being is born. genitor (in a spiritual sense) of men. Padma-
pāõi-Avalokiteśvara is called esoterically Bo-
dhisattva (or Dhyāni-Chohan) Chenrezi Jang-
chub, “the powerful and all-seeing.” He is con-
sidered now as the greatest protector of Asia in
general, and of Tibet in particular. In order to
guide the Tibetans and Lamas in holiness, and
preserve the great Arhats in the world, this
heavenly Being is credited with manifesting
himself from age to age in human form. A
popular legend has it that whenever faith be-
gins to die out in the world, Padmapāõi Chen-
rezi, the “lotus-bearer,” emits a brilliant ray of
light, and forthwith incarnates himself in one
of the two great Lamas—the Talay and Tashi
Lamas; finally, it is believed that he will incar-
nate as “the most perfect Buddha” in Tibet, in-
stead of in India, where his predecessors, the
great èishis and Manus had appeared in the
beginning of our Race, but now appear no
1
longer.
Whenever humanity is about to merge into
materialism and moral degradation, a Su-
preme Spirit incarnates himself in his creature
selected for the purpose. The “Messenger of
the Highest” links itself with the duality of
matter and soul, and the triad being thus
completed by the union of its Crown, a savior
is born, who helps restore humanity to the
2
path of truth and virtue.

1
Secret Doctrine, II p. 178
2
Isis Unveiled, II p. 535. Cf. “The early Christian Church, all imbued with Asiatic philosophy, evi-
dently shared the same belief—otherwise it would have neither erected into an article of faith the sec-
ond advent, nor cunningly invented the fable of Anti-Christ as a precaution against possible future in-
carnations. Neither could they have imagined that Melchisedek was an avatāra of Christ.” Ibid.

179
COMPASSION | CHAPTER 6

“Rebirths may be divided [a] the divine incarnations called Avatāras;

into three classes . . . ” [b] those of Adepts who give up Nirvāõa for the
sake of helping on humanity—the Nirmāõakā-
yas; and
[c] the natural succession of rebirths for all—
the common law.
The Avatāra is an appearance, one which may
be termed a special illusion within the natural
illusion that reigns on the planes under the
sway of that power, Māyā; the Adept is reborn
consciously, at his will and pleasure; the units
of the common herd unconsciously follow the
1
great law of dual evolution.
Lord Buddha was the first When our great Buddha—the patron of all the
human to reach nirvāõa. adepts, the reformer and the codifier of the oc-
2
cult system, reached first Nirvāõa on earth,
he became a Planetary Spirit; i.e.—his spirit
could at one and the same time rove the inter-
stellar spaces in full consciousness, and con-
tinue at will on Earth in his original and indi-
vidual body. For the divine Self had so com-
pletely disfranchised itself from matter that it
could create at will an inner substitute for it-
self, and leaving it in the human form for
days, weeks, sometimes years, affect in no
wise by the change either the vital principle or
the physical mind of its body. By the way, that
is the highest form of adeptship man can hope
for on our planet. . . The planetary Spirit of
that kind (the Buddha like) can pass at will
into other bodies—of more or less etherealised
matter, inhabiting other regions of the Uni-
3
verse. . . . Gautama was distinct from all
other Avatāras, having the entire spirit of
Buddha in him, while all others had but a part
4
(ansa) of the divinity in them.

1
Blavatsky Collected Writings, (THE DOCTRINE OF AVATĀRAS) XIV p. 373
2
Cf. “The Nirvāõa of BUDDHA is totally different from any other spiritual state of Samādhi or even the
highest Theophania enjoyed by lesser Adepts. After physical death the kinds of spiritual states
reached by Adepts differ greatly.” Blavatsky Collected Writings, (THE DOCTRINE OF AVATĀRAS) XIV p.
371 fn.
3
Mahātma Letter 9 (18), pp. 43 & 44; 3rd Combined ed.
4
Isis Unveiled, II p. 538

180
 OUR WATCHERS AND GUARDIANS

But he refused to abandon The Dharmakāya body is that of a complete

“the World and men Buddha, i.e., no body at all, but an ideal
1
for ever.” breath: Consciousness merged in the Univer-
sal Consciousness, or Soul devoid of every at-
tribute. Once a Dharmakāya, an Adept or
Buddha leaves behind every possible relation
with, or thought for this earth. Thus, to be en-
abled to help humanity, an Adept who has
won the right to Nirvāõa, “renounces the
Dharmakāya body” in mystic parlance; keeps,
of the Sambhogakāya, only the great and com-
plete knowledge, and remains in his Nir-
māõakāya body. The esoteric school teaches
that Gautama Buddha with several of his
Arhats is such a Nirmāõakāya, higher than
whom, on account of the great renunciation
and sacrifice to mankind there is none
2
known.
Even “man afflicting man.” . . . the “Merciful and the Blessed One” could
not go out entirely from this world of illusion
and created causes without atoning for the sin
of all . . . If “man afflicted by man” found safe
refuge with the Tathāgata, “man afflicting
man” had also his share in His self-sacrificing,
all-embracing and forgiving love. It is stated
that He desired to atone for the sin of His
enemies. Then only was he willing to become a
full Dharmakāya, a Jīvanmukta “without re-
3
mains.”
By locking “the whole . . . Gautama, the “Merciful,” the “Pure,” and
mankind within the “Just,” was the first found in the Eastern
one embrace,” Hierarchy of historical Adepts, if not in the
world-annals of divine mortals, who was
moved by that generous feeling which locks
the whole mankind within one embrace, with
no petty differences of race, birth, or caste. It
was He who first enunciated that grand and
noble principle, and He again who first put it
4
into practice.

1
Cf. Voice of the Silence, fragm. II vs. 186, p. 42
2
Ibid. fragm. III note 34 to vs. 306, p. 71; p. 95 in glos. of Chinese & Centenary eds.
3
Blavatsky Collected Writings, (THE DOCTRINE OF AVATĀRAS) XIV pp. 398-99
4
Ibid. (THE MYSTERY OF BUDDHA) XIV p. 398

181
COMPASSION | CHAPTER 6

He renounced bliss for woe, When mortals shall have become sufficiently
spiritualized, there will be no more need of
forcing them into a correct comprehension of
ancient Wisdom. Men will know then, that
there never yet was a great World-reformer,
whose name has passed into our generation,
who

(a) was not a direct emanation of the LO-

GOS (under whatever name known to us),
i.e., an essential incarnation of one of the
“seven,” of the “divine Spirit who is seven-
fold”; and

(b) who had not appeared before, during

the past Cycles. . . .

The esoteric doctrine explains it by saying that

each of these [divine incarnations] . . . had
first appeared on earth as one of the seven
powers of the LOGOS, individualized as a God
or “Angel” (messenger); then, mixed with mat-
ter, they had reappeared in turn as great sages
and instructors who “taught the Fifth Race,”
after having instructed the two preceding
races, had ruled during the Divine Dynasties,
and had finally sacrificed themselves, to be re-
born under various circumstances for the good
of mankind, and for its salvation at certain
critical periods; until in their last incarnations
they had become truly only “the parts of a
part” on earth, though de facto the One Su-
1
preme in Nature.
Through a process which is One of the greatest mysteries of speculative
one of the great mysteries and philosophical Mysticism—and it is one of
of the Secret Doctrine. the mysteries now to be disclosed—is the mo-
dus operandi in the degrees of hypostatic
transferences. As a matter of course, divine as
well as human incarnations must remain a
closed book to the theologian as much as to
the physiologist, unless the esoteric teachings
be accepted and become the religion of the
world. This teaching may never be fully ex-
2
plained to an unprepared public;

1
Secret Doctrine, II pp. 358-59
2
Blavatsky Collected Writings, (THE DOCTRINE OF AVATĀRAS) XIV pp. 371-72

182
 OUR WATCHERS AND GUARDIANS

What is an Avatār? . . . It is a descent of the manifested Deity—

whether under the specific name of Śiva,
Vishõu, or Ādi-Buddha—into an illusive form
of individuality, an appearance which to men
on this illusive plane is objective, but it is not
so in sober fact. That illusive form having nei-
ther past nor future, because it had neither
previous incarnation nor will have subsequent
rebirths, has naught to do with Karma, which
1
has therefore no hold on it.
Exoterically, Avatārs Truly, “for the salvation of the good and the
assume different names destruction of wickedness,” the personalities
at different ages. known as Gautama, Śaükara, Jesus and few
others were born each in his age, as de-
clared—“I am born in every Yuga”—and they
were all born through the same Power. [i.e.,
Kāraõātman, the “Causal Soul,” the Hindu Īś-
2
vara or the Christian God.]
Esoterically, they are . . . the Sons of their “Father,” in a direct de-
One and the Same. scent and line, the “Father,” or one of the
seven Flames becoming, for the time being, the
Son, and these two being one—in Eternity.
What is the Father? Is it the absolute Cause of
all?—the fathomless Eternal? No; most decid-
edly. It is Kāraõātman, the “Causal Soul”
which, in its general sense, is called by the
Hindus Īśvara, the Lord, and by Christians,
“God,” the One and Only. From the standpoint
of unity it is so; but then the lowest of the
Elementals could equally be viewed in such
case as the “One and Only.” Each human be-
ing has, moreover, his own divine Spirit or
personal God. That divine Entity or Flame
from which Buddhi emanates stands in the
same relation to man, though on a lower
plane, as the Dhyāni-Buddha to his human
Buddha. Hence monotheism and polytheism
3
are not irreconcilable; they exist in Nature.

1
Blavatsky Collected Writings, (THE DOCTRINE OF AVATĀRAS) XIV pp. 373-74
2
Ibid. p. 373
3
Ibid. pp. 372-73

183
COMPASSION | CHAPTER 6

They are There is a mysterious Principle in Nature

”Trees of salvation grown called “Mahā-Vishõu,” which is not the God of
out from the one seed.” that name, but a principle which contains
Bīja, the seed of Avatārism or, in other words,
is the potency and cause of such divine incar-
nations. All the World-Saviors, the Bodhisatt-
vas and the Avatāras, are the trees of salvation
grown out from the one seed the Bīja or
“Mahā-Vishõu.” Whether it be called Ādi-
Buddha (Primeval Wisdom) or Mahā-Vishõu, it
is all the same. Understood esoterically,
Vishõu is both Saguna and Nirguõa (with and
without attributes). In the first aspect, Vishõu
is the object of exoteric worship and devotion;
in the second, as Nirguõa, he is the culmina-
tion of the totality of spiritual wisdom in the
Universe—Nirvāõa, in short—and has as wor-
shippers all philosophical minds. In this eso-
teric sense the Lord BUDDHA was an incarna-
1
tion of Mahā-Vishõu.
They are the . . . that group of celestial Beings who are uni-
“Nursery and fountainhead versally called the seven Primeval Gods or An-
of human beings.” gels—our Dhyāni-Chohans—the “Seven Pri-
meval Rays” or Powers, adopted later on by the
Christian Religion as the “Seven Angels of the
Presence.” Arūpa, formless, at the upper rung
of the ladder of Being, materializing more and
more as they descend in the scale of objectivity
and form, ending in the grossest and more im-
perfect of the Hierarchy, man—it is the former
purely spiritual group that is pointed out to
us, in our Occult teaching, as the nursery and
fountainhead of human beings. Therein ger-
minates that consciousness which is the earli-
est manifestation from causal Conscious-
ness—the Alpha and Omega of divine being
and life forever. And as it proceeds downward
through every phase of existence descending
through man, through animal and plant, it
2
ends its descent only in the mineral.

1
Blavatsky Collected Writings, (THE DOCTRINE OF AVATĀRAS) XIV p. 371
2
Ibid. XIV p. 379. Cf. “[Descending consciousness] is represented by the double triangle—the most
mysterious and the most suggestive of all mystic signs, for it is a double glyph, embracing spiritual
and physical consciousness and life, the former triangle running upwards, and the lower down-
wards, both interlaced, and showing the various planes of the twice-seven modes of consciousness,
the fourteen spheres of existence, the Lokas of the Brāhmans.” Ibid. pp. 379-80.

184
 OUR WATCHERS AND GUARDIANS

They are born from the In ancient Symbolism it was always the SUN
Heart of the Universe, (though the Spiritual, not the visible, Sun was
meant), that was supposed to send forth the
chief Saviors and Avatāras. Hence the con-
necting link between the Buddhas, the Avatā-
ras, and so many other incarnations of the
highest SEVEN. The closer the approach to
one’s Prototype, “in Heaven,” the better for the
mortal whose personality was chosen, by his
own personal deity (the seventh principle), as
its terrestrial abode. For, with every effort of
will toward purification and unity with that
“Self-god,” one of the lower rays breaks and
the spiritual entity of man is drawn higher and
ever higher to the ray that supersedes the
first, until, from ray to ray, the inner man is
drawn into the one and highest beam of the
1
Parent-SUN.
To watch and guard . . . in each of the seven Root-Races, and in
humanity. every one of the seven regions into which the
Occult Doctrine divides our globe, there ap-
pears from the dawn of Humanity the
“Watcher” assigned to it in the eternity of the
Aeon. He comes first in his own “form,” then
2
each time as an Avatāra.
The reader may now . . . see what is meant by
the “Watchers,” there being one placed as the
Guardian or Regent over each of the seven di-
visions of regions of the earth, according to old
traditions, as there is one to watch over and
guide every one of the fourteen worlds or Lo-
3
kas. . . . [They] are the Guardians and Protec-
4
tors of our manvantaric world and period. . .

1
Secret Doctrine, I pp. 638-39
2
Blavatsky Collected Writings, (FRAGMENTS—AVATĀRAS) VII p. 275. Cf. “Q. Is there any name that can
be applied to the planetary Hierarchy or spirit, which watches over the entire evolution of our own
globe, such as Brahmā for instance? A. None, except the generic name, since it is a septenary and a
Hierarchy; unless, indeed, we call it as some Kabalists do—‘the Spirit of the Earth.’ ” Ibid. (TRANSAC-
TIONS OF THE BLAVATSKY LODGE) X pp. 345-46
3
Ibid. (THE DOCTRINE OF AVATĀRS) XIV p. 380. Cf. “This is the secret meaning of the statements about
the Hierarchy of the Prajapātis or èishis. First seven are mentioned, then ten, then twenty-one, and
so on. They are ‘Gods’ and creators of men—many of them the ‘Lords of Beings;’ they are the ‘Mind-
born Sons’ of Brahmā, and then they become mortal heroes, and are often shown as of a very sinful
character.” Ibid. fn.
4
Ibid. (THE DANGERS OF PRACTICAL MAGIC) XIV p. 63

185
COMPASSION | CHAPTER 6

They remain on Earth The “Secret Way” leads also to Parinirvāõic

until the last pilgrim bliss—but at the close of Kalpas without num-
has returned home safely. ber; Nirvāõas gained and lost from boundless
pity and compassion for the world of deluded
1
mortals.
Our mind is the . . . Gautama, the human Buddha, who had,
connecting link with Them, exoterically, Amitābha for his Bodhisattva and
“only we are too sinful Avalokiteśvara for his Dhyāni-Buddha—the
to assimilate them.” triad emanating directly from Ādi-Buddha—
assimilated these by his “Dhyāna” (meditation)
and thus became a Buddha (“enlightened”). In
another manner this is the case with all men;
every one of us has his Bodhisattva—the mid-
dle principle, if we hold for a moment to the
trinitarian division of the septenary group—
and his Dhyāni-Buddha, or Chohan, the “Fa-
ther of the Son.” Our connecting link with the
higher Hierarchy of Celestial Beings lies here
in a nutshell, only we are too sinful to assimi-
2
late them.

1
Voice of the Silence, fragm. II vs. 187, p. 42
2
Blavatsky Collected Writings, (THE MYSTERY OF BUDDHA) XIV pp. 394-95

186
 OUR WATCHERS AND GUARDIANS

The real Kçishõa is Christos:

Internal Light, not external symbols

Kçishõa is an Avatār. If Avatārs are possible at all, they can only be

so with reference to the Logos. . . . in the case
of every man who becomes a Mukta there is a
union with the Logos . . . only completed after
death—the last death which that individual
has to go through. . . . But in some special
cases the Logos does descend to the plane of
the soul and associate itself with the soul dur-
ing the lifetime of the individual . . . In the
case of such beings, while they still exist as
ordinary men on the physical plane, instead of
having for their soul merely the reflection of
the Logos, they have the Logos itself. . . . Bud-
dhists say that in the case of Buddha there
1
was this permanent union. . .
“The real Christ is Vāch.” “Speech or Vāch was regarded as the Son or
the manifestation of the Eternal Self, and was
adored under the name of Avalokiteśvara, the
manifested God.” This shows as clearly as can
be—that Avalokiteśvara is both the un-
manifested Father and the manifested Son, the
latter proceeding from, and identical with, the
other;—namely, the Parabrahm and Jivātman,
the Universal and the individualized seventh
Principle,—the Passive and the Active, the lat-
ter the Word, Logos, the Verb. Call it by what-
ever name, only let these unfortunate, deluded
Christians know that the real Christ of every
Christian is the Vāch, the “mystical Voice,”
while the man Jeshu was but a mortal like any
of us, an adept more by his inherent purity
and ignorance of real Evil than by what he had
learned with his initiated Rabbis and the al-
ready (at that period) fast degenerating Egyp-
2
tian Hierophants and priests.

1
Philosophy of the Bhagavad Gītā, (2nd lecture) p. 33. Cf. “In the case of a Logos descending into a
man, it does so, not chiefly by reason of that man’s spiritual perfection, but for some ulterior pur-
pose of its own for the benefit of humanity.” Ibid. p. 35
2
Mahātma Letter 59 (111), pp. 338-39; 3rd Combined ed.

187
COMPASSION | CHAPTER 6

Kçishõa and Christ . . . If the analogy and comparison of the San-

are identical. skrit with the Greek roots contained in the
names of Chrēstos, Christos, and Chrishna,
are analyzed more carefully, it will be found
1
that they are all of the same origin. . . . One
often finds in Theosophical writings conflicting
statements about the Christos principle in
man. Some call it the sixth principle (Buddhi),
others the seventh (Ātman). If Christian The-
osophists wish to make use of such expres-
sions, let them be made philosophically cor-
rect by following the analogy of the old Wis-
dom-religion symbols. We say that Christos is
not only one of the three higher principles, but
all the three regarded as a Trinity. This Trinity
represents the Holy Ghost, the Father, and the
Son, as it answers to abstract spirit, differen-
tiated spirit, and embodied spirit. Kçishõa and
Christ are philosophically the same principle
under its triple aspect of manifestation. In the
Bhagavadgītā we find Kçishõa calling himself
indifferently Ātman, the abstract Spirit,
Kshetrajña, the Higher or reincarnating Ego,
and the Universal SELF, all names which,
when transferred from the Universe to Man,
answer to Ātma, Buddhi and Manas. The Anu-
2 3
gītā is full of the same doctrine. . . . “I am
the Soul, O Arjuna. I am the Soul which exists
in the heart of all beings; and I am the begin-
ning and the middle, and also the end of exist-
ing things,” says Kçishõa to his disciple in
Bhagavad-Gītā. . . . “I am Alpha and Omega,
the beginning and the ending . . . I am the first
4
and the last,” says Jesus to John.

1
Blavatsky Collected Writings, (THE ESOTERIC CHARACTER OF THE GOSPELS, II) VIII p. 201
2
Cf. “Anugītā forms part of the Aśvamedha Parvan of the Mahābhārata. The translator of the Bhaga-
vad-Gītā, edited by Max Müller, regards it as a continuation of the Bhagavad-Gītā. Its original is one
of the oldest Upanishads.” (Secret Doctrine, I p. 94 fn.)
3
Key to Theosophy, pp. 67-68 fn.
4
Isis Unveiled, II p. 277; [quoting Bhagavad Gītā, 10 vs. 20 and Revelation, 1, 8 & 17.)

188
 OUR WATCHERS AND GUARDIANS

They are the Seed of Life, “The Seven great èishis, the four preceding
Manus, partaking of my essence, were born
from my mind: from them sprang (were born)
the human races and the world.”. . . Here the
four preceding “Manus,” out of the seven, are
the four Races which have already lived, since
Kçishõa belongs to the Fifth Race, his death
having inaugurated the Kali-Yuga. Thus
Vaivasvata Manu, the son of Sūrya (the Sun),
and the savior of our Race, is connected with
the Seed of Life, both physically and spiritu-
1
ally.
They are Logos Itself. The real Kçishõa is not the man in and
through whom the Logos appeared, but the
2
Logos itself.
The Word is near you, on your lips and in your
3
heart.

1
Secret Doctrine, II pp. 140-41 [quoting Bhagavad Gītā, 10 vs. 6.]
2
Philosophy of the Bhagavad Gītā, (2nd lecture) p. 35
3
Romans, 10, 8; (Paul quoting Moses.]

189
 CHAPTER 7
LISTEN TO THE
“STILL SMALL VOICE”

Supernal Triad, Deity above all essence, . . . direct our path to the ultimate summit of
Thy mystical Lore, most incomprehensible, most luminous and most exalted, where the
pure, absolute and immutable mysteries of theology are veiled in the dazzling obscurity
of the secret Silence, outshining all brilliance with the intensity of their Darkness, and
surcharging our blinded intellects with the utterly impalpable and invisible fairness of
glories surpassing all beauty.
1
— Dionysius the Areopagite

One of the most uncompromising doctrines proclaimed by esoteric philoso-

phy “admits no privileges or special gifts in man, save those won by his own
Ego through personal effort and merit throughout a long series of metem-
2
psychoses and reincarnations.” This is precisely why the “journey of the
‘pilgrim-soul’ through various states of not only matter but self-
3
consciousness and self-perception, or of perception from apperception,” is
long, arduous, and perilous. Instead of getting easier with effort and perse-
verance, it becomes increasingly gruelling and disheartening. It gets worse
before it gets better. Master Morya closed a letter to AP Sinnett with four
lines from Christina Rosetti upon the request of Master Koot Hoomi who, at
that time, was preoccupied elsewhere:

“Does the road wind up-hill all the way?

Yes to the very end.
Will the day’s journey take the whole long day?
4
From morn to night, my friend.”

Very few are likely to accomplish their homeward journey single-handed. Ca-
lypso and Circe are still around, waiting to bewitch the unwary. In his Intro-
duction to the Fable of Cupid and Psychē, Thomas Taylor cites a telling pas-
sage from Synesius’ work On Dreams:

1
Dionysius: Mystical Theology, p. 9
2
Secret Doctrine, I p. 17
3
Ibid. I p. 175
4
Mahātma Letter 43 (42), p. 258; 3rd Combined ed.; [quoting Christina G Rossetti.]

191
COMPASSION | CHAPTER 7

. . . when we are profoundly delighted with external and corporeal

goods, we confess that the nature of matter is beautiful, who
marks our assent in [nature’s] her secret book; and if, considering
ourselves as free, we at any time determine to depart, she proclaims
us deserters, endeavours to bring us back, and openly presenting
her mystic volume to view, apprehends us as fugitives from our mis-
tress. Then indeed, the soul particularly requires fortitude and di-
vine assistance, as it is no trifling contest to abrogate the connec-
1
tion and compact which she made.

But those who have devoted themselves to the welfare of others, at a particu-
lar turn of their ascent upon their own “hill of execution,” will be assisted by
no lesser one than the Regent of all Dhyān-Chohans. Having sacrificed the
efflorescence of His Spiritual Life for our sake, He has remained here on
Earth holding the Torch of Truth, lighting the path of struggling humanity
until the next Torch Bearer emerges. He is our Saviour and Highest Benefac-
tor. Is this not compelling evidence that Compassion and Sacrifice stem from
the highest realms of our Universe?

Nonetheless, such unexpected divine assistance—grace par excellence—is

not provided indiscriminately. It is offered only to those meritorious souls
who have reached a critical stage of inner development. It will come unsolic-
ited in the guise of a “still small voice.” Only ears that have become deaf to
the sounds of life will be able to hear it.

That Voice is not any voice, either real or imagined. It is the Voice of the
Highest Conscious Being of our planet, a truly Wondrous Being. His rank is
so exalted that He cannot be identified. It is neither lawful nor proper to do
so. HP Blavatsky alludes to Him by His deeds, as INITIATOR or GREAT SACRI-
FICE. In short, He is the HIGHEST CHOHAN, “the collective aggregation of divine
rays” that consented to inform Animal Man. It is Deity itself, the Voice of our
spiritual heart and Saviour of All that lives. Even the Masters of Wisdom rely
on It. Referring to his own initiation, Master Koot Hoomi confided to AP Sin-
nett that:

“K.H.” has been born into a new and higher light, and even that
one, in no wise the most dazzling to be acquired on this earth. Ver-
ily the Light of Omniscience and infallible Prevision on this earth—
that shines only for the highest CHOHAN alone—is yet far away from
2
me!

1
Taylor T (Transl.). The Fable of Cupid and Psyche by Apuleius (1st ed. 1795). Los Angeles: Philoso-
phical Research Society, Inc 1977; p. xi.
2
Mahātma Letter 93 (117), p. 418; 3rd Combined ed.

192
 LISTEN TO THE “STILL SMALL VOICE”

What is the Voice?

It is the most stirring and The first self-made Adept initiated but a select
mysterious of all Truths. few, and kept silence with the multitudes. He
recognized his God and felt the great Being
within himself. The “Ātman,” the Self, the
mighty Lord and Protector, once that man
knew him as the “I am,” the “Ego Sum,” the
“Asmi,” showed his full power to him who
could recognize the “still small voice.” From the
days of the primitive man described by the
first Vedic poet, down to our modern age,
there has not been a philosopher worthy of
that name, who did not carry in the silent
sanctuary of his heart the grand and mysteri-
ous truth. If initiated, he learnt it as a sacred
science; if otherwise, then, like Socrates, re-
peating to himself, as well as to his fellowmen,
the noble injunction, “O man, know thyself,”
he succeeded in recognizing his God within
1
himself.
It is Logos’ . . . the undeniable presence of a living God in
2
eternal murmurings, man himself . . . may always be found pre-
sent if a man does not extinguish within him-
self the capacity to perceive this Divine pres-
ence, and hear the “voice” of that only mani-
fested deity, the murmurings of the Eternal
Vāch, called by the Northern and Chinese
3
Buddhist Avalokiteśvara and Kwan-Shai-Yin,
4
and by the Christians—Logos.

1
Isis Unveiled, II pp. 317-18
2
Cf. “. . . the ‘Seven Amens’ and the ‘Seven Voices’ [of the Pistis Sophia] are identical with the ‘Seven
Aums and the Seven Mystic Voices,’ ‘the voice of the inner God.’ ”(Vide The Voice of the Silence, pp. 9
and 10.) Blavatsky Collected Writings, (COMMENTARY ON THE PISTIS SOPHIA) XIII p. 10 note 2
3
Cf. “A great mistake is also made by Beal who says: ‘this name (Avalokiteśvara) in Chinese took the
form of Kwan-Shai-yin, and the divinity worshipped under that name (was) generally regarded as a
female.’ (374) Kwan-shai-yin—or the universally manifested voice is active—male; and must not be
confounded with Kwan-yin, or Buddhi the Spiritual Soul (the sixth Pr.) and the vehicle of its ‘Lord.’ It
is Kwan-yin that is the female principle or the manifested passive, manifesting itself ‘to every crea-
ture in the universe, in order to deliver all men from the consequences of sin’—as rendered by Beal,
this once quite correctly (383), while Kwan-shai-yin, the ‘Son identical with his Father’ is the abso-
lute activity, hence—having no direct relation to objects of sense—is Passivity.” Mahātma Letter 59
(111), pp. 338-39; 3rd Combined ed.
4
Blavatsky Collected Writings, (ESSENTIALS OF RELIGION) V p. 100

193
COMPASSION | CHAPTER 7

It is the Light of Logos, For the Secret Doctrine teaches us that the re-
The Inner Voice of every construction of the Universe takes place in
nation and philosophy, this wise: At the periods of new generation,
perpetual Motion becomes Breath; from the
Breath comes forth primordial Light, through
whose radiance manifests the Eternal Thought
concealed in darkness, and this becomes the
Word (Mantra). . . . It is That (the Mantra or
Word) from which all This (the Universe)
1
sprang into being. . . . When the term Logos,
Verbum, Vāch, the mystic divine voice of every
nation and philosophy comes to be better un-
derstood, then only will come the first glim-
mering of the Dawn of one Universal Religion.
2
Logos was never human reason with us.
Our Higher Self’s Voice, It is the divine voice of Self, or the “Spirit-
Man’s Spirit-Voice, Voice” in man, and the same as Vāchīśvara
Socrates’ daemon, (the “Voice-deity”) of the Brāhmans. In China,
the Buddhist ritualists have degraded its
meaning by anthropomorphising it into a
Goddess of the same name, with one thousand
hands and eyes, and they call it Kwan-shai-
yin-Bodhisat. It is the Buddhist “daïmon”-
3
voice of Socrates.
The holy voice of Kwan-yin. Kān-yin-T’ien means the “melodious heaven of
Sound,” the abode of Kuan-Yin, or the “Divine
Voice” literally. This “Voice” is a synonym of
the Verbum or the Word: “Speech,” as the ex-
pression of thought. . . . If Kwan-Yin is the
“melodious Voice,” so is Vāch; “the melodious
cow who milked forth sustenance and water”
(the female principle)—“who yields us nour-
ishment and sustenance,” as Mother-Nature. .
. . thus Vāch and Kuan-yin are both the magic
potency of Occult sound in Nature and
Ether—which “Voice” calls forth Hsien-Chan,
the illusive form of the Universe out of Chaos
4
and the Seven Elements.

1
“In Esoteric phraseology Mantra is the Word made flesh, or rendered objective, through divine
magic.” Blavatsky Collected Writings, (EASTERN AND WESTERN OCCULTISM) XIV pp. 236-37 & fn.
2
Blavatsky Collected Writings, (THE GOD-IDEA) VI p. 11 fn.
3
Ibid. (“REINCARNATIONS” OF BUDDHA) XIV pp. 408-9 fn.
4
Secret Doctrine, I p. 137; [Commentary on Stanza VI 1 (b).]

194
 LISTEN TO THE “STILL SMALL VOICE”

It is the heart and pulse of the universe

2
The Voice of our true Like Elijah, he sought for the Lord in the
tabernacle, The Voice of strong wind—but the Lord was not in the
1
”SELF WITHIN SELF.” wind; nor was he in the earthquake, nor yet in
the fire. But he found Him in the “still small
voice”—the voice of his own CONSCIENCE, the
true tabernacle of man. The author without
belonging to our Society is yet a true-born
3
Theosophist—a God-seeker.
The Alpha & Omega, The Secret Doctrine teaches that “He who is
The Voice of Deity, guiding the first to appear at Renovation will be the
our homewards journey. last to come before Re-absorption [pralaya].”
Thus the Logoi of all nations, from the Vedic
Viśvakarman of the Mysteries down to the
Savior of the present civilised nations, are the
“Word” who was “in the beginning” (or the re-
awakening of the energising powers of Nature)
with the One ABSOLUTE. Born of Fire and Wa-
ter, before these became distinct elements, IT
was the “Maker” (fashioner or modeller) of all
things; “without him was not anything made
that was made. In him was life; and the life
4
was the light of men,” who finally may be
called, as he ever has been, the Alpha and the
Omega of manifested Nature. “The great
Dragon of Wisdom is born of Fire and Water,
and into Fire and Water will all be re-absorbed
with him.” And this Bodhisattva is said “to as-
sume any form he pleases” from the beginning
of a Manvantara to its end . . . He will appear
as Maitreya-Buddha, the last of the Avatāras
and Buddhas, in the seventh Race. This belief
and expectation are universal throughout the
East. Only it is not in the Kali-yuga, our pre-
sent terrifically materialistic age of Darkness,
the “Black Age,” that a new Savior of Human-
5
ity can ever appear.

1
Secret Doctrine, II p. 630
2
[A District Judge in Bombay who issued a pamphlet explaining why he renounced Christianity.]
3
Blavatsky Collected Writings, (A PERSONAL STATEMENT OF RELIGIOUS BELIEF) II p. 388; [quoting G.C.
Whitworth’s Personal Statement of Religious Belief. Ibid. pp. 383-88.]
4
John, 3, 4
5
Secret Doctrine, I p. 470

195
COMPASSION | CHAPTER 7

It is the Voice of our The ever-unknowable and incognizable Kāraõa

spiritual heart. alone, the Causeless Cause of all causes,
should have its shrine and altar on the holy
and ever untrodden ground of our heart—
invisible, intangible, unmentioned, save
through the “still small voice” of our spiritual
1
consciousness. Those who worship before it,
ought to do so in the silence and the sanctified
2
solitude of their Souls; making their spirit the
sole mediator between them and the Universal
Spirit, their good actions the only priests, and
their sinful intentions the only visible and ob-
3
jective sacrificial victims to the Presence.
Verily, It is the heart and “The first after the ‘One’ is divine Fire; the sec-
the pulse of our Universe. ond, Fire and Aether; the third is composed of
Fire, Aether and Water; the fourth of Fire,
Aether, Water, and Air.” The One is not con-
cerned with Man-bearing globes, but with the
inner invisible Spheres. “The ‘First-Born’ are the
LIFE, the heart and pulse of the Universe; the
4
Second are its MIND or Consciousness.”
This is the Voice, pioneer of the “Word” or the
first manifestation; and from that Voice ema-
nates the Word or Logos, that is to say, the
definite and objective expression of that which
has hitherto remained in the depths of the
Concealed Thought. That which mirrors itself
5
in Space is the Third Logos.

1
Cf. “Out of the silence that is peace, a resonant voice shall arise. And this voice will say: It is not
well; thou hast reaped, now thou must sow.” Light on the Path, rl. II, p. 18
2
Cf. “ ‘When thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are . . . but enter into thine inner
chamber and having shut thy door, pray to thy Father who is in secret.’ (Matt. vi, 6), Our Father is
within us ‘in secret,’ our 7th principle, in the ‘inner chamber’ of our Soul-perception. ‘The Kingdom of
Heaven’ and of God ‘is within us,’ says Jesus, not outside. Why are Christians so absolutely blind to
the self-evident meaning of the words of wisdom they delight in mechanically repeating?” Secret Doc-
trine, I p. 280 fn.
3
Secret Doctrine, I p. 280
4
Ibid. I p. 216; [Commentary on Stanza VII 1 (b): THE ONE FROM THE MOTHER-SPIRIT (Ātman); THEN THE
SPIRITUAL (Ātma-Buddhi, Spirit-soul).]
5
Blavatsky Collected Writings, (TRANSACTIONS OF THE BLAVATSKY LODGE) X p. 406

196
 LISTEN TO THE “STILL SMALL VOICE”

It is the Voice of the Great Sacrifice

Compassion is no attribute. It is the Law of Laws—eternal

Harmony, Ālaya’s Self; a shoreless universal essence, the
light of everlasting Right, and fitness of all things, the law of
love eternal.
1
— Helena Petrovna Blavatsky

2
The unborn or lamb Hence in the Purusha Sukta of the èig-Veda,
was slaughtered at the the mother fount and source of all subsequent
foundation of the world. religions, it is stated allegorically that “the
thousand-headed Purusha” was slaughtered
It is the seed of a world. at the foundation of the World, that from his
remains the Universe might arise. This is
nothing more nor less than the foundation—
the seed, truly—of the later many-formed
symbol in various religions, including Christi-
anity, of the sacrificial lamb. For it is a play
upon the words. “Aja” (Purusha), “the unborn,”
or eternal Spirit, means also “lamb,” in San-
skrit. Spirit disappears—dies, metaphori-
cally—the more it gets involved in matter, and
hence the sacrifice of the “unborn,” or the
3
“lamb.” . . . Kāma is born from the heart of
Brahmā; therefore he is Ātma-Bhu, “Self-
4
Existent,” and Aja, the “unborn.”
It is first-born Logos Like all the other planets of our system, the
renouncing Its essence Earth has seven Logoi—the emanating rays of
so that the world may live. the one “Father-Ray”—the Prōtogonos, or the
manifested “Logos”—he who sacrifices his
Esse (or flesh, Universe) that the world may
live and every creature therein have conscious
5
being.

1
Voice of the Silence, fragm. III vs. 300, pp. 69-70
2
Op. cit., Mandala X, hymn 90, 1-5
3
Blavatsky Collected Writings, (THE MYSTERY OF BUDDHA) XIV p. 397
4
Secret Doctrine, II p. 176
5
Ibid. II p. 592

197
COMPASSION | CHAPTER 7

The spiritual smothering Hence the necessity of a sacrificial Nir-

and dying in the material is māõakāya, ready to suffer for the misdeeds or
the highest sacrifice. For, mistakes of the new body in its earth-
“the seed is not quickened, pilgrimage, without any future reward on the
except it die.” plane of progression and rebirth, since there
are no rebirths for him in the ordinary sense.
The Higher Self, or Divine Monad, is not in
such a case attached to the lower Ego; its
connection is only temporary, and in most
cases it acts through decrees of Karma. This is
a real, genuine sacrifice, the explanation of
which pertains to the highest Initiation of
Jñāna (Occult Knowledge). It is closely linked,
by a direct evolution of Spirit and involution of
Matter, with the primeval and great Sacrifice
at the foundation of the manifested Worlds,
the gradual smothering and death of the spiri-
tual in the material. The seed “is not quick-
1
ened, except it die.”
The Voice comes from “the Everywhere, in India as in Egypt, in Chaldea
collective aggregation of as in Greece, all these legends were built upon
divine rays” that consented one and the same primitive type; the voluntary
to inform Animal Man. sacrifice of the logoi—the rays of the one Lo-
gos, the direct manifested emanation from the
One ever-concealed Infinite and Unknown—
whose rays incarnated in mankind. They con-
sented to fall into matter, and are, therefore,
2
called the “Fallen Ones.”

1
Blavatsky Collected Writings, (THE MYSTERY OF BUDDHA) XIV p. 397; [quoting 1 Corinthians, 15, 36.]
2
Ibid. (THE ESOTERIC CHARACTER OF THE GOSPELS, II) VIII, p. 200

198
 LISTEN TO THE “STILL SMALL VOICE”

It is the Saviour Hence the ritual in the exoteric worship of this

1
of all that lives, deity [Kuan-shih-yin ] was founded on magic.
The Mantras are all taken from special books
kept secret by the priests, and each is said to
work a magical effect; as the reciter or reader
produces, by simply chanting them, a secret
causation which results in immediate effects.
Kuan-shih-yin is Avalokiteśvara, and both are
forms of the seventh Universal Principle; while
in its highest metaphysical character this deity
is the synthetic aggregation of all the planetary
Spirits, Dhyāni-Chohans. He is the “Self-
manifested”; in short, the “Son of the Father.”
2
. . . “the universal Savior of all living beings.”
The Voice of the Know, if of Amitābha, the “Boundless Age,”
ultimate sacrifice. thou would’st become co-worker, then must
thou shed the light acquired, like to the Bo-
3
dhisattvas twain, upon the span of all three
4
worlds. [Terrestrial, astral and spiritual.]
5
The Voice is the Regent of Thathāgata in His immense love and “pitiful
all Dhyān-Chohans. mercy” for erring and ignorant humanity, re-
fused Parinirvāõa in order that He might con-
tinue to help men. . . . Vajradhara . . . is the
regent or President of all the Dhyāni-Chohans
or Dhyāni-Buddhas, the highest, the Supreme
Buddha; personal, yet never manifested objec-
tively; the “Supreme Conqueror,” the “Lord of
all Mysteries,” the “One without Beginning or
6
End”—in short, the Logos of Buddhism.

1
Cf. “Kuan-shih-yin is identical with, and an equivalent of the Sanskrit Avalokiteśvara, and as such
he is an androgynous deity, like the Tetragrammaton and all the Logoi of antiquity. It is only by some
sects in China that he is anthropomorphised and represented with female attributes, when, under
his female aspect, he becomes Kuan-yin, the goddess of mercy, called the ‘Divine Voice.’ ” Secret Doc-
trine, I p. 72; [Commentary on Stanza III 7 (b).]
2
Secret Doctrine, I p. 471
3
Cf. “In the Northern Buddhist symbology, Amitābha or ‘Boundless Space’ (Parabrahm) is said to
have in his paradise two Bodhisattvas—Kwan-shih-yin and Tashishi—who ever radiate light over the
three worlds where they lived, including our own, in order to help with this light (of knowledge) in the
instruction of Yogis, who will, in their turn, save men. Their exalted position in Amitābha’s realm is
due to deeds of mercy performed by the two, as such Yogis, when on earth, says the allegory.” Voice
of the Silence, fragm. III note 26 (vs. 288, p. 66); pp. 93-94 in glos. of Chinese & Centenary eds.
4
Voice of the Silence, fragm. II vs. 288, p. 66
5
“Literally, ‘he who walks [or follows] in the way [or path] of his predecessors.’ ” Blavatsky Collected
Writings, (“REINCARNATIONS” OF BUDDHA) XIV pp. 400 fn.
6
Blavatsky Collected Writings, (“REINCARNATIONS” OF BUDDHA) XIV pp. 401-2; [commenting on “Dez-
hin Shegpa” or Thathāgata.]

199
COMPASSION | CHAPTER 7

1
He initiates All. The “BEING” [the Initiator] . . . which has to
Even adepts rely on Him. remain nameless, is the Tree from which, in
subsequent ages, all the great historically
He stays here on Earth, known Sages and Hierophants . . . have
lighting the path of branched off. As objective man, he is the mys-
struggling humanity from terious (to the profane—the ever invisible) yet
the beginning to the end ever present Personage about whom legends
until the next Torch Bearer are rife in the East, especially among the Oc-
emerges to keep cultists and the students of the Sacred Sci-
the flame alive. ence. It is he who changes form, yet remains
ever the same. And it is he again who holds
His is the spiritual sway over the initiated Adepts
Greatest and Ultimate throughout the whole world. He is, as said, the
Sacrifice of our Universe. “Nameless One” who has so many names, and
yet whose names and whose very nature are
unknown. He is the “Initiator,” called the
“GREAT SACRIFICE.” For, sitting at the threshold
2
of LIGHT, he looks into it from within the cir-
cle of Darkness, which he will not cross; nor
will he quit his post till the last day of this life
cycle. Why does the solitary Watcher remain at
his self-chosen post? Why does he sit by the
fountain of primeval Wisdom, of which he
drinks no longer, as he has naught to learn
which he does not know—aye, neither on this
Earth, nor in its heaven? Because the lonely,
sore-footed Pilgrims on their way back to their
home are never sure to the last moment of not
losing their way in this limitless desert of illu-
sion and matter called Earth-Life. Because he
would fain show the way to that region of free-
dom and light, from which he is a voluntary
exile himself, to every prisoner who has suc-
ceeded in liberating himself from the bonds of
flesh and illusion. Because, in short, he has
sacrificed himself for the sake of mankind,
though but a few Elect may profit by the GREAT
3
SACRIFICE.

1
Cf. “The ‘Primal Being’ (Beings, with the Theosophists, as they are the collective aggregation of the
divine Rays), is an emanation of the Demiurgic or Universal Mind which contains from eternity the
idea of the ‘to be created world’ within itself, which idea the unmanifested Logos produces of itself.”
Blavatsky Collected Writings, (THE MIND IN NATURE) XIII p. 268
2
Cf. “There are three kinds of light in Occultism, as in the Kabala. (1) The Abstract and Absolute
Light, which is Darkness; (2) The Light of the Manifested-Unmanifested, called by some the Logos;
and (3) The latter Light reflected in the Dhyāni-Chohans, the minor Logoi (the Elōhīm, collectively),
who, in their turn, shed it on the objective Universe.” Secret Doctrine, II p. 37
3
Secret Doctrine, I pp. 207-08

200
 LISTEN TO THE “STILL SMALL VOICE”

It is under the direct, silent guidance of this

MAHĀ—(great)—GURU that all the other less di-
vine Teachers and instructors of mankind be-
came, from the first awakening of human con-
sciousness, the guides of early Humanity. It is
through these “Sons of God” that infant hu-
manity got its first notions of all the arts and
sciences, as well as of spiritual knowledge;
and it is they who have laid the first founda-
tion stone of those ancient civilizations that
puzzle so sorely our modern generation of stu-
1
dents and scholars.

What the Voice is not

• It is not objective, i.e., external.

• It is not one of Man’s seven principles.

• It is not Parabrahman or Absoluteness.

2
• It is not Christianity’s “Guardian Angel,” though our inner Voice guards
us if we listen.

• It is not the lady in the Idyll of White Lotus. The latter is our own soul,
which may forestall the Voice by giving information.

• It is not “the voice of conscience,” a fanciful storehouse of all human ex-

3
perience. Though precise records of the latter are constantly being made
within the ākāśic realms, mortals cannot access them.

1
Secret Doctrine, I p. 208
2
Cf. “. . . the Spirit is the personal god of each mortal, and his only divine element. The dual soul, on
the contrary, is only semidivine. Being a direct emanation from the nous, everything it has of immor-
tal essence, once its earthly cycle is accomplished, must necessarily return to its mother-source, and
as pure as when it was detached; it is that purely spiritual essence which the primitive church, as
faithful as it was rebellious to the Neo-Platonic traditions, thought it recognized in the good daïmon
and made into a guardian angel; at the same time justly blighting the “irrational” and fallible soul,
the real human Ego (from which we get the word Egoism), she called it the angel of darkness, and af-
terwards made it into a personal devil. The only error was in anthropomorphizing it and in making it
a monster with tail and horns.” Blavatsky Collected Writings, (ERRONEOUS IDEAS) II p. 18
3
Vide Appendix I, Conscience and consciousness, p. 328.

201
COMPASSION | CHAPTER 7

Who hears the Voice?

A still small voice spake unto me,

“Thou are too full of misery,
Were it not better not to be?”
1
— Alfred Tennyson

The Voice of the “Connecting himself through his mind with

inner God is heard Vāch, Brahmā (the Logos) created the primor-
only by the virtuous, dial waters.” In the Kāñhaka Upanishad it is
stated still more clearly: “Prajāpati was this
Universe. Vāch was a second to him. He asso-
ciated with her . . . she produced these crea-
tures and again re-entered Prajāpati.”. . . This
connects Vāch and Sephirāh with the goddess
Kuan-yin, the “merciful mother,” the divine
VOICE of the soul even in exoteric Buddhism;
and with the female aspect of Kuan-shih-yin,
the Logos, the verbum of Creation, and at the
same time with the voice that speaks audibly
to the Initiate, according to Esoteric Bud-
dhism. Bāth-Kōl, the Filia Vocis, the daughter
of the divine voice of the Hebrews, responding
from the mercy seat within the veil of the tem-
2
ple is—a result. . . . But vice, and an igno-
rance of divine concerns, are dire, through
which a man is led to despise and defame
things of which he has no knowledge; since
nature does not proclaim these particulars
with a voice which can be heard by the ears,
but being herself intellectual, she initiates
3
through intellect those who venerate her.
In the sacred Since the days of the earliest universal myster-
solitude of the heart. ies up to the time of our great Śākya Tathā-
gata Buddha . . . the divine Voice of the Self,
known as Kwan-yin, was heard but in the sa-
4
cred solitude of the preparatory mysteries.

1
Tennyson: The Two Voices
2
Secret Doctrine, I p. 431 & fn.
3
Abstinence from Animal Food, bk. 2 (¶ 53), p. 75
4
Blavatsky Collected Writings, (TIBETAN TEACHINGS) VI p. 99

202
 LISTEN TO THE “STILL SMALL VOICE”

It is the Voice or Word, This divine power [Kwan-yin] was finally an-
universally diffused. thropomorphized by the Chinese Buddhist
It is the Sound eternal ritualists into a distinct double-sexed deity
that speaks. with a thousand hands and a thousand eyes,
and called Kwan-shai-yin Bodhisattwa, the
It is “The voice of the Voice-Deity, but in reality meaning the voice of
ever-present latent divine the ever-present latent divine consciousness in
consciousness in man; man; the voice of his real Self, which can be
the voice of his real Self, fully evoked and heard only through great
which can be fully evoked moral purity. Hence Kwan-yin is said to be the
and heard only through son of Amitābha Buddha, who generated that
great moral purity.” Saviour, the merciful Bodhisattwa, the “Voice”
or the “Word” that is universally diffused, the
“Sound” which is eternal. It has the same mys-
1
tical meaning as the Vāch of the Brāhmans.
While the Brāhmans maintain the eternity of
the Vedas from the eternity of “sound,” the
Buddhists claim by synthesis the eternity of
Amitābha, since he was the first to prove the
eternity of the Self-born, Kwan-yin. Kwan-yin
is the Vāchīśvara or Voice-Deity of the Brāh-
mans. Both proceed from the same origin as
the Logos of the neo-platonic Greeks; the
“manifested deity” and its “voice” being found
in man’s Self, his conscience; Self being the
unseen Father, and the “voice of Self” the Son;
each being the relative and the correlative of
2
the other.

1
Cf. “Q. What is the difference between Spirit, Voice and Word? A. The same as between Ātma, Bud-
dhi, and Manas, in one sense. Spirit emanates from the unknown Darkness, the mystery into which
none of us can penetrate. That Spirit—call it the “Spirit of God” or Primordial Substance—mirrors it-
self in the Waters of Space—or the still undifferentiated matter of the future Universe—and produces
thereby the first flutter of differentiation in the homogeneity of primordial matter. This is the Voice,
pioneer of the “Word” or the first manifestation; and from that Voice emanates the Word or Logos,
that is to say, the definite and objective expression of that which has hitherto remained in the depths
of the Concealed Thought. That which mirrors itself in Space is the Third Logos. We may express this
Trinity also by the terms Colour, Sound, and Numbers.” Blavatsky Collected Writings, (TRANSACTIONS
OF THE BLAVATSKY LODGE) X p. 406
2
Blavatsky Collected Writings, (TIBETAN TEACHINGS) VI pp. 103-4

203
COMPASSION | CHAPTER 7

1
Elijah and Apollonius of The Ineffable name, in the search for which
Tyana have heard It. so many kabalists—unacquainted with any
Oriental or even European adept—vainly con-
sume their knowledge and lives, dwells latent
in the heart of every man. This mirific name
which, according to the most ancient oracles,
“rushes into the infinite worlds [ακοιμήτω
2
στροφάλιγγι],” can be obtained in a twofold
way: by regular initiation, and through the
“small voice” which Elijah heard in the cave of
Horeb, the mount of God. And “when Elijah
heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle,
and went out, and stood in the entering of the
cave. And, behold, there came a voice unto
3
him . . . ” . . . When Apollonius of Tyana de-
sired to hear the “small voice,” he used to
wrap himself up entirely in a mantle of fine
wool, on which he placed both his feet, after
having performed certain magnetic passes,
and pronounced, not the “name,” but an invo-
cation well known to every adept. Then he
drew the mantle over his head and face, and
his translucid or astral spirit was free. On or-
dinary occasions he wore wool no more than
the priests of the temples. The possession of
the secret combination of the “name” gave the
hierophant supreme power over every being,
human or otherwise, inferior to himself in
4
soul-strength.

1
Cf. “[The Kabiri] are the highest Planetary Spirits, the ‘greatest Gods’ and ‘the powerful.’ Varro, fol-
lowing Orpheus, calls these Gods [θεοί] ευδυνατοί, ‘divine Powers.’ The word Kabirim when applied to
men, and the words Heber, Gheber (with reference to Nimrod, or the ‘giants’ of Genesis vi) and Kabir,
are all derived from the ‘mysterious Word’—the Ineffable and the ‘Unpronounceable.’ ” Blavatsky Col-
lected Writings, (SYMBOLISM OF SUN AND STARS) XIV pp. 314-15
2
[Proclus, On The Cratylus of Plato].
3
[1 Kings xix, 13.]
4
Isis Unveiled, II pp. 343-44

204
 LISTEN TO THE “STILL SMALL VOICE”

Holy men, philosophers Sanchoniathon and Philo Byblius, in referring

and kings have heard It. to these baetyles, call them “Animated
1
Stones.” Photius repeats what Damascius,
Asclepiades, Isidorus of Seville and the physi-
cian Eusebius had asserted before him. The
latter (Eusebius) never parted with his ophites,
which he carried in his bosom, and received
oracles from them, delivered in a small voice
2
resembling a low whistling. Arnobius (a holy
man who, “from a Pagan had become one of
the lights of the Church,” Christians tell their
readers) confesses he could never meet on his
passage with one of such stones without put-
ting it questions, “which is answered occa-
3
sionally in a clear and sharp small voice.”
Where is the difference between the Christian
and the Pagan ophites, we ask? . . . It is also
known that the famous stone at Westminster
4
was called liafail —“the speaking stone,”—
which raised its voice only to name the king
that had to be chosen. Cambry says that it
caused the following couplet to be written:

“Ni fallat fatum, Scoti quocumque locatum

Invenient lapidem, regnasse tenentur ibi-
5,6
dem.”

1
Cf. “In a poem on Stones attributed to Orpheus, those stones are divided into ophitēs and sidēritēs,
‘serpent-stones’ and ‘star-stones.’
The Ophitēs is shaggy, hard, heavy, black, and has the gift of speech; when one prepares to
cast it away, it produces a sound similar to the cry of a child. It is by means of this stone that
Helenos foretold the ruin of Troy, his fatherland. . . ”
Secret Doctrine, II pp. 341-2; [De Mirville, Des Esprits, vol. III, p. 285, quoting E.M. Falconnet: “Dis-
sertation sur les Baetyles,” in: Mémoires de l’Académie Royale des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres, Paris,
tome VI, (1729), p. 513.]
2
Abbé Bertrand, Dictionnaire des religions, s.v. Bétyles. The same, of course, as the “small voice”
heard by Elijah after the earthquake at the mouth of the cave. (1 Kings xix, 12). De Mirville, op. cit.
vol. III, p. 286
3
Adv. Gentis, I, xxxix.
4
[On the 30th November 1996, St Andrew’s Day, the Lia Fail or “Stone of Destiny” was returned to
Scotland 700 years after its removal and was installed in Edinburgh Castle—Comp.]
5
[Unless the oracle fails, wherever the Scots find this stone placed, they will hold sway.] Monuments
Celtiques (Paris, 1805), p. 107. The rocking, or “logan,” stones bear various names; such as the cla-
cha-brath of the Celts; the “destiny or judgment-stone”; the divining-stone, or “stone of the ordeal,”
and the oracle stone; the moving or animated stone of the Phœnicians; the rumbling stone of the
Irish. Brittany has its “pierres branlantes” at Huelgoat. They are found in the Old and the New
Worlds; in the British Islands, France, Spain, Italy, Russia, Germany, etc., as in North America. (Vide
Adam Hodson, Letters from North America, etc., vol. II, p. 440.) Pliny speaks of several in Asia (Hist.
Nat. bk. II, xcvi); and Apollonius Rhodius expatiates on the rocking stones, and says that they are
“stones placed on the apex of a tumulus, and so sensitive as to be movable by the wind” (Ackerman’s
Arth. Index, p. 34), referring no doubt to the ancient priests who moved such stones by will-power
and from a distance. [Cf. G. Higgins, Celtic Druids, p. 223.]
6
Secret Doctrine, II p. 342 & fn. [Hist. Nat., bk. II, xcviii.]

205
COMPASSION | CHAPTER 7

Finally, Suidas speaks of a herakleia lithos

and of a certain Heraiskos, who could distin-
guish at a glance the inanimate simulacra
1
from those which were endowed with motion;
and Pliny mentions stones which “ran away
2
when a hand approached them.”
When we hear the Voice Listen, then, to a passage from the sixth book
we will remember of the Iliad, in which last night I seemed to see
the Truth of truths. glimpses of some mighty mystery. You know it
well: yet I will read it to you; the very sound
and pomp of that great verse may tune our
souls to a fit key for the reception of lofty wis-
3
dom. For well said Abamnon the Teacher,
that “the soul consisted first of harmony and
rhythm, and ere it gave itself to the body, had
listened to the divine harmony. Therefore it is
that when, after having come into a body, it
hears such melodies as most preserve the di-
vine footstep of harmony, it embraces such,
and recollects from them that divine harmony,
and is impelled to it, and finds its home in it,
4
and shares of it as much as it can share.”

1
Thos. Gainsford’s ed., 1853, p. 875.
2
Secret Doctrine, II p. 342; [Hist. Nat., bk. II, xcviii.]
3
[Possibly a pseudonym for Iamblichus—Comp.]
4
Hypatia, p. 89

206
Voice of the Silence and Light on the Path:
Two books, One Voice
Exoterically, the “still small voice” may be viewed as the counterpart of the
originally female logoi, i.e., the Chinese Kuan-yin (Divine Voice), the Egyptian
Isis, the Hebrew Bath Kol (daughter of the Divine Voice), the Hindu Vāch
(Goddess of speech, or “the melodious cow who milked forth sustenance and
1
water” ). In the midst of so many ancient mythical terms and the seeming
ambiguities of Occultism, one thing is certain: that the Bhagavad Gītā, The
Voice of the Silence, Nārada’s Bhakti-Sūtras, and Light on the Path, to men-
tion a few examples of eastern mystical scriptures, they speak with ONE
VOICE. It is the same Voice that speaks through the words, as the remarkable
similarities amongst texts attributed to different authors, and written at dif-
ferent periods, patently demonstrate.

Logos is “Light on the Path” for all. He speaks through the heart as a “still
small voice” or the “The Voice of the Silence.” The eponymous books may
have been ascribed to different sources, still, together with The Secret Doc-
trine they share a common ancestry: the Book of the Golden Precepts which
2
is part of the Books of Kiu-Te. Because of the powerful allegories, imagery
and mysticism of these magnificent texts, the verity in the title of this section
may not be readily grasped. For this reason, excerpts from The Voice of the
Silence and Light on the Path have been put side by side against a number of
imagined questions regarding the nature of the Voice, so that no doubt can
remain about the origin, significance, and implications of the GREAT SACRI-
FICE.

Other aspects, epithets and synonyms of the Voice in The Voice of the Silence
3
and Light on the Path are shown below.

1
Cf. Secret Doctrine, I pp. 137, 427 fn., 434
2
Cf. Reigle D. The Books of Kiu-Te or The Tibetan Buddhist Tantras: A Preliminary Analysis. San
Diego: Wizards Bookshelf, 1983. (Secret Doctrine Reference Series)
3
In: The Voice of the Silence: All Nature’s Wordless Voice, Golden Light of the Spirit, Inner Sound,
Life guide, Light Eternal, Light in the Sound & Sound in the Light, Seven Sounds in One, Silent
Speaker, Soundless Voice, The Light from the One Master, The Voice which filleth All, Thy Master’s
Voice, True Light that no wind can extinguish, True Self, Voice in the Spiritual Sound, Voice of Vir-
tue, Voice Unbroken, Watcher and Silent Thinker.
In: Light on the Path: Blazing Light, Dim Star Within, Great Song, Infinite Light, Light of the World,
Melody of the Heart, Song of Life, Soundless Voice, Star of the Soul, The only Light that can be shed
upon the Path, The Silence Itself, Voice of the Silence.

207
 TWO BOOKS, ONE VOICE

Who speaks with a “still small voice”?

Light on the Path Voice of the Silence

Know . . . that those who have In the Northern Buddhist symbology,

passed through the silence, and felt Amitābha or “Boundless Space”
its peace and retained its strength, (Parabrahm) is said to have in his
they long that you shall pass through paradise two Bodhisattvas—Kwan-
1
it also. . . . The knowledge which is shih-yin and Tashishi—who ever ra-
4
now yours is only yours because diate light over the three worlds
your soul has become one with all where they lived, including our own,
pure souls and with the inmost. It is in order to help with this light (of
a trust vested in you by the Most knowledge) in the instruction of
High. . . . Therefore look forward al- Yogis, who will, in their turn, save
ways with awe and trembling to this men. Their exalted position in Ami-
moment, and be prepared for the tābha’s realm is due to deeds of
2
battle. . . . Hold fast to that which mercy performed by the two, as such
has neither substance nor existence. Yogis, when on earth, says the alle-
5
Listen only to the voice which is gory.
3
soundless.

1
Light on the Path, I rl. 21 (note), p. 15
2
Ibid. II rl. 18, pp. 26-27
3
Ibid. II rl. 19-20, p. 27
4
Cf. “These three worlds are the three planes of being, the terrestrial, astral and the spiritual.” Voice
of the Silence, fragm. III notes 27 & 34 to vs. 288 & 306, pp. 66 & 71; pp. 94 & 95 in glos. of Chinese
& Centenary eds.
5
Voice of the Silence, fragm. III note 26 (to vs. 288, p. 66); pp. 93-94 in glos. of Chinese & Centenary
eds.

208
 TWO BOOKS, ONE VOICE

Where is the Voice?

Light on the Path Voice of the Silence

. . . through your own heart comes This earth . . . is but the dismal en-
the one light which can illuminate trance leading to the twilight that
1
life and make it clear to your eyes. . precedes the valley of true light—that
. . For within you is the light of the light which no wind can extinguish,
world—the only light that can be that light which burns without a
4
shed upon the path. If you are un- wick or fuel. . . . The light from the
able to perceive it within you, it is ONE Master, the one unfading
useless to look for it elsewhere. It is golden light of Spirit, shoots its efful-
beyond you, because when you reach gent beams on the disciple from the
2
it you have lost yourself. . . . Call it very first. Its rays thread through the
5
by what name you will, it is a voice thick dark clouds of matter.
that speaks where there is none to
speak—it is a messenger that comes,
a messenger without form or sub-
stance; or it is the flower of the soul
that has opened. It cannot be de-
3
scribed by any metaphor.

1
Light on the Path, II rl. 12, p. 24
2
Ibid. I rl. 12, p. 8
3
Ibid. I rl. 21, p. 14
4
Voice of the Silence, fragm. I vs. 18, p. 4
5
Ibid. fragm. I vs. 80, pp. 17-18

209
 TWO BOOKS, ONE VOICE

When will the Voice speak?

Light on the Path Voice of the Silence

When you have found the beginning When to himself his form appears
of the way the star of your soul will unreal, as do on waking all the forms
show its light; and by that light you he sees in dreams; When he has
will perceive how great is the dark- ceased to hear the many, he may
1
ness in which it burns. . . . seek it by discern the ONE—the inner sound
making the profound obeisance of which kills the outer. Then only, not
the soul to the dim star that burns till then, shall he forsake the region
within. Steadily, as you watch and of Asat, the false, to come unto the
3
worship, its light will grow stronger. realm of Sat, the true. . . . The pupil
Then you may know you have found must regain the child state he has
2
the beginning of the way. lost ’ere the first sound can fall upon
4
his ear. . .

Where will the Voice speak?

Light on the Path Voice of the Silence

. . . it can be felt after, looked for, . . . the soul will hear, and will re-
and desired, even amid the raging of member. And then to the inner ear
5
the storm. . . . Listen to the song of will speak—THE VOICE OF THE SI-
8
life. Store in your memory the mel- LENCE.
6
ody you hear. . . . The Voice of the Si-
lence remains within him, and
though he may leave the Path ut-
terly, yet one day it will resound, and
rend him asunder and separate his
passions from his divine possibili-
7
ties.

1
Light on the Path, I rl. 20 (note), p. 13
2
Ibid. I rl. 20, pp. 11-12
3
Voice of the Silence, fragm. I vs. 6-8, p. 2
4
Ibid. fragm. I vs. 79, p. 17
5
Light on the Path, I rl. 21, pp. 14-15
6
Ibid. II rl. 5 & 6,. pp. 21 & 22
7
Ibid. I rl. 21 (note), p. 16
8
Voice of the Silence, fragm. I vs. 12-13, p. 3

210
 TWO BOOKS, ONE VOICE

Under what conditions?

Light on the Path Voice of the Silence

Out of the silence that is peace a Three Halls . . . lead to the end of
1
resonant voice shall arise. toils. Three Halls . . . will bring thee
through three states into the fourth,
and thence into the seven worlds, the
2
worlds of Rest Eternal.

What will the Voice say?

Light on the Path Voice of the Silence

And this voice will say: It is not well; [Its advice and admonitions are de-
thou hast reaped, now thou must tailed in fragm. I, vs. 14-99, pp. 3-
3 5
sow. . . . The silence may last a 22 ]
moment of time or it may last a
thousand years. But it will end. Yet
4
you will carry its strength with you.

1
Light on the Path, II introd. p. 18
2
Voice of the Silence, fragm. I vs. 22, p. 5; [see notes 14-16, p. 75 in glos. of Chinese & Centenary
eds.]
3
Light on the Path, II introd. p. 18
4
Ibid. I rl. 21, p. 15
5
[Cf. (a) The Three Halls, vs. 22-33, pp. 5-8; (b) The Seven Sounds, vs. 41-49, pp. 9-10; and The
Seven Stages vs. 81-89, pp. 18-20; (c) The four modes of truths, vs. 93-97, pp. 20-21—Comp.]

211
 TWO BOOKS, ONE VOICE

How will I know if the Voice is genuine?

Light on the Path Voice of the Silence

Then will come a calm such as comes There is but one road to the [proba-
in a tropical country after the heavy tionary] Path; at its very end alone
rain, when Nature works so swiftly the “Voice of the Silence” can be
that one may see her action. . . . And heard. The ladder by which the can-
in the deep silence the mysterious didate ascends is formed of rungs of
event will occur which will prove that suffering and pain; these can be si-
1 3
the way has been found. . . . And lenced only by the voice of virtue.
knowing this voice to be the silence
2
itself thou wilt obey.

What will I learn?

Light on the Path Voice of the Silence

Learn from it the lesson of har- And now . . . thou art the doer and
4
mony. . . . Learn from it that you are the witness, the radiator and the ra-
part of the harmony; learn from it to diation, Light in the Sound, and the
5
obey the laws of the harmony. . . . To Sound in the Light. . . . Behold! thou
hear the Voice of the Silence is to un- hast become the light, thou hast be-
derstand that from within comes the come the Sound, thou art thy Master
only true guidance; to go to the Hall and thy God. Thou art THYSELF the
of Learning is to enter the state in object of thy search: the VOICE un-
which learning becomes possible. broken, that resounds throughout
Then will many words be written eternities, exempt from change, from
there for thee, and written in fiery sin exempt, the seven sounds in One,
6 7
letters for thee easily to read. the VOICE OF THE SILENCE.

1
Light on the Path, I rl. 21, p. 14
2
Ibid. II introd. p. 18
3
Voice of the Silence, fragm. I vs. 69, p. 15
4
Light on the Path, II rl. 7, p. 22
5
Ibid. II rl. 8, p. 23
6
Ibid. II introd. (note) p. 19
7
Voice of the Silence, fragm. I vs. 92 & 99, pp. 20 & 21-22

212
 CHAPTER 8
TIPS FOR PILGRIMS

What a chimera, then, is man! what a novelty, what a monster, what a chaos, what a
subject of contradiction, what a prodigy! A judge of all things, feeble worm of the earth,
depositary of the truth, cloaca of uncertainty and error, the glory and the shame of the
universe!
1
— Blaise Pascal

We here begin with an overview of duality in ontological and practical terms.

Defining compilations on faith, hope, and charity follow immediately after. In
the remaining sections, the antics of the mind, the only impediment to spiri-
tual progress, are exposed so that no doubt can possibly remain as to how
being can be surrendered to non-being, which is the infinity of true life and
happiness itself. For,

Happiness cannot exist where Truth is absent. Erected upon the

shifting sands of human fiction and hypotheses, happiness is
merely a house of cards tumbling down at the first whiff; it cannot
exist in reality as long as egotism reigns supreme in civilized socie-
ties. As long as intellectual progress will refuse to accept a subor-
dinate position to ethical progress, and egotism will not give way to
the Altruism preached by Gautama and the true historical Jesus
(the Jesus of the pagan sanctuary, not the Christ of the Churches),
happiness for all the members of humanity will remain a Utopia.
Whereas the Theosophists are the only ones at present to preach
this sublime altruism (even if two-thirds of The Theosophical Soci-
ety should have failed in this duty), and some of them alone, in the
midst of a defiant and sneering mob sacrifice themselves body and
soul, honor and possessions, ready to live misunderstood and de-
rided, if only they can succeed in sowing the good seed of a harvest
which will not be theirs to reap, those who are interested in the
destiny of the miserable people should at least abstain from vilify-
2
ing them.

1
Pascal: Thoughts, x, 1
2
Blavatsky Collected Writings, (MISCONCEPTIONS, I) VIII p. 77

213
COMPASSION | CHAPTER 8

“There is no happiness for one who is ever thinking of Self and for-
1
getting all other Selves.”

Dualism is a view that seeks to explain the world by the assumption of two
radically independent and absolute elements: (a) the doctrine of the entire
separation of spirit and matter; thus, dualism is opposed to idealism and to
2
materialism; and (b) the doctrine of two distinct principles: good and evil.
Esoterically speaking, however, dualism is self-consciousness’ most trusted
instrument for gathering knowledge:

No Entity, whether angelic or human, can reach the state of Nir-

vāõa, or of absolute purity, except through aeons of suffering and
the knowledge of EVIL as well as of good, as otherwise the latter
3
remains incomprehensible.

In other words, what is the meaning of goodness if there is no badness to

overcome? It is through the stark choices of opposing principles that Terres-
trial Man can hope to become Celestial. By threshing the corn from the chaff,
the virtuous from the wicked, the noble from the depraved, the soul learns.
And by self-effacing action and reliance on Self, knowledge of Self expands.
Latent potencies come forth: they strengthen resolve and build up character.

Good and Evil are twins, the progeny of Space and Time, under the
sway of Māyā. Separate them, by cutting off one from the other,
and they will both die. Neither exists per se, since each has to be
generated and created out of the other, in order to come into being;
both must be known and appreciated before becoming objects of
4
perception, hence, in mortal mind, they must be divided.

On the plane of action everything is intrinsically dual. Even mind is dual,

5
“lunar in the lower, solar in its upper portion.”

Great intellect and too much knowledge are a two-edged weapon in

life, and instruments for evil as well as for good. When combined
with Selfishness, they will make of the whole of Humanity a foot-
stool for the elevation of him who possesses them, and a means for
the attainment of his objects; while, applied to altruistic humani-

1
Blavatsky Collected Writings, (SECOND LETTER OF H. P. BLAVATSKY) XI p. 169; [quoting from a Mas-
ter’s letter.]
2
Cf. Chambers [British English] Dictionary
3
Secret Doctrine, II p. 81
4
Ibid. II p. 96
5
Ibid. II pp. 495; [quoting from a Commentary.]

214
 TIPS FOR PILGRIMS

tarian purposes, they may become the means of the salvation of

1
many.

Commenting on anēr (ανήρ), i.e., Man and male nature in Ancient Greek,
2
Plato advises that it has been derived “from άνω ροή, or a flowing upwards”
and, through Socrates, he carries on explaining its true meaning. Ανδρεία
[andreia], literally manliness or manly spirit, is commonly rendered into Eng-
3
lish as fortitude or “courage in endurance.” It is the kind of moral, inner
4
strength, which has been equally ascribed to women:

. . . fortitude signifies that it derived its appellation from conten-

tion, or battle. But contention in a thing, if it flows, is nothing else
than contrary fluxion. If any one, therefore, takes away the δ from
5
this name ανδρία fortitude, the name ανρία, which remains, will
interpret its employment. Hence it is evident that a fluxion, con-
trary to every fluxion, is not fortitude, but that only which flows
6
contrary to the just; for otherwise fortitude would not be laudable.

Amidst the uncertainties of dualism and, not least, the maze of occultism,
compassion and sacrifice light our path. They are the ultimate key to spiri-
tual knowledge.

1
Secret Doctrine, II p. 163
2
Plato: The Cratylus, 414a (transl. T Taylor); [v.s. Keyword Man: definition.]
3
Chambers [British English] Dictionary
4
Cf. Sophocles: Electra, 983; Aristoteles: Politica, I 260a 22
5
[“A flowing upwards”—Comp.]
6
Plato: The Cratylus, 413e (transl. T Taylor)

215
Pierce the veil of illusion

Chaos of thought and passion, all confused;

Still by himself abused or disabused;
Created half to rise, and half to fall;
Great lord of all things, yet a prey to all;
Sole judge of truth, in endless error hurled,—
The glory, jest, and riddle of the world.
1
— Alexander Pope

Rooted in parentless space, Buddha taught that “the primitive substance

is eternal and unchangeable. Its highest reve-
lation is the pure, luminous aether, the
boundless infinite space, not a void resulting
from the absence of forms, but, on the con-
trary, the foundation of all forms, and anterior
to them. But the very presence of forms de-
notes it to be the creation of Māyā, and all her
works are as nothing before the uncreated be-
ing, SPIRIT, in whose profound and sacred re-
2
pose all motion must cease for ever.”
“Māyā is yāmā reversed.” Māyā, as explained by the books on Tantra, is
ya-ma, reversed, ya and ma being two com-
plete Sanskrit words meaning, when put to-
gether as a sentence, “that which is not,” is as
well as not, sad-asat, existent and not-
3
existent, truly mysterious to the outer view.
[Māyā is] the cosmic power which renders
phenomenal existence and the perceptions
thereof possible. In Hindu philosophy that
alone which is changeless and eternal is called
reality; all that which is subject to change
through decay and differentiation and which
has therefore a beginning and an end is re-
4
garded as māyā—illusion.”

1
Pope: Essay on Man. Epistle, iii, line 13
2
Isis Unveiled, I p. 289; also cf. Blavatsky Collected Writings, (NIRVĀNA-MOKSHA) XIV p. 419
3
ôās B. The Science of Peace: an attempt at an exposition of the first principles of the Science of Self,
Adhyātma-Vidyā. London & Benares: Theosophical Publishing Society, 1904; p. 160
4
Theosophical Glossary, p. 211

216
 TIPS FOR PILGRIMS: PIERCE THE VEIL OF ILLUSION

1
Sustained by conscious It is only the seventh sense [the only Eternal
mind and compounded Reality], which pertains to the noumenal
by self-interest, world, that can comprehend the Abstract Real-
ity underlying all phenomena. As this seventh
principle is all-pervading, it exists potentially
in all of us; and he, who would arrive at true
knowledge, has to develop that sense in him,
or rather he must remove those veils which
obscure its manifestation. All sense of person-
ality is limited only to these lower six princi-
ples, for the former relates only the “world of
forms.” Consequently, true “knowledge” can be
obtained only by tearing away all the curtains
of Māyā raised by a sense of personality before
2
the impersonal Ātma.
Endless differentiations of Illusion arises from differentiation . . . and ab-
appearance and form create sence of differentiation, whether subjective or
3
the illusion of separateness. objective, is the Nirvāõa of Advaita. . . .
Prakçiti may be looked upon . . . either as
Māyā when considered as the Upādhi of
Parabrahmam or as Avidyā when considered
as the upādhi of Jīvātma (7th principle in
man). Avidyā is ignorance or illusion arising
from Māyā. The term Māyā, though sometimes
used as a synonym for Avidyā, is, properly
speaking, applicable to Prakçiti only. There is
no difference between Prakçiti, Māyā and
4
Śakti; . . . Even the existence of infinite space
depends upon the perceiving ego, thus the ex-
istence of prakçiti depends upon the existence
of the Logos which is the perceiving ego and
when this happens there is differentiation be-
5
tween subject and object.

1
Cf. [On the sixth sense, being mental perception]: “The division of the physical senses into five
comes to us from great antiquity. But while adopting the number, no modern philosopher has asked
himself how these senses could exist, i.e., be perceived and used in a self-conscious way, unless
there was the sixth sense, mental perception to register and record them; and (this for the Metaphy-
sicians and Occultists) the SEVENTH to preserve the spiritual fruition and remembrance thereof, as in
a Book of Life which belongs to Karma. The ancients divided the senses into five, simply because
their teachers (the Initiates) stopped at the hearing, as being that sense which developed in the
physical plane (got dwarfed rather, limited to this plane) only at the beginning of the Fifth Race.” Se-
cret Doctrine, I p. 535 fn.
2
Blavatsky Collected Writings, (CAN THE MAHĀTMAS BE SELFISH?) VI p. 264
3
Esoteric Writings, VI (7) p. 520
4
Ibid. VI (7) pp. 512-13
5
Ibid. VII (4) p. 553

217
COMPASSION | CHAPTER 8

Theosophy teaches . . . the evanescence and illusion of human

the spirit of “non- creeds and dogma, hence, inculcates universal
separateness,” love and charity for all mankind “without dis-
tinction of race, colour, caste or creed,” is it not
therefore the fittest to alleviate the sufferings
1
of mankind?
Spirit and matter are But what is “Spirit” pure and impersonal per
inseparable and se? . . . why, such a Spirit is a nonentity, a
inter-dependent. pure abstraction, an absolute blank to our
They are two aspects of senses—even to the most spiritual. It becomes
the One and Only Reality. something only in union with matter—hence it
is always something since matter is infinite
and indestructible and non-existent without
Spirit which, in matter is Life. Separated from
matter it becomes the absolute negation of life
and being, whereas matter is inseparable from
2
it.
As senses comprehend In the various writings on occult subjects, it
the outer world, so self- has been stated that unselfishness is a sine
consciousness apprehends qua non for success in occultism. Or a more
the Inner Reality. correct form of putting it, would be that the
development of an unselfish feeling is in itself
the primary training which brings with it
“knowledge which is power” as a necessary ac-
cessory. It is not, therefore, “knowledge,” as
ordinarily understood, that the occultist works
for, but it comes to him as a matter of course,
in consequence of his having removed the veil
which screens true knowledge from his view.
The basis of knowledge exists everywhere,
since the phenomenal world furnishes or
rather abounds with facts, the causes of which
have to be discovered. We can only see the ef-
fects in the phenomenal world, for each cause
in that world is itself the effect of some other
cause, and so on; and therefore, true knowl-
edge consists in getting at the root of all phe-
nomena, and thus arriving at a correct under-
standing of the primal cause, the “rootless
3
root,” which is not an effect in its turn.

1
Blavatsky Collected Writings, (“LET EVERY MAN PROVE HIS OWN WORK”) VIII p. 164
2
Mahātma Letter 23B (93B), p. 155; 3rd Combined ed.
3
Blavatsky Collected Writings, (CAN THE MAHĀTMAS BE SELFISH?) VI pp. 263-64

218
 TIPS FOR PILGRIMS: PIERCE THE VEIL OF ILLUSION

And as “the highest sees The Monad is impersonal and a god per se, al-
through the eyes beit unconscious on this plane. For, divorced
of the lowest,” from its third (often called fifth) principle, Ma-
nas, which is the horizontal line of the first
manifested triangle or trinity, it can have no
consciousness or perception of things on this
earthly plane. “The highest sees through the
eyes of the lowest” in the manifested world;
Purusha (Spirit) remains blind without the
help of Prakçiti (matter) in the material
spheres; and so does Ātman-Buddhi without
1
Manas.
So, by the illusion of māyā, Life is—living. A stream is—flowing. A con-
and out of which, we come scious organism, a living body, an individual,
to know ourselves. is a perpetual desire, a flame, a force inces-
santly absorbing and rejecting material, the
absorptions and rejections being cognitions, or
actions. . . . The fulfilment of desire is the end;
cognitions and actions are the means. And yet,
if we try to analyse, we find that desire is only
desire for cognitions and actions. End and
means are always passing into each other. The
World process is an endless cycle, a perpetual
rotation of these three, a vicious or a virtuous
circle, as you please, a māyā, an illusion—but
by which, and out of which, we snatch self-
2
realisation.
“Now it is a fundamental In very deed and truth, all men are one, not in
doctrine of Theosophy that a feeling of sentimental gush and hysterical
the ‘separateness’ which enthusiasm, but in sober earnest. As all East-
we feel between ourselves ern philosophy teaches, there is but ONE SELF
and the world of living in all the infinite Universe, and what we men
beings around us is call “self” is but the illusionary reflection of the
an illusion, not a reality.” ONE SELF in the heaving waters of earth. True
Occultism is the destruction of the false idea
of Self, and therefore true spiritual perfection
and knowledge are nothing else but the com-
plete identification of our finite “selves” with
3
the Great All.

1
Secret Doctrine, II p. 123 fn.
2
Science of the Emotions, p. 34
3
Blavatsky Collected Writings, (THEOSOPHICAL QUERIES) XI pp. 104-5

219
COMPASSION | CHAPTER 8

It follows, therefore, that no spiritual progress

at all is possible except by and through the
bulk of Humanity. It is only when the whole of
Humanity has attained happiness that the in-
dividual can hope to become permanently
happy—for the individual is an inseparable
part of the Whole.

Hence there is no contradiction whatever be-

tween the altruistic maxims of Theosophy and
its injunction to kill out all desire for material
things, to strive after spiritual perfection. For
spiritual perfection and spiritual knowledge
can only be reached on the spiritual plane; in
other words, only in that state in which all
sense of separateness, all selfishness, all feel-
ing of personal interest and desire, has been
merged in the wider consciousness of the
unity of Mankind.

This shows also that no blind submission to

the commands of another can be demanded,
or would [not]be of any use. Each individual
must learn for himself, through trial and suf-
fering, to discriminate what is beneficial to
Humanity; and in proportion as he develops
spiritually, i.e., conquers all selfishness, his
mind will open to receive the guidance of the
Divine Monad within him, his Higher Self, for
which there is neither Past nor Future, but
1
only an eternal Now.
“Selfishness is the SELFISHNESS, the first-born of Ignorance, and
impassable wall between the fruit of the teaching which asserts that for
the personal Self every newly-born infant a new soul, separate
and Truth.” and distinct from the Universal Soul, is “cre-
ated”—this Selfishness is the impassable wall
between the personal Self and Truth. It is the
prolific mother of all human vices, Lie being
born out of the necessity for dissembling, and
Hypocrisy out of the desire to mask Lie. It is
the fungus growing and strengthening with
age in every human heart in which it has de-
2
voured all better feelings.

1
Blavatsky Collected Writings, (THEOSOPHICAL QUERIES) XI p. 105
2
Ibid. (WHAT IS TRUTH?) IX p. 36

220
 TIPS FOR PILGRIMS: PIERCE THE VEIL OF ILLUSION

Selfishness kills every noble impulse in our

natures, and is the one deity, fearing no faith-
lessness or desertion from its votaries. Hence,
we see it reign supreme in the world and in so-
called fashionable society. As a result, we live,
and move, and have our being in this god of
darkness under his trinitarian aspect of Sham,
Humbug, and Falsehood, called RESPECTABIL-
1
ITY.

Unselfish conduct is the It is only in that personality that is centred

only antidote to the selfishness, or rather the latter creates the
poison of separateness. former and vice versa, since they mutually act
and react upon each other. For, selfishness is
that feeling which seeks after the aggrandise-
ment of one’s own egotistic personality to the
exclusion of others. If, therefore, selfishness
limits one to narrow personalities, absolute
knowledge is impossible so long a selfishness
2
is not got rid of. . . .“The best and most impor-
tant teacher is one’s own Seventh Principle
centered in the Sixth. The more unselfishly
one works for his fellow men and divests him-
self of the illusionary sense of personal isola-
tion, the more he is free from Māyā and the
3
nearer he approaches Divinity.”
Only by merging self in Self Māyā or illusion is an element which enters
one can be freed from the into all finite things, for everything that exists
clutch of māyā. has only a relative, not an absolute reality,
since the appearance which the hidden
noumenon assumes for any observer depends
upon his power of cognition. . . . Nothing is
permanent except the one hidden absolute ex-
istence which contains in itself the noumena
4
of all realities.

1
Blavatsky Collected Writings, (WHAT IS TRUTH?) IX p. 36
2
Ibid. (THE GREAT PARADOX) VI pp. 264-65
3
Echoes of the Orient, III p. 464; [quoting Master Koot Hoomi.]
4
Secret Doctrine, I p. 39

221
COMPASSION | CHAPTER 8

The existences belonging to every plane of be-

ing, up to the highest Dhyāni-Chohans, are, in
degree, of the nature of shadows cast by a
magic lantern on a colorless screen; but all
things are relatively real, for the cognizer is
also a reflection, and the things cognized are
therefore as real to him as himself. Whatever
reality things possess must be looked for in
them before or after they have passed like a
flash through the material world; but we can-
not cognize any such existence directly, so
long as we have sense-instruments which
bring only material existence into the field of
our consciousness. Whatever plane our con-
sciousness may be acting in, both we and the
things belonging to that plane are, for the time
being, our only realities. As we rise in the scale
of development we perceive that during the
stages through which we have passed we mis-
took shadows for realities, and the upward
progress of the Ego is a series of progressive
awakenings, each advance bringing with it the
idea that now, at last, we have reached “real-
ity”; but only when we shall have reached the
absolute Consciousness, and blended our own
with it, shall we be free from the delusions
1
produced by Māyā.

1
Secret Doctrine, I pp. 39-40

222
Faithfully seek the darkness within, for, faith is
Light

Too many already wear their faith, truly, as Shakespeare

puts it, “but as the fashion of his hat,” ever changing “with
the next block.”
1
— Helena Petrovna Blavatsky

Bid, then, the tender light of faith to shine

By which alone the mortal heart is led
Unto the thinking of the thought divine.
2
— George Santayana

“Faith is an aspiration and To define what we are unacquainted with is

a desire.” Hope and Charity presumptuous ignorance; to affirm positively
are her sisters. what one does not know is to lie. So is faith an
aspiration and a desire. So be it; I desire it to
be so; such is the last word of all professions
of faith. Faith, hope, and charity are three in-
separable sisters that they can be taken one
3
for another. . . . Mercy, Charity and Hope are
the three goddesses who preside over that
4
[higher] “life.” . . . Faith is the assurance of
things hoped for, the conviction of things not
5
seen.
It alone can open For the Keys of the Golden Gate leading to the
the Golden Gate. Infinite Truth, lie buried deep, and the gate it-
self is enclosed in a mist which clears up only
before the ardent rays of implicit Faith. Faith
alone, one grain of which as large as a mus-
tard-seed, according the words of Christ, can
lift a mountain, is able to find out how simple
becomes the Cabala to the initiate, once that
he has succeeded in conquering the first ab-
6
struse difficulties.

1
Blavatsky Collected Writings, (IS THEOSOPHY A RELIGION?) X p. 160
2
Santayana: O World, thou choosest not. [Qu. in: Nicholson’s & Lee’s Oxford Book of Mystical Verse,
1921; p. 469.]
3
Transcendental Magic, p. 382
4
Blavatsky Collected Writings, (IS DENUNCIATION A DUTY?) X p. 197
5
Hebrews, 11, 1
6
Blavatsky Collected Writings, (H. P. BLAVATSKY TO HER CORRESPONDENTS) I p. 130

223
COMPASSION | CHAPTER 8

Faith is trust, and love, Faith, Belief, and Reliance in or on others,

and confidence. Doubt, Suspicion, and Misgiving about others,
are respectively allied to, and degrees of, Con-
1
fidence and Distrust. . . . Emotionally, Faith
belongs to the side of Love and Unity; Doubt to
the opposite. Belief is the ready acceptance of
a person as what he appears to be. A settled
habit of Trust assumes a good motive what-
ever the external appearance, and acts thereon
fearlessly, sometimes recklessly. So, Suspicion
regards the outer appearance as being a cloak
for some mischievous purpose, and, often
falsely, sees an evil motive lurking behind a
harmless exterior. Against a settled habit of
Suspicion, no goodness is safe; the most inno-
cent action may be supplied with a motive
2
which transforms it into guilt. . . . If the
senses of those [intelligent, rational] persons
are not to be trusted, then what else can be
trusted? What better test of truth have we?
How can we be sure of anything we hear, or
even ourselves see? How are the most ordinary
affairs of life to be conducted and relied upon?
As a mesmerizer remarked to a sceptic: “If the
rule, which the objectors to mesmeric phe-
nomena persist in applying to them, were to be
enforced universally, all the business of life
must come to a stand.” Indeed no man could
put faith in any assertion of any other man;
the administration of justice itself must fail,
because evidence would become impossible,
3
and the whole world would go upside down.
Intuition is the So, the glorious truth covered up in the hier-
eye of the soul. atic writings of the ancient papyri can be re-
vealed only to him who possesses the faculty
of intuition—which, if we call reason the eye of
the mind, may be defined as the eye of the
4
soul.

1
Science of the Emotions, p. 149
2
Ibid. p. 151
3
Blavatsky Collected Writings, (WHAT IS “SPIRITS” OR WHAT?) IV p. 249
4
Isis Unveiled, I p. 16

224
 TIPS FOR PILGRIMS: SEEK THE DARKNESS WITHIN

“ ‘Faith’ is but the . . . The latter shows to us unerringly a general

misapplication of truth, in this, or that, universal proposition,
an inner intuition.” which the former proceeds to objectivise and
disfigure, according to the canons of our ob-
jective plane. Intuition is divine, but faith is
1
human.
2
“Faith is not reason’s labour, but repose.”

It blossoms from the Faith in God is the realisation “I am He,” for,

realisation that basically, religious faith is certainty of the ex-
All is One. istence of the Self, and hence of the triumph of
the Permanent, the Conscious, the Blissful,
over all that is other than these, however
strong for the time the “other” may be. Such
faith is sometimes said to be “belief without
proof,” but this in only because the Self is its
own proof, incapable of being strengthened or
weakened; other “beliefs without proof” are but
reflections and copies, and therefore generally
weak and defective, of this primal faith. Again,
faith in Self-existence is the sure internal wit-
ness and supporter of faith in immortality.
Faith in other words is the refusal of the Self
to submit to the narrow bonds of one set of
material limitations. So, faith in a man is the
recognition that the same Self in him as in
oneself, and that, in consequence, he will act
as one self-would act. Similarly, corresponding
Disbeliefs imply the presence in one’s con-
sciousness in an overpowering degree, of the
pseudo-existence of the Not-Self, of its uncer-
tainties, its pains, its limitations and its ac-
companying ills generally. The emotional as-
pect of these faiths and disbeliefs appears in
the powerful influence they exercise on the
temperament (of which, in a certain sense,
they are counterparts) and on the conduct in
life, and towards others, of the holders of
3
them.

1
Blavatsky Collected Writings, (PROBLEMS OF LIFE) XII p. 407
2
Ibid. (IS THEOSOPHY A RELIGION?) X p. 160; [quoting Edward Young.] Also in: 12,000 Religious Quota-
tions, (FS Mead, Ed & Comp.) Grand Rapids MI: Baker Brook House, 1989; p. 139.
3
Science of the Emotions, p. 150-51

225
COMPASSION | CHAPTER 8

It is intuitional knowledge Pistis-Sophia is a combination of two Greek

which, though not yet substantives, usually translated Faith and
apparent to the mind, Wisdom. But H.P. Blavatsky plainly shows
the soul knows it that Faith in the modern sense is quite an in-
to be true. adequate rendering of the term Pistis. It is bet-
ter described as Intuitional Knowledge, or
knowledge not yet manifested to the mere in-
tellect, though felt by the Soul to be true. This
definition leaves the way open for dogmatists
to say that it means precisely what they call
faith, and the genuine enquirer needs to be
careful in accepting dogmatic definitions of the
soul and intellect and to beware of thinking
that Pistis has anything to do with “believing”
things that are not otherwise known. “Faith” is
too often merely another name for “self-
persuasion,” which may not be, but usually is,
delusion, in one of its fascinating forms. . . . In
the drama of Pistis-Sophia and her sufferings
it is clear that her unshakeable intuition that
she will be saved by her divine part is the link
that enables that divine part to save her. It is
the actual testimony that she is not yet finally
1
lost, and in the end it is fully vindicated.
But “Faith without works . . . and as we are speaking of spiritual things,
is dead,” the “work” which the true faith requires is of a
spiritual character, meaning spiritual action,
growth and development. A faith without sub-
stantiality is merely a dream; a science with-
out true knowledge is an illusion; a merely
sentimental desire without any active exercise
for the attainment of truth is useless. A person
living in such dreams and fancies about ideals
which he never attempts to realise, dreams
only of treasures which he does not possess.
He is like a person wasting his life in studying
the map of a country in which he might travel,
but never making a start. A merely ideal relig-
ion, which is never realized and does not sub-
stantially nourish the soul, is only imaginary
2
and serves but to amuse;

1
Blavatsky Collected Writings, (COMMENTARY ON THE PISTIS SOPHIA) XIII pp. 5-6. [Interpretation sup-
plied by PA Malpas in the “Introductory Notes to H.P.B.’s Commentary on the Pistis Sophia.”]
2
Occult Medicine, p. 91

226
 TIPS FOR PILGRIMS: SEEK THE DARKNESS WITHIN

Only by love, faith, and self- If [the pupil] finds himself not clearly under-
sacrifice, the soul grows, standing [the doctrine of the teacher], then he
should with faith try to understand, for if he
by love and faith vibrates into the higher
meaning of his teacher, his mind is thereby
1
raised, and thus greater progress is gained.
The work which Faith requires is a continual
Self-Sacrifice, which means a continual striv-
ing to overcome the animal and selfish nature,
and this victory of the high over the low is not
accomplished but that which is low, but can
only take place through the power of divine
Love, which means the recognition of the
higher nature in man and its practical applica-
tion in daily life. This is the kind of love of
which the great mystic of the 17th century,
John Scheffler, speaks when he says:

“Faith without love aye makes the greatest

roar and din,
The cask sounds loudest when there is
2
nought within.”
And feels the Light within. And this light [the true Christos, the true
Buddha] can only be made known by its
works—faith in it having to remain ever blind
in all, save in the man himself who feels that
3
light within his soul.
For faith there is no middle ground. It must be
either completely blind, or it will see too
4
much.

1
Judge, WQ. Letters that have helped me. Los Angeles: Theosophy Company, 1946; pp. 44-45
2
Occult Medicine, pp. 91-92
3
Blavatsky Collected Writings, (“LET EVERY MAN PROVE HIS OWN WORKS) VIII p. 162
4
Ibid. (AN OLD BOOK AND A NEW ONE) II p. 184

227
Faithfully confirm your experience, for, faith
brings Knowledge

Cease, then, in terror of mere novelty, to drive all Reason

from your mind, but rather weigh with Accurate judgement.
If the thing be true assent:
If false, attack it hardily.
1
— Titus Lucretius Carus

Faith with no reason at its We write for unprejudiced men, and have no
premises is nothing but wish to flatter irreligion any more than fanati-
superstition and folly. cism. If there be anything essentially free and
inviolable in the world, it is belief. By science
and persuasion, we must endeavour to lead
2
bewrayed imaginations from the absurd, but
it would be investing their errors with all the
dignity and truth of the martyr to either
threaten or constrain them. . . . Faith is noth-
ing but superstition and folly if it have no rea-
son for its basis, and we cannot suppose that
which we do not know except by analogy with
3
what we know.
“He, who believes his . . . will regard that of every other man as a lie,
own religion on faith,” and hate it on that same faith. Moreover,
unless it fetters reason and entirely blinds our
perceptions of anything outside our own par-
ticular faith, the latter is no faith at all, but a
temporary belief, the delusion we labour un-
der, at some particular time of life. Moreover,
“faith without principles is but a flattering
phrase for willful positiveness or fanatical bod-
ily sensations,” in Coleridge’s clever defini-
4
tion.

1
Lucretius 2, 1040. (Desine quapropter, novitate exterritus ipsa, | Exspuere ex animo rationem; sed
magis acri | Judicio perpende, et, si tibi vera videntur | Dede manus: aut si falsum est, accingere
contra.)—King’s Quotations
2
[Archaic: to reveal, especially inadvertently, to betray—Comp.]
3
Transcendental Magic, p. 382
4
Blavatsky Collected Writings, (IS THEOSOPHY A RELIGION?) X p. 160

228
 He is expected to have, . . . one has, as a conditio sine qua non, to
or pretends to have, show faith in the dogmas expounded by the
unquestioning faith in, Church and to profess them; after which a
and veneration for, man is at liberty to lead a private and public
only for the teachings life on principles diametrically opposite to
of his own Church. those expressed in the Sermon on the Mount.
The chief point and that which is demanded of
him is, that he should have—or pretend to
have—a blind faith in, and veneration for, the
ecclesiastical teachings of his special Church.

“Faith is the key of Christendom,”

saith Chaucer, and the penalty for lacking it is

as clearly stated as words can make it, in St.
Mark’s Gospel, Chapter xvi, verse 16th: “He
that believeth and is baptised shall be saved;
1
but he that believeth not shall be damned.”
Bereft of understanding, “Blind faith” is an expression sometimes used
blind faith is make-believe. to indicate a belief without perception or un-
Only the efflorescence derstanding; while the true perception of the
of personal experience Manas is that enlightened belief, which is the
can bring forward the real meaning of the word “faith.” This belief
self-confidence of faith. should at the same time be accompanied by
knowledge, i.e., experience, for “true knowl-
edge brings with it faith.” Faith is the percep-
tion of the Manas (the fifth principle), while
knowledge, in the true sense of the term, is
the capacity of the Intellect, i.e., it is spiritual
2
perception.
If a belief is not the The Adept has no favours to ask at the hands
outcome of a thoughtful of conjectural sciences, not does he exact . . .
comparison of the merits of blind faith: it being his cardinal maxim that
a proposition with our own faith should only follow enquiry. . . . Thus he
experience, we are neither leaves his audience to first verify his state-
likely to adopt concordant ments in very case by the brilliant though
attitudes, nor to act rather wavering light of modern science: . . . In
accordingly. Confidence short, the “Adept”—if one indeed—has to re-
will be short-lived, with main utterly unconcerned with, and unmoved
attitudes and conduct by, the issue. He imparts that which it is law-
ever following the ful for him to give out, and deals but with
3
prevailing winds. facts.

1
Blavatsky Collected Writings, (THE ESOTERIC CHARACTER OF THE GOSPELS, III) VIII pp. 205-06
2
Ibid. (IS THE DESIRE TO “LIVE” SELFISH?) VI pp. 240-41
3
Ibid. (ESOTERIC HISTORY) V p. 226

229
COMPASSION | CHAPTER 8

Lord Buddha taught that we [Responding to the question “Are there any
must not believe in any dogmas in Buddhism which we are required to
1
proposition merely because accept on faith?” A Buddhist Catechism ex-
of the authority or prestige plains]: No. We are earnestly enjoined to ac-
of its author. We are to cept nothing whatever on faith; whether it be
believe and act only when written in books, handed down from our an-
a proposition has been cestors, or taught by the sages. Our Lord
“corroborated by our own Buddha has said that we must not believe in a
reason and consciousness.” thing said merely because it is said; nor in
traditions because they have been handed
down from antiquity; nor rumors, as such; nor
writings by sages, because sages wrote them;
nor fancies that we may suspect to have been
inspired in us by a deva (that is, in presumed
spiritual inspiration); nor from inferences
drawn from some haphazard assumption we
may have made; nor because of what seems
an analogical necessity; nor on the mere au-
thority of our teachers or masters. But we are
to believe when the writing, doctrine, or saying
is corroborated by our own reason and con-
sciousness. “For this,” says he in concluding,
“I taught you not to believe merely because
you have heard, but when you believed of your
consciousness, then to act accordingly and
2
abundantly.”

1
[Kalama Sutta of the Anguttaranikāya; qu. in: A Buddhist Catechism, pp. 55 & 56, by HS Olcott in
his 1881 ed.]
2
Blavatsky Collected Writings, (THE DOCTRINE OF AVATĀRAS) XIV p. 417

230
Faithfully validate your imagination, for, faith
establishes Will

Genuine unselfish LOVE combined with WILL, is a “power” in

itself.
1
— Helena Petrovna Blavatsky

Imagination as well as will—creates. Suspicion is the most

powerful provocative agent of imagination. . . . Beware!
2
— Master Koot Hoomi

“We operate by our . . . by our sidereal body on theirs, by our or-

Imagination on the gans on their organs, in such a way that, by
Imagination of others,” sympathy, whether of inclination or obsession,
we reciprocally possess one another, and iden-
tify ourselves with those upon whom we wish
to act. Reactions against such dominations
frequently cause the most pronounced antipa-
thy to succeed the keenest sympathy. Love
has a tendency to unify beings; in thus identi-
fying it frequently renders them rivals, and,
consequently, enemies, if in the depth of the
two natures there is an unsociable disposition,
like pride. To permeate two united souls in an
equal degree with pride is to disjoin them by
making them rivals. Antagonism is the neces-
3
sary consequence of a plurality of gods.
For, Imagination is Imagination applied to reason is genius. Rea-
world’s instrument son is one, as genius is one, in the multiplicity
of adaptation. of its works. There is one principle, there is
one truth, there is one reason, there is one ab-
solute and universal philosophy. Whatsoever
is subsists in unity considered as beginning,
and returns into unity considered as end. One
is in one; that is to say, all is in all. Unity is
the principle of numbers; it is also the princi-
4
ple of motion, and consequently, of life.

1
Blavatsky Collected Writings, (WHY DO ANIMALS SUFFER?) IX p. 286
2
Mahātma Letter 28 (11), p. 215; 3rd Combined ed.
3
Transcendental Magic, p. 124
4
Ibid. p. 35

231
COMPASSION | CHAPTER 8

“Imagination acts on Faith” . . . and both are the draughtsmen, who pre-
pare the sketches for Will to engrave, more or
less deeply, on the rocks or obstacles and op-
position with which the path of life is strewn.
Says Paracelsus:

“Faith must confirm the imagination, for

faith establishes the will. . . . Determined
will is the beginning of all magical opera-
tions. . . . It is because men do not per-
fectly imagine and believe the result, that
the arts (of magic) are uncertain, while
they might be perfectly certain.”

This is all the secret. Half, if not two-thirds of

our ailings and diseases are the fruit of our
imagination and fears. Destroy the latter and
give another bent to the former, and nature
1
will do the rest.
And frees us from the Two things . . . are necessary for the acquisi-
servility of worship. tion of magical power—the emancipation of the
will from all servitude, and its instruction in
the art of domination. The sovereign will is
represented in our symbols by the woman who
crushes the serpent’s head, and by the radiant
angel who restrains and constrains the dragon
with lance and heel. . . . The whole magical
work consists, therefore, in our liberation from
the folds of the ancient serpent, then in setting
a foot upon its head, and leading it where we
will. “I will give you all the kingdoms of the
earth, if thou wilt fall down and adore me,”
said this serpent in the evangelical mythos.
The initiate should make answer: “I will not
fall down, and thou shalt crouch at my feet;
nothing shall thou give me, but I will make
use of thee, and will take what I require, for I
am thy lord and master”—a reply which, in a
veiled manner, is contained in that of the Sav-
2
iour.

1
Blavatsky Collected Writings, (HYPNOTISM) XII p. 403
2
Transcendental Magic, p. 229

232
 TIPS FOR PILGRIMS: VALIDATE YOUR IMAGINATION

Because Prayer is Desire, Prayer opens the spiritual sight of man, for
Prayer strengthens Will, prayer is desire, and desire develops WILL; the
magnetic emanations proceeding from the
body at every effort—whether mental or physi-
cal—produce self-magnetization and ecstasy.
Plotinus recommended solitude for prayer, as
the most efficient means of obtaining what is
asked; and Plato advised those who prayed to
“remain silent in the presence of the divine
ones, till they remove the cloud from thy eyes,
and enable thee to see by the light which is-
1
sues from themselves.” . . . When Hiuen-Tsang
desired to adore the shadow of Buddha, it was
not to “professional magicians” that he re-
sorted, but to the power of his own soul-
invocation; the power of prayer, faith, and con-
2
templation. . . . Those who worship before [the
Causeless Cause of all causes], ought to do so
in the silence and the sanctified solitude of
their Souls; making their spirit the sole media-
tor between them and the Universal Spirit,
their good actions the only priests, and their
sinful intentions the only visible and objective
sacrificial victims to the Presence. . . . “When
thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypo-
crites are . . . but enter into thine inner cham-
ber and having shut thy door, pray to thy Fa-
3
ther who is in secret.” [Matthew, vi, 6] Our Fa-
ther is within us “in secret,” our 7th principle,
in the “inner chamber” of our Soul-perception.
“The Kingdom of Heaven” and of God “is within
us,” says Jesus, not outside. Why are Chris-
tians so absolutely blind to the self-evident
meaning of the words of wisdom they delight
4
in mechanically repeating?

1
Isis Unveiled, I p. 434
2
Ibid. I p. 600
3
Cf. “Call upon your Lord humbly and in secret.” Sale G (Transl.). The Koran, etc (1st ed. 1795); Lon-
don: Thomas Tigg, 1825; 7, 1, p. 175.
4
Secret Doctrine, I p. 280 & fn.

233
COMPASSION | CHAPTER 8

“It is the best guide Dreams differ. In that strange state of being
of our blind senses.” which, as Byron has it, puts us in a position
“with seal’d eyes to see,” one often perceives
more real facts than when awake. Imagination
is, again, one of the strongest elements in hu-
man nature, or in the words of Dugald Stewart
it “is the great spring of human activity, and
the principal source of human improvement. .
. . Destroy the faculty, and the condition of
men will become as stationary as that of
brutes.” It is the best guide of our blind
senses, without which the latter could never
1
lead us beyond matter and its illusions.
“Will is the exclusive . . . It divides him from the brute in whom in-
possession of man stinctive desire only is active.
on this our plane
Desire, in its widest application, is the one
of consciousness.”
creative force in the Universe. In this sense it
is indistinguishable from Will; but we men
never know desire under this form while we
remain only men. Therefore Will and Desire
are here considered as opposed.

Thus Will is the offspring of the Divine, the

God in man; Desire the motive power of the
animal life.

Most of men live in and by desire, mistaking it

for will. But he who would achieve must sepa-
rate will from desire, and make his will the
ruler; for desire is unstable and ever changing,
while will is steady and constant.

Both will and desire are absolute creators,

forming the man himself and his surround-
ings. But will creates intelligently—desire
blindly and unconsciously. The man, there-
fore, makes himself in the image of his desires,
unless he creates himself in the likeness of the
Divine, through his will, the child of the light.

Knowledge and will are the tools for the ac-

2
complishment of this purification.

1
Blavatsky Collected Writings, (KOSMIC MIND) XII pp. 133-34
2
Ibid. (WILL AND DESIRE) VIII p. 109

234
Devotedly feel the great heart within, for,
devotion to all is True Love

I am to be approached and seen and known in truth by

means of that devotion which has me alone as the object.
1
— Kçishõa

Devotion is the only natural As the child’s first feeling is for its mother and
feeling in our heart. nurse, so the first aspirations of the awaken-
ing consciousness in primitive man were for
those whose element he felt within himself,
and who yet were outside, and independent of
him. DEVOTION arose out of that feeling, and
became the first and foremost motor in his na-
ture; for it is the only one which is natural in
our heart, which is innate in us, and which we
find alike in human babe and the young of the
animal. This feeling of irrepressible, instinctive
aspiration in primitive man is beautifully, and
one may say intuitionally, described by Car-
lyle, who exclaims:

“The great antique heart, how like a child’s

in its simplicity, like a man’s in its earnest
solemnity and depth! Heaven lies over him
wheresoever he goes or stands on the
Earth; making all the Earth a mystic Tem-
ple to him, the Earth’s business all a kind
of worship. Glimpses of bright creatures
flash in the common sunlight; angels yet
hover, doing God’s messages among men.
. . . Wonder, miracle, encompass the man;
he lives in an element of miracle. . . . A
great Law of Duty, high as these two In-
finitudes [heaven and hell], dwarfing all
else, annihilating all else . . . it was a Real-
ity, and it is one: the garment only of it is
dead; the essence of it lives through all
2
Times and all Eternity!”

1
Bhagavad Gītā, 11 vs. 54
2
Secret Doctrine, I pp. 210-11; [quoting Carlyle’s Past and Present (1874), p. 104]

235
COMPASSION | CHAPTER 8

But without self-surrender, Devotion is . . . distinct from Worship. Devo-

devotion is servility tion is a self-surrender, a self-sacrifice, a giv-
1
disguised as worship. ing of all one has to another. . . . Defined in
terms of Desire, Devotion is the desire for
equalisation with the Ideal, who is the object
of that Devotion, not by direct receipt of gift
through prayer, as in the case of pure Wor-
ship, but by means of obedience to the behests
of, and guidance received from, that Ideal. . . .

The difference between [Devotion and Worship]

. . . is difficult to state precisely, because they
are always more or less intermixed in practice
. . . ; and because, in their higher, or unsel-
fish, aspect, they, and Love, have the same ul-
timate end and purpose, namely, mergence,
union, identification to the fullest extent pos-
sible. The common use of language indicates
this overlapping of the significance of the
three: A mother “loves,” or “worships,” or is
“devoted to” her child. Similar unavoidable
synonymisation of more or less distinguish-
able words is observable in the works on
2
Bhakti, in Sanskrit.
. . . But we will . . . be able to make in the
mind the distinction . . . if we remember that
the Self only is its own end, that Love is our
feeling of Its Unity, that realization of this
Unity, to whatever extent possible, is its own
reward, is Moksha or deliverance from the sor-
rows of separateness, is nishreyas, the highest
good, summum bonum. To express the distinc-
tion in words, we may reiterate that in Wor-
ship . . . self-surrender is not an element, but
that its essentials are an acknowledgement of
inferiority and a prayer for help. In Devotion
proper, on the other hand, self-surrender is an
essential element, offer of service of any kind
that may be needed, generally for the helping
of others, and there is also present . . . the
3
sense of equality-identity already achieved . .

1
Science of the Emotions, p. 151
2
Nārada-Sūtra: 1, 2, 16-19, 26, 30, 51, etc. So to Shāndilya-Sūtra, 1 (bhakñi), 2 (anurakñi), 6 (rāga),
44 (sammāna, prīñi, etc. as varieties of it.); ibid. p. 155 fn.
3
Ibid. pp. 154-56

236
 TIPS FOR PILGRIMS: FEEL THE GREAT HEART WITHIN

That offerings and sacrifices are made gener-

ally in Worship also is only to prove actively
the acknowledgement of inferiority; the real
significance of such is this:

“Behold, I am truly humble before thee,

and cling to, and depend on, and ask of,
and expect from, none else than Thee, and
in proof of this I offer up to Thee all that I
have and hold nearest and dearest—only
to show that they are not nearer and
dearer to me than Thou.”

Because this significance underlies acts of

worship, does it come about, when worship-
ping jīva is of the very selfish or “demoniac” or
1
“titanic” or “satanic” type, that his evil self-
ishness transforms what should be the pure
offerings of devotion into foul uncleanliness
and slaughter and orgy, and turns God-
worship into Devil-worship, the Right-Hand
Path into the Left-Hand Path, White Magic into
Black. True devotion is characteristic of the
jīvas on the nivrtti-marga, the Path of Renun-
ciation; pseudo-Devotion is found on the other
2
Path; Worship on both.
“The hard in heart . . . that is to say, the ethical condition of
cannot see God” vairāgya, wherein the hard “heart-knot” of in-
tense personal feeling, “I and thou,” “mine and
thine,” separatist individualism, is loosened—
this is indispensable to, is only the other as-
pect of, the intellectual condition of illumina-
tion, “the vision of God, the All-Self,” the jñāna
of the Truth, and also of the practical condi-
tion of bhakti, devotion and self-surrender, in
the form of active self-sacrifice and renuncia-
tion. This is why . . . until we turn from sin, in
spirit, at least, and sincerely, peace is not at-
tainable, for sin goes with intense personality;
as the Bhāgavata says, avidyā, kāma and
karma on the one hand, and jñāna, vairāgya
3
and bhakti, on the other, always go together.

1
Asura, daitya, rakshasa, etc., see the Bhagavad-Gītā, ch. xvi.
2
Science of the Emotions, p. 156
3
Ibid. pp. 520-21 fn.

237
Realise your ideals

Every Divine Illumination, whilst going forth with love in various ways to the objects of
its forethought, remains one. Nor is this all: it also unifies the things illuminated.
1
— Dionysius the Areopagite

“Deluded victims of distorted truth, they forget, or never knew, that discord
2
is the harmony of the Universe.” Duality is struggle and illusion only from
the standpoint of Non-Self. From the standpoint of Self, duality is a means
by which ever-higher realms of consciousness that are potentially within the
3
ideal mind can be attained. Ideals do not exist “in imagination only.” They
exist to be experienced, to be made real. This is how Parabrahman goes
about reflecting upon Itself.

Above, LIGHT; below, Life. The former is ever immutable; the latter
manifests under the aspects of countless differentiations. Accord-
ing to the occult law, all potentialities included in the higher be-
come differentiated reflections in the lower; and according to the
same law, nothing which is differentiated can be blended with the
4
homogeneous. . . . Occultism teaches that no form can be given to
anything, either by nature or by man, whose ideal type does not al-
ready exist on the subjective plane. More than this; that no such
form or shape can possibly enter man’s consciousness, or evolve in
his imagination, which does not exist in prototype, at least as an
5
approximation. . . . In human nature, evil denotes only the polarity
of matter and Spirit, a struggle for life between the two manifested
Principles in Space and Time, which principles are one per se, in-
asmuch as they are rooted in the Absolute. In Kosmos, the equilib-
rium must be preserved. The operations of the two contraries pro-
duce harmony, like the centripetal and centrifugal forces, which
are necessary to each other—mutually interdependent—“in order
that both should live.” If one is arrested, the action of the other will
6
become immediately self-destructive.
7
“Concretion follows the lines of abstraction.” Visualising an ideal and ab-
sorbing its essence by experiencing it, imparts the confidence and certainty
of inner knowledge. And what counts is partaking in the work on hand, not

1
Dionysius: Mystical Theology, p. 21
2
Mahātma Letter 85 (120), p. 395; 3rd Combined ed.
3
Chambers [British English] Dictionary
4
Blavatsky Collected Writings, (E. S. INSTRUCTION NO. III) XII p. 629
5
Secret Doctrine, I p. 282 fn.
6
Ibid. I p. 416
7
Ibid. I p. 177

238
 1
triumphing at the outcome; labouring for the love of it, not for the accolade.
What counts above all is personal effort and character content. The notion
that we have to fend for ourselves in a “hostile” world, where the strong is
supposed to survive at the expense of the weak, is mistaken as well as dis-
tasteful. We are not hordes of self-inflatable egos preying on each other: we
are a community of divine sparks journeying in the valley of matter. And
though the sparks are many, the Fire is One. “Men are different but Man is
2 3
one” remarks BP Wadia. “The Father and I are one” says St John. Our Fa-
4
ther ever dreams. We, the “Sons of Fire,” are their living manifestation. We
5 6
are our Father’s dream, the “Love of Gods,” the dream that never dies.

But what exactly is an individual, and what brings about individualisation?

Bhagavān ôās explains:

. . . (pursuant) Desire is, par excellence, the individualiser, the

bringer of the self to a focus, the intensifier of its separate exis-
7
tence and feel (while renunciant Desire disintegrates).

I-maker is the true individualiser or ahaükāra, “the intensifier of the per-

8
sonal.”

“Kāma, Desire, existed, appeared, first. It was the seed of mind,

manas. The sages sought and wisely found in the heart, the primal
9
kinsman, the root, of the existent in the non-existent.”
10
“The thread between the silent watcher and his shadow (man) becomes
stronger”—with every reincarnation. . . . the “Watcher” and his “Shadows”. . .
11
are one” says HP Blavatsky. Our innermost essence is that Silent Watcher
or Ātman. Our terrestrial lives, brought into play by cyclic Law, are only

1
The definition proper of an amateur, from the Latin amātor, a lover.
2
Studies in the SD, bk. I (3rd series) viii, p. 158
3
John, 10, 30
4
Cf. Secret Doctrine, I pp. 86-87
5
Oxyrhynchus Papyrus, 1380.109 (ii AD)
6
The Dream That Never Dies is also the title of address by Boris de Zirkoff to the Centenary World
Congress of the Theosophical Society in New York (November 1975) which was afterwards published
in The Theosophist (January 1976). Subsequently, fifty articles compiled and edited by WE Small
were also published under this poetic description of the Eternal Principle: The Dream That Never
Dies. (San Diego: Point Loma Publications Inc, 1983)—Comp.
7
Science of the Emotions, p. 31
8
Ibid. p. 33
9
èig-Veda, X 29, 4; [qu. in: Science of the Emotions, p. 32.]
10
Cf. “The Watcher, or the divine prototype . . . is an individual Dhyāni-Chohan, distinct from others,
a kind of spiritual individuality of its own, during one special Manvantara. . . [His ‘Shadows’] num-
bering as many as there are reincarnations for the Monad.” Secret Doctrine, I p. 265
11
Secret Doctrine, I p. 265; [Commentary on Stanza VII 6 (a): From the first-born (primitive, or the
first man) the thread between the silent watcher and his shadow becomes more strong and radiant
with every change (reincarnation). The morning sunlight has changed into noonday glory . . . . ]

239
COMPASSION | CHAPTER 8

shadows of that Silent Watcher within—the real Man! Blavatsky sheds more
light on the unspeakable sacrifices that sustain our lives so that we, too,
may be spurred to experience Manhood:

Each class of Creators endows man with what it has to give: the
one builds his external form; the other gives him its essence, which
later on becomes the human Higher Self owing to the personal ex-
ertion of the individual; but they could not make men as they were
themselves—perfect, because sinless; sinless, because having only
the first, pale shadowy outlines of attributes, and these all per-
fect—from the human standpoint—white, pure and cold as the vir-
gin snow. Where there is no struggle, there is no merit. . . Perfec-
tion, to be fully such, must be born out of imperfection, the incor-
ruptible must grow out of the corruptible, having the latter as its
vehicle and basis and contrast. Absolute light is absolute darkness,
1
and vice versa.

Dazzled by the glamour of endless pairs of opposites, one extreme ever ac-
centuating the other, Man compounds his self-inflicted delusion by exagger-
ating differences and confronting contraries. He can hardly see the wood for
the trees. But “He, who being not deluded knoweth me thus as the Supreme
2
Spirit, knoweth all things and worships me under every form and condition”
advises Kçishõa. The Oneness of the entire universe throbbing with One
Heart, even within its spurious polarisations, its countless warring twins and
their incessant nuptials, is yet to be realised by humanity at large. Emerson
sees celestial beauty everywhere:

. . . the Deity sends the glory of youth before the soul, that it may
avail itself of beautiful bodies as aids to its recollection of the celes-
tial good and fair; and the man beholding such a person in the fe-
male sex runs to her, and finds the highest joy in contemplating
the form, movement, and intelligence of this person, because its
suggests to him the presence of that which indeed is within the
3
beauty, and the cause of the beauty.

As endless differentiations, dissimilarities, and diversities tend to conceal the

divine love that keeps everything together within the Oneness, would-be-
pilgrims may wish to ponder once more upon Dionysius’ thought in the be-
ginning of this section, and Appendix J, A marriage made in heaven, p. 336.

1
Secret Doctrine, II p. 95
2
Bhagavad Gītā, 15 vs. 19
3
Emerson: Love, ¶ 15; (p. 65)

240
Live your dreams

A dream, a dream is all our lifetime here!

Shadows on wave we toss and disappear;
And mark by time and space our weary way,
And are, but know not, in eternity!
1
— Herder?

Idealists are not starry-eyed individuals who live in cloud-land or day-

dreamers, as it is commonly thought. They live their dream. They are the
true romantics “longing for something non-existent [with] a propensity for
2
dream and vision.” For,

The god or hero of the sculptor is always represented in a transi-

tion from that which is representable to the senses, to that which
is not. Then first it ceases to be a stone. The same remark holds of
painting. And of poetry, the success is not attained when it lulls
and satisfies, but when it astonishes and fires us with new en-
3
deavours after the unattainable.

Socrates explains to Hermogenes that heroes were the demigods of the Greek
Pantheon:

All of them were doubtless generated either from the love of a god
towards a mortal maid, or from the love of a man towards a god-
dess. If, therefore, you consider this matter according to the an-
cient Attic tongue, you will more clearly understand the truth of
this derivation: for it will be evident to you that the word hero is
derived from love, with a trifling mutation for the sake of the name:
or you may say, that this name is deduced from their being wise
and rhetoricians, sagacious and skilled in dialectic, and sufficiently
4
ready in interrogating; for είρην is the same as to speak.

Master Koot Hoomi had once suggested to AP Sinnett that he might have fin-
5
ished his book on Esoteric Buddhism “with those lines of Lord Tennyson’s
Wakeful Dreamer”. . .

How could ye know him? Ye were yet within

The narrower circle; he had well nigh reached
The last, which with a region of white flame,

1
(Ein Traum, ein Traum ist unser Leben, auf Erden hier; | Wie Schatten auf den Wogen schweben
und schwinden wir; | Und messen uns’re trägen Tritte nach Raum und Zeit, | Und sind, und wis-
sen’s nicht, in Mitte der Ewigkeit!) Herder?—King’s Quotations
2
Vide Harvard Dictionary of Music (1st ed.) 1944; [definition of Romanticism.]
3
Emerson: Love, ¶ 12; (p. 65)
4
Plato: The Cratylus, 398d-e (transl. T Taylor)
5
Buddhism should have been spelled with one d—Comp.

241
COMPASSION | CHAPTER 8

Pure without heat, into a larger air

Up-burning, and an ether of black blue,
1
Investeth and ingirds all other lives. . . .

These lines are indeed Tennyson’s. They were, however, published under a
2
different title, The Mystic. Whether The Wakeful Dreamer was an earlier title
conceived by the great poet, or perhaps is a more fitting description for such
astonishing insights by a Master of Wisdom, it is not known. One thing is
certain though, the Mahātmas or Great Souls portrayed in this poem are
wakeful dreamers. They are wakeful because they are alive and fully con-
scious. They have renounced worldly life, as well as nirvāõic rest, in favour of
their beloved humanity.

As Tennyson remarked elsewhere, loss of personal existence is “no extinction

3
but the only true life.” Light on the Path dispels the erroneous and off-
putting associations of sacrifice with death and annihilation:

[The Adept] serves humanity and identifies Himself with the whole
world: He is ready to make vicarious sacrifice for it at any mo-
4
ment—by living, not by dying for it.

And because living or being is nothing else but a dream, Great Souls are also
dreamers. They are visionaries of, and participants in, the divine dream—the
dream that never dies. By discarding the fleeting and the personal we, too,
can contribute to the ongoing march for sentient reflection by assisting fel-
low travellers to realise their own dreams. Otherwise, we would have lived in
vain. Blavatsky’s and Emerson’s musings on the Masters of the Eastern
Wisdom are particularly edifying:

Amid the increasing splendors of a progress purely material, of a

science that nourished the intellect, but left the spirit to starve,
Humanity, dimly feeling its origin and presaging its destiny, has
stretched out towards the East empty hands that only a spiritual
philosophy can fill. Aching from the divisions, the jealousies, the
hatreds, that rend its very life, it has cried for some sure founda-
tion on which to build the solidarity it senses, some metaphysical
basis from which its loftiest social ideals may rise secure. Only the
Masters of the Eastern wisdom can set that foundation, can satisfy

1
Mahātma Letter 9 (18), p. 51; 3rd Combined ed.
2
The Mystic was first published in 1830 but, together with many other poems, was suppressed by
its author and did not appear in most subsequent eds. On 19 November 2004, The Suppressed Po-
ems of Alfred Lord Tennyson 1830-1868 (Ed. JC Thomson) were released in the Internet by the
Gutenberg Project [E-book #14094].
3
Alfred Tennyson: Memoirs, ii, 473
4
Light on the Path, com. IV pp. 81-82

242
 TIPS FOR PILGRIMS: LIVE YOUR DREAMS

at once the intellect and the spirit, can guide Humanity safely
1
through the night to “the dawn of a larger day.”

Great men are thus a collyrium to clear our eyes from egotism, and
enable us to see other people and their works. . . . Yet, within the
limits of human education and agency, we may say, great men ex-
ist that there may be greater men. The destiny of organized nature
is amelioration, and who can tell its limits? It is for man to tame
the chaos; on every side, whilst he lives, to scatter the seeds of sci-
ence and of song, that climate, corn, animals, men, may be milder,
2
and the germs of love and benefit may be multiplied.

Spiritual knowledge or true wisdom stems from personal experience. It can-

not be learned by rote. The experience and thoughts of others, as well as our
own, are opportunities for us to corroborate them by our own thinking and
to realise their intrinsic value by diligent application. And, since “every ac-
3
tion without exception is comprehended in spiritual knowledge,” faith in
Self and selfless action nourish the tree of life, that stupendous body of sen-
tient knowledge. Reliance on the lunar part of the mind for gaining true
knowledge is deceptive, subject to doubt, to forgetfulness, and total loss at
death. Spiritual knowledge, therefore, is the blossom of personal experience.
It can only come from the intelligent application of the Ageless Wisdom in
our lives, by our own initiatives, by our own resources, and by our own “un-
4
helped exertions.” Then, and only then, we can begin to perceive true phi-
losophia or the wisdom of love.

A man who desires to live must eat his food himself; this is the
simple law of nature—which applies also to the higher life. A man
who would live and act in it cannot be fed like a babe with a spoon;
5
he must eat for himself.

Common experience suggests that the more one progresses, the further the
end recedes, and the higher the path winds “up-hill all the way . . . to the
6
very end.” “For those whose hearts are fixed on the unmanifested the labour
is greater, because the path which is not manifest is with difficulty at-
7
tained.” Dualism’s plot, where fact is interchangeable with truth, thickens.
In many quarters, truth has been already degraded to a negotiable target. A

1
Blavatsky Collected Writings, (RECENT PROGRESS IN THEOSOPHY) XII p. 308
2
Emerson: Uses of Great Men, I, ¶ 27 & 37; (pp. 723 & 727)
3
Bhagavad Gītā, 4 vs. 33
4
Vide Key to Theosophy, p. 286; Secret Doctrine, II p. 78 fn. & p. 103; Blavatsky Collected Writings,
(CHELAS AND LAY CHELAS) IV p. 608
5
Light on the Path, com. I p. 29
6
Christina Georgina Rossetti qu. in: Mahātma Letter 43 (42), p. 258; 3rd Combined ed.
7
Bhagavad Gītā, 12 vs. 5

243
COMPASSION | CHAPTER 8

catalogue of impulses, which are often mistaken for the Voice of Truth,
would be incomplete without the siren voices of the desire-mind or kāma-
manas masquerading as divine inspirations.

Blavatsky points out that the only impediment to learning is an untrust-

worthy intellect beset with its own importance and overruled by its own pas-
sions:

Self-abnegation is possible only to those who have learnt to know

themselves; to such as will never mistake the echo of their own in-
ner voice—that of selfish desire or passion—for the voice of divine
1
inspiration, or an appeal from their MASTER.

Porphyry likens desire-thoughts with psychic nails that pin souls to bodies:

. . . sense is a nail by which the soul is fastened to bodies, through

the agglutination of the passions, and the enjoyment of corporeal
2
delight.

. . . sense is as it were the metropolis of that foreign colony of pas-

3
sions which we contain.

In Apuleius’ Golden Ass, the menacing bandits that Lucius thought he had
slayed with his sword, turned out to be three goatskin bags that sorceress
Pamphile had metamorphosed earlier into humans. Photis, Lucius’ lover,
teased him: “You laid low your enemies without shedding a drop of blood, so
4
I now embrace not a homicide but an utricide.” How often the melodrama of
this striking incident has been relived by those who, in the twilight, have
mistaken a coiled rope for a snake in another classic allegory from the Ve-
dānta philosophy? And how often do we see foes in others rather than
friends? There are several good reasons why we should remain non-
judgemental. Perhaps the most mundane and practical one is that, as long
as personal concerns tarnish unbiased thinking, we are most likely to get it
wrong. When even professional judges, who tend to sit on high pedestals
(presumably to indicate that that they are above attachments and prejudice)
fail to administer justice—despite their mighty powers to probe motives and
truthfulness—what chances have we to be impartial in our own verdicts?

What clouds our judgement is that which keeps us disunited from the One
Reality and disconnected from our companions along the same journey. It is
selfishness, bare selfishness. So appealing and bewitching it is that it is even
celebrated as “personality.”

1
Blavatsky Collected Writings, (ON PSEUDO-THEOSOPHY) XI p. 50
2
Abstinence from Animal Food, bk. 1 (¶ 38), p. 32; [quoting Plato: Phædo, 83d.]
3
Ibid. bk. 1 (¶ 32), p. 29
4
Golden Ass, bk. 3 p. 49

244
 TIPS FOR PILGRIMS: LIVE YOUR DREAMS

A man who becomes selfish isolates himself, grows less interesting

and less agreeable to others. The sight is an awful one, and people
1
shrink from a very selfish person at last as from a beast of prey.

Self-exaltation, selfishness or egotism, is the “great dire heresy of separate-

2
ness that weans thee from the rest.” And it is precisely because we regard
ourselves as separate entities, that the woes of humanity are not considered
to be our concern. In this self-imposed isolation, suspicions and doubts pre-
vail. Reason gives away its inherent delusion when trust and faith in our
3
own kin are swept aside by the “malignant fever of scepticism.” Yet, of all
virtues advocated for the renunciant’s journey, faith is probably the single
most important of all.

1
Light on the Path, com. IV pp. 90-91
2
Voice of the Silence, fragm. I vs. 37, p. 9
3
Secret Doctrine, II p. 74; [quoting Isis Unveiled, I p. 247.]

245
Axe the aśvattha tree

. . . The trunk of the AŚVATTHA (the tree of Life and Being, the ROD of the caduceus)
grows from and descends at every Beginning (every new manvantara) from the two dark
wings of the Swan [HANSA] of Life. The two Serpents, the ever-living and its illusion
(Spirit and matter) whose two heads grow from the one head between the wings, de-
scend along the trunk, interlaced in close embrace. The two tails join on earth (the
manifested Universe) into one, and this is the great illusion, O Lanoo!
1
— Helena Petrovna Blavatsky

Parabrahman is inconceivable and unknowable to us. But, in some mysteri-

ous way, Parabrahm is equally unknown to Itself. It learns about Itself by
periodically projecting a reflection of its essence which falls seed-like from
heavens into earth:

Starting upon the long journey immaculate; descending more and

more into sinful matter, and having connected himself with every
atom in manifested Space—the Pilgrim, having struggled through
and suffered in every form of life and being, is only at the bottom of
the valley of matter, and half through his cycle, when he has iden-
tified himself with collective Humanity. This, he has made in his
own image. In order to progress upwards and homewards, the
“God” has now to ascend the weary uphill path of the Golgotha of
Life. It is the martyrdom of self-conscious existence. Like Vis-
vakarman he has to sacrifice himself to himself in order to redeem
all creatures, to resurrect from the many into the One Life. Then he
ascends into heaven indeed; where, plunged into the incomprehen-
sible absolute Being and Bliss of Paranirvāõa, he reigns uncondi-
tionally, and whence he will re-descend again at the next “coming,”
which one portion of humanity expects in its dead-letter sense as
2
the second advent, and the other as the last “Kalki Avatar.”
3
The continuum of “self-analysing reflection” has always been symbolised as
a tree upside down: with roots up in heaven and branches spreading forth
“some above and some below; and those roots which ramify below in the re-
4
gions of mankind are the connecting bonds of action.” Such an awe-
inspiring descent from darkness to light “through all the degrees of intelli-
gence, from the lowest to the highest Manas, from mineral and plant, up to
5
the holiest archangel” has been possible only by Divine Beings sacrificing
their own essence so that Animal Man can become Human once more—a
conscious god—and bring back to the Heart of Being the treasures gathered

1
Secret Doctrine, I p. 549; [quoting from a Commentary on the Esoteric Doctrine.]
2
Ibid. I p. 268
3
Cf. ibid. I p. 48. fn.
4
Bhagavad Gītā, 15 vs. 2
5
Secret Doctrine, I p. 17

246
 TIPS FOR PILGRIMS: AXE THE AŚVATTHA TREE

on earth. We should therefore be helping each other and be ambitious for all,
not living at the expense of others. Raising the collective consciousness of
humanity to new heights is the universe’s keynote, not the cancerous growth
of its constituents.

The seed is put into the earth, not for the purpose of finding its fi-
nal object in enjoying itself in the earth, but to gradually die and
become transformed while it lives; to die as a seed, while develop-
ing into a plant, whose body is raised out of the dark earth into the
light and air, and whose form bears no trace of the original form of
the seed; nor has the seed been put into the ground to die and to
rot before becoming a plant. Thus the spiritual regeneration of man
is to be effected now, and while he lives in the body, and not after
that body, which is necessary for such a transformation to take
1
place, has died and is eaten up by worms or destroyed by fire.

Śiva-Rudra is the Destroyer, as Vishõu is the preserver; and both

are the regenerators of spiritual as well as of physical nature. To
live as a plant, the seed must die. To live as a conscious entity in
the Eternity, the passions and senses of man must first DIE before
his body does. “To live is to die and to die is to live,” has been too
little understood in the West. Śiva, the destroyer, is the creator and
the Savior of Spiritual man, as he is the good gardener of nature.
He weeds out the plants, human and cosmic, and kills the pas-
sions of the physical, to call to life the perceptions of the spiritual,
2
man.

For, as Pythagorean Democrates says,

To live badly, and not prudently, temperately, and piously, is not to

3
live in reality, but to die for a long time.

When we realise that we are the flowers of this magnificent tree, our ascend-
ing journey tracing our roots in heaven is about to begin. But before we set
4
foot on Jacob’s dream “ladder,” we must get rid of old baggage.

The ladder by which the candidate ascends is formed of rungs of

suffering and pain; these can be silenced only by the voice of vir-
tue. Woe, then, to thee, Disciple, if there is one single vice thou has
not left behind. For then the ladder will give way and overthrow
thee; its foot rests in the deep mire of thy sins and failings, and ere
thou canst attempt to cross this wide abyss of matter thou has to

1
Hartmann F. The Life of Jacob Boehme. Edmonds: Sure Fire Press, 1989; p. 28
2
Secret Doctrine, I p. 549 fn.
3
Abstinence from Animal Food, bk. 3 (¶ 21), p. 137
4
Cf. Genesis, 28, 12

247
COMPASSION | CHAPTER 8

lave thy feet in Waters of Renunciation. Beware lest thou should’st

1
set a foot still soiled upon the ladder’s lowest rung.

We must relinquish our most proud accomplishment: that which sets us

apart from our kin. But first, we must hew down “with the strong axe of dis-
2
passion this Aśvattha tree with its deeply-imbedded roots,” as Kçishõa ex-
plains to Arjuna. When it served its purpose, it is time to walk out and on
along Nature’s great march.

This is the Tree of Life, the Aśvattha tree, only after the cutting of
3
which the slave of life and death, MAN, can be emancipated.

In the following selections, HP Blavatsky interprets some of the allegories of

the Aśvattha tree and its parts. The first suggests that throughout the ages
all legendary trees are symbols of awakening self-consciousness. The last
reminds us of the “The fundamental unity of all existence,” which is the first
of four ideas that Blavatsky advised students to “let the mind hold fast, as
4
the basis of its ideation” when reflecting upon the verities of The Secret Doc-
trine.

. . . The Occult reason why the Norse Yggdrasils, the Hindu Aśvat-
tha, the Gogard, the Mazdean tree of life, and the Tibetan Zampun,
are one with the Kabalistic Sephīrōthal Tree, and even with the
Holy Tree made by Ahura-Mazdhā, and the Tree of Eden—who
among the western scholars can tell? Nevertheless, the fruits of all
5
those “Trees,” whether Pippala or Haōma or yet the more prosaic
6
apple, are the “plants of life,” in fact and verity.

Thus, the Aśvattha, tree of Life and Being, whose destruction alone
leads to immortality, is said in the Bhagavadgītā to grow with its
7
roots above and its branches below. The roots represent the Su-
preme Being, or First Cause, the LOGOS; but one has to go beyond
the roots to unite oneself with Kçishõa, who, says Arjuna, is
“greater than Brahman, and First Cause . . . the indestructible,
8
that which is, that which is not, and what is beyond them.” Its
boughs are Hiraõyagharba (Brahmā or Brahman in his highest

1
Voice of the Silence, fragm. I vs. 69, p. 15
2
Bhagavad Gītā, 15 vs. 3
3
Secret Doctrine, I p. 536
4
Bowen Notes, p. 8
5
Cf. “Pippala, the sweet fruit of that tree upon which come spirits who love the science, and where
the gods produce all marvels.” Secret Doctrine, II pp. 97-8; [quoting the Dirghatamas.]
6
Secret Doctrine, II p. 97
7
Bhagavad Gītā, 15 vs. 1-4
8
Ibid. 11 vs. 37

248
 TIPS FOR PILGRIMS: AXE THE AŚVATTHA TREE

manifestations, say Śrīdhara and Madhusūdana), the highest Dhy-

āni-Chohans or Devas. The Vedas are its leaves. He only who goes
beyond the roots shall never return, i.e., shall reincarnate no more
during this “age” of Brahmā. . . . It is only when its pure boughs
had touched the terrestrial mud of the garden of Eden, of our Ad-
amic race, that this Tree got soiled by the contact and lost its pris-
tine purity; and that the Serpent of Eternity—the heaven-born LO-
1
GOS—was finally degraded.

. . . the Bo-tree (aśvattha) . . . is also the name of particular state of

2
Samādhi (bodhi ), the trance in which the subject reaches the cul-
mination of spiritual knowledge. The Aśvattha-tree character of the
Universe is realized. The small seed sends forth the big tree, which
sends down from its branches the peculiar roots which re-enter the
3
earth and support the tree of knowledge. . . . this vital Force, that
makes the seed germinate, burst open and throw out shoots, then
form the trunk and branches, which, in their turn, bend down like
the boughs of the Aśvattha, the holy Tree of Bodhi, throw their
seed out, take root and procreate other trees—this is the only
FORCE that has reality for him, as it is the never-dying breath of
4
life. . . . But to the follower of the true Eastern archaic Wisdom, to
him who worships in spirit nought outside the Absolute Unity, that
ever-pulsating great Heart that beats throughout, as in every atom
of nature, each such atom contains the germ from which he may
raise the Tree of Knowledge, whose fruits give life eternal and not
5
physical life alone.

If thou wouldst believe in the Power which acts within the root of a
plant, or imagine the root concealed under the soil, thou hast to
think of its stalk or trunk and of its leaves and flowers. Thou canst
not imagine that Power independently of these objects. Life can be
6
known only by the Tree of Life. . . .”

1
Secret Doctrine, I pp. 406-07
2
Cf. “Bodhi means the acquirement of divine knowledge; Buddha, one who has acquired ‘Bodhi;’ and
‘Buddhi’ is the faculty of cognizing the channel through which knowledge reaches the Ego.” Blavat-
sky Collected Writings, (APPENDIX I) XIV p. 458
3
Blavatsky Collected Writings, (APPENDIX I) XIV p. 459 fn.
4
Secret Doctrine, II p. 589
5
Ibid. II p. 588
6
Ibid. I p. 58; (quoting Precepts for Yoga.)

249
Slay your mind

He who would hear the Voice of Nada, “the Soundless Sound,” and comprehend it, he
has to learn the nature of Dhārāna [concentration].
Having become indifferent to objects of perception, the pupil must seek out the rājah of
the senses, the Thought-Producer, he who awakes illusion.
The Mind is the great Slayer of the Real.
Let the Disciple slay the Slayer.
1
— The Voice of the Silence

The truth of this admonition, strategically placed at the very beginning of

The Voice of the Silence, is irrefutable. Because “mind is the Man, not the
2
human body that can be pointed out with the finger,” and “the essence of
3 4
life is thinking,” it follows that life itself is nothing but “woven mind.” Yet,
some say that selfishness is an attitude of the mind. This is not correct: self-
ishness and lower mind are one and the same.
5
“Know thyself” implies the destruction of every personal desire, every trace
of non-self. But this is neither self-abnegation, as believed by pious people,
nor a sort of cleansing, as the word purification might suggest, nor even
transcendence when one supposedly rises above the miseries of the soul. It
is the unimaginably cruel task of committing menticide, of demolishing the
walls of separation that we spent ages building up tall and strong. Each and
every thought of this mental barricade is a stone that has to be knocked
down. Far from affording protection from imagined fears, it has made our
world a “joyless region,”
6
Where slaughter, rage, and countless ills reside.

Each for himself is everyone’s plea!

Nothing but what is shameful pleases: each one cares only for his
own enjoyment, and if it can be procured at another’s cost, it is all
7
the more agreeable.

Our inner self or true individuality can only be known after the destruction
of the false individuality, our egocentric attitudes in other words. It is they

1
Voice of the Silence, fragm. I vs. 2-5, p. 1
2
Marcus Tullius Cicero: De Re Publica, 6, 24, 26; (Mens cujusque is est quisque: non ea figura quæ
digito demonstrari potest.)—King’s Quotations
3
Marcus Tullius Cicero: Tusculanæ Disputationes, 5, 38; (Vivere est cogitare.) Cf. Descartes’ “I think,
therefore I exist.” (Cogito, ergo sum.)—King’s Quotations
4
Cf. (Notre vie est du vent tissue.) Joubert?—King’s Quotations
5
[Γνώθι σαυτόν, in Ancient Greek—Comp.]
6
Taylor T. (With annotations by A Wilder and the Publisher). The Eleusinian and Bacchic Mysteries.
San Diego: Wizards Bookshelf, 1997. (Secret Doctrine Reference Series); p. 27; [quoting Empedocles].
7
Ovidius Naso: Ars Amatoria, 1, 749; (Nil nisi turpe juvat: curæ est sua cuique voluptas, | Hæc quo-
que ab alterius grata dolore venit.)—King’s Quotations

250
 TIPS FOR PILGRIMS: SLAY YOUR MIND

that keep us apart from others, bound to endless cycles of death and life.
Nothing less than their eradication, the annihilation of what masks the real
self, can re-connect us with the Centre of Being—which is Non-being. Just as
1
what “you sow does not come to life unless it dies,” so, once self-
consciousness has blossomed, it should be axed; once the lower has per-
ceived the higher, the lower should be slayed. It has served its purpose. Co-
operating with Nature by implementing the divine plan is what living is all
2
about. Otherwise, “a useless life is an early death.”

What is it then that stops us from taking the bull by the horns, and what’s
all the fuss about? It is the mind itself and its formidable attempts to defy its
own execution—and, who wouldn’t? And the fuss is that because we have
identified with the lunar, perishable, mind (alas, nothing more glorious than
a bundle of selfish desire-thoughts), we find it awfully difficult to extricate
the one from the other and take charge of an entity that, in point of fact, has
gone beyond control. The more one thinks about controlling it, the more it
strengthens.

The divine intellect is veiled in man; his animal brain alone phi-
3
losophizes.

HP Blavatsky describes animal mind as “lower Manas” to distinguish it from

its higher aspect:

It is usually called the animal soul (the Nephesh of the Hebrew Ka-
balists). It is the ray which emanates from the Higher Manas or
permanent Ego, and is that “principle” which forms the human
4
mind—in animals instinct. . .

. . . the higher Ego (Manas) itself is more or less dormant during

the waking of the physical man. This is especially the case with
persons of very materialistic mind. So dormant are the Spiritual
faculties, because the Ego is so trammelled by matter, that It can
hardly give all its attention to the man’s actions, even should the
latter commit sins for which that Ego—when reunited with its
5
lower Manas—will have to suffer conjointly in the future.

It is the animal stuff, our “human nature,” that keeps us apart from the
Oneness in Manyness and Separateness, preoccupied with ourselves, ever
deaf to the cries of the world. This is precisely what binds us to the aridity
and lonesomeness of I-ness, and what incites us to relive every “tit” and

1
1 Corinthians, 15, 36
2
Goethe: Iphigenie, I, ii; (Ein unnütz Leben ist ein früher Tod.)—King’s Quotations
3
Secret Doctrine, II p. 74; [quoting Isis Unveiled, I p. 247.]
4
Blavatsky Collected Writings, (DREAMS) X p. 246
5
Ibid., X p. 249

251
COMPASSION | CHAPTER 8

every “tat”—while it waxes stronger with every sigh of the soul. And because
it is we who have encouraged self-gratification and unbridled passions, only
we can put an end to the despotism of this ever-aggrandising and imperti-
nent entity; and walk on. For, “the WISE ONES heed not the sweet-tongued
1
voices of illusion.”

Heavenly mind (rational or noetic) and worldly mind (irrational or phrenic)

are miles apart. Moreover, no amount of thinking can reveal the higher to
the lower. On the contrary, because the lower understands that such a
prospect will spell its own demise, it puts up an amazing web of evasion, of
procrastination, of hide-and-seek. Philosophising strengthens the mind, the
very beast we have to slay.

Search for the Paths. But, O Lanoo, be of clean heart before thou
startest on thy journey. Before thou takest thy first step, learn to
discern the real from the false, the ever-fleeting from the everlast-
ing. Learn above all to separate Head-learning from Soul-Wisdom,
2
the “Eye” from the “Heart” doctrine.

Only love of humanity can slay the chimera of head-learning and admit
those who are fit intellectually, as well as ethically, in the certainty of Soul-
Wisdom:

The inventor, the mechanician, the artist, painter, sculptor, or mu-

sician, the man of learning, the scientist, the poet, the orator, the
journalist, the lawyer, the man of letters, as such, is never called
wise. He may be called clever, talented, brilliant, able, skilful, ency-
clopædic, charming, elegant, fascinating, powerful, masterly, or a
genius, but not wise—unless and until he combines philanthropy
with his knowledge and ability of whatever kind, and, also, unless
and until his knowledge includes knowledge of the workings of the
human heart. . . . Cleverness is not enough. Brilliant glibness of
the tongue, is not enough. Intellectual fitness is not enough. Ethi-
cal fitness is needed ever more. Intellectual fitness plus ethical fit-
ness, knowledge plus love of humanity, is Wisdom, the cardinal vir-
tue pre-eminently needed by philosopher-legislators, by scientist-
priest-educators, true brāhmaõas, (in the etymological and not the
ossified hereditary sense of the word), of every race and creed and
3
clime.

Cramming knowledge in the head does not lead it anywhere—apart from in-
flating its size.

1
Voice of the Silence, fragm. I vs. 31, p. 7
2
Voice of the Silence, fragm. II vs. 111, p. 25
3
Science of the Emotions, pp. 244 & 245

252
 TIPS FOR PILGRIMS: SLAY YOUR MIND

According to Indian conviction, Brahmā-vidyā, the realization of be-

ing . . . is not attainable by the process of thinking. Thinking is be-
lieved to move in its original sphere, without ever leading beyond it.
Just as no amount of development can lead the senses to perceive
thought, so no amount of thinking could lead to metaphysical re-
1
alization.

No mind nurtured in self-adulation and self-exaltation over long kalpas can

ever manage to tame itself. How could it? That is why it has to be slayed.
Coaxing it is futile: rather than giving up gracefully, the mind is indefatigable
in generating excuses to stave off its execution, like “charity begins at home”
2
and alibis like Macavity, the mystery cat, faster than even its sophistry can
justify to itself.
3
Charity begins at home?

This old adage still reverberates in the works of Anglo-Saxon religious re-
formers, mendicant friars, bishops, dramatists, playwrights, and authors,
i.e., John Wycliffe (1380), Alexander Barclay (1509), Thomas Wilson (1572),
4
Richard Brome (1641), Arthur Murphy (1763), Charles Dickens (1850).

The trouble is that too often charity not only begins but ends at
5
home.

Warns American missionary Laubach:

We have made the slogan “Charity begins at home” a part of our re-
ligion—although it was invented by a Roman pagan, and is directly
contrary to the story of the Good Samaritan. Charity begins where
6
the need is greatest and the crisis is most dangerous.

Expressions of bare selfishness have always abounded in Europe, from the

classic to the modern age:
7
Well regulated charity begins at home.
8
I am my own nearest kin.

1
Hermann Keyserling qu. in: Concentration and Meditation; p. 127
2
Cf. “He always has an alibi, and one or two to spare: | At whatever time the deed took place—
Macavity wasn’t there!” (Eliot: Macavity: The Mystery Cat)
3
Terentius: Andria, 1, 6, 35;—Mead’s Quotations
4
Cf. Wordsworth Proverbs
5
Anon..—Mead’s Quotations
6
Franc Charles Laubach: Thirty Years With the Silent Billion—Mead’s Quotations
7
Cf. old French proverb: Charité bien ordonnée commence par soi-même.—King’s Quotations
8
Terentius: Andria, 4, 1, 12; (Proximus sum egomet mihi.)—King’s Quotations

253
COMPASSION | CHAPTER 8

1
My tunic is nearer to me than my cloak.
2
My leg is further than my knee.
3
Near is my coat, but nearer is my skin.
4
Every man reaps his own field.
5
He sings for himself.
6
He eats his bread from his pocket.
7
Self first, then your next best friend.

But nowadays each loving naught but pelf,

8
Counts on his fingers what’ll enrich himself.

Be temperate!

Apollo’s oracular injunction at Delphi has been attributed to Thales, one of

the seven sages. Juvenal alludes to its origin:
9
From heaven descends the precept, Know thyself.

Cicero, however, was less Spartan about its meaning:

When the god says, Know thyself, he means, know thy own mind:
the body being, as it were, the vessel and receptacle of the mind, so
10
that whatever is done by your mind, is done by yourself.
1
In Charmides, a Platonic dialogue on Temperance, it is argued that (a)
“Know thyself” was inscribed over the temple’s entrance at Delphi as a salu-

1
Plautus: Trinummus, 5, 2, 30; (Tunica propior pallio est.)—King’s Quotations
2
Theocritus, 16, 18; (Άπώτερο ή γόνη, κνήμη.)—King’s Quotations
3
Old English proverb.—King’s Quotations
4
Plautus: Mostellaria, 3, 2, 112; (Sibi quisque ruri metit.)—King’s Quotations
5
Marcus Tullius Cicero: De Lege Agraria, 2, 26, 68; (Carmen hic . . . intus canit.)—King’s Quotations
6
Old French proverb; (Il mange son pain dans sa poche.)—King’s Quotations
7
Folk-Lore, xxiv, 76; (Oxfordshire 1913)—Wordsworth Proverbs
8
Ovidius Naso: Epistolæ ex Ponto, 2, 3, 17; (At reditus jam quisque suos amat, et sibi quid sit utile,
solicitis supputat articulis.)—King’s Quotations
9
Juvenal, 11, 27; (E cœlo descendit.)—King’s Quotations
10
Marcus Tullius Cicero: Tusculanæ Disputationes, 1, 1, 22, 52 (Quum igitur, nosce te, dicit, hoc
dicit, Nosce animum tuum: nam corpus quidem quasi vas est aut aliquod animi receptaculum: ab
animo tuo quidquid agitur, id agitur a te.)—King’s Quotations

254
 TIPS FOR PILGRIMS: SLAY YOUR MIND

tation to those who were about to enter the temple, rather than as an injunc-
tion, and that (b) it meant “Be temperate” or “Be wise.”

. . . to know ourselves, is temperance: and I agree with him who in-

scribed this precept in the temple of Apollo at Delphi. For this pre-
cept appears to me to have been inscribed as a salutation of Divin-
2
ity, to be used by those that enter the temple, instead of hail ! So
that this inscription does not directly signify joy, or imply that we
should exhort each other to rejoice, but rather, to be temperate.
For thus the God speaks to those that enter the temple; and ad-
dresses us otherwise than men are wont to do, as he also con-
ceived, in my opinion, who placed this inscription. It likewise says
nothing else to those that enter, than that they should live temper-
ately. But as speaking prophetically, it says this in a more enig-
matic manner. For “Know thyself,” is the same as “Be temperate,”
as both the writings and I assert. But perhaps some one may think
it has a different meaning, which appears to me to have been the
case with those who placed those posterior inscriptions, “Nothing
3 4
too much,” and “A surety is near to sorrow.” For they thought
that “Know thyself,” was advice, and not an address of the Divinity
to those that enter the temple. Afterwards, that they might sus-
pend advice in no respect inferior to this, they placed these inscrip-
5
tions.

There were other inscriptions in Delphi, including one representing the fifth
6
letter of the Greek alphabet, the so-called “E Delphicum.” It, too, gave rise
to endless speculations and still continues to tax thinkers, even today. Plu-
tarch, priest of Apollo, student of Ammonius Saccas, and teacher of Hypatia,
7
puts forward seven possible explanations about its meaning and, echoing
Plato, declares that Ammonius was of the opinion that:

1
Classicists do an injustice to the Ancient Greek word sōphrosyne (σωφροσύνη) by translating it as
temperance. Sōphrosyne’s rich meanings stem from a deep apperception of the nature of inner self
(the Platonic “ordered soul”). It implies the kind of self-restraint that arises from introspective knowl-
edge and, above all, high moral purity of thoughts and deeds. In Cratylus (411d-e), Plato defines
Prudence (φρόνησις) as “the intelligence of local motion and fluxion. It may also imply the advantage
of local motion; so that is plainly conversant with agitation. . . But temperate signifies the safety of
that prudence which we have just now considered.”—Comp.
2
[Chaire (χαίρε) in Ancient Greek—Comp.]
3
The saying of Solon.
4
The saying of Pittacus.
5
Taylor T & Sydenham F (Transl. & Comm.). The Works of Plato: The Charmides. A dialogue on Tem-
perance. Vol. V (XIII of the Thomas Taylor series); Frome: The Prometheus Trust, 1996 (1st ed.);
164d-65a.
6
Cf. Secret Doctrine, II p. 580
7
Cf. Babbitt FC (Transl. & Ed.). Plutarch’s Moralia. (vol. V of XIV); London: William Heinemann Ltd,
1936; (pp. 198-345.)

255
COMPASSION | CHAPTER 8

. . . the significance of the letter [E] is neither a numeral nor a

place in a series nor a conjunction nor any of the subordinate
parts of speech. No, it is an address and salutation to the god,
complete in itself, which, by being spoken, brings him who utters it
to thoughts of the god’s power. For the god addresses each of us as
1
we approach him here with the words “Know Thyself,” as a form of
welcome, which certainly is in no wise of less import than “Hail”;
and we in turn reply to him “Thou art,” as rendering unto him a
form of address which is truthful, free from deception, and the only
one befitting him only, the assertion of Being.

But God is (if there be need to say so), and He exists for no fixed
time, but for the everlasting ages which are immovable, timeless,
and undeviating, in which there is no earlier nor later, no future
nor past, no older nor younger; but He, being One, has with only
one “Now” completely filled “For ever”; and only when Being is after
His pattern is it in reality Being, not having been nor about to be,
nor has it had a beginning nor is it destined to come to an end.
Under these conditions, therefore, we ought, as we pay Him rever-
ence, to greet Him and to address Him with the words, “Thou art”;
or even, I vow, as did some of the men of old, “Thou art One.”

. . . it appears that as a sort of antithesis to “Thou art” stands the

admonition “Know thyself,” and then again it seems, in a manner,
to be in accord therewith, for the one is an utterance addressed in
awe and reverence to the god as existent through all eternity, the
other is a reminder to mortal man of his own nature and the
2
weaknesses that beset him.

Contrary to common perception, the more we learn the less we know. Franz
Hartmann lays the blame for the general lack of zest for higher knowledge on
the narrow outlook of educational curricula and the aridity of the age:

The reason why so few can realise the meaning of the term “self-
knowledge,” is that the knowledge obtained in our schools is exclu-
sively of an artificial kind. We read that which other men have be-
lieved and known and we imagine we know it. We fill our minds
with the thoughts of others and find little time to think for our-
selves. We seek to arrive at a conviction of the existence of this or
that object by means of arguments and inferences, while we refuse
to open our eyes and to see ourselves the very thing about whose
existence we argue. Thus from a theosophical point of view we
should appear to a higher being like a nation of people with closed

1
Cf. Plato: Charmides, 164d-e
2
Babbitt FC (Transl. & Ed.). Plutarch’s Moralia. (vol. V of XIV); London: William Heinemann Ltd,
1936; (¶17, 20, 21, pp. 239, 245, 253—Xylander (1570) pp. 392A, 393B, 394C.)

256
 TIPS FOR PILGRIMS: SLAY YOUR MIND

eyes arguing about the existence of the sun and unable or unwill-
1
ing to look at it for ourselves.

And he argues that the relentless obsession with outer facts and figures hin-
ders access to inner knowledge:

The more the mind analyses a thing and enters into its minor de-
tails the easier does it lose sight of the whole; the more man’s at-
tention is divided into many parts, the more will he step out of his
own unity and become complicated himself. Only a great and
strong spirit can remain dwelling within its own self - conscious-
ness, and, like the sun, which shines into many things without be-
coming absorbed by them, looks into the minor details of phenom-
ena without losing sight of the truth which includes the whole. The
most simple truths are usually the ones which are the most diffi-
cult to be grasped by the learned, because the perception of a sim-
ple truth requires a simple mind. In the kaleidoscope of ever-
varying phenomena the underlying truth cannot be seen upon the
surface. As the intellect becomes more and more immersed in mat-
ter, the eye of the spirit becomes closed; truths which in times of
old were self-evident have now been forgotten, and even the mean-
ing of the terms signifying spiritual powers has become lost in pro-
portion as mankind has ceased to exercise these powers. Owing to
the conceit of our age of selfishness, which seeks to drag spiritual
truths down to the scientific conception of a narrow-sighted animal
rationalism, instead of rising up to their level, the character of
modern popular science is shown in the amount of cleverness with
which illusory self-interests are protected; “faith,” the all-saving
power of spiritual knowledge, is believed to be superstition; “be-
nevolence” folly, “love” means selfish desires, “hope” is now greed,
“life” the creation of a mechanical process, “soul” a term without
meaning, “spirit” a non-entity, “matter” a thing of which nothing is
2
know, etc.

HP Blavatsky pronounces three prerequisites for those who seek self-

knowledge or ātma-vidyā.

The first necessity for obtaining self-knowledge is to become pro-

foundly conscious of ignorance; to feel with every fibre of the heart
that one is ceaselessly self-deceived.

The second requisite is the still deeper conviction that such knowl-
edge—such intuitive and certain knowledge—can be obtained by
effort.

1
Occult Medicine, p. 93
2
Occult Medicine, pp. 96-97

257
COMPASSION | CHAPTER 8

The third and most important is an indomitable determination to

obtain and face that knowledge.

Self-knowledge of this kind is unattainable by what men usually

call “self-analysis.” It is not reached by reasoning or any brain
process; for it is the awakening to consciousness of the Divine na-
ture of man.

To obtain this knowledge is a greater achievement than to com-

1
mand the elements or to know the future.

And warns those who cannot discern the “still small voice” of the inner self
2
from the “sweet-tongued voices of illusion”:

Self-abnegation is possible only to those who have learnt to know

themselves; to such as will never mistake the echo of their own in-
ner voice—that of selfish desire or passion—for the voice of divine
3
inspiration, or an appeal from their MASTER.

We may think that in order to “know ourselves” we need only focus inwardly
upon some towering level of consciousness. But mere introspection can be
treacherous without the safety of unselfish action. Only out-and-out devo-
tion and unflinching commitment to the interests of humanity can check
mind’s ever aggrandising delusion. Such a commitment must be edified by
the kind of spiritual action that Lord Kçishõa describes so fluently in the
Bhagavad Gītā. Setting time aside to reflect regularly upon what we can do
for our fellow human beings and loosening the bonds of personal attach-
ments through thoughtful but impersonal works, are two steps toward deliv-
erance from the falsehood of separateness, as WQ Judge points out:

Every act proceeds from the mind. Beyond the mind there is no ac-
tion, and therefore no Karma. The basis of every act is desire. The
plane of desire, or egotism, is itself action and the matrix of every
act. Karma will therefore be manifested only in harmony with the
plane of desire. A person can have no attachment for what he does
not think about, therefore the first step must be to fix the thought
4
on the highest ideal.

Self-immolation may be better understood if the word mind, that highly indi-
vidualised aggregate of thoughts and desires, is substituted by its less flat-
tering property, that of utter selfishness. For, self-development does not

1
Blavatsky Collected Writings, (SELF-KNOWLEDGE) VIII p. 108
2
Voice of the Silence, fragm. I vs. 31, p. 7
3
Blavatsky Collected Writings, (ON PSEUDO-THEOSOPHY) XI p. 50
4
Echoes of the Orient, III pp. 262-63

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 TIPS FOR PILGRIMS: SLAY YOUR MIND

come by modifying the mind or by outwitting it. It comes by eliminating it al-

together.

Character and charisma, ego and egoism, mind and mentality, individuality
and idiosyncrasy, I-ness and me-ness, personal and personality, self and
selfishness,—they are all one and the same.

Let each man think himself an act of God,

His mind a thought, his life a breath of God;
And let each try, by great thoughts and good deeds,
1
To show the most of Heaven he hath in him.

“A Few Thoughts on Some Wise Words From a Wise Man,” being Blavatsky’s
comments upon an article by Babu Rajnarain Bose on the virtues of unsel-
fish and unsectarian conduct, are fitting to those who are still servile to
“King, Country and God” but selfish to everyone else:

A broad line has to be drawn between the external practice of one’s

moral and social duties, and that of the real intrinsic virtue prac-
tised but for its own sake. Genuine morality does not rest with the
profession of any particular creed or faith, least of all with belief in
gods or a God; but it rather depends upon the degree of our own
individual perceptions of its direct bearing upon human happiness
in general, hence—upon our own personal weal. But even this is
surely not all. “So long as man is taught and allowed to believe that
he must be just, that the strong hand of law may not punish him,
2
or his neighbour take his revenge”; that he must be enduring be-
cause complaint is useless and weakness can only bring contempt;
that he must be temperate, that his health may keep good and all
his appetites retain their acuteness; and, he is told that, if he
serves his right, his friends may serve him, if he defends his coun-
try, he defends himself, and that by serving his God he prepares
for himself an eternal life of happiness hereafter—so long, we say,
as he acts on such principles, virtue is no virtue but verily the cul-
mination of SELFISHNESS. However sincere and ardent the faith of a
theist, unless, while conforming his life to what he pleases to term
divine laws, he gives precedence in his thoughts first to the benefit
that accrues from such a moral course of action to his brother, and
then only thinks of himself—he will remain at best—a pious ego-
tist; and we do claim that belief in, and fear of God in man, is

1
Philip James Bailey: Festus, Proem
2
[Quoting Babu Rajnarain Bose’s Essential Religion.] Cf. “ ‘We should freely forgive, but forget
rarely,’ says Colton. ‘I will not be revenged, and this I owe to my enemy; but I will remember, and this
I owe to myself.’ This is real practical wisdom. It stands between the ferocious ‘Eye for eye, and tooth
for tooth’ of the Mosaic Law, and the command to turn the left cheek to the enemy when he has
smitten you on the right. Is not the latter a direct encouraging of sin?” Blavatsky Collected Writings,
(FROM THE NOTE BOOK OF AN UNPOPULAR PHILOSOPHER) VIII p. 138

259
COMPASSION | CHAPTER 8

chiefly based upon, develops and grows in exact proportion to his

selfishness, his fear of punishment and bad results only for him-
1
self, without the least concern for his brother.

The monsters of Scylla and Charybdis cannot be slain with words, swords,
or trickery. They can be annihilated only by surrendering the personal and
conscious to the impersonal Principle within. For, conscious “impersonality
2
and non-duality is the ultimate end of cosmic evolution.” Slaying the mind
entails a regular and systematic abstraction of personal concerns, longings,
3
memories, and expectations. They cloud our judgement, they clutter our be-
ing, they disappoint Self. Slaying the mind implies shaking off “the pollutions
4
it has contracted by its union with the terrestrial and mortal body.” This
process of mental emendation, or liberation of Self from self, is vividly de-
scribed by Leo Tolstoi and Dionysius the Areopagite:

Every truth already exists in the soul of every man. Only keep from
deadening it with falsehood and sooner or later it will be revealed
to you. Truth, like gold, is to be obtained not by its growth, but by
washing away from it all that it not gold. This liberation is accom-
5
plished by effort of thought.

We pray that we may come unto this Darkness which is beyond

light, and, without seeing and without knowing, to see and to know
that which is above vision and knowledge through the realization
that by not-seeing and by unknowing we attain to true vision and
knowledge; and thus praise, superessentially, Him who is superes-
sential, by the abstraction of the essence of all things; even as
those who, carving a statue out of marble, abstract or remove all
the surrounding material that hinders the vision which the marble
conceals and, by that abstraction, bring to light the hidden
6
beauty. . . . And there is, further the most Divine Knowledge of Al-
mighty God, which is known through not knowing (agnōsia) during
the union above mind; when the mind, having stood apart from all
existing things, then having dismissed also itself, has been made

1
Blavatsky Collected Writings, (SOME WISE WORDS FROM A WISE MAN) IV pp. 497-98
2
Ibid. (CAN THE MAHĀTMAS BE SELFISH?) VI p. 265
3
Vide Diagram of Meditation as originally dictated by HP Blavatsky to ET Sturdy. (Blavatsky Inner
Group Teachings; p. 221)
4
Hierocles qu. in: Concentration and Meditation; p. 117
5
Leo Nikolayevich Tolstoy qu. in: Concentration and Meditation; pp. 105-6
6
Dionysius the Areopagite: Mystical Theology, p. 12. Cf. “Withdraw into yourself and look; and if you
do not find yourself beautiful as yet, do as does the sculptor of a statue . . . cut away all that is ex-
cessive, straighten all that is crooked, bring light to all that is shadowed . . . do not cease until there
shall shine out on you the Godlike Splendour of Beauty; until you see temperance surely established
in the stainless shrine.” (Plotinus: Ennead, I, 6, 9; ibid.)

260
 TIPS FOR PILGRIMS: SLAY YOUR MIND

one with the superluminous rays, thence and there being illumi-
1
nated by the unsearchable depth of wisdom.

Eventually, when the mind has “dismissed also itself” a vision of truth ap-
pears in silence. Or, in Aldous Huxley’s words, a silence, which “is as full of
2
potential wisdom and wit as the unhewn marble of great sculpture.”
3
Blavatsky makes it plain where Robert Frost’s secret sits:

The whole essence of truth cannot be transmitted from mouth to

ear. Nor can any pen describe it, not even that of the recording An-
gel, unless man finds the answer in the sanctuary of his own heart,
in the innermost depths of his divine intuitions. It is the great
SEVENTH MYSTERY of Creation, the first and the last; and those
4
who read St. John’s Apocalypse may find its shadow lurking un-
5
der the seventh seal.

And TS Eliot rounds the theme of Frost’s dance of life as follows:

At the still point of the turning world. Neither flesh nor fleshless;
Neither from nor towards; at the still point, there the dance is,
But neither arrest nor movement. And do not call it fixicity,
Where the past and future are gathered. Neither movement from
nor towards,
Neither ascent nor decline. Except for the point, the still point,
6
There would be no dance, and there is only the dance.

1
Dionysius the Areopagite qu. in: Concentration and Meditation; p. 125
2
Aldous Leonard Huxley: Point Counter Point
3
Vide Introductory Thoughts about Frost R: The Secret Sits—Comp.
4
[“When the Lamb opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half hour” (Καί
όταν ήνοιξε τήν σφραγίδα τήν εβδόμην, έγεινε σιωπή έν τώ ουρανώ έως ημισείαν ώραν.) John: Revelation,
8, 1—Comp.]
5
Secret Doctrine, II p. 516
6
Thomas Stearns Eliot: Four Quartets, Burnt Norton, II

261
Act in person but impersonally

The glory of virtue consists entirely in action.

1
— Marcus Tullius Cicero

. . . No Theosophist has the right to this name, unless he is thoroughly imbued with the
correctness of Carlyle’s truism: “The end of man is an action and not a thought, though
it were the noblest”—and unless he sets and models his daily life upon this truth. The
profession of a truth is not yet the enactment of it; and the more beautiful and grand it
sounds, the more loudly virtue or duty is talked about instead of being acted upon, the
more forcibly it will always remind one of the Dead Sea fruit. Cant is the most loathsome
of all vices. . . .
2
— Helena Petrovna Blavatsky

A typical example of sophism, probably coined by a lower mind to justify

dodging some caring action, is the celebrated “it’s the thought that counts.”
Since thought is the noumenon of action, of course thought always counts.
Hidden within every thought, however, lies the primordial pair of feelings
proper—pleasure and pain. These are not “forms” or “aspects” of self: they
are “degrees” of self. That is why pleasure is perceived as a feeling of in-
crease, expansion, growth, moreness; and pain, as a feeling of decrease, con-
3
traction, decay, lessness.

Referring to Stoic Chrysippus’ definition of distress, Galen of Pergamun

writes that:

. . . he says that it [distress] is “a shrinking at what is thought to

be something to avoid,” and he says pleasure is “a swelling up of
what is thought to be something to pursue.” “Shrinkings and swell-
ings,” of course, and “expansions and contractions,” which he
sometimes mentions as well, are affections of the irrational faculty
4
that result from opinions.

Thoughts and emotions are one and the same

Away from the neutrality of Self, the “desire-to-be-an-individual” begins to

differentiate the primal pair of pleasure & pain to love & hate, attraction &
repulsion, and their endless derivatives. In an article entitled “Spiritual Pro-
gress” HP Blavatsky trails the metaphysical root of pain:

The main cause of pain lies in our perpetually seeking the perma-
nent in the impermanent, and not only seeking, but acting as if we

1
Cicero: De Officiis, 1, 6, 19; (Virtutis enim laus omnis in actione consistit.)—King’s Quotations
2
Key to Theosophy, p. 230
3
Vide Science of the Emotions. For those who may be want to learn more about the nature of the de-
sire-mind and its pendular māyāvic motions, ôās’ Science of the Emotions is still the definitive text.
Sadly, it has not been kept in print.—Comp.
4
Galen: On Hippocrates’ and Plato’s doctrines 4.2.1-6; in: The Hellenistic Philosophers, p. 412

262
 TIPS FOR PILGRIMS: ACT IMPERSONALLY

had already found the unchangeable, in a world of which the one

certain quality we can predicate is constant change, and always,
just as we fancy we have taken a firm hold upon the permanent, it
changes within our very grasp, and pain results.

Again, the idea of growth involves also the idea of disruption, the
inner being must continually burst through its confining shell or
encasement, and such a disruption must also be accompanied by
1
pain, not physical but mental and intellectual.

B ôās in his incisive treatise of the Science of Emotions shows that Emotion
is essentially a desire to perpetuate a situation if pleasurable or to escape
out of a situation if painful. And the prospective fulfilment—or defeat
thereof—of the desire in expectation and imagination gives the foretaste of
pleasure or pain. In his Report of Epicureanism, Cicero observes that:

The body rejoices just so long as it perceives a present pleasure;

but the mind perceives both the present pleasure, along with the
body, and foresees the one that is coming without allowing the past
one to flow away. Hence the wise man will always have a constant
supply of tightly-knit pleasures, since the anticipation of pleasures
hoped for is united with the recollection of those already experi-
2
enced.

It follows that, every thought, every mental picture, is a motion waiting to be

enacted. Every desire-thought will invariably manifest as e-motion: i.e., a
physical movement away from a painful or towards a pleasurable prospect—
although those who tend to conceal their true feelings may remain un-
moved, un-emotional. Even so, involuntary body movements, the so-called
“body language,” might betray concealed emotions. Ultimately, all will be re-
vealed, as everything has to come out one way or another.

Plotinus refers to Emotions as fountains of pleasure and pain:

There are two fountains whose streams irrigate the bond by which
the soul is bound to the body; and from which the soul being filled
as with deadly potions, becomes oblivious of the proper objects of
her contemplation. These fountains are pleasure and pain; of
which sense is indeed preparative, and the perception which is ac-
cording to sense, together with the imagination, opinions, and rec-
ollections which accompany the senses. But from these, the pas-
sions being excited, and the whole of the irrational nature becom-
ing fattened, the soul is drawn downward, and abandons its proper

1
Blavatsky Collected Writings, (SPIRITUAL PROGRESS) VI pp. 331-32
2
Cicero: Tusculan disputations 5.95; in: The Hellenistic Philosophers, p. 119

263
COMPASSION | CHAPTER 8

love of true being. As much as possible, therefore, we must sepa-

1
rate ourselves from these.

And the Koran, as “sweet and salty seas”:

. . . He it is Who has made two seas to flow freely, the one sweet
that subdues thirst by its sweetness, and the other salt that burns
by its saltness; and between the two He has made a barrier and in-
2
violable obstruction.

What about motive then, and what is it that propels everything to eternal
motion? Kāma-Erōs-Phanēs-Cupid-Love-Desire entwined with Manas-Mind
is the parent of all motives, the individualiser and the intensifier of I-ness par
excellence. Every single thought, no matter how great or small, is a pursuant
desire. For, Desire is the underlying force that expresses, manifests, materi-
alises, all thoughts. And duality provides infinite choices to experience.
Tyagisānanda says, “every desire is a veiled prayer, and every satisfaction a
3
concealed and confused taste of Ānanda.” Only minds focused on a pre-
meditated aim can, through the auspices of Imagination and Will, convert
thoughts to actions effectively. Otherwise, aimless activity and duplicity will
bring about intemperance and insincerity.

ôās’ reflections on the “One Motive” are a fitting end to this brief digression
on the nature of desire-thoughts:

. . . In that time of vairāgya and desolation which comes on the

jīva, when the desire that guided it onwards down the Path of Ac-
tion, fails and dies, all Sensations and Emotions—the highest, no-
blest, grandest, which can dazzle and enchain the mind, or the
lowest, vilest, meanest, which can disgust and revolt it—are all,
without exception, seen to be on the same level, seen to be mere
emptiness and dream. In that time all the old motives fail, because
the very fount of all such motives, the desire for experiences, is ex-
hausted. But the one motive, the one desire, if it may be so called,
remains, viz., the desire for Self preservation, for Self understand-
ing. This desire is the instinctive grasping by the Self of Its own
immortality in Its abstract aspect as Pratyagātma. Such is the su-
preme Love and Compassion of the Self for the Self that It always
4
blesses Itself, “May I never not be, may I always be.” . . . Out of this

1
Abstinence from Animal Food, bk. 1 (¶ 32), pp. 28-29
2
Koran, 25, 53
3
Tyagisānanda S. Aphorisms on the Gospel of Divine Love or Nārada Bhakti-Sūtras. Madras: Śri
Ramakçishõa Math, 1983; p. 56
4
Cf. “That is to say, there is a preliminary vai-rāgya, dis-gust, accompanied by incipient knowledge
of the Final Truth of the Oneness of all Life and all things, and there is the final vai-rāgya, which is
the same thing as Full Knowledge and it indistinguishable from the realisation of Unity, Kaivalya.”
(Science of the Emotions, p. 479 fn; quoting Yoga-Bhāshya, I, 16.)

264
 TIPS FOR PILGRIMS: ACT IMPERSONALLY

desire rises inevitably, necessarily, without fail, the understanding

of the universal nature of the Self. This understanding is the essen-
tial liberation of which it has been said: “Moksha is not a change of
conditions but of condition”; it is a change of the attitude of the jīva
1
to its environment.

Action speaks louder than words

Of course thoughts count, but not thoughts alone. Each thought must be
enacted here and now. But valuing thoughts more than deeds, or equating
fleeting thoughts with imaginary deeds, is delusion if not bare hypocrisy—
whether the desire to sin was concealed in thoughts or in words:

When Nature’s end of language is declined,

2
And men talk only to conceal the mind.

Such pain the mere desire to sin incurs.

For he who inly plans some wicked act,
3
Has as much guilt, as though the thought were fact.

Therefore is the wise man blest, because he is in God’s keeping.

4
‘Tis not his speech that is acceptable to God, but his deed.

On our Earth, the plane of action, inaction is a mere impossibility. Regard-

less of whether inaction stems from indecision, or from a deliberate decision
to shun from lending a hand to our fellow human beings in their hour of
need, its spurious neutrality cannot escape the notice of the “Recorders of
5
the Karmic ledger.”

Altruism is the sublime message of Theosophy and the raison d’être of the
Theosophical Society:

Right thought is a good thing, but thought alone does not count for
much unless it is translated into action. There is not a single
member in the [Theosophical] Society who is not able to do some-
thing to aid the cause of truth and universal brotherhood; it only
depends on his own will, to make that something an accomplished
6
fact. . . . This is true Theosophy, inner Theosophy, that of the soul.

1
Science of the Emotions, pp. 472-79
2
Edward Young: The Love of fame, the Universal Passion, 207. Also cf. “Speech has been given to
man to conceal his thoughts.” (La parole a été donnée à l’homme pour déguiser sa pensée.) Attrib-
uted to Talleyrand and Voltaire.—King’s Quotations
3
Juvenal 13, 208; (Has patitur pœnas peccandi sola voluntas. | Nam scelus intra se tacitum qui co-
gitat ullum, | Facti crimen habet.)—King’s Quotations
4
Zimmern A (Transl.). Porphyry’s Letter to His Wife Marcella. (1st ed. 1855); Grand Rapids: Phanes
Press, 1986; (¶ 16), p. 49.
5
Cf. Secret Doctrine, I p. 129
6
Blavatsky Collected Writings, (SPIRITUAL PROGRESS) VI p. 336

265
COMPASSION | CHAPTER 8

But, followed with a selfish aim, Theosophy changes its nature and
becomes demonōsophy. That is why Oriental Wisdom teaches us
that the Hindu Yogi who isolates himself in an impenetrable forest,
like the Christian hermit who, as was common in former times, re-
tires to the desert, are both of them but accomplished egoists. The
one acts with the sole idea of finding in the One essence of Nirvāõa
refuge against reincarnation; the other acts with the unique idea of
saving his soul—both of them think only of themselves. Their mo-
tive is altogether personal; for, even supposing they attain their
end, are they not like cowardly soldiers, who desert the regiment
when it goes into action, in order to protect themselves from the
bullets? In isolating themselves as they do, neither the Yogi nor the
“saint” helps anyone but himself; on the contrary, both show
themselves profoundly indifferent to the fate of mankind whom
they fly from and desert. . . . Gautama the Buddha only remained
in solitude long enough to enable him to arrive at the truth, to the
promulgation of which he devoted himself from that time on, beg-
ging his bread, and living for humanity. Jesus retired to the desert
for forty days only, and died for this same humanity. Apollonius of
Tyana, Plotinus and Iamblichus, while leading lives of singular ab-
stinence, almost of asceticism, lived in the world and for the
1
world.

It is easy in the world to live after the world’s opinion; it is easy in

solitude to live after our own; but the great man is he who in the
midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence
2
of solitude.

Referring to Lord Buddha’s “unintentional mistake” in failing “to conceal cer-

tain dogmas, and trespassing beyond the lawful lines,” Blavatsky notes that:

. . . Karma little heeds intentions, whether good or bad, if they re-

3
main fruitless.

Equally, because forsaking action “in a deed of mercy becomes an action in a

4
deadly sin,” Blavatsky lost no opportunity in emphasising the pre-eminence
of altruism in action, not in thought alone:

[Lord Buddha] says “seek nought from the helpless Gods—pray

not! but rather act; for darkness will not brighten. Ask nought from
1
silence, for it can neither speak nor hear.”

1
Blavatsky Collected Writings, (THE BEACON OF THE UNKNOWN) XI pp. 254 & 255
2
Emerson: Self Reliance, ¶ 9; (p. 19)
3
Ibid. (THE MYSTERY OF BUDDHA) XIV p. 388
4
Voice of the Silence, fragm. II vs. 135, p. 31, qu. in: Blavatsky Collected Writings, (WHAT SHALL WE
DO FOR OUR FELLOW-MEN?) XI p. 469

266
 TIPS FOR PILGRIMS: ACT IMPERSONALLY

To the question “Do you believe in prayer, and do you ever pray?,” she re-
plied:
2
We do not. We act, instead of talking.

To another long-winded question [Q. 21],

We are told that “Aum should be practised physically.” Does this

mean that colour being more differentiated than sound, it is only
through the colours that we shall get at the real sound for each one
of us? That Aum can only have its spiritual and occult significance
3
when tuned to the Ātma-Buddhi-Manas of each person?

Blavatsky signalled the importance of action even more clearly:

Aum means good action, not merely lip sound. You must say it in
4
deeds. . . . Better unwise activity, than an overdose of too wise in-
activity, apathy or indifference which are always the death of an
5
undertaking.

When asked whether Christianity if rightly understood and carried out is as

“Theosophy is the quintessence of duty,” Blavatsky answered as follows:

No doubt it is; but then, were it not a lip-religion in practice, The-

osophy would have little to do amidst Christians. Unfortunately it
is but such lip-ethics. Those who practise their duty towards all,
and for duty’s own sake, are few; and fewer still are those who per-
form that duty, remaining content with the satisfaction of their
own secret consciousness. It is—

“. . . . . . . . . the public voice

Of praise that honours virtue and rewards it,”

which is ever uppermost in the minds of the “world renowned” phi-

lanthropists. Modern ethics are beautiful to read about and hear
discussed; but what are words unless converted into actions? Fi-
nally: if you ask me how we understand Theosophical duty practi-
cally and in view of Karma, I may answer you that our duty is to
drink without a murmur to the last drop, whatever contents the
cup of life may have in store for us, to pluck the roses of life only
for the fragrance they may shed on others, and to be ourselves con-

1
Key to Theosophy, p. 71; [paraphrasing Edwin Arnold’s Light of Asia.]
2
Key to Theosophy, p. 66
3
Blavatsky Inner Group Teachings, p. 19
4
Ibid. p. 19
5
Blavatsky Collected Writings, (“ORIGINAL PROGRAMME” MANUSCRIPT) VII p. 167

267
COMPASSION | CHAPTER 8

tent but with the thorns, if that fragrance cannot be enjoyed with-
1
out depriving some one else of it.

Blavatsky always judged “the lovers of divine truth” or philaletheians by their

deeds:

There is but one way of ever ameliorating human life and it is by

the love of one’s fellow man for his own sake and not for personal
gratification. The greatest Theosophist—he who loves divine truth
2
under all its forms—is the one who works for and with the poor.

And even succeeded in summing up Theosophists in five words:

3
Theosophist is, who Theosophy does.

Finally, here is how WQ Judge defined the Theosophical Society’s prime ob-
jective and the twin obligations of its Fellows:

This first object means philanthropy. Each Theosophist should

therefore not only continue his private or public acts of charity, but
also strive to so understand Theosophical philosophy as to be able
to expound it in a practical and easily understood manner, so that
he may be a wider philanthropist by ministering to the needs of the
inner man. This inner man is a thinking being who feeds upon a
right or wrong philosophy. If he is given one which is wrong, then,
becoming warped and diseased, he leads his instrument, the outer
4
man, into bewilderment and sorrow.

Higher and lower altruism

In our increasingly fragmented communities, social care and even philan-

thropy are becoming dehumanised. The traditional ways and means of look-
ing after the disadvantaged and the dispossessed are being depersonalised,
sanitised, formalised, professionalised. They are farmed out to civil servants,
non-governmental organisations, agencies.

Charity is big business, nowadays. It even accepts rides on the back of gam-
bling. Its only difference from public provision is that it relies on donations
rather than on taxation. Philanthropy through standing orders, commend-
able expression of social concerns as it may be, cannot be compared with ya-
jña-compassion / sacrifice any more than alleviating poverty by income sup-
port, or pain by anaesthetic drugs for example, can be said to be deeds of

1
Key to Theosophy, pp. 229-30
2
Blavatsky Collected Writings, (MISCONCEPTIONS, J AND K) VIII p. 77
3
Key to Theosophy, p. 20
4
Echoes of the Orient, I p. 260

268
 TIPS FOR PILGRIMS: ACT IMPERSONALLY

charity proper. Undeniably, as long as we live in a material world, material

assistance will always be needed. But without tackling the underlying
causes, handouts alone foster dependency. They also convert acute situa-
tions to recurrence and chronicity. What human beings long for more than
anything else is spiritual sustenance—although they may not always be
mindful of such a vital need. Sincerity, kindness and warmth soothe the soul
1
and bestow far more riches than money can ever buy. Food for thought,
therefore, is as important as ministering bodily care. Inner faculties ought
not to be neglected in the temple of God.

As with other contrasting pairs, there are lower and there are higher altru-
ists. The former help out as long as it is convenient and there are no per-
sonal risks involved. The latter put service above self or, more accurately, in-
stead of self. Institutionalised philanthropy is but a low form of altruism.
For, mercy delegated is not mercy proper. Only minds nourished with the
universal truths can assimilate their hidden verities. Only hearts softened
with devotion can feel solidarity with all. Boundless love of humanity or phi-
lanthropy proper can only be born out of the charred logs of personal de-
sires. And, as with personal responsibility, there is no surrogate for personal
conduct either. What is mandated to third parties neither outlives death nor
2
counts as altruism in the eyes of the “Recorders of the Karmic ledger,” who
are probably tearful at the general wickedness and hypocrisy of our age.
Blavatsky’s ever-timely thoughts underscore the significance of personal in-
volvement and right attitude:

Act individually and not collectively; follow the Northern Buddhist

precepts: “Never put food into the mouth of the hungry by the hand
of another”; “Never let the shadow of thy neighbour (a third person)
come between thyself and the object of thy bounty”; “Never give to
3
the Sun time to dry a tear before thou hast wiped it.” Again “Never
give money to the needy, or food to the priest, who begs at thy
door, through thy servants, lest thy money should diminish grati-
tude, and thy food turn to gall”. . . The Theosophical ideas of char-
ity mean personal exertion for others; personal mercy and kind-
ness; personal interest in the welfare of those who suffer; personal
sympathy, forethought and assistance in their troubles or needs.
We Theosophists do not believe in giving money . . . through other
people’s hands or organizations. We believe in giving to the money
a thousand-fold greater power and effectiveness by our personal
contact and sympathy with those who need it. We believe in reliev-

1
Cf. “Life is about people, not about things, | About relationships between people. | We must love
people and use things, | Not use people and love things.”—National Council for Travelling People in
Ireland
2
Cf. Secret Doctrine, I p. 129
3
Cf. “Let not the fierce Sun dry one tear of pain before thyself hast wiped it from the sufferer’s eye.”
Voice of the Silence, fragm. I vs. 60, p. 13

269
COMPASSION | CHAPTER 8

ing the starvation of the soul, as much if not more than the empti-
ness of the stomach; for gratitude does more good to the man who
1
feels it, than to him for whom it is felt.
2
Charity is a debt of honour

There now follows a selection of defining thoughts on charity proper:

In things essential, unity; in doubtful, liberty; in all things, char-

3
ity.

There can be no greater arguments to a man of his own power than

to find himself able not only to accomplish his own desires, but
also to assist other men in theirs; and this is that conception
4
wherein consisteth charity.
5
Charity is a virtue of the heart, and not of the hands.

Charity itself fulfils the law,

6
And who can sever love from charity?

For this I think is charity, to love God for himself, and our
7
neighbour for God.

He who bestows his goods upon the poor,

8
Shall have as much again, and ten times more.

A benevolence loses its grace, if it cling so long to the hand of the

giver, that he seem to part with it with difficulty, and gives it at last
9
as though he were robbing himself.

Charity is never lost: it may meet with ingratitude, or be of no ser-

vice to those on whom it was bestowed, yet it ever does a work of
10
beauty and grace upon the heart of the giver.

1
Key to Theosophy, pp. 244-45
2
Immanuel Kant: Lecture at Königsberg.—Mead’s Quotations
3
Rupertus Meldenius—Mead’s Quotations
4
Thomas Hobbes: On Human Nature, IX.—Mead’s Quotations
5
Joseph Addison: The Guardian, no. 166.—Mead’s Quotations
6
William Shakespeare: Love’s Labour’s Lost, act IV, scene 3, 1. 364.—Mead’s Quotations
7
Thomas Browne: Religio Medici, II, 14.—Mead’s Quotations
8
John Bunyan: The Pilgrim’s Progress, 2, VI; [quoting Gaius.]
9
Seneca: De Beneficiis, 2, 1; (Ingratum est beneficium, quod diu inter manus dantis hæsit, quod
quis ægre dimittere visus est; et sic dare, tanquam sibi eriperet.)—King’s Quotations
10
Conyers Middleton—Mead’s Quotations

270
 TIPS FOR PILGRIMS: ACT IMPERSONALLY

The worst of charity is, that the lives you are asked to preserve are
1
not worth preserving.
2
Be charitable and indulgent to every one but thyself.

Charity, decent, modest, easy, kind,

Softens the high, and rears the abject mind;
Knows with just reins, and gentle hand to guide,
3
Betwixt vile shame and arbitrary pride.

1
Emerson: The Conduct of Life - VII. Considerations by the Way—¶ 3; (p. 501)
2
Joseph Joubert—Mead’s Quotations
3
Matthew Prior: Charity—Mead’s Quotations

271
Merge your self in Self

Eternity is in love with the productions of time.

1
— William Blake

2
Those still trampling “in the deep mire of sins and failings,” or on fellow
travellers for that matter, will not be able to find the homewards path. It is
only by trampling on their own ego until every single selfish thought is
crushed forever, that they may stumble on what it is all about “with a mind
3
clear and undarkened by personality.” The Secret Doctrine of the Heart as-
serts that there is no personal path to tread or someone else’s foot steps to
follow. “Thou canst not travel on the Path before thou has become that Path
4
itself” says The Voice of the Silence. In fact, “the duty of another is full of
5
danger.” We are, or rather, our mind is the path to higher realms or an-
taþkaraõa. Only after burning our cherished thoughts, or emotions if you
prefer, in the crucible of self-denial we can begin to live Theosophy’s great
ethic. And it is not through the mind but out of its ashes that we may come
to know ourselves.

Refining our lower nature so that the Higher Self can shine through in all his
noonday glory may be exhilarating at the end but hardly a jolly prospect in
the beginning, as mystics and occultists alike testify. It is an incredibly ago-
nising and arduous process of self-attrition—to the very end. Moreover, there
are no reliable signs of progress to reassure and to encourage, as Master
Morya points out:

Brave soldiers need neither orders nor constant encouragement.

Pursue the lines laid down long ago and “we will look out for re-
6
sults.”

At times, gentle and benevolent people are referred to as spiritual—although

many tend to flatter themselves or others by using the term indiscriminately.
No one can know for sure who is who in that sense. Those who think in
terms of spirit and matter are still bound by the Great Illusion anyway and,
for this reason alone, their judgement is bound to be partial. No self-
assertive discourses about “spirituality” and contempt for matter can ad-
vance the soul either. Progress can only be attained by that radical revision
of attitudes and conduct, which springs up from a deep appreciation of the

1
Blake: Proverbs of Hell
2
Voice of the Silence, fragm. I vs. 69, p. 15
3
Secret Doctrine, I p. 54; [Commentary on Stanza II 1 (b).]
4
Voice of the Silence, fragm. I vs. 58, p. 12
5
Bhagavad Gītā, 3 vs. 35
6
Echoes of the Orient, I p. lvi; [quoting Master Morya.]

272
 TIPS FOR PILGRIMS: MERGE YOUR SELF IN SELF

fundamentals of The Secret Doctrine, and the resolution and resourcefulness

to realise them by living them. Says Franz Hartmann:

. . . spiritual knowledge does not belong to the faculties of men’s

lower intellectual nature, but to his higher nature alone; and it is
therefore of paramount importance that the development of that
higher nature should receive more attention than it is receiving at
present. A mere improvement in morals or ethics is quite insuffi-
cient for that purpose. Morality is the outcome of reasoning; Spiri-
tuality is the superior power due to the manifestation of self-
consciousness on a higher plane of existence, the illumination of
the mind and body of man by the power and light of the spirit fill-
ing the soul. When spirituality becomes substantiality in man,
1
then only will his knowledge be of a substantial kind.

Eventually, when merit permits, a wonderful metamorphosis occurs. What

changes is neither the form nor its shadows. They remain the same. But
when all personal impediments are removed, the Light of Logos or the real
philosopher’s gem suddenly begins to shine through the Animal Man. It then
changes the animal into Man, the stone into gold. This U-turn of conscious-
ness, from outward pursuits to inward realities, is what is meant by
metanoia (μετάνοια) in the Bible: not “repentance” as this concept is com-
2
monly interpreted in English. The animal form remains, but the indwelling
Light shines through unimpeded. This is the mystery of the “Golden Ass” or
of Animal Man made Divine. Then,

The “I” of a devotee does no harm to any creature. It is like a sword

which, after touching the philosopher’s stone, is turned to gold.
The sword retains the same form but it cannot cut or injure any-
3
one.

Beyond the petty concerns and delusions of the personality, Adepts are the
real philanthropists. And if there is any “air” about such Great Souls, it must
be the fragrance that comes out after the last gasp of egotism has expired,
the “scent-laden breeze” that sings to the vales “a Master has arisen, a Mas-
4
ter of the Day.”

1
Occult Medicine, p. 87
2
Ravindra R (P Murray, Ed.). Yoga and the Teaching of Kçishõa: Essays on the Indian Spiritual Tradi-
tions. Chennai: Theosophical Publishing House, 1998; pp. 58 & 316.
3
Prabhavānanda S. Nārada’s Way of Divine Love: Nārada Bhakti-Sūtras. (1st Indian ed. 1972) Ma-
dras: Śri Ramakçishõa Math, 1986; p. 107
4
Voice of the Silence, fragm. III vs. 281, p. 65

273
COMPASSION | CHAPTER 8

Just as by watering the root of the tree, the branches are also
nourished, so by pleasing the Lord, who dwells in the hearts of all,
1
all beings are pleased.

When the blood of the Great Heart is felt throbbing throughout Nature, when
the “still small voice” is heard in the silence of the soul, when the merit of
2
“the whole living and sentient Universe” is recognised, only then the verity
that All is One is once more realised and a new Saviour of Humanity is born.

This consummation [the union of the divine spark which animates

man with the parent-flame which is the Divine All] is the ultima
Thule of those Theosophists who devote themselves entirely to the
service of humanity. Apart from those, others, who are not yet
ready to sacrifice everything, may occupy themselves with the
transcendental sciences, such as Mesmerism, and the modern
phenomena under all their forms. They have the right to do so ac-
cording to the clause which specifies, as one of the objects of The
Theosophical Society, “the investigation of the unexplained laws of
Nature and the psychic powers latent in man.”. . . The first are not
numerous—complete altruism being a rara avis even among mod-
ern Theosophists. The other members are free to occupy them-
3
selves with whatever they like.

Now we see what changes take place in the consciousness of the

human being himself. The moment this union [of an individuality
with its Logos] takes place, the individual at once feels that he is
himself the Logos, the monad formed from whose light has been
going through all the experiences which he has now added to his
individuality. In fact his own individually is lost, and he becomes
endowed with the original individuality of the Logos. From the
standpoint of the Logos, the case stands thus: The Logos throws
out a kind of feeler, as it were, of its own light into various organ-
isms. This light vibrates along a series of incarnations and when-
ever it produces spiritual tendencies, resulting in experience that is
capable of being added to the individuality of the Logos, the Logos
assimilates that experience. Thus the individuality of the man be-
comes the individuality of the Logos and the human being united
to the Logos thinks that his is one of the innumerable spiritual in-
dividualities that he has assimilated and united in himself, that
self being composed of the experiences which the Logos has accu-

1
Prabhavānanda S. Nārada’s Way of Divine Love: Nārada Bhakti-Sūtras. (1st Indian ed. 1972) Ma-
dras: Śri Ramakçishõa Math, 1986; p. 63
2
Cf. Secret Doctrine, I p. 54; [Commentary on Stanza II 1 (b).]
3
Blavatsky Collected Writings, (THE BEACON OF THE UNKNOWN) XI p. 251

274
 TIPS FOR PILGRIMS: MERGE YOUR SELF IN SELF

mulated, perhaps from the beginning of time. That individual will

1
therefore never return to be born again on earth.

. . . 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 be-
stow on [humanity] the “great orphan”? And how shall the “still
small voice” make itself heard in a soul entirely occupied with its
own privileged tenants? . . . 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 concep-
tion, that can lead the unit to merge its little Self in the Universal
2
Selves.

1
Philosophy of the Bhagavad Gītā, (3rd lecture) pp. 54-55
2
Blavatsky Collected Writings, (OCCULTISM VERSUS THE OCCULT ARTS) IX p. 258

275
Seek out the fifth way of loving

All other pleasures are not worth its pains.

1
— Ralph Waldo Emerson

Poets are all who love, who feel great truths,

And tell them; and the truth of truths is love.
2
— Philip James Bailey

When the fleeting joys of the personality are finally surrendered and love for
humanity begins to well from the heart, progression to the far greater sacri-
3
fice of foregoing nirvāõa’s “selfish bliss” is not accomplished in one fell
swoop. It is the outcome of millennia of study and service. Masters of Life are
few, far “more difficult to find, more rare to view than is the flower of the
4
Vogay tree.” Even fewer suspect the illimitable love and relentless work that
humanity’s Elder Brothers continue undertaking “unthanked and unper-
5
ceived by men.” For,

The heart has its reasons, of which the understanding knows noth-
6
ing.

In the following excerpt from the Holy Bhāgavatam, Lord Kçishõa describes
to maidens five ways of loving. The first two are within everyone’s experience.
The following two will be appreciated most by those who have grasped the
meaning and implications of the second fragment of The Voice of the Silence.
The fifth is the love of Kçishõa-Christos, the ever-pulsating GREAT HEART: It
literally makes the world go ’round:

Friends!

[1] Those who love in return for love, are motivated mostly by self-
interest.

[2] Those, who love without being loved are like compassionate
parents; in such love is pure virtue and all goodness of heart.

[3 & 4] Others love not even those who love them and much less
those who do not love them; such are either the desireless Self-
fulfilled ones, or the ungrateful haters of benefactors and elders.

1
Emerson: Love, ¶ 5; (p. 63)
2
Bailey: Festus, Scene xvi; (The Hesperian Sphere)
3
Vide Voice of the Silence, fragm. II vs. 143, p. 33
4
Ibid. fragm. I vs. 62, p. 13
5
Ibid. fragm. III vs. 293, p. 68
6
Blaise Pascal: Pensées, 28, 58; (Le cœur a ses raisons, que la raison ne connoist pas.)—King’s Quo-
tations

276
 [5] But mine is a fifth way. If I seem not to love those that love me,
it is only in order that they may love me the more, even as a poor
man who, finding a treasure and then losing it, can think of noth-
1
ing else.

Unbeknown to us, we are being schooled to recognise and feel that “fifth way
of loving,” says Emerson:

Thus are we put in training for a love which knows not sex, nor
person, nor partiality, but which seeks virtue and wisdom every-
where, to the end of increasing virtue and wisdom. We are by na-
ture observers, and thereby learners. That is our permanent state.
But we are often made to feel that our affections are but tents of a
night. Though slowly and with pain, the objects of our affection
change, as the objects of thought do. There are moments when the
affections rule and absorb the man, and make his happiness de-
pendent on a person or persons. But in health the mind is pres-
ently seen again,—its overarching vault, bright with galaxies of
immutable lights, and the warm loves and fears that swept over us
as clouds, must lose their finite character and blend with God, to
attain their own perfection. But we need not fear that we can lose
anything by the progress of the soul. The soul may be trusted to
the end. That which is so beautiful and attractive as these relations
must be succeeded and supplanted only by what is more beautiful,
2
and so on for ever.

Eventually, when further nirvāõic heights are crossed and the “Gates of the
3
Treasure of the Great Light” flung open, the Pilgrim will realise the true
meaning of Love, Joy, and Peace. After appearing in a dream to Nausicaa,
Pallas Athena returns to her celestial abode:

Then to the palaces of heaven she sails,

Incumbent on the wings of wafting gales;
The seat of gods; the regions mild of peace,
Full joy, and calm eternity of ease.

There no rude winds presume to shake the skies,

No rains descend, no snowy vapours rise;
But on immortal thrones the blest repose;
4
The firmament with living splendours glows.

1
Science of the Emotions, p. 72 fn; [quoting Vishõu Bhāgavata, X, 32, 17-20.]
2
Emerson: Love, ¶ 21; (p. 68)
3
Cf. Blavatsky Collected Writings, (COMMENTARY ON THE PISTIS SOPHIA) XIII p. 62
4
Homer: The Odyssey, VI (transl. A Pope)

277
Listen to the clarion call

Now Faithful play the Man, speak for thy God:

Fear not the wicked’s malice, nor their rod:
Speak boldly man, the Truth is on thy side;
Die for it, and to Life in triumph ride.
1
— John Bunyan

For those who may begin to suspect that treading the path must be less te-
dious than going through endless tips and hints, three excerpts have been
chosen as a fitting end to this Chapter, and as a tonic for the pilgrims who
have travelled thus far: (a) Cleanthes’ devotional Hymn to Zeus; (b) The stir-
ring words of Éliphas Lévi, summing up the implications of the philosophical
dogma of Hermes; and (c) The closing thoughts of Blavatsky’s “Instruction No
1” to the Esoteric Section of the Theosophical Society:

No deed is done on earth, god, without your offices, nor in the di-
vine ethereal vault of heaven, nor at sea, save what bad men do in
their folly. But you know how to make things crooked straight and
to order things disorderly. You love things unloved. For you have
so welded into one all things good and bad that they all share in a
single everlasting reason [universal reason or logos]. It is shunned
and neglected by the bad among mortal men, the wretched, who
ever yearn for the possession of goods yet neither see nor hear
god’s universal law, by obeying which they could lead a good life in
partnership with intelligence. Instead, devoid of intelligence, they
rush into this evil or that, some in their belligerent quest for fame,
others with an unbridled bent for acquisition, others for leisure
and the pleasurable acts of the body . . . <But all that they achieve
is evils,> despite travelling hither and thither in burning quest of
the opposite. Bountiful Zeus of the dark clouds and gleaming
thunderbolt, protect mankind from its pitiful incompetence. Scatter
this from our soul, Father. Let us achieve the power of judgement
by trusting in which you steer all things with justice, so that by
winning honour we may repay you with honour, for ever singing of
your works, as it befits mortals to do. For neither men nor gods
have any greater privilege than this: to sing for ever in righteous-
2
ness of the universal law.

1
Bunyan: The Pilgrim’s Progress, 1, VI
2
Cleanthes: Hymn to Zeus. In: The Hellenistic Philosophers, pp. 326-27

278
 Man is the son of his works; he is what he wills to be; he is the im-
age of the God he makes; he is the realisation of his ideal. Should
his ideal want basis, the whole edifice of his immortality collapses.
Philosophy is not the ideal, but it serves as a foundation for the
ideal. The known is for us the measure of the unknown; by the
visible we appreciate the invisible; sensations are to thoughts even
as thoughts to aspiration. Science is a celestial trigonometry: one
of the sides of the absolute triangle is the nature which is submit-
ted to our investigations; the second is our soul, which embraces
and reflects nature; the third is the absolute, in which our soul
enlarges. No more atheism possible henceforward, for we no longer
pretend to define God. God is for us the most perfect and best of
intelligent beings, and the ascending hierarchy of beings suffi-
ciently demonstrates his existence. Do not let us ask for more, but,
to be ever understanding him better, let us grow perfect by ascend-
ing towards him. No more ideology; being is being, and cannot per-
fectionise save according to the real laws of being. Observe, and do
not prejudge; exercise our faculties, do not falsify them; enlarge the
domain of life in life; behold truth in truth! Everything is possible
to him who wills only what is true! Rest in nature, study, know,
then dare; dare to will, dare to act, and be silent! No more hatred of
anyone. Everyone reaps what he sows. The consequence of works
is fatal, and to judge and chastise the wicked is for the supreme
reason. He who enters into a blind alley must retrace his steps or
be broken. Warn him gently, if he can still hear you, but human
liberty must take its course. We are not the judges of one another.
Life is a battle-field. Do not pause in the fighting on account of
those who fall, but avoid trampling them. Then comes the victory,
and wounded on both sides, become brothers by suffering and be-
1
fore humanity, will meet in the ambulances of the conquerors.

As to the sincere believers, they will be rewarded by seeing their

faith transformed into knowledge. True knowledge is of Spirit and
in Spirit alone, and cannot be acquired in any other way except
through the reign of the higher mind, the only plane from which we
can penetrate the depths of the all-pervading Absoluteness. He
who carries out only those laws established by human minds, who
lives that life which is prescribed by the code of mortals and their
fallible legislation, chooses as his guiding star a beacon which
shines on the ocean of Māyā, or temporary delusions, and lasts for
but one incarnation. These laws are necessary for the life and wel-
fare of physical man alone. He has chosen a pilot who directs him
through the shoals of one existence, a master who parts with him,
however, on the threshold of death. How much happier that man

1
Transcendental Magic, pp. 383-84

279
COMPASSION | CHAPTER 8

who, while strictly performing on the temporary objective plane the

duties of daily life, carrying out each and every law of his country,
and rendering, in short, to Caesar what is Caesar’s, leads in reality
a spiritual and permanent existence, a life with no breaks of conti-
nuity, no gaps, no interludes, not even those periods which are the
halting places of the long pilgrimage of purely spiritual life. All the
phenomena of the lower human mind disappear like the curtain of
a proscenium, allowing him to live in the region beyond it, the
plane of the noumenal, the one reality. If man by suppressing, if
not destroying, his selfishness and personality, only succeeds in
knowing himself as he is behind the veil of physical Māyā, he will
soon stand beyond all pain, all misery, and beyond all the wear
and tear of change, which is the chief originator of pain. Such a
man will be physically of matter, he will move surrounded by mat-
ter, and yet will live beyond and outside it. His body will be subject
to change, but he himself will be entirely without it, and will ex-
perience everlasting life even while in temporary bodies of short
duration. All this may be achieved by the development of unselfish
universal love of Humanity, and the suppression of personality, of
selfishness, which is the cause of all sin, and consequently of all
1
human sorrow.

1
Blavatsky Collected Writings, (E. S. INSTRUCTION NO. I) XII pp. 537-38

280
 CHAPTER 9
COMPASSION THROBS AT
THE HEART OF THE UNIVERSE

Love took up the harp of Life, and smote on all the chords with might;
Smote the chord of Self, that, trembling, pass’d in music out of sight.
1
— Alfred Lord Tennyson

The myth of the illustrious twin brothers Castor and Pollux or Gemini is one
of the most moving stories of self-sacrifice. It is here recounted by HA Guer-
ber exoterically, and HP Blavatsky esoterically, as a heart-warming interlude
before the last compilation on the ever-pulsating Great Heart:

One of these twins, Castor, was a mortal, and in a combat with the
sons of Aphareus was slain. Pollux, who was immortal, then im-
plored Jupiter to allow him to die also, that he might not be parted
from his brother—a proof of brotherly affection which so touched
the father of the gods, that he permitted Castor to return to life on
condition that Pollux would spend half his time in Hades. . . . Later
on, satisfied that even this sacrifice was none too great for their
fraternal love, he translated them both to the skies, where they
2
form a bright constellation, one of the signs of the zodiac.

Here we have an allusion to the “Egg-born,” Third Race; the first

half of which is mortal, i.e., unconscious in its personality, and
having nothing within itself to survive; and the latter half of which
becomes immortal in its individuality, by reason of its fifth princi-
ple being called to life by the informing gods, and thus connecting
the Monad with this Earth. This is Pollux; while Castor represents
the personal, mortal man, an animal of not even a superior kind,
when unlinked from the divine individuality. “Twins” truly; yet di-
vorced by death forever, unless Pollux, moved by the voice of twin-

1
Tennyson: Locksley Hall, line 33
2
Guerber HA. The Myths of Greece & Rome. London: GG Harrap & Co, 1908; p. 244

281
COMPASSION | CHAPTER 9

ship, bestows on his less favored mortal brother a share of his own
1
divine nature, thus associating him with his own immortality.

Erōs is the primordial The term [philosophy] is composed of two

impulse to conscious Greek words whose meaning is intended to
existence. It is Divine convey its secret sense, and ought to be inter-
Love incarnate. preted as “wisdom of love.” Now it is in the last
word, “love,” that lies hidden the esoteric sig-
nificance: for “love” does not stand here as a
noun, nor does it mean “affection” or “fond-
2
ness,” but is the term used for Erōs, that
primordial principle in divine creation, syn-
onymous with πόθος [pōthos], the abstract de-
sire in Nature for procreation, resulting in an
everlasting series of phenomena. It means “di-
vine love,” that universal element of divine
omnipresence spread throughout Nature and
which is at once the chief cause and effect.
The “wisdom of love” (or “philosophia”) meant
attraction to and love of everything hidden be-
neath objective phenomena and the knowledge
thereof. Philosophy meant the highest
Adeptship—love of and assimilation with De-
ity. In his modesty Pythagoras even refused to
be called a Philosopher (or one who knows
every hidden thing in things visible; cause and
effect, or absolute truth), and called himself
simply a Sage, an aspirant to philosophy, or to
Wisdom of Love—love in its exoteric meaning
being as degraded by men then as it is now by
3
its purely terrestrial application.
Our heart is the organ of The Consciousness, which is merely the ani-
spiritual consciousness, the mal Consciousness is made up of the Con-
abode of the Heavenly Man. sciousness of all the cells in the Body, except
those of the Heart. For the Heart is the organ
of the Spiritual Consciousness; it corresponds
indeed to Prāõa, but only because Prāõa and
the Auric Envelope are essentially the same,
and because again as Jīva it is the same as
4
the Universal Deity.

1
Secret Doctrine, II p. 123
2
[Or Kāma—Comp.]
3
Blavatsky Collected Writings, (THE ORIGIN OF THE MYSTERIES) XIV p. 255 fn.
4
Ibid. (E. S. INSTRUCTION NO. V, THE HEART) XII p. 694

282
 COMPASSION THROBS AT THE HEART OF THE UNIVERSE

The Heart represents the Higher Triad, while

the Liver and Spleen represent the Quater-
nary, taken as a whole. The heart is the abode
of the Spiritual Man, whereas the Psycho-
Intellectual Man dwells in the Head with its
seven gateways. It has its seven brains, the
upādhis and symbols of the seven Hierarchies,
and this is the exoterically four, but esoteri-
cally seven, leaved Lotus, the “Saptaparna,”
the “Cave of Buddha” with its seven compart-
1
ments.
The chief features of Māyā, or the illusive appearance of the mar-
our life are not only in shalling of events and actions on this earth,
accordance with those of changes, varying with nations and places. But
the Deity within us, the chief features of one’s life are always in ac-
cordance with the “constellation” one is born
under, or, we should say, with the characteris-
tics of its animating principle or the deity that
presides over it, whether we call it a Dhyāni-
Chohan, as in Asia, or an Archangel, as with
the Greek and Latin churches. In ancient
Symbolism it was always the SUN (though the
Spiritual, not the visible, Sun was meant), that
was supposed to send forth the chief Saviors
2
and Avatāras. Hence the connecting link be-
tween the Buddhas, the Avatāras, and so
many other incarnations of the highest SEVEN.
The closer the approach to one’s Prototype, “in
Heaven,” the better for the mortal whose per-
sonality was chosen, by his own personal deity
(the seventh principle), as its terrestrial abode.
For, with every effort of will toward purification
and unity with that “Self-god,” one of the lower
rays breaks and the spiritual entity of man is
drawn higher and ever higher to the ray that
supersedes the first, until, from ray to ray, the
inner man is drawn into the one and highest
3
beam of the Parent-Sun.

1
Blavatsky Collected Writings, (E. S. INSTRUCTION NO. V, THE HEART) XII p. 694
2
Cf. “The Sun’s light is Daivīprakçiti. The Central Sun is the Still Small Voice. The Voice has within
itself the whole plan of Life-Evolution.” Esoteric Writings, VII (2) p. 536
3
Secret Doctrine, I pp. 638-39

283
COMPASSION | CHAPTER 9

Our heart is linked with “The Sun is the heart of the Solar World [Sys-
the Solar Heart. tem] and its brain is hidden behind the [visible]
Sun. From thence, sensation is radiated into
every nerve-centre of the great body, and the
waves of the life-essence flow into each artery
and vein. . . . The planets are its limbs and
1
pulses. . . .”
The Sun was always called by the Egyptians
“the eye of Osiris,” and was himself the Logos,
the first-begotten, or light made manifest to
the world, “which is the Mind and divine intel-
lect of the Concealed.” It is only by the seven-
fold Ray of this light that we can become cog-
nizant of the Logos through the Demiurge, re-
garding the latter as the creator of our planet
and everything pertaining to it, and the former
as the guiding Force of that “Creator”—good
and bad at the same time, the origin of good
and the origin of evil. This “Creator” is neither
good nor bad per se, but its differentiated as-
pects in nature make it assume one or the
2
other character.
The ever-pulsating Heart The expanding and contracting of the Web—
that beats in everything, i.e., the world-stuff or atoms—expresses here
everywhere. the pulsatory movement; for it is the regular
contraction and expansion of the infinite and
shoreless Ocean of that which we may call the
noumenon of matter emanated by Svabhavat,
which causes the universal vibration of at-
3
oms. . . . But to the follower of the true East-
ern archaic Wisdom, to him who worships in
spirit nought outside the Absolute Unity, that
ever-pulsating great Heart that beats through-
out, as in every atom of nature, each such
atom contains the germ from which he may
raise the Tree of Knowledge, whose fruits give
4
life eternal and not physical life alone.

1
Secret Doctrine, I p. 541; [Commentary on “the origin of the LIFE-ESSENCE.”]
2
Ibid. II p. 25; [Commentary on Stanza I 1 (c).]
3
Ibid. I p. 84; [Commentary on Stanza III 11 (b).]
4
Ibid. II p. 588

284
 COMPASSION THROBS AT THE HEART OF THE UNIVERSE

Every throb of our heart There is a regular circulation of the vital fluid
reflects the dilations throughout our system, of which the Sun is
and contractions of the heart—the same as the circulation of the
the Solar Heart. blood in the human body—during the man-
vantaric solar period, or life, the Sun contract-
ing as rhythmically at every return of it, as the
human heart does. Only, instead of performing
the round in a second or so, it takes the solar
blood ten of its years, and a whole year to pass
through its auricles and ventricles before it
washes the lungs and passes thence to the
great veins and arteries of the system.

This, Science will not deny, since Astronomy

knows of the fixed cycle of eleven years when
the number of solar spots increases, which is
due to the contraction of the Solar HEART. The
universe (our world in this case) breathes, just
as man and every living creature, plant, and
even mineral does upon the earth; and as our
globe itself breathes every twenty-four hours. .
. . [The dark region] is similar to the regular
and healthy pulsation of the heart, as the life-
fluid passes through its hollow muscles. Could
the human heart be made luminous, and the
living and throbbing organ be made visible, so
as to have it reflected upon a screen, such as
used by the astronomers in their lectures—say
for the moon—then every one would see the
Sunspot phenomenon repeated every second—
due to its contraction and the rushing of the
1
blood.

1
Secret Doctrine, I pp. 541-42

285
 CONCLUDING THOUGHTS

Though love repine, and reason chafe,

There came a voice without reply,—
“ ’Tis man’s perdition to be safe
When for the truth he ought to die.”
1
— Ralph Waldo Emerson

Self-preservation is the first law of nature;

Self-sacrifice the highest rule of grace.
2
— Anonymous

Every moment that we breathe and think is at the expense of myriads of in-
terrelated entities from supercelestial to subterranean worlds of conscious-
ness. It is a matter of fact that every life relies on an unending and unques-
tioning absorbing of other lives.

Life is built up by the sacrifice of the individual to the whole. Each

cell in the living body must sacrifice itself to the perfection of the
3
whole; when it is otherwise, disease and death enforce the lesson.

By enlivening All, the One Life provides opportunities for each and every of
its manifested parts to experience Manhood, the glory of the universe. That
is why every moment is so precious. We owe a tremendous debt of gratitude
to such a marvellously cohesive Oneness, of which we are an infinitesimal
but integral part. Sadly, many are too numbed by apathy and sin to appreci-
ate the gift and splendours of sentient life: they take everything for granted.
“He who enjoyeth what hath been given unto him by them, and offereth not a
4
portion unto them, is even as a thief,” warns Lord Kçishõa. Fuelled by
boundless Love, Compassion and Sacrifice, from the highest Avatār down to
the lowest form of life, Parabrahman sustains us All. For, Compassion is
5
Eternal Harmony or the “LAW of the LAWS.”

Very difficult it is for an embodied jīva to realise the first truth of

Vedānta and Buddhism that life, embodied and individual life, in

1
Emerson: Sacrifice [quatrain]
2
Mead’s Quotations
3
Blavatsky Collected Writings, (APHORISMS) VIII p. 14
4
Bhagavad Gītā, 3 vs. 12
5
Cf. Voice of the Silence, fragm. III vs. 300, p. 69

287
 COMPASSION

any form, is essentially not worth living—because all its pleasure is

embittered with pain, and, even more, because it cannot be main-
tained without the intense selfishness of unremittingly absorbing
1
other individual lives.

The maintenance of the right attitude and its unbroken expression

through continuous right approach to all the problems of life com-
pel man to recognize his own individual responsibility to all beings
of all kingdoms, to Nature herself. The prolific mother earth, the
cleansing waters, the vitalizing fire, the health-giving air, the con-
structive and regenerating electrical and magnetic forces—to all
these is due a great debt. The colour and fragrance of flowers on
earth, the brilliance of distant orbs in heaven, the nourishment
which plant life bestows on our bodies, that which the beauty and
majesty of space bestow on our minds—to them we owe a mighty
acknowledgement. Men recognize obligations for kindness done
and service rendered by fellow men; we have not yet begun to real-
2
ize our responsibility and our duty to all the kingdoms of Nature.

Our Saviors, the Agnishvātta and other divine “Sons of the Flame
of Wisdom” (personified by the Greeks in Prometheus), may well, in
the injustice of the human heart, be left unrecognised and un-
thanked. They may, in our ignorance of the truth, be indirectly
cursed for Pandora’s gift; but to find themselves proclaimed and
declared by the mouth of the clergy, the evil ones, is too heavy a
Karma for “Him” “who dared alone”—when Zeus “ardently desired”
to quench the entire human race—to save “that mortal race” from
perdition, or, as the suffering Titan is made to say:

From sinking blasted down to Hades’ gloom.

For this by the dire tortures I am bent,
Grievous to suffer, piteous to behold,
I who did mortals pity . . . (verses 237-40)

The chorus remarking very pertinently:

Vast boon was this thou gavest unto mortals. (verse 253)

Prometheus answers: —

Yea, and besides ’twas I that gave them fire,

Chorus: Have now these short-lived creatures flame-eyed fire?
3
Prom.: Ay, and by it full many arts will learn. (verses 254-56)

1
Science of the Emotions, p. 474 fn.
2
Studies in the SD, bk. I (3rd series) viii, p. 159
3
Secret Doctrine, II pp. 411-12

288
 CONCLUDING THOUGHTS

The Promethean Titanomachy is a “symbolical representation of the great

struggle between divine wisdom, Nous, and its earthly reflection, Psychē, or
1
between Spirit and Soul, in Heaven and on Earth” as “the whole order of na-
2
ture evinces a progressive march towards a higher life.”

. . . the Dhyāni-Buddhas of the two higher groups, namely, the

“Watchers” or the “Architects,” furnished the many and various
races with divine kings and leaders. It is the latter who taught hu-
manity their arts and sciences, and the former who revealed to the
incarnated Monads that had just shaken off their vehicles of the
lower Kingdoms—and who had, therefore, lost every recollection of
their divine origin—the great spiritual truths of the transcendental
worlds.

Thus, as expressed in the Stanza, the Watchers descended on

Earth and reigned over men—“who are themselves.” The reigning
kings had finished their cycle on Earth and other worlds, in the
preceding Rounds. In the future manvantaras they will have risen
to higher systems than our planetary world; and it is the Elect of
our Humanity, the Pioneers on the hard and difficult path of Pro-
gress, who will take the places of their predecessors. The next great
Manvantara will witness the men of our own life-cycle becoming
the instructors and guides of a mankind whose Monads may now
yet be imprisoned—semi-conscious—in the most intellectual of the
animal kingdom, while their lower principles will be animating,
3
perhaps, the highest specimens of the Vegetable world.

There is no vocation higher and nobler than pure, brotherly love. Yet, count-
less are the trials and tribulations of those who are committed to the happi-
ness and wellbeing of others:

. . . the sensitive sympathiser at once becomes the locus and focus

of all the woes of the world, which press upon him much more
4
heavily than its rejoicings.

The battlefield of Kurukshetra in the Bhagavad Gītā is symbolic of the inner

rather than outer enemies, our very thoughts and desires. They are the
seemingly insurmountable obstacles on our path. And whilst entirely subjec-
tive, the distress of Arjuna is no less painful, less horrible, or less real, than
many of the parallel situations in the vigil of life. Only by severing all per-
sonal concerns, all wishes and wants, as well as their wider associations and
attachments, can one hope to set foot upon the ladder’s lowest rung.

1
Secret Doctrine, II p. 377
2
Ibid. I p. 277
3
Ibid. I p. 267; [Commentary on Stanza VII 7 (b).]
4
Science of the Emotions, p. 236 fn.

289
 COMPASSION

Each gain will be felt as a loss, as if a beloved relative or friend has died.
This gradual disintegration of self, the crumbling of our being, produces the
dark night of the soul. Hell is here on Earth, not in the post-mortem extrica-
1
tion of the Higher Self from the lower —which is an unconscious process
anyway. Similarly to other mystics, St John of the Cross provides chilling ac-
2
counts of how it feels. Neither rest nor sleep can relieve the anguish and
desolation of the soul. That is why Lord Kçishõa and those on the renuncia-
tory path empathise with the distress of Arjuna, whose “heart was over-
3
whelmed with despondency”:

My members fail me, my countenance withereth, the hair standeth

on end upon my body, and all my frame trembleth with horror!
Even Gāõóīva, my bow, slips from my hand, and my skin is
parched and dried up. I am not able to stand; for my mind, as it
4
were, whirleth round.

As the overriding desire is to live for self, so the longing to escape from the
unremitting afflictions of embodied existence is most likely to be for self, too.
But here lurks the risk of treading a solitary path, which will inevitably end
with an equally solitary perception of Self by self-alone, without any concern
about the welfare of others. Sheltering from the woes of the world is neither
mercy nor victory for Self. It is a triumph for Non-Self which, in turn, inten-
5
sifies its spiritual pride or “proud seclusion and apart from men.” This is
how a pratyeka buddha, a selfish buddha, is born “in prideful solitude and
6
unperceived by any but himself.” He is akin to the imaginary Antichrist of
the Christians.

Verily, it is easy to undergo any sacrifice and physical torture of

limited duration to secure oneself an eternity of joy and bliss. It is
still easier especially for an immortal God to die to save mankind.
Many were the so-called Saviours of Humanity, and still more nu-
merous the pretenders. But where is he who would damn himself
for ever to save mankind at large? Where is that being who, in or-
der to make his fellow creatures happy and free on earth, would
consent to live and suffer hour after hour, day after day, aeon upon
aeon and never die, never get release from his nameless sufferings,
until, the great day of the Mahā-pralaya? Let such a man appear;

1
“Second death” in Kāma-loka, according to the theosophical doctrines.
2
Cf. Zimmerman B (Transl.). The Dark Night of the Soul by Saint John of the Cross of the Order of
Mount Carmel. Cambridge: James Clarke & Co. Ltd, 1973.
3
Bhagavad Gītā, 1 vs. 47
4
Ibid. 1 vs. 28-9
5
Voice of the Silence, fragm. II vs. 132, p. 30
6
Ibid. fragm. II vs. 118, p. 27

290
 CONCLUDING THOUGHTS

and then when he does and proves it, we shall worship him as our
1
Saviour, the God of gods, the only TRUE AND LIVING GOD.
2
Just as egotist is the antonym of altruist, so pratyeka buddha is the an-
tithesis of the Unselfish Buddha of Perfection, or Buddha of Compassion.

He, who becomes Pratyeka-Buddha, makes his obeisance but to

his Self. The Bodhisattva who has won the battle, who holds the
prize within his palm, yet says in his divine compassion:

“For others’ sake, this great reward I yield”—accomplishes the

greater Renunciation.
3
A Saviour of the World is he.

Those who still believe that no buddha “at such superhuman height of
power, wisdom, and love could be selfish,” may wish to reflect on the follow-
ing excerpts from the Theosophical Glossary, The Mahātma Letters and Inner
Group Teachings:

[Pratyeka-Buddha is] the same as “Pasi-Buddha.” The Pratyeka

Buddha is a degree which belongs exclusively to the Yogāchāra
school, yet it is only one of high intellectual development with no
true spirituality. It is the dead-letter of the Yoga laws, in which in-
tellect and comprehension play the greatest part, added to the
strict carrying out of the rules of the inner development. It is one of
the three paths to Nirvāõa, and the lowest, in which a Yogi—
“without teacher and without saving others”—by the mere force of
will and technical observances, attains to a kind of nominal
Buddhaship individually; doing no good to anyone, but working
selfishly for his own salvation and himself alone. The Pratyekas are
respected outwardly but are despised inwardly by those of keen
4
spiritual appreciation.
(1) The Pacceka-Yana—(in Sanskrit “Pratyeka”) means literally the
“personal vehicle” or personal Ego, a combination of the five lower
principles. While—(2) The Amata-Yana—(in Sanskrit “Amrita”) is
translated “the immortal vehicle,” or the Individuality the Spiritual

1
Blavatsky Collected Writings, (THE CHOSEN “VESSELS OF ELECTION”) IV pp. 419-20
2
In the West, the word buddha has been associated with Śākyamuni or Gautama, the Founder of
the eponymous religion. Buddha, however, is also a generic title meaning learned, wise man, enlight-
ened. As the latter does not denote motive, Buddhas are often qualified as “personal,” “solitary,”
“pratyeka,” or “of perfection,” “of compassion,” “Samyak,” etc.—Comp.
3
Voice of the Silence, fragm. II vs. 191-93, pp. 43-44
4
Theosophical Glossary, p. 261

291
 COMPASSION

Soul, or the Immortal monad—a combination of the fifth, sixth and

1
seventh.
The Pratyeka-Buddha, the Buddha of Selfishness—called because
2
of the spiritual selfishness “the rhinocerōs,” the solitary animal—
can never pass beyond the third plane, that of Jīva. Such a one
has conquered, indeed, his material desires, but he has not yet
freed himself from his mental and spiritual longings. It is the Bud-
dha of Compassion only that can transcend this third macrocosmic
3
plane.

It was to counteract the ingratitude and mercilessness of our age that HP

4
Blavatsky left The Voice of the Silence as her last gift to “the few Elect.” Like
everything else, the Voice, too, has a heart. It throbs faster when one is
about to decide which path to follow or for whose sake to live. For, “private
life is but the aggregative phantasms of thinking throblets, rushing in their
5
rising onward to the central heart of eternal death.” That is why Blavatsky
commends total devotion to humanity first and foremost. She being dead yet
6
speaketh.

In order that one should fully comprehend individual life with its
physiological, psychic and spiritual mysteries, he has to devote
himself with all the fervour of unselfish philanthropy and love for
his brother men, to studying and knowing collective life, or Man-
kind. . . . To do this he has first “to attune his soul with that of
Humanity,” as the old philosophy teaches; to thoroughly master
the correct meaning of every line and word in the rapidly turning
pages of the Book of Life of MANKIND and to be thoroughly satu-
rated with the truism that the latter is a whole inseparable from
his own SELF. . . . How many of such profound readers of life may
be found in our boasted age of sciences and culture? Of course we
do not mean authors alone, but rather the practical and still un-
recognized, though well known, philanthropists and altruists of our
age; the people’s friends, the unselfish lovers of man, and the de-
fenders of human right to the freedom of Spirit. Few indeed are

1
Mahātma Letter 16 (68), p. 111; 3rd Combined ed. [Master Koot Hoomi contrasting “personality” and
“individuality.”]
2
Cf. “The Buddhists call the Pratyeka Buddha the rhinoceros, the solitary animal.” Blavatsky Inner
Group Teachings, p. 58
3
Blavatsky Inner Group Teachings, p. 131; Cf. “The Pratyeka-Buddhas do not go beyond the 3rd
Kosmic plane. They have conquered all their material desires, but have not yet freed themselves from
their mental and spiritual.” Ibid. p. 31
4
Cf. Secret Doctrine, I p. 208
5
Isis Unveiled, I p. 219; [quoting from The Diakka and their Earthly Victims; being an Explanation of
much that is False and Repulsive in Spiritualism, New York, 1873; pp. 10-11.]
6
This sentence is also the title of a compilation of twelve articles by HP Blavatsky, chosen and ar-
ranged by BP Wadia. (Bombay: Theosophy Company Private Ltd, 1959)—Comp.

292
 CONCLUDING THOUGHTS

such; for they are the rare blossoms of the age, and generally the
1
martyrs to prejudiced mobs and timeservers.

We ought not to be discouraged by the ghastly accounts of difficulties ahead

from taking responsibility for our own development. Rather, we should be
heartened by the infinitely greater privations and sufferings that the Elders
of humanity are going through for our sake. They have not forsaken us. They
are still here, on Earth, inspiring, and teaching. Master Koot Hoomi entreats
“every man who is capable of an unselfish impulse, to do something, how-
2
ever little,” for the welfare of humanity or “the Great Orphan”:

Until final emancipation reabsorbs the Ego, it must be conscious of

the purest sympathies called out by the aesthetic effects of high
art, its tenderest cords respond to the call of the holier and nobler
human attachments. Of course, the greater the progress towards
deliverance, the less this will be the case, until, to crown all, hu-
man and purely individual personal feelings—blood-ties and
friendship, patriotism and race predilection—all will give away, to
become blended into one universal feeling, the only true and holy,
the only unselfish and Eternal one—Love, an Immense Love for
humanity—as a Whole! For it is “Humanity” which is the great Or-
phan, the only disinherited one upon this earth, my friend. And it
is the duty of every man who is capable of an unselfish impulse to
do something, however little, for its welfare. Poor, poor humanity! It
reminds me of the old fable of the war between the Body and its
members; here too, each limb of this huge “Orphan”—fatherless
and motherless—selfishly cares but for itself. The body uncared for
suffers eternally, whether the limbs are at war or at rest. Its suffer-
ing and agony never cease. . . . And who can blame it—as your ma-
terialistic philosophers do—if, in this everlasting isolation and ne-
glect it has evolved gods unto whom “it ever cries for help but is
not heard!” Thus —

“Since there is hope for man only in man

3
I would not let one cry whom I could save! . . . ”

Prahlāóa, a staunch devotee of Vishõu, is acutely aware of the distress

brought about by endless waves of saüsāra. He talks to Narasimha, an in-
carnation of Vishõu:

1
Blavatsky Collected Writings, (E. S. INSTRUCTION NO. III) XII pp. 4 & 5
2
Cf. “If Sun thou can’st not be, then be the humble planet.” Voice of the Silence, fragm. II vs. 155, p.
36
3
Mahātma Letter 8 (15), pp. 32-33; 3rd Combined ed.; [quoting Edwin Arnold’s Light of Asia, three
lines from end of bk. 4, and 10 lines from end of bk. 3.]

293
 COMPASSION

I am being burnt, in the fire of birth in successive wombs, involving

experiences of pleasure and pain of union and separation. In this
worldly existence all measures adopted for freedom from sufferings
bring new sufferings in their turn.

O Lord! Sages generally concern themselves only with their own

salvation. They strive for it in solitude, without any thought for the
salvation of others. But I do not desire salvation of myself alone,
1
abandoning all other creatures to their miserable condition.
2
Or, as B ôās puts it, “I do not want Mokùha for myself alone, but for all.”
Specks of starry dust we may be, still, we should be doing whatever we can
for our Brothers and Sisters here and now, regardless of our own weak-
nesses and misfortunes, for, there are always others who are far weaker and
less fortunate than ourselves. And by the growing strength and resolve of
faith we should be working along with Nature helping her to fulfil the divine
plan, so that all her children, to the very last, can experience Manhood.

[Faith] is the covenant or engagement between man’s divine part

and his lesser self. . . . [The Occultist] does not obtain his strength
by his own right, but because he is a part of the whole; and as
soon as he is safe from the vibration of life and can stand un-
shaken, the outer world cries out to him to come and labour in it.
So with the heart. When it no longer wishes to take, it is called
3
upon to give abundantly.

But, so long as even traces of personal concerns obscure vision of the Imper-
sonal Reality within, no ardent mind can hope to comprehend the GREAT
SACRIFICE, that of the Solitary Watcher of our race.

Why does the solitary Watcher remain at his self-chosen post? Why
does he sit by the fountain of primeval Wisdom, of which he drinks
no longer, as he has naught to learn which he does not know—aye,
neither on this Earth, nor in its heaven? Because the lonely, sore-
footed pilgrims on their way back to their home are never sure to
the last moment of not losing their way in this limitless desert of il-
lusion and matter called Earth-Life. Because he would fain show
the way to that region of freedom and light, from which he is a vol-
untary exile himself, to every prisoner who has succeeded in liber-
ating himself from the bonds of flesh and illusion. Because, in

1
Srimad Bhāgavata, VII, 9, 44
2
Science of the Emotions, p. 470 fn.
3
Light on the Path, com. II, p. 54 & 67

294
 CONCLUDING THOUGHTS

short, he has sacrificed himself for the sake of mankind, though

1
but a few Elect may profit by the GREAT SACRIFICE.
2
From the standpoint of the One Life, slaying “the great Slayer of the Real” is
not the ultimate sacrifice. It is merely one of a series of renunciations, cul-
minating in the sublime sacrifice of Avatārs. This is what the Secret Doctrine
of the Heart, Esoteric Budhism, or Theosophy, is all about: it is living for
others, not for self alone. It advocates making room for others by “dying” so
that they, too, can experience sentient life.

When he has learned the first lesson, conquered the hunger of the
heart, and refused to live on the love of others, he finds himself
more capable of inspiring love. As he flings life away it comes to
3
him in a new form and with a new meaning.

Nothing stands still in the world of being.

The voice of the Almighty saith, ‘Up and onward for evermore!’ We
cannot stay amid the ruins. Neither will we rely on the new; and so
we walk ever with reverted eyes, like those monsters who look
4
backwards.

Perpetual change simmers everywhere. The Golden Ass or Animal Man re-
deemed is ever metamorphosing in the works of Shakespeare, Keats, Morris,
5
and Bridges. From acorns mighty oak trees grow, from caterpillars butter-
flies bloom. Through the toils of sentient subsistence, Man of Clay will one
day become Divine. When piercing the veil of illusion with faith, hope, and
charity, Man begins to sense the One True Love. “The diamond buried deep
within the throbbing heart of earth can never mirror back the earthly
6
lights.” Only by love and charity can we unfold as “the midnight blossom of
7
Buddha” and lend a hand to struggling humanity:

Like those wonderful “Snow Flowers” of Northern Siberia, which, in

order to shoot forth from the cold frozen soil, have to pierce
through a thick layer of hard, icy snow, so these rare characters
[the philanthropists and altruists of our age] have to fight their bat-

1
Secret Doctrine, I p. 208
2
Voice of the Silence, fragm. I vs. 4, p. 1
3
Light on the Path, com. II p. 65
4
Emerson: Uses of Great Men, ¶ 50; (p. 46.)
5
Cf. Golden Ass, introd.
6
Voice of the Silence, fragm. III vs. 263, p. 60
7
Cf. ibid. fragm. I vs. 62, p. 13

295
 COMPASSION

tles all their life with cold indifference and human harshness, and
1
with the selfish ever-mocking world of wealth.

Canon Kingsley made Hypatia, “the glorious maiden-philosopher, torn to

2
pieces” by those “whose eloquence she eclipsed,” to say:

Hector, the father, fights around, while his children sleep and feed;
and he is away in the wars, and they know him not—know not that
they the individuals are but parts of him the universal. And yet at
moments—oh! thrice blessed they whose celestial parentage has
made such moments part of their appointed destiny—at moments
flashes on the human child the intuition of the unutterable secret.
In the spangled glory of the summer night—in the roar of the Nile-
flood, sweeping down fertility in every wave—in the awful depths of
the temple-shrine—in the wild melodies of old Orphic singers, or
before the images of those gods of whose perfect beauty the divine
theosophists of Greece caught a fleeting shadow, and with the
sudden might of artistic ecstasy smote it, as by an enchanter’s
wand, into an eternal sleep of snowy stone—in these there flashes
on the inner eye a vision beautiful and terrible, of a force, an en-
ergy, a soul, an idea, one and yet million-fold, rushing through all
created things, like the wind across a lyre, thrilling the strings into
celestial harmony—one life-blood through the million veins of the
universe, from one great unseen heart, whose thunderous pulses
the mind hears far away, beating for ever in the abysmal solitude,
beyond the heavens and the galaxies, beyond the spaces and the
3
times, themselves but veins and runnels from its all-teeming sea.

When the Universe’s Great Truths are assimilated, love for all wells from the
heart of being, reverence for humanity’s benefactors brings tears of grati-
tude, benevolence for our young brothers and sisters impels tenderness and
helpfulness. In this alchemic process, karma-action brings out personal re-
sponsibility, yuga-cycles strengthen hope, yajña-compassion joyfully surren-
ders self to Self, man to Man.

If he has power enough to awaken that unaccustomed part of him-

self, the supreme essence, then has he power to lift the Gates of
Gold, then is he the true alchemist, in possession of the elixir of
4
life.

1
Blavatsky Collected Writings, (THE TIDAL WAVE) XII p. 5
2
Cf. Isis Unveiled, II pp. 54 & 253
3
Hypatia, p. 93
4
Light on the Path, com. II p. 60

296
 CONCLUDING THOUGHTS

With the opposites confluent once more, the illusion of duality lifted and
consciousness uplifted, the “still small voice” of the GREAT SACRIFICE brings
1
solace in the silence of the heart—a “silence more musical than any song.”

By the enlightened application of our precepts to practice. By the

use of our higher reason, spiritual intuition and moral sense, and
by following the dictates of what we call “the still small voice” of our
conscience, which is that of our EGO, and which speaks louder in
us than the earthquakes and the thunders of Jehovah, wherein
2
“the Lord is not.”

The voice stirs his heart to its depths, for he feels that the words
are true. His daily and hourly battle is teaching him that self-
centredness is the root of misery, the cause of pain, and his soul is
3
full of longing to be free.

As the Voice ceased, the heavy load fell from the Pilgrim’s back to
the ground. A sudden flash, and the Eternal Pilgrim knew that the
Voice he has heard had come to him from the HOLY of the HOLIES of
his own Heart—the lotus throne of Nārāyana, where Being,
4
Thought, and Bliss are indissolubly one.

And all shall be well and

All manner of thing shall be well
When the tongues of flame are in-folded
Into the crowned knot of fire
5
And the fire and the rose are one.

1
Christina Georgina Rossetti: Rest [Sonnet]
2
Key to Theosophy, p. 240
3
Blavatsky Collected Writings, (THE GREAT PARADOX) VIII p. 127
4
Echoes of the Orient, III p. 282
5
Thomas Stearns Eliot: Four Quartets, Little Gidding, V

297
APPENDICES A TO K

299
Appendix A
Theosophists described
Ethically
He who does not practise altruism;

He who is not prepared to share his last morsel with a weaker or a

poorer than himself;

He who neglects to help his brother man, of whatever race, nation,

or creed, whenever and wherever he meets suffering, and who
turns a deaf ear to the cry of human misery;

He who hears an innocent person slandered, whether a brother

Theosophist or not, and does not undertake his defence as he
would undertake his own;
1
[He] is no Theosophist.

Metaphysically
He who would be an occultist must not separate either himself or
anything else from the rest of creation or non-creation. For, the
moment he distinguishes himself from even a vessel of dishonour,
he will not be able to join himself to any vessel of honour. He must
think of himself as an infinitesimal something, not even as an indi-
vidual atom, but as a part of the world-atoms as a whole, or be-
come an illusion, a nobody, and vanish like a breath, leaving no
trace behind. As illusions, we are separate distinct bodies, living in
masks furnished by Māyā. Can we claim one single atom in our
body as distinctly our own? Everything, from spirit to the tiniest
particle, is part of the whole, at best a link. Break a single link and
all passes into annihilation; but this is impossible. There is a series
of vehicles becoming more and more gross, from spirit to the dens-
est matter, so that with each step downward and outward we get
more and more the sense of separateness developed in us. Yet this
is illusory, for if there were a real and complete separation between
any two human beings, they could not communicate with, or un-
2
derstand each other in any way.

1
Blavatsky Collected Writings, (THE THEOSOPHICAL SOCIETY) X p. 69; [Émile Burnouf quoting from an
editorial in Lucifer, Vol. I, November 1887, p. 169.]
2
Ibid. (TRANSACTIONS OF THE BLAVATSKY LODGE) X p. 395. [Commentary on Stanza IV 1—LISTEN, YE
SONS OF THE EARTH, TO YOUR INSTRUCTORS—THE SONS OF THE FIRE. LEARN, THERE IS NEITHER FIRST NOR
LAST; FOR ALL IS ONE NUMBER, ISSUED FROM NO-NUMBER.]

301
Appendix B
Action, renunciation, and their endless variants

[Modified after Science of the Emotions, p. 472 fn.]

• The Path of Action is the path of attachment to, of engagement in, of

pursuit of, the material life, the arc of the jīva’s descent into denser and
denser Matter, as opposed to

• The Path of Renunciation, the arc of its re-ascent into Spirit, back
through the planes of subtler and subtler matter, through which it has
“descended” to its present condition.

The whole of the ancient Indian theory and practice of Life is embodied in
these two words and their endless variants:

Action Renunciation

Buddhism òaõhā or ñçùhõā Nirvāõa

Christianity Sin Salvation

Gītā Rāga Vairāgya

Ibid. Sa-kāma Niùh-kāma

Ibid. Sakñi A-sakñi

Jaina Sañchara Prañi-sañchara

Mīmāüsā Karma Naiùh-karmya

Modern Science Disintegration Integration

Ibid. Evolution Involution

Nyāya Sarga Apavarga

Sāükhya Īhā Uparaüa

Smçñs & Purāõas Pravçññi Nivçññi

Vaisheùhika ôuhkha Nis-shreyas

Veóānña Banóha Mokùha

Yoga Vyuññhāna Nirodha

The underlying idea of all these pairs is the same. Each pair expresses only a
somewhat different aspect or shade of the same fact. Indeed, it may be said,
all pairs of opposites whatsoever are but expressions of the infinite shades of
that same fact.

302
Appendix C
At the threshold of the two paths

[Modified after The Voice of the Silence, Golden Jubilee edition, pp. 92-95.
Verse numbers are indicated in superscript.]

1 2
The first path182 The second path183

Eye doctrine111, 119, 127, 147 Heart doctrine111, 119, 120, 128, 147

The open path143, 180, 181, 186 The secret path143, 146, 147, 180, 184, 187

Mind (head) learning106, 111, 113, 115 Soul wisdom106, 111, 113, 115

False learning119, 122 True knowledge122

Behold I know119 Thus I have heard119

The dhyāna path298 The arahatta path299

The rugged path199 The steeper path200

The fourfold dhyāna198, 199 The pāramitā heights200

The path of bliss143, 194 The path of woe183, 184, 194

External, non existing [fleeting]128 Permanent, everlasting128

Personal222 Impersonal222

Selfish bliss143, 191 Self-immolation180

Bliss immediate179 Bliss deferred179

The haven of the Yogi298 The Ārya path302, 307

Destruction142 Compassion142, 191, 301

[Personal buddha] Buddha of perfection146, 302

[Solitary buddha] Buddha of compassion143, 306

Pratyeka buddha191 Samyak sambuddha188

Pride119 Humbleness119

The crowd119 The elect119

303
 AT THE THRESHOLD OF THE TWO PATHS

[Hoi Polloi] The few

[Escape from the world] Save the world193

Sweet rest190 Bitter duty190

Oblivion of the world of men186 Pity for the world of mortals187

The Śaõa (Dharmakāya) robe142, 186, 306 The Nirmāõakāya robe145, 306

Srotāpanna296-298, 306 Bodhisattva306, 307

Nirvāõa dharma305 Arhan [buddha] dharma314, 315

Liberation182, 190 Renunciation145, 183, 190, 192

Selves sacrificed to self142 Self sacrificed to selves146

Sacrifice mankind to self142 Live to benefit mankind144

[Open eye] Secret heart143

304
Appendix D
Parabrahman: aspects, epithets, and synonyms1
Absolute Consciousness contains the cognizer, the thing cognized,
and the cognition, all three in Itself and all three one. No man is
conscious of more than that portion of his knowledge that happens
to have been recalled to his mind at any particular time, yet such
is the poverty of language that we have no term to distinguish the
knowledge not actively thought of, from knowledge we are unable
to recall to memory. To forget is synonymous with not to remem-
ber. How much greater must be the difficulty of finding terms to
describe, and to distinguish between, abstract metaphysical facts
or differences? It must not be forgotten, also, that we give names to
things according to the appearances they assume for ourselves. We
call Absolute consciousness “unconsciousness ,” because it seems
to us that it must necessarily be so, just as we call the Absolute,
“Darkness,” because to our finite understanding it appears quite
impenetrable, yet we recognize fully that our perception of such
things does not do them justice. We involuntarily distinguish in
our minds, for instance, between unconscious absolute conscious-
ness, and unconsciousness, by secretly endowing the former with
some indefinite quality that corresponds, on a higher plane than
our thoughts can reach, with what we know as consciousness in
ourselves. But this is not any kind of consciousness that we can
manage to distinguish from what appears to us as unconscious-
2
ness.

[Absolute Darkness is self-existent, uncaused, free from condi-

tions, limits, or restrictions—Comp.]

The essence of darkness being absolute light, Darkness is taken

as the appropriate allegorical representation of the condition of the
universe during Pralaya, or the term of absolute rest, or non-being,
3
as it appears to our finite minds. . . . According to the Rosicrucian
tenets . . . “Light and Darkness are identical in themselves, being
only divisible in the human mind”; and according to Robert Fludd,
“Darkness adopted illumination in order to make itself visible.”
According to the tenets of Eastern Occultism, Darkness is the one
true actuality, the basis and the root of light, without which the
latter could never manifest itself, nor even exist. Light is matter,
and DARKNESS pure Spirit. Darkness, in its radical, metaphysical
basis, is subjective and absolute light; while the latter in all its

1
Defining terms have been placed in bold type by the Comp.
2
Secret Doctrine, I p. 56
3
Ibid. I p. 69

305
APPENDIX D

seeming effulgence and glory, is merely a mass of shadows, as it

1
can never be eternal, and is simply an illusion, or Māyā.

[Ādi-Bhūta] The one (or the First) and “Supreme Wisdom” is a term
used by Aryàsaïga in his Secret Treatises, and now by all the mys-
tic Northern Buddhists. . . . an appellation given by the earliest
Āryans to the Unknown Deity; the word Brahmā not being found in
the Vedas and the early works. . . . [Ādi] means the absolute Wis-
dom, and “Ādi-Bhūta” is translated “the primeval uncreated cause
2
of all worlds.”

Brahma (neuter) . . . is the impersonal, supreme and uncognizable

Principle of the Universe from the essence of which all emanates,
and into which all returns, which is incorporeal, immaterial, un-
born, eternal, beginningless and endless. It is all-pervading, ani-
3
mating the highest god as well as the smallest mineral atom.

To our European readers: Deceived by the phonetic similarity, it

must not be thought that the name “Brahman” is identical in this
connection with Brahmā [male] or Iswara—the personal God. The
Upanishads—the Vedānta Scriptures—mention no such God and,
one would vainly seek in them any allusions to a conscious deity.
The Brahman, or Parabrahm, the ABSOLUTE of the Vedantins, is
neuter and unconscious, and has no connection with the mascu-
line Brahmā of the Hindu Triad, or Trimurti. Some Orientalists
rightly believe the name derived from the verb “brih,” to grow or in-
crease, and to be, in this sense, the universal expansive force of na-
ture, the vivifying and spiritual principle, or power, spread
throughout the universe and which in its collectivity is the one
4
Absoluteness, the one Life and the only Reality .

[Nirguõ a is an epithet of Parabrahman: unconditioned, without

guõas or qualities, That which is devoid of all qualities, distinc-
5
tionless: the opposite of saguna, that which has attributes and is,
therefore, conditioned, i.e., Brahma (neuter) is Nirguõa, Brahmā
(male) is saguna—Comp.]

[No-Number ] The expression “All is One Number, issued from No-

Number” relates again to that universal and philosophical tenet . . .

1
Secret Doctrine, I p. 70
2
Ibid. I p. xix
3
Theosophical Glossary, p. 62
4
Blavatsky Collected Writings, (THE SEVENFOLD PRINCIPLE IN MAN, NOTE V) III p. 424
5
Cf. “. . . we do not maintain that Parabrahm is absolutely without any guna, for Presence itself is a
guna, but that it is beyond the three guõas—Sattva, Rājas and Tamas.” Blavatsky Collected Writings,
(THE GOD-IDEA) VI p. 11 fn.

306
 PARABRAHMAN: ASPECTS, EPITHETS, AND SYNONYMS

. . .That which is absolute is of course No Number, but in its later

significance it has an application in Space as in Time. It means
that not only every increment of time is part of a larger increment,
up to the most indefinitely prolonged duration conceivable by the
human intellect, but also that no manifested thing can be thought
of except as part of a larger whole: the total aggregate being the
One manifested Universe that issues from the unmanifested or Ab-
solute—called Non-Being or “No-Number,” to distinguish it from
1
BEING or the “One Number.”

“Paramārthasatya” is self-consciousness in Sanskrit, Svasaü ve-

danā , or the “self-analysing reflection ”—from two words, parama
(above everything) and artha (comprehension), satya meaning ab-
solute true being, or esse. In Tibetan Paramārthasatya is Don-
dampai-denpa . The opposite of this absolute reality, or actuality,
in Saüvçiti satya—the relative truth only—“Saüvçiti” meaning “false
conception” and being the origin of illusion, Māyā; in Tibetan
2
Kundzobchi-denpa, “illusion-creating appearance.”

[Paramātman is the supreme Ātman, the supreme Self.] This idea

of self first comes into existence with the Logos, and not before;
hence Parabrahman ought not to be called Paramātma or any kind
of Ātma. . . . Paramātma is, however, a term also applied to
Parabrahman as distinguished from Pratyagātma. When thus ap-
plied it is used in a strictly technical sense. Whenever Pratyagātma
is used, you will find Paramātma used as expressing something
3
distinct from it.

Parinishpanna is . . . the summum bonum, the Absolute, hence the

same as Parinirvāõ a. Besides being the final state, it is that condi-
tion of subjectivity that has no relation to anything but the one ab-
solute truth (Paramārthasatya) on its plane. It is that state which
leads one to appreciate correctly the full meaning of Non-Being,
which, as explained, is absolute Being. Sooner or later, all that
now seemingly exists, will be in reality and actually in the state of
Parinishpanna. But there is a great difference between conscious
and unconscious “being.” The condition of Parinishpanna, without
Paramārtha , the Self-analysing consciousness (Svasaüvedanā), is
no bliss, but simply extinction (for Seven Eternities). Thus, an iron
ball placed under the scorching rays of the sun will get heated

1
Secret Doctrine, I pp. 87-88
2
Ibid. I p. 48 fn.
3
Philosophy of the Bhagavad Gītā, (3rd lecture) p. 40. [An example where Paramātma does not denote
Parabrahman, but simply the higher Self, appears in the Bhagavad Gītā, 13 vs. 22: “The spirit in the
body is called Maheśvara, the Great Lord, the spectator, the admonisher, the sustainer, the enjoyer,
and also the Paramātma, the highest soul.”—Comp.]

307
APPENDIX D

through, but will not feel or appreciate the warmth, while a man
will. It is only “with a mind clear and undarkened by personality,
and an assimilation of the merit of manifold existences devoted to
being in its collectivity (the whole living and sentient Universe),”
that one gets rid of personal existence, merging into, becoming One
1
with, the Absolute, and continuing in full possession of Paramār-
2
tha.

Sat [is] the one ever-present Reality in the infinite world; the divine
essence which is, but cannot said to exist, as it is Absoluteness ,
3
Be -ness itself. . . . The “Divine thought ” does not imply the idea
of a Divine thinker. The Universe, not only past, present, and fu-
ture—which is a human and finite idea expressed by finite
thought—but in its totality, the Sat (an untranslatable term), the
absolute being, with the Past and Future crystallised in an eternal
Present, is that Thought itself, reflected in a secondary or manifest
cause. Brahma (neuter), as the Mysterium Magnum of Paracelsus,
is an absolute mystery to the human mind. Brahma, the male-
female, its aspect and anthropomorphic reflection, is conceivable to
the perceptions of blind faith, though rejected by human intellect
4
when it attains its majority.

[The Good of the Platonists—Comp.] Agathon (Gr.) Plato’s Su-

5
preme Deity, lit. “the good.” Our ĀLAYA or the Soul of the World.

1
Cf. “Hence Non-being is ‘ABSOLUTE Being,’ in esoteric philosophy. In the tenets of the latter even
Ādi-Budha (first or primeval wisdom) is, while manifested, in one sense an illusion, Māyā, since all
the gods, including Brahmā, have to die at the end of the ‘Age of Brahmā;’ the abstraction called
Parabrahman alone—whether we call it Ain-Soph, or Herbert Spencer’s Unknowable—being ‘the One
Absolute’ reality. The One secondless Existence is ADVAITA, ‘Without a Second,’ and all the rest is
Māyā, teaches the Advaita philosophy.” Secret Doctrine, I p. 54 fn.
2
Secret Doctrine, I pp. 53-54
3
Theosophical Glossary, p. 292
4
Secret Doctrine, I p. 61
5
Key to Theosophy, p. 310 (glos.)

308
Appendix E
Mūlaprakçiti: aspects, epithets, and synonyms1
Abstract , Ever present Space . . . . “Be-ness” [or Parabrahman] is
symbolised . . . under two aspects. On the one hand, absolute ab-
stract Space, representing bare subjectivity, the one thing which
no human mind can either exclude from any conception, or con-
ceive of by itself. On the other, absolute abstract [Ceaseless] Mo-
2
tion representing Unconditioned Consciousness. . . . This latter
aspect of the one Reality, is also symbolized by the term “The
3
Great Breath ,” [the Eternal Breath ] . . . The appearance and dis-
appearance of the Universe are pictured as an outbreathing and
inbreathing of the “Great Breath,” which is eternal, and which, be-
ing Motion, is one of the three aspects of the Absolute—Abstract
Space and Duration being the other two. When the “Great Breath”
is projected, it is called the Divine Breath, and is regarded as the
breathing of the Unknowable Deity—the One Existence—which
breathes out a thought, as it were, which becomes the Kosmos. So
also is it when the Divine Breath is inspired again, the Universe
disappears into the bosom of the “Great Mother,” who then sleeps
“wrapped in her invisible robes.”. . . [The Great Breath is] “that
which is and yet is not”. . . which we can only speak of as absolute
existence, but cannot picture to our imagination as any form of ex-
4
istence that we can distinguish from Nonexistence.

Ākāśa . . . is Pradhāna in another form, and as such cannot be

Ether, the ever-invisible agent . . . Nor is it Astral light. It is . . . the
noumenon of the sevenfold differentiated Prakç iti—the-ever im-
maculate “Mother” of the fatherless Son, who becomes “Father” on
5
the lower manifested plane.

Ālaya is literally the “Soul of the world ” or Anima Mundi, the

“Over Soul” of Emerson, and according to esoteric teaching it
changes periodically its nature. Ālaya, though eternal and change-
less in its inner essence on the planes which are unreachable by
either men or Cosmic Gods (Dhyāni-Buddhas), alters during the
6
active life-period with respect to the lower planes, ours included.

1
Defining terms have been placed in bold type by the Comp.
2
Cf. “Motion . . . is the imperishable life (conscious or unconscious as the case may be) of matter,
even during pralaya, or night of mind. When Chyang or omniscience, and Chyang-mi-shi-khon, igno-
rance, both sleep, this latent unconscious life still maintains the matter it animates in sleepless un-
ceasing motion.” Mahātma Letter LSB-Appendix II, pp. 508-09; Chronological ed.
3
Secret Doctrine, I p. 14
4
Ibid. I p. 43
5
Ibid. I p. 256
6
Ibid. I p. 48

309
APPENDIX E

. . . In the Yogāchāra system of the contemplative Mahāyāna

school, Ālaya is both the Universal Soul (Anima Mundi) and the
Self of a progressed Adept . “He who is strong in the Yoga can in-
troduce at will his Ālaya by means of meditation into the true Na-
ture of Existence.” The “Ālaya has an absolute eternal existence,”
says Aryàsaïga. . . . In one sense it is Pradhāna; which is explained
in Vishõu-Purāõa as:

That which is the unevolved cause is emphatically called, by

the most eminent sages, Pradhāna, original base, which is
subtile Prakçiti, viz., that which is eternal, and which at once
is [or comprehends what is] and [what] is not, or is mere proc-
1
ess.

“Prakçiti,” however, is an incorrect word, and Ālaya would explain

2
it better; for Prakçiti is not the “incognizable Brahma.”

The “Breath ” of the One Existence is used in its application only

to the spiritual aspect of Cosmogony by Archaic esotericism; oth-
erwise it is replaced by its equivalent in the material plane—
Motion. The One Eternal Element, or element-containing Vehicle, is
Space, dimensionless in every sense; coexistent with which are—
endless duration, primordial (hence indestructible) matter, and mo-
tion—absolute “perpetual motion” which is the “breath” of the
“One” Element. This breath . . . can never cease, not even during
3
the Pralayic eternities. The One Life [is] eternal, invisible, yet Om-
nipresent, without beginning or end, yet periodical in its regular
manifestations, between which periods reigns the dark mystery of
non-Being; unconscious, yet absolute Consciousness; unrealizable,
yet the one self-existing reality; truly, “a chaos to the sense, a
Kosmos to the reason.” Its one absolute attribute, which is ITSELF,
eternal, ceaseless Motion, . . . the “Great Breath,” which is the
perpetual motion of the universe, in the sense of limitless, ever-
present SPACE. That which is motionless cannot be Divine. But
then there is nothing in fact and reality absolutely motionless
4
within the universal soul.

[Chaos] . . . the Orphic triad shows an identical doctrine [with the

Phoenician Cosmogony]: for there Phanēs (or Erōs), Chaos, con-
taining crude undifferentiated Cosmic matter, and Chronos (time),
are the three co-operating principles emanating from the Unknow-

1
BDZ: [Wilson, Vishõu-Purāõa, vol. I, p. 20, note by Fitzedward Hall.]
2
Secret Doctrine, I pp. 49-50
3
Ibid. I p. 55
4
Ibid. I p. 2

310
 MŪLAPRAKRITI: ASPECTS, EPITHETS, AND SYNONYMS

able and concealed point, which produce the work of “Creation.”

And they are the Hindu Purusha (Phanēs), Pradhāna (chaos), and
1
Kala (Chronos) or time.
2
[Deep], Great deep, primordial deep.
3
[Mother], Virgin mother.

Motion , is one of the three aspects of the Absolute—Abstract

4
Space and Duration being the other two. . . . [Space] is the one
eternal thing in the universe independent of everything other
5
thing.

Pradhāna even in the Purāõas is an aspect of Parabrahman, not an

evolution. . . . “Prakçiti in its primary state is Ākāśa”. . . It is almost
6
abstract Nature.

1
Secret Doctrine, I p. 452 fn.
2
Cf. ibid. I pp. 336, 353, 384, 431, 460, 625, 673; II pp. 53, 65, 139, 236, 313, 527
3
Cf. ibid. I pp. 65, 400; II p. 43
4
Ibid. I p. 43
5
Mahātma Letter LSB-Appendix II, p. 508; Chronological ed.
6
Secret Doctrine, I p. 256

311
Appendix F
Logos: aspects, epithets, and synonyms1
Ain-Soph , the ABSOLUTE ENDLESS N O-T HING , uses also the form of
the ONE, the manifested “Heavenly Man ” (the FIRST CAUSE), as its
chariot (Merkabah, in Hebrew; Vahāna , in Sanskrit) or vehicle to
2
descend into, and manifest through, in the phenomenal world. . . .
The Occult doctrine teaches that while the monad is cycling on
downward into matter, these very Elōhīm—or Pitçis, the lower Dhy-
āni-Chohans—are evolving pari passu with it on a higher and more
spiritual plane, descending also relatively into matter, on their own
plane of consciousness, when, after having reached a certain point,
they will meet the incarnating senseless monad, encased in the
lowest matter, and blending the two potencies, Spirit and Matter,
the union will produce that terrestrial symbol of the “Heavenly
3
Man ” in space—PERFECT MAN. . . . [In the èig-Vedic Hymns] the
“Heavenly Man” is called purusha, “the Man,” from whom Virāj was
4
born; and from Virāj, the (mortal) man. . . . The “Heavenly Man” is
Adam-Kadmon —the synthesis of the Sephiroth, as “Manu
5
Svāyambhuva” is the synthesis of the Prajāpatis.

[Avalokiteśvara of the Buddhists, synonymous with Chenrezi,

Kwan-Shih-Yin and Padmapāõi. Avalokiteśvara is manifested Īś-
6
vara ], “the Lord who looks down from on high.” . . . there are two
7
Avalokiteśvaras in Esotericism; the first and the second Logos.

Brahmā [or Virāj , the real Kalahaüsa]. The student must distin-
guish between Brahma the neuter, and Brahmā, the male creator
of the Indian Pantheon. The former, Brahma or Brahman, is the
impersonal, supreme and uncognizable Principle of the Universe
from the essence of which all emanates, and into which all returns,
which is incorporeal, immaterial, unborn, eternal, beginningless
and endless. It is all-pervading, animating the highest god as well
as the smallest mineral atom. Brahmā, on the other hand, the
male and alleged Creator, exists periodically in his manifestation

1
Defining terms have been placed in bold type by the Comp.
2
Secret Doctrine, I p. 214
3
Ibid. I p. 247
4
Ibid. II p. 606
5
Ibid. II p. 704 fn.
6
Cf. ibid. I p. 471
7
Ibid. I p. 72 fn.

312
 LOGOS: ASPECTS, EPITHETS, AND SYNONYMS

only, and then again goes into pralaya, i.e., disappears and is an-
1
nihilated.

[Christos of the Christians] . . . “Christos” with the Gnostics meant

the impersonal principle, the Ātman of the Universe, and the Āt-
2
man within every man’s soul—not Jesus. . . . The esoteric Christos
in the gnosis is, of course, sexless, but in exoteric theology, he is
3 4
male and female. . . . [Christos is] . . . Yajña-Purusha.
5
Heavenly or Celestial Man of the Hermetic philosopher. Genesis
begins its anthropology at the wrong end (and evidently for a blind)
and lands nowhere. Had it begun as it ought, one would have
found in it, first, the celestial Logos, the “Heavenly Man,” which
evolves as a Compound Unit of Logoi, out of whom after their pra-
layic sleep—a sleep that gathers the ciphers scattered on the Mā-
yāvic plane into One, as the separate globules of quicksilver on a
plate blend into one mass—the Logoi appear in their totality as the
first “male and female” or Adam Kadmon, the “Fiat Lux” of the Bi-
6
ble . . .
7
Ineffable Name of the Masons and the kabalists.

8
Īśvara is the “Lord” god of the Vedantins.

Kalaha üsa. Brahma (neuter) is called Kalahaüsa . . . [by Western

Orientalists], the Eternal Swan or goose, and so is Brahmā, the
Creator. A great mistake is thus brought under notice; it is Brahma
(neuter) who ought to be referred to as Haüsa-Vahāna (He who
uses the swan as his Vehicle) and not Brahmā the Creator, who is
the real Kalahaüsa, while Brahma (neuter) is haüsa, and “a-
9
haüsa,” . . . Some Sanskrit mystics locate seven planes of being,
the seven spiritual lokas or worlds, within the body of Kala Haüsa,
the Swan out of Time and Space, convertible into the Swan in
1
Time, when it becomes Brahmā [male] instead of Brahma (neuter):

1
Theosophical Glossary, p. 62
2
Secret Doctrine, I p. 132 fn.
3
Ibid. I p. 72 fn.
4
Esoteric Writings, VII (3) p. 540
5
Cf. Secret Doctrine, I p. 110
6
Ibid. I p. 246; [Commentary on Stanza VII 5 (b).]
7
Cf. Isis Unveiled, II p. 368 fn.
8
Cf. Philosophy of the Bhagavad Gītā, (1st lecture) & Secret Doctrine, I p. 20
9
Secret Doctrine, I p. 20

313
APPENDIX F

1
ter): [Cf. Osiris, the God of Egypt or Horus, the son of Osiris and
Isis ].

Kān-yin-T’ien means the “melodious heaven of Sound,” the abode

of Kuan-yin , or the “Divine Voice” literally. This “Voice” is a syno-
nym of the Verbum or the Word: “Speech,” as the expression of
2
thought.
3
Kuan-shih-yin . . . means “the Lord that is seen,” . . . “the Son
4
identical with his Father” mystically, or the Logos . . . . Kuan-shih-
yin and Kuan-yin are the two aspects (male and female) of the
same principle in Kosmos, Nature and Man, of divine wisdom and
intelligence. They are the “Christos-Sophia” of the mystic Gnos-
5
tics—the Logos and its Śakti. . . . The Mother of Mercy and
Knowledge is called “the triple” of Kuan-Shih-Yin because in her
correlations, metaphysical and cosmical, she is the “Mother, the
6
Wife and the Daughter” of the Logos . . . Kuan-shih-yin is Avalo-
kiteśvara, and both are forms of the seventh Universal Principle;
while in its highest metaphysical character this deity is the syn-
thetic aggregation of all the planetary Spirits, Dhyāni-Chohans. He
is the “Self-manifested”; in short, the “Son of the Father.” Crowned
with seven dragons, above his statue there appears the inscription
7
P’u-chi-ch’ü-ling, “the universal Savior of all living beings.”

In the Esoteric Philosophy the First [Logos] is the unmanifested,

and the Second the manifested Logos . Iswara stands for that
Second, and Nārāyana for the unmanifested Logos. . . In The Secret
Doctrine, that form which the manifested Logos is born is trans-
lated by the “Eternal Mother-Father”; while in the Vishõu-Purāõa it
is described as the Egg of the World, surrounded by seven skins,
layers or zones. It is in this Golden Egg that Brahmā, the male, is
born and that Brahmā is in reality the Second Logos or even the
Third, according to the enumeration adopted; for a certainty he is
not the First or highest, the point which is everywhere and no-
where. Mahat, in the Esoteric interpretations, is in reality the Third
Logos or the Synthesis of the Seven creative rays, the Seven Logoi.
Out of the seven so-called Creations, Mahat is the third [Logos],
for it is the Universal and Intelligent Soul, Divine Ideation, combin-

1
Voice of the Silence, fragm. I note 16 (to vs. 22, p. 5); p. 75 in glos. of Chinese & Centenary eds.
2
Secret Doctrine, I p. 137
3
Ibid. I p. 471
4
Ibid. I p. 472
5
Ibid. I p. 473
6
Ibid. I p. 136
7
Ibid. I p. 471

314
 LOGOS: ASPECTS, EPITHETS, AND SYNONYMS

ing the ideal plans and prototypes of all things in the manifested
objective as well as subjective world. In the Sāükhya and Purāõic
doctrines Mahat is the first product of Pradhāna, informed by
Kshetrajña, “Spirit-Substance.” In Esoteric Philosophy Kshetrajña
1
is the name given to our informing EGOS. . . . [MAHAT [of the Pu-
rāõas] is the first product of Pradhāna, or Ākāśa, and Mahat—
Universal intelligence “whose characteristic property is Buddhi”—is
no other than the Logos, for he is called “Īśvara,” Brahmā, Bhāva,
2
etc.

Padmapā õ i, or Avalokiteśvara in Sanskrit, is, in Tibetan, Chen-

rezi. Now, Avalokiteśvara is the great Logos in its higher aspect
and in the divine regions. But in the manifested planes, he is, like
Daksha, the progenitor (in a spiritual sense) of men. Padmapāõi-
Avalokiteśvara is called esoterically Bodhisattva (or Dhyāni-
Chohan ) Chenrezi Jangchub, “the powerful and all-seeing .” He is
considered now as the greatest protector of Asia in general, and of
Tibet in particular. In order to guide the Tibetans and Lamas in ho-
liness, and preserve the great Arhats in the world, this heavenly
Being is credited with manifesting himself from age to age in hu-
man form. A popular legend has it that whenever faith begins to
die out in the world, Padmapāõi Chenrezi, the “lotus-bearer,” emits
a brilliant ray of light, and forthwith incarnates himself in one of
the two great Lamas—the Talay and Tashi Lamas; finally, it is be-
lieved that he will incarnate as “the most perfect Buddha” in Tibet,
instead of in India, where his predecessors, the great èishis and
Manus had appeared in the beginning of our Race, but now appear
3
no longer. . . . Padmapāõi, however, is the “lotus bearer” symboli-
cally only for the profane; esoterically, it means the supporter of
the Kalpas, the last [subdivision] of the present Mahā-Kalpa (the
Vārāha) is called Padma, and [the Vārāha] represents one half of
the life of Brahmā. Though a minor Kalpa, it is called Mahā,
“great,” because it comprises the age in which Brahmā sprang from
4
a lotus.

[Pratyagātman ] “It is that LIGHT which condenses into the forms of

the ‘Lords of Being’—the first and the highest of which are, collec-
5
tively, JĪVĀTMAN, or Pratyagātman.”

1
Blavatsky Collected Writings, (TRANSACTIONS OF THE BLAVATSKY LODGE) X pp. 313-14
2
Secret Doctrine, I p. 256
3
Ibid. II p. 178
4
Ibid. II p. 179
5
Ibid. II p. 33

315
APPENDIX F

Purusha [the Ideal Man ] heavenly man . . . . “The Spiritual

1
Self.” . . . [In the conditioned universe, Purusha and Prakçiti are
dual aspects of the One Reality. In the èig-Vedic Hymns] the
“Heavenly Man,” is called purusha, “the Man,” from whom Virāj
2
was born; and from Virāj, the (mortal) man. . . . “The Divine Es-
sence (Purusha) like a luminous arc” proceeds to form a circle—the
3
mahamanvantaric chain. . . . Purush . . . [is the] 7th principle of
4
the universe.
5 6
Śabda Brahman is the Logos of the Hindus. . . . “The Unmani-
7
fested Logos” . . . It is the God Śabda Brahmā called also Kala
Brahmā Gouri—one of the mystic names for ĀKĀŚA, which gives rise
8
to occult sound. . . . ŚABDA BRAHMĀ’S vehicle is called Shadja, and
9
the latter is the basic tone in the Hindu musical scale.

Sūtrātman, Thread Soul The Ātman or Spirit (the Spiritual SELF)

passing like a thread through the five subtle bodies (or principles,
Kosas) is called “thread soul,” or Sūtrātman in Vedantic philoso-
10
phy. . . . “Pilgrim” is the appellation given to our Monad (the two
in one) during its cycle of incarnations. It is the only immortal and
eternal principle in us, being an indivisible part of the integral
whole—the Universal Spirit, from which it emanates, and into
which it is absorbed at the end of the cycle. . . . The Vedantins call
it Sūtrātman (Thread-Soul), but their explanation, too, differs
11
somewhat from that of the occultists.

Universal Mind. . . . is the Demiurgos or the creative Logos of the

Western Kabalists, and the four-faced Brahmā of the Hindu relig-
ion. In its totality, viewed from the standpoint of manifested Divine
Thought, . . . [Demiurgos] represents the Hosts of the higher crea-

1
Theosophical Glossary, p. 265
2
Secret Doctrine, II p. 606
3
Mahātma Letter 18 (62), p. 117; 3rd Combined ed. [qu. in: Isis Unveiled, I p. 1]
4
Ibid. LSB-Appendix II, p. 509; Chronological ed.
5
[Brahmā?—Comp.]
6
Cf. Secret Doctrine, I p. 428
7
Theosophical Glossary, p. 282
8
Blavatsky Collected Writings, (“THARANA,” OR MESMERISM) IV p. 164
9
Ibid. IV p. 166
10
Secret Doctrine, I p. 610 fn; Also cf. [Commentary on Stanza VII 2: The one ray multiplies the
smaller rays. Life precedes form, and life survives the last atom of form (Sthūla-Śarīra, external body).
Through the countless rays proceeds the life-ray, the one, like a tread through many beads (pearls).
Ibid. I p. 222
11
Ibid. I pp. 16-17 fn.

316
 LOGOS: ASPECTS, EPITHETS, AND SYNONYMS

1
tive Dhyāni-Chohans. Simultaneously with the evolution of the
Universal Mind, the concealed Wisdom of Ādi-Budha —the One Su-
preme and eternal—manifests itself as Avalokiteśvara (or mani-
fested Īśvara), which is the Osiris of the Egyptians, the Ahura-
Mazda of the Zoroastrians, the Heavenly Man of the Hermetic phi-
losopher, the Logos of the Platonists, and the Ātman of the Vedan-
2 3
tins. . . . [Philosophy’s First Cause or Plato’s Logos is the self-
created being to which every chain of causes must ultimately go
back.] . . . “With the ancient wise, there was no name, and no idea,
4
and no symbol, of a First Cause.” . . . because it was too sacred. It
is referred to as THAT in the Vedas. It is the “Eternal Cause,” and
cannot, therefore, be spoken of as a “First Cause,” a term implying
5
the absence of any cause, at one time. . . . Thus, while Gods or
Dhyāni-Chohans (Devas) proceed from the First Cause—which is
not Parabrahman, for the latter is the ALL CAUSE, and cannot be re-
ferred to as the “First Cause”—which First Cause is called in the
Brahmanical Books Jagad-Yoni, “the womb of the world,” mankind
6
emanates from these active agents in Kosmos. . . . . [Herbert
Spencer asserts that] . . . the nature of the “First Cause,” which the
Occultist more logically derives from the “Causeless Cause ,” the
“Eternal ,” and the “Unknowable,” may be essentially the same as
that of the Consciousness which wells up within us: in short, that
the impersonal reality pervading the Kosmos is the pure noumenon
of thought. . . . The “first” presupposes necessarily something
which is the “first brought forth,” “the first in time, space, and
rank”—and therefore finite and conditioned. The “first” cannot be
the absolute, for it is a manifestation. Therefore, Eastern Occultism
calls the Abstract All the “Causeless One Cause,” the “Rootless
Root ,” and limits the “First Cause” to the Logos, in the sense that
7
Plato gives to this term.

. . . Vāch , Shekhīnah, or the “music of the spheres” of Pythago-

8
ras, are one . . . In one sense, the Greek Logos is the equivalent of
9
the Sanskrit Vāch, “the immortal (intellectual) ray of spirit.” . . . In
company with Kuan-yin, with Isis . . . and other goddesses, [Vāch

1
[Archangels.]
2
Secret Doctrine, I p. 110
3
Cf. ibid. I p. 214
4
BDZ: [quoting Skinner’s MS., fo. 18-20.]
5
Secret Doctrine, I p. 391 & fn.
6
Ibid. II p. 108
7
Ibid. I pp. 14-15 & fn.
8
Ibid. I p. 432
9
Ibid. II p. 199 fn.

317
APPENDIX F

is] the female Logos, so to speak, the goddess of the active forces in
Nature, the Word, Voice or Sound, and Speech. If Kuan-yin is the
“melodious Voice,” so is Vāch; “the melodious cow who milked
forth sustenance and water” (the female principle)—“who yields us
nourishment and sustenance,” as Mother-Nature. She is associ-
ated in the work of creation with the Prajāpatis. She is male and
female ad libitum, as Eve is with Adam. And she is a form of Aditi—
the principle higher than Ether—in Ākāśa, the synthesis of all the
forces in Nature; thus Vāch and Kuan-yin are both the magic po-
1
tency of Occult sound in Nature and Ether.
2
[Verbum or Word of the Christians. ]

Virāj and Horus are both male symbols, emanating from an-
drogyne Nature, one from Brahmā and his female counterpart
Vāch, the other, from Osiris and Isis—never from the One infinite
3
God.

Difference between Logos and Demiurgos

. . . there is a great difference between the LOGOS and the Demiur-

gos, for one is Spirit and the other is Soul; or as Dr. Wilder has it:
“Dianoia and Logos are synonymous, Nous being superior and
4
closely in affinity with τό άγαθόν, one being the superior appre-
hending, the other the comprehending—one noetic and the other
5
phrenic.”

Difference between Logos and Īśvara

In its general sense, Īśvara means “Lord”; but the Īśvara of the
mystic philosophers of India was understood precisely as the union
6
and communion of men with the Deity of the Greek mystics.

The Logos, or both the unmanifested and the manifested WORD, is

called by the Hindus, Īśvara, “the Lord,” though the Occultists give
it another name. Īśvara, say the Vedantins, is the highest con-
sciousness in Nature. “This highest consciousness,” answer the

1
Secret Doctrine, I p. 137
2
Cf. ibid. I pp. 72, 74, 93, 131, 136-38, 256, 278, 428-29, 431, 537, 629, 656, 657; II pp. 25, 237,
515, 541-2
3
Ibid. II p. 472
4
[The good—Comp.]
5
Secret Doctrine, II p. 25; [commenting on Cerberus, T Taylor indicates that the three-headed “dis-
criminative part of the soul” is “the intellective [or intuitional], cogitative [or rational], and opiniona-
tive powers.” i.e., noetic, dianoetic and “doxastic”—Comp. Cf. Taylor T. (With annotations by A Wilder
and the Publisher). The Eleusinian and Bacchic Mysteries. San Diego: Wizards Bookshelf, 1997. (Se-
cret Doctrine Reference Series); p. 30 & fn.]
6
Isis Unveiled, II p. 591 fn.

318
 LOGOS: ASPECTS, EPITHETS, AND SYNONYMS

Occultists, “is only a synthetic unit in the world of the manifested

Logos—or on the plane of illusion; for it is the sum total of

Dhyāni-Chohanic consciousness.” “Oh, wise man, remove the con-

ception that non Spirit is Spirit” says Śaükarāchārya. Ātman is not-
Spirit in its final Parabrahmic state, Īśvara or Logos is Spirit; or, as
Occultism explains, it is a compound unity of manifested living
Spirits, the parent-source and nursery of all the mundane and ter-
restrial monads, plus their divine reflection, which emanate from,
1
and return into, the Logos, each in the culmination of its time.

Logos in Science, Philosophy, and Religion

Just as the different schools of psychology are positing one funda-

mental and primary psychic energy at the bottom of all psychic ac-
tivity, we find also that the biologists are stressing on a fundamen-
tal and primary evolutionary activity at the bottom of all biological
phenomena whether considered merely as mechanical, or a vital,
or even as mental. Darwin has recognized it as a blind, mechani-
cal struggle for existence giving rise to a progressive evolution
of the species . Amongst recent scientists it is considered as a spe-
cial force or energy comparable to the other recognized forms called
Biotic Energy (Benjamin Moore); or as a developing principle or
tendency in and behind all organised matter (John Burrows); or
as some originative impulse within the organism which ex-
presses itself as variation and mutation and in all kinds of
creative effort and endeavour (Geddes and Thompson); or as the
inherent growth force (Goethe); or as life-force (Bernard Shaw);
or as an internal factor tending towards perfection (Nagelli); or
as the struggle of the spirit within to be superior to matter, to
escape from the trammels of matter , to secure a fuller individ-
ual life and a larger freedom (Albert P Mathews) . . . Philosophical
enquiry also has arrived at a single principle called Cosmic Intel-
ligence or Life designated as Hiraõyagarbha or Prā õ a in the
Upanishads, Primum Mobile by Aristotle, Demiurgos by Plato,
Nous by Anaximander, Natura Naturans by Bruno and Spinoza,
the Will to Power by Nietzsche, the Unconscious Will by von
Hartman and Wundt, the Absolute Will by Schopenhauer, the
Pure Creative Energy by Schelling, “Spiritual Life ” by Eucken,
and the Power that makes for Righteousness by Matthew Arnold.
The Unknowable of Spencer, the Thing-in-Itself of Kant, the Ab-
solute Ego of Fichte, the Absolute Idea of Hegel, The Absolute
Self of Idealists, the Absolute Experience of Bradley and Royce,
and the Oversoul of Emerson are still higher philosophical con-
cepts of the same Reality. . . . It is the same Reality that we are to

1
Secret Doctrine, I p. 573

319
APPENDIX F

recognize in the God of the theists, the Bare Pure One of Plotinus,
the Perfect Beauty of St Augustine, the Divine Wilderness of
Eckhart, the Father of Spirits of Berkeley, the Love that gives all
things , described by Jacopone Da Todi, the Wayless Abyss of
Fathomless Beatitude of Ruysbroeck, the Heart of the Universe
of Jacob Boehme, the Heavenly Bridegroom of Mechthild, the
Matchless Chalice and Sovereign Wine of the Sufis, the Jehovah
of the Jews, the Zeus of the Greeks, the Providence of the Stoics,
the Jupiter of the Romans, the Ineffable One of the Neoplatonists,
the Father in Heaven of the Christians, the Dharmakāya or the
Śūnyā of the Buddhists, the Allah of the Moslems, the Ahur[a]
Mazda of the Parsees, and the Brahman , Paramātman , Īśvara,
1
Purusottama , Bhagavan , and Ekam Sat of the Hindus.

Logos in Gnostic Systems

Epinoia [the Divine Thought] is a Power of many names. She is called the
Mother , or All-Mother , Mother of the Living or Shining Mother , the Ce-
lestial Eve ; the Power Above ; the Holy Spirit, for the Spiritus in some sys-
tems is a feminine power (in a symbolical sense, of course), pre-eminently in
the Codex Nazaraeus, the scripture of the Mandaites. Again she is called the
She of the Left-hand , as opposed to the Christos, He of the Right-hand; the
Man-woman ; Prouneikos ; Matrix ; Paradise; Eden ; Akhamoth ; the Virgin ;
Barbelo ; Daughter of Light ; Merciful Mother; Consort of the Masculine
One ; Revelant of the Perfect Mysteries ; Perfect Mercy ; Revelant of the
Mysteries of the Whole Magnitude ; Hidden Mother ; She who knows the
Mysteries of the Elect ; the Holy Dove , who has given birth to the two
Twins; Ennoia ; and by many other name varying according to the terminol-
ogy of the different systems, but ever preserving the root idea of the World-
2
Soul in the Macrocosm and the Soul in Man.

Epithets of Isis

In Cupid and Psychē, Isis is clearly moved by Lucius’ entreaties. She admits,
“the whole world worships my single godhead in a thousand shapes, with di-
verse rites, and under many a different name,” and proceeds by citing exam-
ples as follows:

The Phrygians, first-born of mankind, call me the Pessinuntian

Mother of the gods; the native Athenians the Cecropian Minerva;
the island-dwelling Cypriots Paphian Venus; the archer Cretans
Dictynnan Diana ; the triple-tongued Sicilians Stygian Proser-

1
Tyagisānanda S. Aphorisms on the Gospel of Divine Love or Nārada Bhakti-Sūtras. Madras: Śri
Ramakçishõa Math, 1983; pp. 97-100 fn.
2
Mead GRS. Simon Magus. An Essay on the Founder of Simonianism based on the Ancient Sources
with a Re-evaluation of his Philosophy and Teachings. Montana: Kessinger Publishing Company; p.
67

320
 LOGOS: ASPECTS, EPITHETS, AND SYNONYMS

pine; the ancient Eleusinians Actaean Ceres; some call me Juno ,

some Bellona, others Hecate, others Rhamnusia; but both races
of Ethiopians, those on whom the rising and those on whom the
setting sun shines, and the Egyptians who excel in ancient learn-
ing, honour me with the worship which is truly mine and call me
1
by my true name: Queen Isis.

A lesser-known title of Isis gives away the fact that God’s Love for Man is
none other than the eternal desire for self-conscious reflection (erōs-agāpe)
throbbing at the heart of the universe:
2
[Isis is the] Love of Gods (Άγάπη Θεών, Agāpe Theōn).

1
Golden Ass, bk. 11 pp. 197-98
2
Oxyrhynchus Papyrus, 1380.109 (ii AD)

321
Appendix G
Fohat: aspects, epithets, and synonyms1
Daivīprakçiti [is] the conscious energy of Logos, which is power
2
and light. . . . In fact there are two contending forces in the cos-
mos. The one is Prakçiti. . . The other is Daivīprakçiti, the light that
comes down, reflection after reflection, to the plane of the lowest
organisms. In all those religions, in which the fight between the
good and the bad impulses of this cosmos is spoken of, the real
reference is always of this light, which is constantly attempting to
raise men from the lowest level to the highest plane of spiritual life,
and that other force, which has its place in Prakçiti, and is con-
3
stantly leading the spirit into material existence.
4
Erōs . . . Cupid or Love in his primitive sense is Erōs, the Divine
5
Will, or Desire of manifesting itself through visible creation . .
. . Erōs is the third person in the primeval trinity: Chaos, Gæa,
Erōs; answering to the Kabalistic Ain-Soph (for Chaos is SPACE,
χαίνω, “void”), the Boundless ALL, Shekhīnah and the Ancient of
6
Days, or the Holy Ghost.

It is through Fohat that the ideas of the Universal Mind are im-
7
pressed upon matter. . . . By the action of the manifested Wisdom,
or Mahat, represented by . . . innumerable centres of spiritual En-
ergy in the Kosmos, the reflection of the Universal Mind, which is
Cosmic Ideation and the intellectual Force accompanying such
ideation, becomes objectively the Fohat of the Buddhist esoteric
philosopher. Fohat, running along the seven principles of ĀKĀŚA,
acts upon manifested substance or the One Element . . . and by
differentiating it into various centres of Energy, sets in motion the
law of Cosmic Evolution, which, in obedience to the Ideation of the
Universal Mind, brings into existence all the various states of being
8
in the manifested Solar System.

[Gāyātri] The Light that emanates from [Logos] has three phases,
or three aspects. First, it is the Life, or the Mahachaitanyam of the
cosmos; . . . secondly, it is force, and in this aspect, it is the Fohat

1
Defining terms have been placed in bold type by the Comp.
2
Philosophy of the Bhagavad Gītā, (1st lecture) p. 10
3
Ibid. (3rd lecture) p. 63
4
[Or pōthos, desire in Greek—Comp.]
5
Secret Doctrine, II p. 65
6
Ibid. I p. 109
7
Ibid. I p. 85
8
Ibid. I p. 110

322
 of the Buddhist philosophy; lastly, it is Wisdom, in the sense that it
is the Chichhakti of the Hindu philosophers. All these three aspects
1
are . . . combined in the conception of Gayatri. . . . Gayatri is the
Daivīprakçiti of the first Ray—the combined influence of both the
2
elements in that Ray.

[Holy Ghost of the Christians] . . . with the early Christians . . . the

3
Holy Spirit was feminine, as Sophia was with the Gnostics.

Kāma . . . is in the Ŗig-Veda the personification of that feeling

which leads and propels to creation. He was the first movement
that stirred the ONE, after its manifestation from the purely ab-
stract principle, to create, “Desire first arose in It, which was the
primal germ of mind; and which sages, searching with their intel-
lect, have discovered to be the bond which connects Entity with
Non-Entity.” A hymn in the Atharva-Veda exalts Kāma into a su-
preme God and Creator, and says: “Kāma was born the first. Him,
neither gods nor fathers [Pitçis], nor men have equalled.”. . . Else-
where Kāma is born from the heart of Brahmā; therefore he is
Ātma-Bhu, “Self-Existent,” and Aja, the “unborn.”. . . As Erōs was
connected in early Greek mythology with the world’s creation, and
only afterwards became the sexual Cupid, so was Kāma in his
4
original Vedic character.

The Occultists call this light [Light of the Logos] Daivīprakçiti in

the East, and light of Christos in the West. It is the Light of the
LOGOS, the direct reflection of the ever-Unknowable on the plane of
5
Universal manifestation.
6
Mahā-Buddhi is the intelligent soul of the world.

Paraśakti: —Literally the great or supreme force or power. It

7
means and includes the powers of light and heat.

Phanēs . In the orphic hymns, the Erōs-Phanēs evolves from the

Spiritual Egg, which the aethereal winds impregnate, wind being

1
Philosophy of the Bhagavad Gītā, (3rd lecture) p. 62
2
Esoteric Writings, VII (3) p. 540
3
Secret Doctrine, I p. 618
4
Ibid. II p. 176
5
Ibid. II p. 38
6
Cf. ibid. I pp. 334, 336, 451, 572
7
Ibid. I p. 292; [quoting TS Row.]

323
APPENDIX G

“the Spirit of God,” who is said to move in aether, “brooding over

1
the Chaos”—the Divine “Idea.”

Solar Chnouphis , or Agathodaimōn , is the Christos of the Gnos-

tics. . . . Chnouphis was the spiritual Sun of Enlightenment, of
Wisdom, hence the patron of all the Egyptian initiates, as Bel-
2
Merodach (or Bel-Belitanus ) became later with the Chaldeans.

[Sophia of the Gnostics.] . . . The “Mind” of the Demiurgic Creator .

. . was called the “Mother,” Sophia with the Gnostics (or the female
Wisdom), the Sephīrāh with the Jews, Sarasvati or Vāch, with the
3
Hindus, the Holy Ghost being a female Principle.

1
Blavatsky Collected Writings, (THE MIND IN NATURE) XIII p. 267
2
Secret Doctrine, II p. 210 fn.
3
Ibid. I pp. 352-53

324
Appendix H
AUM: definitions, derivatives, parallels
1
• AUM, also written as Oý (and pronounced om as in home), is “a mystic
2
syllable, the most solemn of all words in India.”
3
• “An invocation, a benediction, an affirmation, a promise.”

• A symbol of both Saguna Brahman, or the Creator God, and Nirguõa

4
Brahman, or the attributeless Absolute.
• A word of solemn affirmation, sometimes translated by “yes,” “verily,” “So
5
be it.”
6
• Placed at the beginning of most Hindu spiritual treatises.

• Uttered as a sacred exclamation at the beginning and end of a recital of

7
the Vedas or at the beginning of a prayer.
8
• The symbol of Gayatri mantra, the essence of the Vedas.

• The three letters A, U, and M are symbols of creation, preservation and

9
destruction.
10
• Of Brahmā the Creator, Vishõu the Preserver, and Śiva the Destroyer.
11
• Of the states of waking, dreaming, and dreamless sleep.

• The undifferentiated sound m-m-m that follows the utterance of the

three letters is the symbol of Turīya or transcendental consciousness
12
[the fourth state].
• The word Ōm is held in high respect by the Buddhists and Jainas as well
13
as by the Hindus.

1
“In Sanskrit the vowel o is constitutionally a diphthong, contracted from a+u. Ōm therefore may be
analyzed into the elements a+u+m”; [qu. by RE Hume in: Upanishads, p. 166 fn.]
2
Theosophical Glossary, p. 239
3
Ibid.
4
Upanishads, p. 374
5
Ibid.
6
Ibid.
7
Ibid.
8
Ibid.
9
Ibid.
10
Ibid.
11
Ibid.
12
Cf. ibid. “Thou liest in the Cosmic Waters in the state of Turīya, which is neither absorption in the
oblivion of deep sleep, nor involvement in the objective movement of the waking and dream states.”
Srimad Bhāgavata, VII, 9, 32
13
Upanishads, p. 374

325
• This monosyllable is called Udgītta, and is sacred with both Brahmins
1
and Buddhists.
• It is so sacred, as to be indeed the word at low breath of occult, primitive
masonry. No one must be near when the syllable is pronounced for a
2
purpose.
• [The] three letters a, u, m, . . . are typical of the three Vedas, also of three
gods—A (Agni) V (Varuna) and M (Maruts) or Fire, Water and Air. In eso-
teric philosophy these are the three sacred fires, or the “triple fire” in the
Universe and Man, besides many other things. Occultly, this “triple fire”
represents the highest Tetraktys also, as it is typified by the Agni named
Abhimānin and his transformation into his three sons, Pāvana,
Pavamāna and Suchi, “who drinks up water,” i.e., destroys material de-
3
sires.
• The extant Tantra-books, dealing with Śakti in a personal aspect, give to
[AUM] a hidden name consisting of the single letter “i,” even as they call
various other Gods by single letters. This letter stands naturally between
“a” and “u,” as should also “m” being only the outer sheath of the “i,”
though it is thrown to the end because of the fact that it appears as ne-
gation after affirmation. But this “i,” placed between “a” and “u” coa-
lesces with and disappears entirely into the “a,” in the conjunction which
brings out of the joined vowel-sounds, “a” and “u,” the vowel-sound “o,”
for Aum is pronounced as Ōm. . . . That this coalescence and disappear-
ance is just, is plain from all that has been said as to the nature of Śakti,
which ever hides in the Self, and disappears into the Not-Self whenever
the Self acts upon that Not-Self, as goes back again to the Self through
4
and after the Negation.

[The table opposite was drawn from The Secret Doctrine, the Upanishads, B ôās’ Science of Peace: an
attempt at an exposition of the first principles of the Science of Self, Adhyātma-Vidyā, Theosophical
Publishing Society (London & Benares) 1904; and the latter’s three-volume work on the Science of
the Sacred Word, being a summarised translation of the Pranava-Vada of Gargyana, Theosophical
Publishing Society (Adyar) 1910, 1911 & 1913.
Readers may also wish to consult NC Paul’s article entitled “Ōm,” and Its Practical Significance. In:
Five Years of Theosophy: Mystical, Philosophical, Theosophical, Historical and Scientific Essays Se-
lected from “The Theosophist.” (Facsimile reprint of the 1st ed. 1885). Los Angeles: The Theosophy
Company, 1980; pp. 540-57.]

1
Theosophical Glossary, p. 240
2
Ibid. pp. 239-40
3
Ibid. p. 240
4
ôās B. The Science of Peace: an attempt at an exposition of the first principles of the Science of Self,
Adhyātma-Vidyā. London & Benares: Theosophical Publishing Society, 1904; pp. 160-62

326
 A U M

Aims & objectives Evidence (pramāõa) Fact (prameya) Doubt (sāükhaya)

and the means of corresponding with corresponding to
ascertaining evidence the discrimination the dissatisfaction
(śama) between the real and with the world
the unreal (viveka) (vairāgya)

Altruism & egotism Other-interest Self-interest Supreme interest

or altruism or egotism or universalism
(parārtha) (svārtha) (paramārtha)

Attributes (guõas) Passion (rājas) Ignorance (tamas) Virtue (sattva)

Beginningless Succession of Succession of The world process

tradition Self dying Non-Self being born of death and life
(saüsāra)

Cause & effect Cause (kāraõa) Effect (kriya) Efficient actor (kartā)

1
Existence Being Non-Being Becoming

Feelings proper Pleasure Desire Absence of either

(kāõkśa) (ichchhā) resulting in peace
(ānanda)

I-am-He I Am He
(a-haü-sa) (a) (haü) (sa)

Immortal triad Ātman Buddhi Manas

Sāükhya Spirit-Consciousness Matter-Nature Life

philosophy (purusha), an ever (prakçiti), objectivity
becoming subjectivity in purest abstraction

Unity & trinity Unity of spirit Trinity in Nature Expressing an ever

unknown and
unknowable cause

Upanishads Truth Knowledge Endlessness

Yoga Mind Its modifications Their restrain, control

(chitta) (vçtti) or inhibition
(nirodha)

1
By mutual pervasion and interdependence of A and U.

327
Appendix I
Conscience and consciousness
In contemporary English, Conscience is “the sense of moral correctness that
1
governs or influences a person’s actions or thoughts.” Its authority stems
from Shakespeare’s “Innermost Thought” or Consciousness. The latter is
“the knowledge which the mind has of everything that is actually being ex-
2
perienced.” HP Blavatsky, too, uses Conscience and Consciousness inter-
changeably but with a different twist:

. . . the only God man comes in contact with is his own God, called
3
Spirit, Soul and Mind, or Consciousness, and these three are one.

A pure soul found God neither in the wind, nor in the earthquake, nor in the
fire, but:

. . . he found Him in the “still small voice”—the voice of his own

4
CONSCIENCE, the true tabernacle of man.

Elsewhere, the Voice of Conscience is likened to a “faithful sentry” or “God’s

vicegerent in the soul”:

. . . those who resign themselves to a materialistic existence, shut-

ting out the divine radiance shed by their spirit, at the beginning of
the earthly pilgrimage, and stifling the warning voice of that faith-
ful sentry, the conscience, which serves as a focus for the light in
the soul—such beings as these, having left behind conscience and
spirit, and crossed the boundaries of matter, will of necessity have
5
to follow its laws.

Conscience, “God’s vicegerent in the soul,” speaks no longer in

man; for the whispers of the still small voice within are stifled by
6
the ever-increasing din and roar of Selfishness.

Tracing the senses that act in dreams, Blavatsky defines further Conscience
as:

. . . impressions projected into the physical man by his [Higher]

Ego which constitute what we call “conscience”; and in proportion
as the Personality, the lower Soul (or Manas), unites itself to its

1
Chambers [British English] Dictionary
2
Ibid.
3
Blavatsky Collected Writings, (DREAMS) X p. 255
4
Ibid. (A PERSONAL STATEMENT) II p. 388
5
Isis Unveiled, I p. 328
6
Blavatsky Collected Writings, (OUR CHRISTIAN XIXTH CENTURY ETHICS) X p. 81

328
 CONSCIENCE AND CONSCIOUSNESS

1
higher consciousness, or EGO, does the action of the latter upon
2
the life of mortal man become more marked.

Fortunate are those who “live the life,” as they are guided pre-eminently by
the promptings of their own consciousness:

It is true that the first conditions required to reach it [the “straight

gate” and the “thorny path”] are absolute disinterestedness, a
boundless devotion to the welfare of others, and a complete indif-
ference to the world and its opinions. In order to make the first
step on that ideal path, the motive must be absolutely pure; not an
unworthy thought must attract the eyes from the end in view, not a
doubt or hesitation shackle the feet. There do exist men and
women thoroughly qualified for this, whose only aim is to dwell
under the Aegis of their Divine Nature. Let them, at least, take
courage to live the life and not conceal it from the eyes of others!
No one else’s opinion should be considered superior to the voice of
one’s own conscience. Let that conscience, therefore, developed to
its highest degree, guide us in all the ordinary acts of life. As to the
conduct of our inner life, let us concentrate our entire attention on
the ideal we have set ourselves, and look beyond, without paying
the slightest attention to the mud upon our feet . . . Those who are
capable of making this effort are the true Theosophists; all others
3
are but members, more or less indifferent, and very often useless.

Finally, commenting on Brahmachāri Bāwā’s life, Blavatsky connects Deity,

4
Morality, Conscience, and Intuition:

His god is Brahma, the eternal and universal essence which per-
vades everything and everywhere and which in man is the divine
essence which is his moral guide, is recognized in the instincts of
conscience, makes him aspire to immortality and leads him to it.
This divine spirit in man is designated Iśwar and corresponds to

1
Cf. “This Ego . . . is the “Higher Ego” . . . the higher Manas illuminated by Buddhi; the principle of
self-consciousness, the “I-am-I,” in short. It is the Karana-Śarira, the immortal man, which passes
from one incarnation to another.” (Vide infra)
2
Blavatsky Collected Writings, (DREAMS) X p. 249
3
Ibid. (THE NEW CYCLE) XI pp. 135-36
4
Cf. “Student.—How is one to know when he gets real occult information from the Self within?
Sage.—Intuition must be developed and the matter judged from the true philosophical basis, for if it
is contrary to true general rules it is wrong. It has to be known from a deep and profound analysis by
which we find out what is from egotism alone and what is not; if it is due to egotism, then it is not
from the Spirit and is untrue. The power to know does not come from book-study nor from mere phi-
losophy, but mostly from the actual practice of altruism in deed, word, and thought; for that practice
purifies the covers of the soul and permits that light to shine down into the brain-mind. As the
brain-mind is the receiver in the waking state, it has to be purified from sense-perception, and the
truest way to do this is by combining philosophy with the highest outward and inward virtue.”
Blavatsky Collected Writings, (CONVERSATIONS ON OCCULTISM) IX p. 400-G

329
APPENDIX I

the name Adonai—Lord, of the Kabalists, i.e., the Lord within

1
man.

These subtle distinctions between Conscience and Intuition are relevant only
to those who are shielded by their own purity. Submersed in Kali-Yuga, few
can listen to the whispers of the “prisoner” within. Its murmurs are often
2
drowned by “the roaring voice of the great illusion.” And, more often than
3
not, “sweet-tongued voices of illusion” tend to masquerade as the “still small
voice” of our Inner Self. In a remarkable letter to AO Hume, Master Koot
Hoomi amplifies the difference between Intuition and Conscience:

“But my conscience my intuition!” you may argue. Poor help in

such a case as mine. Your intuition would make you feel but that
which really was—for the time being; and as to your conscience—
you then accept Kant’s definition of it? You, perhaps, believe with
him that under all circumstances, and even with the full absence
of definite religious notions, and occasionally even with no firm no-
tions about right and wrong at all, MAN has ever a sure guide in his
own inner moral perceptions or—conscience? The greatest of mis-
takes! With all the formidable importance of this moral factor, it
has one radical defect. Conscience as it was already remarked may
be well compared to that demon, whose dictates were so zealously
listened to and so promptly obeyed by Socrates. Like that demon,
conscience, may perchance, tell us what we must not do; yet, it
never guides us as to what we ought to perform, nor gives any
definite object to our activity. And—nothing can be more easily
lulled to sleep and even completely paralysed, as this same con-
science by a trained will stronger than that of its possessor. Your
conscience will NEVER show you whether the mesmeriser is a true
adept or a very clever juggler, if he once has passed your threshold
and got control of the aura surrounding your person. You speak of
abstaining from any but an innocent work like bird-collecting, lest
there be danger of creating another Frankenstein’s monster. . . .
Imagination as well as will—creates. Suspicion is the most power-
ful provocative agent of imagination. . . . Beware! You have already
begotten in you the germ of a future hideous monster, and instead
of the realisation of your purest and highest ideals you may one
day evoke a phantom, which, barring every passage of light will
leave you in worse darkness than before, and, will harass you to
4
the end of your days.

1
Blavatsky Collected Writings, (FOOTNOTES TO “THE BRAHMACHĀRI BĀWĀ”) II p. 160
2
Voice of the Silence, fragm. I vs. 15, p. 4
3
Ibid. fragm. I vs. 31, p. 7
4
Mahātma Letter 28 (11), pp. 214-15; 3rd Combined ed.

330
 CONSCIENCE AND CONSCIOUSNESS

As with opposing states of consciousness, e.g., Higher / Lower Self, there

is Higher and there is Lower Conscience. Many a thinker’s musings have
been captured in the defining compilations below. A third, on Remorse,
has been added for those haunted by a guilty conscience.

Higher conscience
What does your conscience say? “You must become who it is
that you are.”
1
— Friedrich Nietzsche

“Conscience tells us that . . . but it does not tell us what right is—that
2
we ought to do right,” we are taught by God’s word. Conscience is
3
God’s presence in man.
“Conscience commands. Love’s way of dealing with us is different from
Love inspires.” conscience’s way. Conscience commands; love
inspires. What we do out of love, we do be-
cause we want to do it. Love is, indeed, one
kind of desire; but it is a kind that takes us
out of ourselves and carries us beyond our-
selves, in contrast to the kind that is self-
seeking—a kind that includes the desire for
the “extinguishedness” of Nirvāõa. Love is
freedom; conscience is constraint; yet, in two
points, our relation to love is the same as our
relation to conscience. We are free to reject
love’s appeal, as we are free to reject con-
science’s command; yet love, like conscience,
cannot be rebuffed with impunity. Rebuffed,
love will continue to importune us; and this
for the reason for which a violated conscience
does. Love’s authority, like conscience’s, is ab-
solute. Like conscience, too, love needs no au-
thentication or validation by any authority
outside itself. Speculations about love’s cre-
dentials, or lack of credentials, cannot either
4
enhance or diminish love’s absoluteness.

1
Nietzsche: The Gay Science (aphorism 270), “Third Book,” (1st ed. 1882). In: G Colli & M Montinari
(Eds.). Friedrich Nietzsche, Sämtliche Werke: Kritische Studienausgabe; Berlin: de Gruyter, 1980; (3,
p. 519)
2
Henry Clay Trumbull—Mead’s Quotations
3
Emanuel Swedenborg: Arcana Coelestia, 4299
4
Arnold Joseph Toynbee: Experiences, Oxford University Press, 1969; (pt. 1, ch. 1)

331
APPENDIX I

Lower conscience
I cannot and will not cut my conscience to fit this year’s fash-
ions.
1
— Lillian Hellman

“Our conscience is not the . . . It grows with our social life, and a new so-
vessel of eternal verities.” cial condition means a radical change in con-
2
science.
“Conscience is merely . . . of the right or wrong of our action, and so
our own judgment” can never be a safe guide unless enlightened
3
by the word of God.
Conscience is, in most men, an anticipation of
4
the opinions of others.
A man’s conscience and his judgement is the
same thing; and as the judgment, so also the
5
conscience, may be erroneous.
“Conviction is the One who breaks an unjust law that conscience
6
conscience of the mind.” tells him is unjust, and who willingly accepts
the penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse
the conscience of the community over its in-
justice, is in reality expressing the highest re-
7
spect for law.
8
Conviction is the conscience of intellect.

“Wild liberty develops . . . Want of liberty, by strengthening law and

9
iron conscience.” decorum, stupefies conscience.

1
Hellman: Nation, Letter to House Committee on Un-American Activities, 21 May 1952
2
Walter Lippmann: A Preface to Politics, 1914; (ch. 6)
3
Tryon Edwards—Mead’s Quotations
4
Henry Taylor: The Statesman, 1836 (ch. 9)
5
Thomas Hobbes: Leviatian, (pt 2, ch. 29)
6
Humphrey, Mrs Ward: Elsmere (1888), recalling an axiom of Mr Gray’s. In: Robert Elsmere, (bk. 4,
ch. 26)
7
Martin Luther King: Letter from Birmingham Jail, Why We Can’t Wait, 1963. Cf. “Justice is con-
science, not a personal conscience but the conscience of the whole humanity. Those who clearly rec-
ognize the voice of their own conscience usually recognize also the voice of justice.” Alexander Solz-
henitsyn: Solzhenitsyn: A Documentary Record. (Letter from Solzhenitsyn to three students, October
1967. “The Struggle Intensifies”); L Labedz, 1970
8
Sébastien-Roch Nicolas de Chamfort: Maxims and Considerations (1796); 1 (151); transl. 1926
9
Emerson: Politics, ¶ 12; (p. 207)

332
 CONSCIENCE AND CONSCIOUSNESS

1
“Conscience is but a . . . devised at first to keep the strong in awe.
word that cowards use”
For why should my liberty be subject to the
2
judgment of someone else’s conscience?
“O coward conscience, how Thus conscience does make cowards of us
3 4
dost thou afflict me!” all,
And thus the native hue of resolution
Is sicklied o’er with the pale cast of thought,
And enterprises of great pith and moment
With this regard their currents turn awry,
5
And lose the name of action.
6
Conscience makes egotists of us all.

1
William Shakespeare: King Richard (III), act V, scene 3, 1. 309-10
2
1 Corinthians, 10, 29
3
William Shakespeare: King Richard (III), act V, scene 3, 1. 179
4
Cf. “Reflection makes men cowards.” William Hazlitt: Characteristics (1823), 228
5
William Shakespeare: Hamlet, act III, scene 1, 1. 85-90
6
Oscar Wilde: The Picture of Dorian Gray, 1891; (Lord Henry, ch. 8)

333
APPENDIX I

Conscience-smitten
In another equally remarkable letter to AP Sinnett, Master Koot Hoomi
touches upon the enduring oppression of guilt and self-reproach:

Remember, every feeling is relative. There is neither good nor evil,

happiness nor misery per se. The transcendent, evanescent bliss of
an adulterer, who by his act murders the happiness of a husband,
is no less spiritually born for its criminal nature. If a remorse of
conscience (the latter proceeding always from the Sixth Principle)
has only once been felt during the period of bliss and really spiri-
tual love, born in the sixth and fifth, however polluted by the de-
sires of the fourth, or Kamarupa,—then this remorse must survive
and will accompany incessantly the scenes of pure love. I need not
enter into details, since a physiological expert, as I take you to be,
need hardly have his imagination and intuitions prompted by a
psychological observer of my sort. Search in the depths of your
conscience and memory, and try to see what are the scenes that
are likely to take their firm hold upon you; when once more in their
presence you find yourself living them over again; and that, en-
snared, you will have forgotten all the rest—this letter among other
things, since in the course of events it will come far later on in the
panorama of your resurrected life. I have no right to look into your
1
past life.

Secret, crimes may be, but silenced, they cannot be.

Conscience will ever be uttering its accusing voice.
2
— Seneca

Remorse is the Every man, however good, has a yet better

whisper of the soul. man within him. When the outer man is un-
faithful to his deeper convictions, the hidden
man whispers a protest. The name of this
3
whisper in the soul is conscience.
Yet still there whispers the small voice within,
Heard through Gain’s silence, and o’er Glory’s
din;
Whatever creed be taught or land be trod,
4
Man’s conscience is the oracle of God.

1
Mahātma Letter 24B (85B), p. 185; 3rd Combined ed.
2
Seneca: Epistolæ, 97; (Tuta scelera esse possunt, secura non possunt.)—King’s Quotations
3
Friedrich Heinrich Alexander Von Humboldt—Mead’s Quotations
4
George Gordon, Lord Byron: The Island, Canto I, 6.

334
 CONSCIENCE AND CONSCIOUSNESS

“Pangs of conscience are A quiet conscience makes one so serene!

the sadistic stirrings Christians have burnt each other, quite per-
1
of Christianity.” suaded
That all the Apostles would have done as they
2
did.
Blushing, palpitations, a bad conscience—this
3
is what you get if you haven’t sinned.
Churches come and go, but there has ever
been one religion. The only religion is con-
4
science in action.
“The bite of conscience, My conscience hath a thousand several
like a dog biting a stone, tongues,
5
is a stupidity.” And every tongue brings in a several tale,
6
And every tale condemns me for a villain.
Conscious of truth, the mind can smile at lies
7
But we’re a race too prone t’ imagine vice.
O Conscience! into what abyss of fears
And horrors has thou driven me; out of which
8
I find no way, from deep to deeper plunged!

1
Karl Kraus: In: H Zohn (Transl.). Half-Truths and One-and-a-Half Truths. Beim Wort genommen
(1955) & University of Chicago Press, 1990
2
George Gordon, Lord Byron: Don Juan, First canto LXXXIII, 1. 662-64
3
Karl Kraus: In: H Zohn (Transl.). Half-Truths and One-and-a-Half Truths. Beim Wort genommen
(1955) & University of Chicago Press, 1990.
4
Henry Demarest Lloyd—Mead’s Quotations. Cf. “[The Theosophical Society is] . . . an absolute and
uncompromising Republic of Conscience, preconception and narrow-mindedness in science and phi-
losophy have no room in it. They are as hateful and as much denounced by us as dogmatism and
bigotry in theology.” Blavatsky Collected Writings, (A REPLY TO OUR CRITICS) III p. 226
5
Friedrich Nietzsche: The Wanderer and His Shadow (aphorism 38), “The Bite of Conscience,” (1st
ed. 1880). In: G Colli & M Montinari (Eds.). Friedrich Nietzsche, Sämtliche Werke: Kritische Studi-
enausgabe; Berlin: de Gruyter, 1980
6
William Shakespeare: King Richard (III), act V, scene 5, 1. 147
7
Ovidius Naso: Fasti, 311; (Conscia mens recti famæ mendacia risit | Sed nos in vitium credula
turba sumus.)—King’s Quotations
8
John Milton: Paradise Lost, I. bk. X, 1. 842-44

335
Appendix J
A marriage1 made in heaven
[Modified after ôās B. The Science of Social Organisation (or the Laws of
Manu) in the Light of Theosophy. Benares: Theosophical Publishing Society,
1910; pp. 221-22]

“. . . man and woman are verily soul and body, inseparable ever.
Then shall they realise, in the words of the Vishõu Purāõa [I. viii.]
and the Vishõu Bhāgavata [VI. xix.] that:

He is Vishõu, She is Shri.

She is language, He is thought.

She is prudence, He is law.

He is reason, She is sense.

She is duty, He is right.

He is author, She is work.

He is patience, She is peace.

He is will, and She is wish.

He is pity, She is gift.

He is chant and She is note.

She is fuel, He is fire.

She is glory, He is sun.

She is orbs, He is space.

She is motion, He is wind.

He is ocean, She is shore.

He is owner, She is wealth.

He is battle, She is might.

He is lamp, and She is light.

1
For the esoteric significance of marriage vide Blavatsky Collected Writings, (THE FUTURE OCCULTIST)
VI pp. 261-63.

336
 He is day, and She is night.

He is tree, and She is vine.

He is music, She is words.

He is justice, She is truth.

He is channel, She is stream.

He is flag-staff, She is flag.

She is beauty, He is strength.

She is body, He is soul.

1
[She is soil, He is seed]

Then shall they see that both are equally important and indispen-
sable and inseparable; that each has distinct psycho-physical at-
tributes and functions which supplement each other; that both are
present in each individualised life; but that, in certain epochs, one,
with its set of characteristics, is more prominent in one set of
forms, and the other, with its differentia and propria, in another
set of forms.”

1
[Cf. Manu, bk. 9, sl. 33—Comp.]

337
Appendix K
Ālaya: aspects, epithets, and synonyms
Ālaya or Soul of the World may be defined as:

• Ākāśa on the Spiritual Plane as opposed to Prakriti (Matter or Na-

ture), the Astral Light of the Kabalists or Serpent on the Psychic
Plane.

• Borne from the union of Purusha or divine spirit with Mūlaprakçiti or

primordial matter (Kañhakopanishad).

• Brahmā’s aura of transformation of the Hindus.

• “Divine compassion,” which is “no attribute” but verily “the LAW of

laws—eternal Harmony or Ālaya’s Self.”

• Divine and spiritual in its three higher planes; of igneous and ethereal
nature in the objective world in its four lower planes.

• Divine Grace par excellence.

• Divine Thought or Logos, the male aspect of the Anima Mundi.

• Eternal and changeless or absolute in its inner essence on the planes

which are unreachable by either men or Cosmic Gods (Dhyāni-
Buddhas).

• Love, i.e., homogenous Sympathy, which is Harmony, or the “Music of

the Spheres.”

• Mahat Akāsha.

• Nirvāõa in its highest aspect; Astral Light in its lowest.

• Our higher Selves; the source from which the “God” in each one of us
has emanated, are of an essence identical with It.

• The “bosom of the Mother.”

• “The divine Soul of thought and compassion” of the Northern Bud-

dhists and trans-Himālayan mystics.

• The “Egg of Darkness.”

• The “Fire” of the mediaeval Alchemists.

• The “Over-Soul” of Emerson.

• The “perpetually reasoning Divinity,” the divine “Idea, who is said to

move Aether,” “the Good” (agathon) or Supreme Deity of Plato.

338
• The Anima Mundi or the “Soul of the World” of Antiquity.

• The One Eternal Truth, and one infinite changeless Spirit of Love,
Truth and Wisdom in the Universe.

• The One Light for all, in which we live and move and have our Being.

• The Self of a progressed adept in the Yogāchāra system of the con-

templative Mahāyāna school.

• “The seven-skinned Mother” of the stanzas in The Secret Doctrine or

essence of the seven planes of sentiency, consciousness, and differen-
tiation, both moral and physical.

• Universal Mind.

339
 REFERENCES

Frequently quoted references have been abridged and are shown below in
bold.

Quotations from, and references to, the Bhagavad Gītā are from WQ Judge’s
recension of 1890. Although verses were not numbered in that edition, in or-
der to facilitate cross-reference with other editions of the Gītā, both chapter
and verse numbers have been provided.

The Bhakti-Sūtras of Nārada are verbatim from AK Taimni’s 1975 translation

of Self Realization through Love: Nārada Bhakti Sūtra. Madras: Theosophical
Publishing House.

Abridged references
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Blavatsky HP. The Key to Theosophy. (Unabridged, verbatim reprinting of

the original ed. of 1889, etc.); Pasadena: Theosophical University Press,
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Blavatsky, HP. The Theosophical Glossary. (1st ed. 1892); Los Angeles: The
Theosophy Company, 1973.

Blavatsky HP (Transl.). The Voice of the Silence . Being Chosen Fragments

from the “Book of the Golden Precepts.” London & New York: The Theosophi-
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Blavatsky HP. The Voice of the Silence. Facsimile reprint of the first
ed. 1889, with introd. and index by B de Zirkoff. Centenary edi-
tion, first published by the Theosophical Publishing House, Whea-
ton 1991. Republished by Quest, Wheaton 1992.

Or,

Blavatsky HP. The Voice of the Silence. Reprint of the 1st ed. 1889,
with introd., notes, index, and verse numbers by A Asanga. Golden
Jubilee edition, published by the Theosophical Publishing House,
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341
 COMPASSION

Or,

Blavatsky HP. The Voice of the Silence. Reprint of the first publ.
1889, with notes and comments by A Leighton Cleather & B
Crump. Peking edition, first published by the Chinese Buddhist
Research Society, Peking 1927. Republished under the auspices of
The H.P.B. Lending Library, Vernon 1978.

Bowen R. Madame Blavatsky on how to study Theosophy. (1st ed. 1960);

London: The Theosophical Society in England, 1991. [The Bowen Notes]

ôās B. The Science of the Emotions. (1st ed. 1900); Adyar: Theosophical
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De Zirkoff B (Comp.). Blavatsky Collected Writings [Unnumbered Series]: Isis

Unveiled. (1 st ed. 1877). New ed. revised and corrected 1972 [2 vols.]; Whea-
ton: Theosophical Publishing House, 1972.

De Zirkoff B (Comp.). Blavatsky Collected Writings [Unnumbered Series]: The

Secret Doctrine. (1st ed. 1888). Seventh [Adyar] ed. 1979 [3 vols.]; Madras:
Theosophical Publishing House, 1987.

De Zirkoff B (Comp.). Blavatsky Collected Writings. [Unnumbered Series]:

1966-1988; Wheaton: Theosophical Publishing House; plus Index, vol. XV,
1991. Vol. 1: 1st ed. [1950?] 1966, 2nd ed. 1977, 3rd ed. 1988. Vol. 2: 1st ed.
1967. Vol. 3: 1st ed. 1982. Vol. 4: 1st ed. 1960. Vol. 5: 1st ed. 1950. Vol. 6: 1st
ed. 1954, 2nd 1975. Vol. 7: 1st ed. 1959, 2nd ed. 1975. Vol. 8: 1st ed. 1960.
Vol. 9: 1st ed. 1962, 2nd ed. 1974. Vol. 10: 1st ed. 1964, 2nd ed. 1974. Vol. 11:
1st ed. 1973. Vol. 12: 1st ed. 1980. Vol. 13: 1st ed. 1982. Vol. 14: 1st ed. 1985.
Vol. 15: 1st ed. 1985. Vols. 1-4 are revised editions of those originally pub-
lished 1933-36 by Rider, London, under title: The complete works of Blavat-
sky. Vols. 2-4, 9, 11-have imprint: Wheaton, Ill, Theosophical Publishing
House; vol. 5: Los Angeles Philosophical Research Society; vol. 6: Los Ange-
les, Blavatsky Writings Publication Fund. All vols. include bibliographies.

Dionysius the Areopagite. Mystical Theology and the Celestial Hierarchies.

(1st ed. 1923); Brook: The Shrine of Wisdom, 1965 (2nd ed.).

Eklund D (Comp.). Echoes of the Orient: The Writings of William Quan

Judge. San Diego: Point Loma Publications, Inc., 1975-1987. Vol. 1: publ.
1975. Vol. 2: publ. 1980. Vol. 3: publ. 1987.

Hartmann F. Occult Science in Medicine. London: Theosophical Publishing

Society, 1893. [Occult Medicine]

Hearn AC (Ed.). Works of Ralph Waldo Emerson . Edinburgh: WP Nimmo,

Hay & Mitchell, 1907.

Kingsley C. Hypatia or New Foes with an Old Face. (1st ed. 1863); London:
Macmillan & Co, 1894.

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Long AA & Sedley DN (Comps., Transls. & Annots.). The Hellenistic Phi-
losophers. Vol. 1: Translations of the Principal Sources with Philosophical
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Judge WQ (chapters 1-7) & Anonymous Student of Judge (R Crosbie, chap-

ters 8-18). Notes on the Bhagavad Gītā . 1st published in The Path (under
W Brehon, alias for WQ Judge) 1887-95; reprinted by the Theosophy Com-
pany (Los Angeles) 1918 & Bombay: Theosophy Company (India), 1965.

Judge WQ (Recension of the 1855 translation by J Cockburn Thomson, with

“Antecedent Words” and annotations, in collaboration with JH Connelly). The
Bhagavad Gītā : The Book of Devotion. (1st ed. 1890); Los Angeles: Theoso-
phy Company, 1986. [English, pocket-sized]

Kenney EJ (Transl. & Annot.). Apuleius: The Golden Ass or Metamorphoses.

London: Penguin Books, 1998.

King WFH. Classical and Foreign Quotations. London: Whitaker & Sons,
1889. [King’s Quotations]

MC (M Collins, alias for KR Cook). Light on the Path & Essay on Karma
(with notes & comments). (1st ed. 1885); London: Theosophical Publishing
House, 1936.

Mead FS (Ed. & Comp.)12,000 Religious Quotations. Grand Rapids MI: Baker
Brook House, 1989. [Mead’s Quotations]

Nikhilānanda S. The Upanishads (abridged ed.); London: George Allen &

Unwin Ltd, 1963.

Paramānanda S. Concentration and Meditation . Boston: The Vedānta

Centre, 1933; or, Madras: Śri Ramakçishõa Math.

Row TS. Esoteric Writings. (1st ed. 1895); Madras: Theosophical Publishing
House, 1931 (2nd ed.).

Row TS. Philosophy of the Bhagavad Gītā . (1st ed. 1912); New Delhi: Ar-
tha Niti Publications, 1931 (3rd ed.).

Spierenburg HJ (Comp. & Annot.). The Inner Group Teachings of H.P. Blavat-
sky to her personal pupils 1890-91. (1st ed. 1985); San Diego: Point Loma
Publications, Inc, 1995 (2nd ed.). [Blavatsky Inner Group Teachings]

Taimni AK (Transl. & Comm.). Self Realization through Love: Nārada Bhakti
Sūtra . (1st ed. 1975); Madras: Theosophical Publishing House, 1981 [San-
skrit & transliteration]

Tapasyānanda S (Transl.). Srimad Bhāgavata . (4 vols.) Madras: Śri

Ramakçishõa Math, 1980.

343
 COMPASSION

Taylor T (Transl. & Comm.). Select Works of Porphyry: On the Abstinence

from Animal Food . (1st ed. 1823); Frome: The Prometheus Trust, 1999 (2nd
ed.).

Taylor T (Transl.). The Fable of Cupid and Psychē by Apuleius. (1st ed.
1795); Los Angeles: Philosophical Research Society Inc, 1977.

Telang KT (Transl. & Annot.). The Anugītā : being a translation of Sanskrit

manuscripts from the Aśvamedha Parvan of the Mahābhārata: and being a
natural adjunct to the Bhagavad Gītā. (1st ed. 1882); San Diego: Wizards
Bookshelf, 1981. (Secret Doctrine Reference Series)

The Chambers Dictionary. [British English] Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap

Publishers Ltd, 1998.

The Holy Bible (New revised standard version). New York: Oxford University
Press, 1989.

The Mahātma Letters to AP Sinnett from the Mahātmas M & KH. Either of the
1
following editions [Mahātma Letter]:

Barker AT (Transc. & Comp.)., edited by C Humphreys & E Benja-

min. The Mahātma Letters to AP Sinnett from the Mahātmas M &
KH. (1st ed. 1923);. Madras: Theosophical Publishing House, 1962
(3rd ed.). [Combined edition]
Or,

Barker AT (Transc. & Comp.)., arranged & edited by VH Chin, Jr.

The Mahātma Letters to AP Sinnett from the Mahātmas M & KH.
Quezon City: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993. [Chronologi-
cal edition]

Wadia BP. Studies in the Secret Doctrine. (A series of articles in three books)
First published in Theosophy (Los Angeles), 1922-25; reprinted in the The-
osophical Movement (Bombay), 1959-61. Bombay: Theosophy Company (In-
dia) Private Ltd, 1961. [Studies in the SD]

Waite AE (Transl.). Transcendental Magic : Its Doctrine and Ritual by

Éliphas Lévi (alias of Alphonse L Constant). London: George Redway, 1896.

1
Most Letters are referenced by two numbers: the first is a reference to the “combined edition”: the
second (in parentheses) corresponds to the “chronological edition.”

344
 REFERENCES

Selected editions of the Bhagavad Gītā

The list of works below is highly selective. It should be viewed as an illustra-
tion of the unprecedented and ever-growing interest in this epic poem. Older
editions of the Bhagavad Gītā are listed in the Bibliography of Blavatsky Col-
lected Writings, V p. 363.

Translations with introductory essay, annotations, and

commentaries

Easwaran E (Transl. & Ed.). The Bhagavad Gītā. (1st ed. 1985); London: Ar-
kana Penguin Books, 1986.

Gambhirānanda S (Transl. & Ed.). Bhagavadgītā with the Commentary of

Śaükarāchārya. Calcutta: Advaita Ashrama, 1995.

Hill WDP (Transl. & Ed.). The Bhagavadgītā. (1st ed. 1928); Madras: Oxford
University Press, 1966.

Prabhupada ACBS (Transl. & Ed.). Bhagavad Gītā as it is. (1st ed. 1984);
Sydney: Bhaktivedanta Book Trust, 1985.

Prem SK (Transl. & Ed.). The Yoga of the Bhagavad Gītā. London: John M
Watkins, 1938.

Radhakçishõan S (Transl. & Ed.). The Bhagavadgītā. (1st ed. 1948); London:
George Allen & Unwin Ltd, 1948. [Transliteration]

Zaehner RC (Transl. & Ed.). The Bhagavad Gītā with a Commentary based on
the Original Sources. (1st ed. 1969); New York: Oxford University Press, 1973.
[Transliteration]

Translations with introductory essay, and annotations

Johnson WJ (Transl.). The Bhagavad Gītā. Oxford: Oxford University Press,

1994.

Stoler Miller B (Transl.). The Bhagavad Gītā: Kçishõa’s Counsel in Time of

War. New York: Quality Paperback Book Club, 1998.

Van Buitenen JAB (Transl.). The Bhagavad Gītā. Rockport: Element, 1997.

Van Buitenen JAB (Transl.). The Bhagavadgītā in the Mahābhārata. Chicago:

University of Chicago Press, 1981. [Transliteration]

345
 COMPASSION

Translations only

Arnold E (Transl.). The Song Celestial or Bhagavad Gītā. London: Kegan Paul,
Trench, Trübner & Co Ltd, 1927.

Mascaro J (Transl.). The Bhagavad Gītā. London: Penguin Books, 1962.

Nabar V & Tumkur S (Transls.). The Bhagavad Gītā. Ware: Wordsworth Clas-
sics, 1997.

Prabhavānanda S & Isherwood C (Transls.). The Song of God: Bhagavad Gītā.

(1st ed. 1944); New York: Mentor Books, 1972.

Purohit SS (Transl.). Bhagavad Gītā. (1st ed. 1935); Boston: Shambhala,

1994.

Purohit SS (Transl.). The Geeta: The Gospel of Lord Shri Kçishõa. (1st ed.
1935); London: Faber & Faber, 1965.

Monographs

Barborka GA. The Pearl of the Orient: The message of the Bhagavad Gītā for
the Western World. Wheaton: Theosophical Publishing House, 1968.

Divatia HV. The Art of Life in the Bhagavad Gītā. (1st ed. 1951); Bombay:
Bharatiya Vidyā Bhavan, 1991.

Feuerstein G. The Bhagavad Gītā: Its philosophy and cultural setting. (1st ed.
1974); Wheaton: Theosophical Publishing House, 1983.

Ravindra R (P Murray, Ed.). Yoga and the Teaching of Kçishõa: Essays on the
Indian Spiritual Traditions. Chennai: Theosophical Publishing House, 1998.

346
 REFERENCES

Selected editions of Nārada Bhakti-Sūtras

Prabhavānanda S (Transl. & Comm.). Nārada’s Way of Divine Love: Nārada
Bhakti-Sūtras. (1st Indian ed. 1972). Madras: Śri Ramakçishõa Math, 1986.
[Sanskrit & transliteration]

Tyagisānanda S (Transl. & Comm.). Aphorisms on the Gospel of Divine Love

or Nārada Bhakti-Sūtras. Madras: Śri Ramakçishõa Math, 1983. [Sanskrit &
transliteration]

Selected articles in Blavatsky Collected Writings

(WHAT IS THEOSOPHY?), II pp. 87-97.

(WHAT ARE THE THEOSOPHISTS?), II pp. 98-106.

(IS THE DESIRE TO “LIVE” SELFISH?), VI pp. 241-48.

(CAN THE MAHĀTMAS BE SELFISH?), VI pp. 263-66.

(SELF-KNOWLEDGE), VIII p. 108.

(WILL AND DESIRE), VIII p. 109.

(THE GREAT PARADOX), VIII pp. 125-29.

(LET EVERY MAN PROVE HIS OWN WORK), VIII pp. 159-71.

(THE SCIENCE OF LIFE), VIII pp. 240-49.

(THE BEACON OF THE UNKNOWN), XI pp. 248-83.

(WHAT SHALL WE DO FOR OUR FELLOW MEN?), XI pp. 464-80.

(THE TIDAL WAVE), XII pp. 1-8.

(THE LAST SONG OF THE SWAN), XII pp. 112-16.

(THE DOCTRINE OF AVATĀRAS), XIV pp. 370-385.

(THE MYSTERY OF BUDDHA), XIV pp. 388-99.

347
Index

is the key to Theosophy · 42

A
Lower, in institutionalised philanthropy · 269

Action · 18, 24, 36, 40, 42, 45, 47, 65, 66, 70, 71, Lower, when engendered by lower mind and

82, 105, 106, 107, 109, 110, 111, 112, 113, energized by lower devotion · 46

114, 115, 116, 117, 118, 120, 121, 122, 126, preached by Gautama and the historical Jesus ·

130, 131, 132, 137, 140, 152, 153, 154, 157, 213

163, 165, 166, 167, 169, 170, 171, 177, 212, rara avis even among modern Theosophists ·

214, 224, 226, 238, 243, 246, 258, 259, 262, 274

264, 265, 266, 267, 302, 322, 329, 332, 333, The great law of harmony depends on altruism

335 · 120

Ālaya · 12, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100, 106, 141, 161, the only palliative to the evils of life · 42

197, 308, 309, 310, 338 the surest policy of salvation · 139

Aspects & synonyms · 338 Theosophists are the only ones to preach

Divine Grace · 98, 338 sublime altruism · 213

Divine Love · 23, 24, 63, 67, 106, 150, 264, unifies all actions · 38

273, 274, 282, 320 Altruists · 42, 137, 269, 291, 292, 295

Divine Thought · 40, 87, 99, 316, 320, 338 Ātma · 22, 63, 64, 112, 123, 161, 166, 177, 188,

Emerson’s Over-Soul · 84, 98, 106, 338 193, 196, 197, 203, 217, 219, 239, 267, 307,

Eternal Harmony · 12, 96, 141, 197, 338 313, 316, 317, 319, 323, 327

Soul of the World · 35, 97, 98, 308, 339 Attachment · 113, 114, 116, 118, 152, 160, 163,

the One Light for All · 339 171, 244, 258, 289, 293, 302

Altruism · 36, 38, 39, 42, 46, 106, 120, 135, 136, AUM · 88, 89, 173, 325, 326

137, 139, 213, 265, 266, 268, 269, 275, 327, Avalokiteśvara · 64, 69, 179, 186, 187, 193, 199,

329 312, 314, 315, 317

Aspects & synonyms (fn) · 106 Avatārs · 46, 105, 177, 179, 180, 181, 182, 183,

Blavatsky emphasises the pre-eminence of 184, 185, 187, 195, 230, 283, 295

altruism in deed · 266

brotherhood in actu · 42, 122 B
can lead the unit to merge its little Self in the
Universal Selves · 275 Bodhisattvas · 140, 177, 178, 179, 184, 186, 195,

Deeds, not words, is the hallmark of truly 199, 208, 291, 304, 315

human beings · 137 Brahmā · 46, 66, 68, 89, 92, 97, 124, 126, 133,

defined ethically · 301 145, 146, 147, 148, 149, 185, 197, 202, 248,

defined metaphysically · 301 253, 306, 308, 312, 313, 314, 315, 316, 318,

Distinction between theoretical and practical 323, 325, 338

altruism · 137 Brotherhood · 38, 42, 106, 122, 135, 136, 265

distinguishes Theosophists from students of Buddha

Theosophy · 42 Ādi · 178, 183, 186

Higher, when charity is just and not merely Amitābha · 203

kind · 46 Complete · 181

is ethical action · 38 Dhyān · 84, 98, 178, 183, 186, 199, 289, 309,

is founded on the knowledge of universals · 46 338

349
 COMPASSION

Gautama · 142, 180, 181, 184, 230, 266 not the divine love of the Theists · 141
Human · 178, 183, 186 Supreme Love of Self for Self · 264
Maitreya · 195 sustains Life for all · 287
Mānushya · 178 the Divine Soul of thought of the trans-
Most Perfect · 179, 315 Himālayan mystics · 97
of Compassion · 291, 292 The fainthearted and the selfish turn away
of Perfection · 291, 303 from the Path of Compassion · 142
of Selfishness · 290, 292, 303 the mission statement of Avatārs · 105
Pasi · 291 The Secret Doctrine is compassion in action ·
Pratyeka · 290, 291, 292 107
Śākya Tathāgata · 202 The Voice of the Silence is a stirring
Samyak · 303 invocation of compassion · 41
Solitary · 303 Together with Periodicity and Necessity,
Supreme · 199 compassion is the highest deity · 34
Terrestrial · 178 treaded by the Elect · 40
True · 227 Without adequate practical results, compassion
is the reverse of altruism · 137

C Compassionate · 41, 46, 79, 276

Conduct · 36, 107, 130, 154, 170, 171, 174, 221,
Charity · 32, 46, 47, 107, 137, 139, 140, 143, 213, 225, 229, 259, 269, 272, 329
218, 223, 253, 268, 269, 270, 271, 295 Conscience · 47, 195, 201, 203, 297, 328, 329,
Aspects & synonyms (fn) · 106 330, 331, 332, 333, 334, 335
Christ · 44, 45, 79, 179, 187, 188, 213, 223 Higher · 331
Christos · 18, 30, 44, 65, 69, 79, 187, 188, 227, Lower · 332
276, 313, 314, 320, 323, 324 smitten · 334
Christos-Kçishõa definition · 18 Consciousness · 21, 28, 30, 32, 33, 34, 35, 40, 44,
Compassion · 12, 24, 38, 41, 58, 96, 97, 105, 106, 50, 52, 63, 82, 87, 89, 90, 92, 97, 105, 142,
107, 133, 135, 137, 140, 141, 161, 192, 197, 149, 156, 161, 180, 181, 184, 196, 201, 203,
215, 268, 281, 287, 291, 303, 338 219, 220, 222, 225, 230, 234, 235, 238, 257,
a function of the One Law · 106 258, 267, 273, 274, 282, 287, 297, 305, 307,
Ālaya’s Self · 338 309, 310, 312, 317, 318, 319, 325, 328, 329,
an abstract, impersonal law whose nature is 331, 339
absolute Harmony · 24, 141 Cycles · 33, 34, 36, 40, 47, 77, 84, 102, 106, 126,
and humility meet in Love · 41 127, 128, 129, 135, 136, 146, 147, 178, 182,
Aspects & synonyms (fn) · 106 200, 201, 219, 246, 251, 285, 289, 296, 316,
boundless pity for the world of mortals · 40, 329
42, 186
dominant theme in Blavatsky’s works · 106 D
eternal harmony or the LAW of the LAWS · 287
expresses altruism · 38 Deeds · 35, 46, 47, 109, 115, 118, 130, 135, 137,
irrigates body of knowledge · 32 143, 168, 192, 199, 208, 255, 259, 265, 267,
is divine · 161, 291, 338 268
joyfully surrenders self to Self · 296 Deity · 22, 27, 34, 59, 64, 71, 88, 93, 95, 97, 101,
lights our path · 215 105, 106, 108, 127, 134, 161, 172, 183, 191,
no attribute but verily the LAW of LAWS · 12, 192, 195, 203, 240, 282, 283, 306, 308, 309,
96, 141, 197 318, 329, 338
not sullied by modern vocabularies · 24 Desire-Kāma definition · 18

350
 INDEX

Desires · 18, 19, 20, 21, 24, 28, 33, 47, 57, 67, 71, Erōs · 19, 24, 65, 67, 99, 134, 264, 282, 310, 322,
80, 114, 115, 117, 120, 134, 148, 152, 153, 323
158, 159, 161, 162, 163, 167, 169, 171, 174, Esotericism · 69, 71, 72, 146, 147, 310, 312
178, 219, 220, 223, 226, 229, 233, 234, 236, Ethics · 24, 36, 39, 40, 76, 96, 107, 120, 135, 142,
239, 243, 244, 250, 251, 257, 258, 262, 263, 213, 237, 252, 267, 273
264, 265, 269, 270, 282, 289, 290, 292, 294, Experience · 21, 23, 27, 28, 32, 35, 50, 149, 167,
321, 322, 323, 326, 327, 331, 334 168, 169, 201, 228, 229, 240, 243, 264, 274,
Devotion · 38, 43, 46, 110, 111, 112, 114, 118, 276, 280, 287, 294, 295, 319
130, 131, 145, 151, 153, 154, 155, 156, 157,
158, 159, 160, 161, 165, 167, 168, 169, 170, F
171, 173, 174, 175, 178, 184, 235, 236, 237,
258, 269, 292, 329 Faith · 37, 91, 112, 123, 147, 154, 161, 163, 166,
Dharma · 21, 22, 35, 105, 177, 304 179, 213, 223, 224, 225, 226, 227, 228, 229,
Definition · 21 230, 231, 232, 233, 243, 245, 257, 259, 279,
Dhyān-Chohans · 62, 66, 93, 147, 179, 184, 192, 294, 295, 308, 315
199, 200, 222, 239, 249, 283, 312, 314, 315, False learning · 41, 46, 57, 173, 252, 303
317, 319 Falsehood · 21, 221, 258, 260
Divine Grace · 98, 161, 192, 270, 287, 338 Fohat · 41, 58, 64, 65, 66, 67, 69, 87, 90, 95, 322
Divine Love · 24, 67, 133, 134, 138, 240, 282
Divine plan · 63, 90, 103, 251, 294
H
Doctrine
Arahat · 102 Harmlessness · 38, 135, 174
Esoteric · 182 Harmony · 24, 29, 30, 34, 40, 42, 96, 98, 103,
Eternal · 167 106, 120, 121, 122, 123, 141, 206, 212, 238,
Eye · 303 258, 296, 338
Heart · 32, 272, 295, 303 Heart
Occult · 70, 128, 146, 312 and Pulse of the Universe · 195
of Universal Brotherhood · 38, 41 Ever-pulsating · 284
Dreams · 31, 89, 123, 135, 136, 210, 226, 239, Great · 34, 35, 107, 249, 274, 276, 281, 284
241, 242, 247, 264, 277, 325, 328 of Being · 57
Duality · 33, 111, 114, 179, 213, 214, 215, 238, of the Universe · 185, 320
260, 264, 297 One · 240
Duty · 18, 21, 22, 35, 41, 96, 111, 113, 115, 116, organ of Spiritual Consciousness · 282
140, 141, 143, 148, 153, 154, 155, 167, 170, Solar · 285
213, 223, 235, 262, 267, 272, 288, 293, 304, Humanity · 22, 24, 25, 32, 33, 34, 35, 40, 41, 44,
336 45, 47, 59, 87, 92, 114, 118, 122, 135, 138,
Duty-Dharma definition · 21 142, 145, 177, 179, 180, 181, 185, 187, 192,
195, 199, 200, 201, 213, 214, 220, 240, 242,
E 245, 246, 252, 258, 266, 269, 274, 275, 276,
279, 280, 289, 290, 292, 293, 295, 296, 332
Egotism · 42, 110, 115, 158, 171, 174, 213, 243, Adepts gave up nirvāõa for the sake of helping
245, 258, 259, 273, 327, 329 on humanity · 180
Egotists · 259, 291, 333 Animal Man comes of age by sacrificing self
Emotions · 21, 41, 114, 136, 151, 219, 224, 225, to the altar of humanity · 41
236, 237, 239, 252, 262, 263, 264, 265, 272, Each individual must learn to discriminate
277, 288, 289, 294, 302 what is beneficial to humanity · 220
Future Saviours of humanity · 19

351
 COMPASSION

Intellectual fitness plus ethical fitness, When the essential elements of one’s humanity
knowledge plus love of humanity, that’s perish, one becomes spiritually dead · 138
wisdom · 252 Whenever humanity slides deeper into
is dimly feeling its origin and presaging its materialism, a new Saviour appears · 179
destiny · 242 Humanity’s Guardians · 177, 179, 185, 201, 270
is Mahāyāna’s ideal of self-sacrifice for Humanity’s Watchers · 177, 179, 185, 200, 207,
humanity or the Heart Doctrine · 40 239, 289, 294
is the Love of Gods · 35, 239, 321 Humanness · 38, 41, 47, 107, 135
No spiritual progress is possible except by and
through the bulk of humanity · 220 I
Only love of humanity can slay the chimera of
head-learning · 252 Idealists · 241, 319
Only love of humanity can solve the riddle of Ideals · 33, 38, 70, 162, 214, 226, 238, 242, 330
the philosopher’s stone · 57 Illusion · 62, 121, 217, 272
Only the Masters of the Eastern Wisdom can Saüvçiti-satya · 31, 307
guide humanity safely through the night to Imagination · 19, 63, 231, 232, 234, 264, 330
the dawn of a larger day · 243 Inaction · 36, 110, 112, 115, 137, 265
Raising the collective consciousness of Intuition · 36, 38, 80, 122, 143, 224, 225, 226,
humanity to new heights is the universe’s 261, 296, 297, 318, 329, 330, 334
keynote · 247
Self-preservation is a crime against humanity ·
J
139
Thathāgata refused parinirvāõa in order that Jīva · 123, 136, 237, 264, 287, 302
He might continue to help men · 199 Jñāna · 158, 198, 237
The crowd sacrifices humanity to self · 41 Justice · 55, 71, 224, 244, 278, 305, 332
the Great Orphan · 33, 293
The real benefactors of · 44
K
Theosophists sacrifice themselves to the
collective spirit of Life represented by Kāma · 18, 19, 21, 24, 46, 47, 57, 134, 178, 197,
humanity alone · 142 237, 239, 244, 264, 282, 290, 302, 323
Third Logos · 33, 91, 92, 196, 203, 314 Karma · 19, 21, 34, 36, 76, 84, 90, 106, 109, 112,
Through devotion to humanity the wisdom of 120, 121, 122, 123, 135, 148, 161, 183, 198,
love can be attained · 107 217, 237, 258, 266, 267, 288, 296, 302
Two thirds of humanity are slaves of those Karma-action · 19, 21, 36, 106, 109, 296
who deceive them under the pretence of Kçishõa · 30, 36, 43, 77, 79, 80, 105, 106, 145,
saving them · 22, 59 150, 151, 156, 166, 177, 187, 188, 189, 235,
Under the silent guidance of a MAHĀ-GURU 240, 248, 258, 273, 276, 287, 290
other Teachers guide early humanity · 201
Kindness · 107, 118, 174, 269, 288
Unreserved love of humanity drives true
Kuan-yin · 40, 193, 194, 199, 202, 203, 207, 314,
sacrifice · 47
317
Unselfish love of humanity is sacrifice proper ·
46
When combined with selfishness, Intellect and
L
Knowledge will make of humanity a
LAW · 22, 27, 33, 34, 46, 52, 55, 58, 65, 70, 93,
footstool for the elevation of him who
94, 95, 101, 102, 103, 105, 106, 120, 121, 123,
possesses them · 214
125, 126, 128, 129, 134, 140, 141, 235, 239,
259, 287, 336

352
 INDEX

Changeless · 106, 126 Animal · 25

Great · 95, 106 Heavenly · 36, 89, 282, 312, 313, 316, 317
is Deity · 95 Man know thyself · 250, 254, 255, 256
is the Universe’s Monarch & Lawgiver · 93 Mankind · 113, 128, 220, 292
Natural · 85, 102, 140 Man-Manas definition · 24
Never-erring · 121 Marriage made in heaven · 240
Operating · 94 Māyā · 29, 30, 31, 69, 121, 163, 180, 214, 216,
Universal · 36, 106 217, 219, 221, 222, 279, 283, 301, 306, 307,
LAW of Laws · 96, 106, 338 308, 313
Liberation · 40, 41, 42, 132, 232, 260, 265, 304 Mercy · 36, 40, 41, 43, 69, 107, 137, 199, 202,
Logos · 33, 40, 44, 58, 59, 60, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 208, 223, 266, 269, 290, 314, 320
68, 69, 71, 80, 84, 87, 90, 91, 92, 95, 99, 148, Metaphysics · 25, 31, 39, 40, 56, 58, 69, 71, 80,
161, 163, 178, 179, 182, 183, 187, 189, 193, 82, 88, 89, 103, 199, 242, 253, 262, 301, 305,
194, 195, 196, 197, 198, 199, 200, 202, 203, 314
207, 217, 248, 274, 284, 307, 312, 313, 314, Mind · 36, 62, 95, 97, 99, 101, 125, 149, 185,
315, 316, 317, 318, 319, 320, 322, 323, 338 196, 200, 234, 250, 264, 284, 303, 316, 322,
Aspects & synonyms · 312 324, 327, 328, 339
First born · 197 Motivation · 19, 24, 107, 152, 276
is Divine Thought concealed · 62, 63 Motives · 42, 44, 47, 89, 111, 115, 116, 145, 148,
Isis & epithets · 320 153, 155, 224, 234, 244, 264, 266, 291, 329
Light of · 65, 194, 273 Mūlaprakçiti · 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 64, 66, 69, 87,
Vāch · 40, 46, 56, 68, 187, 193, 194, 202, 203, 100, 166, 309, 338
207, 317, 318, 324 Aspects & synonyms · 309
Logos & Demiurgos · 318 Mysticism · 36, 78, 127, 150, 182, 187, 191, 203,
Logos & Īśvara · 318 207
Logos in Gnostic Systems · 320 Mystics · 30, 32, 65, 72, 76, 89, 91, 97, 98, 133,
Love · 12, 18, 19, 20, 24, 29, 32, 35, 42, 44, 47, 146, 161, 178, 181, 184, 192, 194, 227, 235,
57, 64, 65, 67, 71, 96, 98, 100, 107, 112, 118, 272, 290, 306, 313, 314, 316, 318, 325, 338
133, 134, 135, 137, 138, 139, 141, 143, 150,
151, 152, 154, 155, 156, 157, 158, 161, 162, N
165, 166, 167, 168, 171, 175, 181, 197, 218,
224, 227, 231, 235, 236, 238, 239, 240, 241, Nārada · 145
243, 248, 252, 257, 262, 264, 265, 268, 269, abridged Brahmā’s Laws · 146
270, 272, 275, 276, 277, 278, 280, 281, 282, invented the Vīõā · 146
287, 289, 291, 292, 293, 295, 296, 320, 321, involved with Occult Doctrines · 146
322, 331, 334, 338, 339 is messenger of the Gods · 148
leads human affairs · 148
M rebelled against Brahmā · 147
Nature · 24, 32, 34, 35, 44, 46, 51, 52, 63, 64, 67,
Mahātmas · 19, 29, 217, 218, 242, 260 69, 85, 92, 93, 97, 98, 100, 101, 102, 103, 104,
Man · 18, 19, 21, 24, 25, 30, 31, 33, 34, 35, 41, 109, 125, 127, 134, 142, 161, 172, 182, 183,
44, 45, 51, 52, 57, 62, 64, 67, 69, 80, 85, 92, 184, 194, 195, 200, 207, 212, 248, 251, 265,
93, 97, 100, 102, 120, 121, 127, 135, 136, 138, 270, 274, 282, 288, 294, 310, 311, 314, 318,
148, 149, 188, 192, 194, 196, 198, 201, 214, 324, 327, 329, 338
215, 216, 218, 227, 239, 240, 246, 248, 250, Nirvāõa · 45, 61, 97, 98, 128, 178, 180, 181, 184,
259, 260, 273, 278, 279, 283, 295, 296, 306, 214, 217, 242, 266, 277, 291, 302, 304, 331,
312, 313, 314, 316, 320, 321, 326, 334 338

353
 COMPASSION

Non-Being · 21, 32, 213, 251, 305, 308 Renunciation · 40, 41, 42, 47, 80, 111, 112, 113,
Be-ness · 28, 81, 82, 136, 308, 309 114, 115, 131, 132, 169, 170, 181, 237, 248,
291, 302, 304

O Great · 41

Occultism · 29, 38, 71, 215, 218 S

Sacrifice · 29, 40, 41, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 58, 96,
P
105, 106, 110, 111, 117, 130, 131, 133, 135,
Parabrahman · 18, 20, 22, 33, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 136, 140, 141, 143, 174, 177, 181, 192, 197,
63, 65, 69, 84, 87, 89, 90, 92, 100, 106, 119, 198, 199, 200, 213, 227, 236, 237, 242, 246,
146, 159, 166, 201, 238, 246, 248, 305, 306, 268, 274, 276, 281, 287, 290, 295, 304
307, 308, 309, 311, 312, 316, 317, 320, 325 Great · 40, 41, 149, 192, 197, 207, 294, 297
Absoluteness · 30, 33, 34, 37, 50, 51, 59, 60, Saüsāra · 163, 164, 165, 293, 327
62, 66, 82, 89, 92, 95, 97, 100, 102, 103, Self-consciousness · 30, 44, 92, 191, 214, 218,
106, 127, 141, 178, 195, 200, 201, 238, 248, 251, 273, 307, 329
240, 249, 279, 284, 305, 306, 307, 308, Self-immolation · 41, 43, 258, 303
309, 311, 312, 319, 325 Selfishness · 29, 31, 44, 47, 107, 136, 139, 140,
Aspects & synonyms · 305 158, 220, 221, 237, 244, 245, 250, 253, 257,
Causeless Cause · 103, 106, 142, 196, 233, 258, 259, 280, 288, 303, 328
317 I-ness · 29, 251, 259, 264
Darkness · 33, 64, 66, 89, 92, 99, 120, 191, Spiritual · 44, 292
195, 200, 203, 260, 305, 338 Self-preservation · 139, 287
One Life · 33, 106, 310 Self-reliance · 36, 46, 116, 121, 153, 165, 214,
One Reality · 106 224, 243, 266
Parentless · 33, 106 Self-surrender · 40, 44, 118, 142, 236, 237
The One and Only Reality · 59 Separateness · 18, 29, 113, 114, 139, 217, 218,
Unborn · 30, 44, 125, 177, 197, 306, 312, 323 219, 220, 221, 236, 245, 258, 301
Uncreated · 106 Spiritual knowledge · 27, 80, 117, 130, 158, 159,
Philaletheians · 78, 268 201, 215, 220, 243, 249, 257, 273
Philanthropists · 42, 267, 268, 273, 292, 295
Philanthropy · 38, 107, 135, 252, 268, 269, 292 T
Philosophy · 24, 32, 57, 58, 60, 66, 71, 76, 78, 80,
85, 94, 103, 125, 134, 135, 150, 179, 191, 194, Temperance · 255, 260
216, 219, 231, 242, 244, 268, 282, 292, 308, Theosophists · 19, 22, 35, 38, 39, 42, 75, 76, 77,
316, 323, 326, 327, 329, 335 78, 79, 95, 96, 99, 102, 137, 140, 188, 195,
Pilgrims · 34, 36, 43, 83, 127, 186, 191, 200, 213, 200, 213, 239, 262, 268, 269, 274, 301, 326,
240, 246, 270, 277, 278, 294, 297, 316 329
Prakçiti · 45, 68, 89, 98, 100, 102, 109, 161, 217, Theosophy · 19, 22, 32, 35, 36, 38, 40, 41, 42, 45,
219, 309, 310, 311, 316, 322, 327 46, 50, 70, 71, 76, 78, 79, 80, 92, 96, 97, 102,
105, 106, 107, 108, 120, 125, 133, 135, 136,

R 142, 188, 218, 219, 220, 223, 225, 227, 228,

243, 244, 256, 258, 262, 265, 267, 268, 270,
Reality · 22, 33, 34, 35, 50, 59, 60, 70, 82, 94, 95, 272, 290, 292, 295, 297, 308, 326, 336
96, 106, 141, 152, 217, 218, 235, 244, 294, Fundamental Propositions · 55, 87, 269, 273
306, 308, 309, 316, 319 Practical · 75
Proposition, First · 33, 50, 80, 82, 106, 248

354
 INDEX

Proposition, Second · 33, 36, 83, 93, 108 The Truth of truths is Love · 276
Proposition, Third · 34, 36, 84 Theosophists love divine truth under all its
Ten further propositions · 85 forms · 268
Trees of Life and Salvation · 164, 167, 184, 246, Truthfulness · 107, 123, 174, 244
248, 249 Turīya · 89, 325
Aśvattha Tree · 164, 167, 248
Bo Tree · 249 U
Eden Tree · 248
Haōma Tree · 248 Unity · 51, 87, 106, 224, 231, 236, 249, 264, 284,
Mazdean Tree · 248 327
Nameless Tree · 200 Universal Principle · 59, 199, 314
Pippala Tree · 248 Unselfishness · 107, 113, 138, 218, 221, 231,
Sephīrōthal Tree · 248 236, 258, 259, 280, 291, 292, 293
Vogay Tree · 140, 276
Trinity · 38, 82, 85, 87, 88, 89, 106, 177, 188,
V
203, 219, 322, 327
Triple Mystery · 177 Vairāgya · 237, 264, 302, 327
Truth · 14, 20, 21, 27, 30, 31, 34, 35, 39, 50, 52, Voice · 26, 38, 40, 41, 43, 79, 96, 98, 142, 146,
56, 57, 65, 70, 78, 79, 96, 99, 100, 109, 118, 191, 192, 193, 195, 196, 198, 199, 202, 207,
122, 123, 128, 134, 136, 137, 139, 140, 141, 208, 210, 250, 258, 272, 274, 275, 276, 283,
151, 159, 164, 166, 170, 171, 173, 179, 192, 292, 297, 303, 328, 330
193, 206, 213, 216, 219, 220, 221, 223, 224, Aspects & synonyms in
225, 226, 228, 231, 235, 237, 238, 241, 243, Light on the Path (fn) · 207
250, 257, 260, 261, 262, 264, 265, 268, 278, The Voice of the Silence (fn) · 207
279, 282, 287, 288, 307, 327, 335, 339 Voice of the Silence
a changeless and undisputed reality · 27 sheds light on the Path · 43
Absolute Truth and relative truths · 30 Voice of the Silence & Light on the Path
God is neither truth nor intelligence, but the Two Books, One Voice · 207
father of it · 99 Voice-Vāch · 40, 46, 56, 68, 187, 193, 194, 202,
Happiness cannot exist where truth is absent · 203, 207, 317, 318, 324
213
He is Justice, She is Truth · 337
W
implies a divine wandering · 21
is Ālaya or World’s Soul · 339 Will · 19, 38, 65, 70, 94, 133, 191, 231, 232, 233,
is every hidden thing in things visible, cause 234, 264, 319, 322
and effect · 134, 282 Will-Power · 19
is Justice · 55 Wisdom
is Paramārtha-satya · 30, 307 Absolute · 87, 306
Its essence cannot be transmitted from mouth Accumulated · 94
to ear · 261 Ageless · 27, 88, 243
No deity higher than truth · 140 Archaic · 35, 182, 188, 249, 284
No hope of getting the final truth of existence Concealed · 317
from The Secret Doctrine · 50 Divine · 289, 314
Selfishness is the impassable wall between Esoteric · 32, 75
personal Self and Truth · 220 Gnostic · 68
The most stirring and mysterious of all Truths Grecian · 122
· 193

355
 COMPASSION

is intellectual fitness plus ethical fitness, Supreme · 306

knowledge plus love of humanity · 252 True · 71, 243
is True Magic · 86 True Knowledge · 32, 140, 217, 218, 226, 229,
Lofty · 206 243, 279, 303
Manifested · 322 Worship · 48, 76, 85, 114, 131, 142, 151, 155,
of Love · 57, 107, 134, 243, 282 160, 161, 166, 172, 174, 175, 184, 196, 199,
of Soul · 173, 252 210, 232, 233, 235, 236, 237, 291, 321
Oriental · 266
Perennial · 35 Y
Primeval · 184
Principle · 178 Yajña · 106, 130, 133, 268, 296, 313
Real · 41 Yajña-Compassion & Sacrifice · 130
Real knowledge · 28 Yugas · 36, 102, 105, 106, 124, 125, 129, 146,
Sephīrāh · 324 177, 183, 189, 195, 296, 330
Spiritual · 86, 152, 155, 184

356