Download or read book Insights to the high idealism and quaint wit of Eliphas Levi written by Arthur Edward Waite, Boris Mihailovich de Zirkoff and published by Philaletheians UK. This book was released on 2022-07-07 with total page 22 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Intensely suggestive, he is at the same time without much depth; splendid in generalisation, he is without accuracy in detail. It would be difficult to cite a worse guide over mere matters of fact. Had Lévi been left to himself, he would not have got far in occult science because his Gallic vivacity would have been blunted too quickly by the horrors of studious research. But he did somehow fell within a circle of initiation which curtailed the necessity for such research, and put him in the right path. Lévi was scarcely a transcendentalist, not even a mystic. Instinctively a materialist, he approached perilously towards atheism as when he stated that God is a hypothesis which is “very probably necessary.” His prophetic utterances upon the mission of Napoleon III have been stultified by subsequent events. Éliphas Lévi reflected a high idealism and an inner revolt against the injustices of the times. To Madame Blavatsky he was “undoubtedly a great occultist,” but “being a charming and witty writer,” has “more mystified than taught in his many volumes on magic.” Under no circumstances did she look upon him as an Initiate or a practical occultist. His style is poetical and quite charming. But what has he really taught us? Nothing, absolutely nothing — except, perhaps, the exuberance of the French language and his quaint wit. Not one single aspirant has become an Occultist by following the teaching of the French magus simply because, though Lévi evidently got his secrets from an Initiate, he never received the right to initiate others, says Blavatsky.

Download or read book How to force oneself upon the current of immortality written by Helena Petrovna Blavatsky and published by Philaletheians UK. This book was released on 2018-01-12 with total page 11 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Madame Blavatsky pays tribute to liphas Levi written by Helena Petrovna Blavatsky and published by Philaletheians UK. This book was released on 2018-03-17 with total page 7 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book An abyss separates the teachings of Eliphas Levi with those of Eastern Occultism written by Helena Petrovna Blavatsky and published by Philaletheians UK. This book was released on 2019-09-17 with total page 21 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The knowledge possessed by Western Occultists of the Esoteric Philosophy, and their range of perceptions and thought of the Eastern Occultism, is very superficial. By stating that “Above the dark abyss were the Waters,” Eliphas Levi leads the student away from the right track. For it changes entirely the core characteristics of Cosmogony, and brings it down to a level with exoteric Genesis — perhaps it was so stated with an eye to this result. In order to clarify that “Above the Breath appeared the Light,” Levi gives a figure that any Eastern Occultist would not hesitate to pronounce it a “left hand” magic figure. His left-hand magic figure is herein reversed. At the dawn of a new Manvantara, perpetual Motion becomes Breath; from the Breath comes forth primordial Light which brings forth the Thought concealed in Darkness, and this becomes the Word, from which this Universe sprang into being. The learned Abbé had a decided tendency to anthropomorphize creation. He ignores the first stage of evolution and imagines a secondary chaos. But in the face of the task Levi had set before himself — that of reconciling Jewish Magic with Roman Ecclesiasticism — he could say nothing else. Not only are his explanations unsatisfactory and misleading (in his published works they are much worse) but his Hebrew transliteration is entirely wrong. The philosophy that the French Magus gives out as Kabbalistic is simply mystical Roman Catholicism adapted to the Christian Kabbalah. Clearly, Levi’s Kabbalah is mystic Christianity, not Occultism. The material Universe was built by Water, say the Kabbalists who know the difference between the “two waters “— the Waters of Life and those of “Salvation” — so confused together in dogmatic religions. Moses and Thales said that only earth and water can bring forth a living Soul, water being on this plane the Principle of all things. In Egypt Osiris was Fire, and Isis was the Earth or, its synonym, Water, the two opposing elements (because of their opposite properties) being necessary to each other for a common object — that of procreation. The earth needs solar heat and rain to make her throw out her germs. But these procreative properties of Fire and Water, or Spirit and Matter, are symbols only of physical generation.

Download or read book Hylo Idealism is a fig leaf for Crass Materialism written by Helena Petrovna Blavatsky and published by Philaletheians UK. This book was released on 2020-11-13 with total page 41 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Privileged man! Evolution-forsaken baboon! Hylo-Idealism asserts that the origin of man has to be sought in the vesiculo-neurine of his hemispherical ganglia, and that even ingratitude is a phenomenon of atavism. Psychical Research is a misnomer for Pseusmatical Research. Modern Idealism is the great ally of Materialism. Their conclusions are so far stretched, that they both converge in their atheism and pessimism. The “scientific” union of Materialism and Idealism takes place in grey matter, affirms Dr. Lewins. New philosophies are the spawn of overworked intellect. They keep sprouting like mushrooms from their mycelium after a rainy morning — interminable, outlandish, multisyllabled, and multicipital. While we tearfully beg Dr. Lewins, in the interests of humanity, to have pity on his poor readers, we shall fight the usurper “Solipsism” in favour of the legitimate King of the Universe — Egoism. Hylo-Idealism is at odds with Hylo-Ideaism. Since Dr. Lewins regards consciousness as a function of the nerve-tissue, he is an uncompromising materialist. If apart from brain there is no Ego, no external world, what then is the brain itself — this solitary object in a void universe? On the one hand, matter is asserted; on the other, matter is denied. The Vedantins symbolise Cosmic Duality by Logos and Mulaprakriti, i.e., Universal Spirit and Noumenon of Matter. The latter is the metaphysical basis of the intelligent operations in Nature. The orthodox concept of God is not, as Dr. Lewins contends, a myth or phantasm of the brain; it is an individualised ray of the all-pervading Logos, the inner light of which is blurred by the fog of lower minds. Modern Idealism is based upon gigantic paradoxes and even contradictions in terms. Venus, the morning star, was created before the sun and the moon — metaphorically, not astronomically. Venus-Aphrodite is one with the Astarte-Astoreth, the moon-goddess of generation presiding at human birth, just as Jehovah is the god of generation, foremost of all. Astoreth, as a planet, is one with Lucifer, the Morning Star. Like modern Spiritualism, Hylo-Idealism is transcendental Materialism. No man can be at once a Materialist and an Idealist, and remain consistent. The new school teaches that brain is the Creator of the Universe and originator of consciousness; that in it alone all our ideas are born, and that, apart from it, nothing has real existence, everything being illusion. By denying the Vedantic idea of non-separateness, the Hylo-Idealists vitiate every one of their arguments. The real “I” which thinks, feels, and acts is a ray of Absolute Consciousness, which is no “consciousness.”

Download or read book Selfishness is the hallmark of fakirs hermits and yogins written by Helena Petrovna Blavatsky and published by Philaletheians UK. This book was released on 2018-05-23 with total page 10 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: No one can escape from the clutches of Karma by adopting masterly inactivity. For how can a hermit practice charity or industry if he runs away from man? The greatest ascetics and saints of our own day are not those who retire into inaccessible places, They live in the midst of us. Lord Buddha retreated from society only for the first six years of his ascetic life. “Self-culture” is for cloistered yogins who live apart from the society of their fellow human beings: they are spiritually selfish! Some theosophists have arrived at a certain hostility and indignation towards matter. But “where two or three are gathered” in the name of the Spirit of Truth — the Spirit of Theosophy will be in the midst of them.

Download or read book Black Magic is in full sway amidst mankind written by Helena Petrovna Blavatsky and published by Philaletheians UK. This book was released on 2018-05-25 with total page 20 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Mankind is at best a sorry herd of Panurgian sheep, following blindly the leader that happens to suit it at the moment. The majority, at any rate, hates to think for itself, and ignores the tremendous problems of man’s inner nature. “Old times” are just like “modern times”; nothing is changed as to magical practices except that they have become still more esoteric and arcane, and that the caution of the adepts increases in proportion to the traveller’s curiosity. Magic is indissolubly blended with the Religion of every country and is inseparable from its origin. It is as impossible for History to name the time when it was not, as that of the epoch when it sprang into existence, unless the doctrines preserved by the Initiates are taken into consideration. Modern society, on the authority of some men of Science, calls Magic charlatanry. Still, the whole ancient world, with its Scholars and Philosophers, its Sages and Prophets, believed in it. Where is the country in which it was not practiced? At what age was it banished, even from our own country? In the New World as in the Old Country (the latter far younger than the former), the Science of Sciences was known and practiced from the remotest antiquity. The Mexicans had their Initiates, their Priest-Hierophants and Magicians, and their crypts of Initiation. The Mexican pyramids are those of Egypt, built according to the same secret canon of proportion as those of the Pharaohs, and the Aztecs appear to have derived their civilization and religion in more than one way from the same source as the Egyptians and, before these, the Indians. Among all these three peoples arcane Natural Philosophy, or Magic, was cultivated to the highest degree. Herodotus knew that the real purpose of the pyramid was very different from that which he assigns to it. Were it not for his religious scruples, he might have added that, externally, it symbolized the creative principle of nature, and illustrated also the principles of geometry, mathematics, astrology, and astronomy. Internally, it was a majestic fane, in whose sombre recesses were performed the Mysteries, and whose walls had often witnessed the initiation-scenes of members of the royal family. The porphyry sarcophagus, which Professor Piazzi Smyth, Astronomer-Royal of Scotland, degrades into a corn-bin, was the baptismal font, upon emerging from which, the neophyte was “born again,” and became an adept. Democritus applied himself to discover the method by which the Theurgists could produce them; in a word, his philosophy brought him to the conclusion that Magic was entirely confined to the application and the imitation of the laws and the works of nature. The true Theosophist knows indubitably that the Secret Doctrine of the East contains the Alpha and the Omega of Universal Science; that in its obscure texts, under the luxuriant, though perhaps too exuberant, growth of allegorical Symbolism, lie concealed the corner- and the key-stones of all ancient and modern knowledge. That Stone, brought down by the Divine Builder, is now rejected by the too-human workman, and this because, in his lethal materiality, man has lost every recollection, not only of his holy childhood, but of his very adolescence, when he was one of the Builders himself; when “the morning stars sang together, and the Sons of God shouted for joy,” after they had laid the measures for the foundations of the earth — to use the deeply significant and poetical language of Job, the Arabian Initiate. But those who are still able to make room in their innermost selves for the Divine Ray, and who accept, therefore, the data of the Secret Sciences in good faith and humility, they know well that it is in this Stone that remains buried the absolute in Philosophy, which is the key to all those dark problems of Life and Death, some of which, at any rate, may find an explanation in these volumes. Like an immense boa constrictor, Error, in every shape, encircles mankind, trying to smother in her deadly coils every aspiration towards truth and light. But Error is powerful only on the surface, prevented as she is by Occult Nature from going any deeper; for the same Occult Nature encircles the whole globe, in every direction, leaving not even the darkest corner unvisited. And, whether by phenomenon or miracle, by spirit-hook or bishop’s crook, Occultism must win the day, before the present era reaches Shani’s (Saturn’s) triple septenary” of the Western Cycle in Europe, in other words — before the end of the twenty-first century AD. People laugh at Magic! Men of Science, Physiologists and Biologists, deride the potency and even the belief in the existence of what is called in vulgar parlance “Sorcery” and “Black Magic.” The archaeologists have their Stonehenge in England with its thousands of secrets, and its twin-brother Carnac of Brittany, and yet there is not one of them who even suspects what has been going on in its crypts, and its mysterious nooks and corners, for the last century. More than that, they do not even know of the existence of such “magic halls” in their Stonehenge, where curious scenes are taking place, whenever there is a new convert in view. The conscience of the Roman Catholic priest is most likely at peace. He works personally for no selfish purpose, but with the object of “saving a soul” from “eternal damnation.” In his view, if Magic there be in it, it is holy, meritorious and divine Magic. Such is the power of blind faith. Hence, when we are assured by trustworthy and respectable persons of high social standing, and unimpeachable character, that there are many well-organized societies among the Roman Catholic priests which, under the pretext and cover of Modern Spiritualism and mediumship, hold séances for the purposes of conversion by suggestion, directly and at a distance. [1] The Adept of the “Left Hand” throws a spell without ceremony and by his sole disapproval, upon those with whose conduct he is dissatisfied, and whom he thinks it necessary to punish; he casts a spell, even by his pardon, over those who do him injury, and the enemies of Initiates never long enjoy impunity for their wrong-doing. The executioners of martyrs always perish miserably; and the Adepts are the martyrs of Intelligence. Providence seems to despise those who despise them, and puts to death those who would seek to prevent them from living. The legend of the Wandering Jew is the popular poetry of this arcanum. A people had sent a sage to crucifixion; that people had bidden him “Move on!” when he tried to rest for one moment. Well! that people will become subject, henceforth, to a similar condemnation; it will become entirely proscribed, and for long centuries it will be bidden “Move on! move on!” finding neither rest nor pity. Our modern Symbologist is superlatively clever only at detecting phallic worship and sexual emblems even where none were ever meant. But for the true student of Occult Lore, White or Divine Magic could no more exist in Nature without its counterpart Black Magic, than day without night, whether these be of twelve hours or of six months’ duration. For him everything in that Nature has an occult — a bright and a night-side to it. True, Left-hand Magic has lost its name, and along with it its rights to recognition. But its practice is in daily use; and its progeny, “magnetic influence,” “power of oratory,” “irresistible fascination,” “whole audiences subdued and held as though under a spell,” are terms recognized and used by all, generally meaningless though they now are. The real truth is that Magic is still in full sway amidst mankind, however blind the latter to its silent presence and influence on its members, however ignorant society may be, and remain, to its daily and hourly beneficent and maleficent effects. The world is full of such unconscious magicians — in politics as well as in daily life, in the Church as in the strongholds of Free-Thought. Most of those magicians are “sorcerers” unhappily, not metaphorically but in sober reality, by reason of their inherent selfishness, their revengeful natures, their envy and malice. The true student of Magic, well aware of the truth, looks on in pity, and, if he be wise, keeps silent. For every effort made by him to remove the universal cecity is only repaid with ingratitude, slander, and often curses, which, unable to reach him, will react on those who wish him evil. Lies and calumny — the latter a teething lie, adding actual bites to empty harmless falsehoods — become his lot, and thus the well-wisher is soon torn to pieces, as a reward for his benevolent desire to enlighten. [1] Consult “Papal dispensation for murder and mayhem,” in the same series. — Editor

Download or read book Mediumship and Adeptship are poles apart written by Helena Petrovna Blavatsky and published by Philaletheians UK. This book was released on 2018-05-23 with total page 9 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Occultists forget self in favour of other selves. Spiritists doom other selves to unremitting recollection of their shameful existence. No wonder that Spiritualism is yet to produce a single Adept. Mediums are blind worshippers of dead thoughts decomposing, which vampirise both mediums and the living. Unlike Adepts, mediums lack self-control. Their raison d’être is to transmit unquestionably alien thoughts and passions. Theosophists are cautious in ascribing mediumistic communications to any foreign source. Rare cases of genuine mediumship may be the outcome of divine knowledge revealed to Atlantean stock.

Download or read book Black versus White Magic the two Opposing Powers written by Helena Petrovna Blavatsky and published by Philaletheians UK. This book was released on 2018-05-16 with total page 26 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When a Solitary Ray from the Infinite One is about to become the Many, Duality interposes between It and Its finite differentiations. In the mayavic worlds of being everything is dual. Even the Divine Logos manifests as a double principle of Good and Evil. In terms of human evolution, the seeds of White and Black Magic were sown in Atlantis. Though perfected in materiality, Atlanteans degenerated in spirituality. Black magic, bestiality, selfishness, and self-adoration spelled their demise. Magic is arcane knowledge of the subjective side of Universe and Man, and of the Occult laws and powers that govern their objective manifestations. Arcane science misused, is Sorcery; wisely applied, True Magic. Black Magic is the predictable outcome of selfish motives. For it is the motive, and the motive alone, which makes any exercise of power become black, malignant, or white, beneficent Magic. Practical Theosophy is the modern term for old Magic. Metaphorically speaking, Magic is the conscious reunion of Psyche with Cupid, her beloved groom, upon her return to their celestial abode, or the re-integration of Thought and Spirit. This is the mystery that sanctifies marriage and every earnest hope for a better life. Thus true Magic is the marriage of Nous (Atma-Buddhi) with Manas, a union where Will and Thought, separated at the beginning of time, become One again when self-consciousness reaches the summit of divine power and inner knowledge. When man was first created he couldn’t commit any sin, for he was mindless and therefore irresponsible. The only “vice of his origin” was not his: it has been committed by those who refused to fire him with self-consciousness, with its inherent freedom of thought, and personal responsibility borne by informed decisions. Gnosis is the Western term for the mysteries and destiny of our being, both White and Black. A metaphor for the same enigma is Resurrection or the Raja-Yoga of Eastern Occultists. Amongst Neoplatonists, Raja-Yoga is known as Theurgy. Gnosis will either crown the pure with the sovereignty of their own spirit, or crush the opportunist in the darkness of ignorance and earthy passions. Theosophy is the keynote of our relationship with and in Divine Magic. For Magic is the study and application of divine law. Magic is the ancient Persian word for knowledge and embraces all Chaldeans sciences. It is proficiency in Nature’s hidden powers and laws, or Secret Wisdom, as it was taught in the sanctuaries of the Old World. Magic is the Maha, Magi or Maginsi of Medes and the Egyptians, and the Meghiston of the Zoroastrians. Ancient Magic is Secret Wisdom, the very opposite of Diabolism. It is the theurgy of Iamblichus, the gnosis of Pythagoras, the ecstasy of the Philaletheians, the summit of Eastern Philosophy and Ethics. Magic or Practical Occultism, is the object of Yoga. Mesmerism is another key to our inner nature. It is the Gupta-Vidya of the Eastern Occultists, excellence in universal philosophy, and pinnacle of human knowledge. As Truth is One, so the method for attaining It must be also one. Its disciples help each other in their lessons. The Witches of Thessaly are still amongst us. But as Magic differs from Sorcery, so the Magician differs from the Witch. Hypnotism is Black Magic, irrespective of whether conscious or unconscious. There is little difference between Voodoos and the Vivisectionists of our age. Therefore, Western practitioners of the Black Arts should not have the punishment and reputation without the profits and enjoyments they may get therefrom. Selfish initiates, lured by the glamour of power, retrogress inexorably, and curses always come home to roost. There are “Brothers of the Light” and “Brothers of the Shadow,” there are genuine seers and passive mediums, there are High Planetary Spirits and their illusionary appearances on the psychic screen of mediumistic perceptions. There is White Tantric Magic and its tainted counterpart, there is Neoplatonic Theurgia and its opposite number, Goëtia. Christians beware! The New Testament is all about Unselfishness and Spirituality. The Old Testament is a manual of Selfishness and Psychism. At the apex of its development, our Race will branch off to initiated Adepts, “Sons of Light,” and natural-born mediums, or “Sons of Darkness” — the latter to be exterminated by fire when time expires. We live in dangerous times. There are scores of unconscious crimes committed and many innocent people punished. Terror, tremor and dreadful incidences, as well as beauty, peace, and inspiration are “true presentiments of what lies in the bosom of the future, and much of which is already born.” Practical Theosophy is fraught with dangers for dabblers and neophytes alike. No one should go into occultism or even touch it before he is perfectly acquainted with his own powers. For, it’s all too easy to fall into Black Magic. Even a deed of kindness done with partiality may become evil, by stirring up animosity in the mind of others.

Download or read book Christian Lectures on Buddhism and plain facts by Buddhist written by Helena Petrovna Blavatsky and published by Philaletheians UK. This book was released on 2020-12-05 with total page 16 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: France, Germany, and Italy are eaten to the core with free-thought and Atheism. Let us not talk of “pseudo-Buddhists” in the face of millions of “pseudo-Christians,” nominal and more “Grundy-fearing” than God-fearing. Sir Monier-Williams’s Oxford rival, Professor Max Müller, pronounces the moral code of Buddhism as one of the most perfect the world has ever known. The leading organ of Roman Catholic Englishmen admits that the Buddhists’ standard of morality is so high that “however much we Christianize them, we cannot succeed in making them altogether as bad as ourselves.” No better answer than this could a Buddhist find as a reply to the uncharitable and incorrect comparisons between the two creeds instituted by Sir Monier-Williams.

Download or read book True magic is the Gnosis of Pythagoras higher knowledge of divine law written by Helena Petrovna Blavatsky and published by Philaletheians UK. This book was released on 2023-03-17 with total page 15 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Magic, as a science, is the knowledge of the metaphysical 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 individual while still in the body. Magic, as an art, is the application of this knowledge in practice. Occultism is the synthesis of all the discoveries in nature and, chiefly, of the psychic potency within and beyond every physical atom of matter, that has cemented into one cornerstone the foundations of all religions of antiquity.

Download or read book Between Black and White Magic there is but a cobweb thread written by Helena Petrovna Blavatsky and published by Philaletheians UK. This book was released on 2018-05-25 with total page 10 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Exact Science versus Archaic Philosophy written by Helena Petrovna Blavatsky and published by Philaletheians UK. This book was released on 2018-05-28 with total page 31 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Sound and Light, hearing and sight, are always associated. But sound is seen before it is heard. It is useless to demand or expect from the learned men of our age that which they are absolutely incapable of doing for us, until the next cycle changes and transforms entirely their inner nature by “improving the texture” of their spiritual minds. Unless there is an opening, however small, for the passage of a ray from a man’s higher self to chase the darkness of purely material conceptions from the seat of his intellect, his task can never be wrought to a successful termination. For the sun needs an eye to manifest its light. And this, we think, is the case with the materialist: he can judge psychic phenomena only by their external aspect, and no modification is, or ever can be, created in him, so as to open his insight to their spiritual aspect.

Download or read book Madame Blavatsky on Egyptian Magic Good and Bad written by Helena Petrovna Blavatsky and published by Philaletheians UK. This book was released on 2018-05-26 with total page 27 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Initiation teaches us to live a better life and to die with better hope. The Mysteries were known to unveil the operations of nature and lead to the contemplation of celestial powers. Magic was considered a Divine Science which led to a participation in the attributes of the Divinity itself. But it was Black Magic that led finally to the abolition of the Mysteries, and not Christianity, as is often erroneously thought.

Download or read book Adoration of male gods led to phallicism and black magic written by Helena Petrovna Blavatsky and published by Philaletheians UK. This book was released on 2023-03-21 with total page 10 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Buddhism is the first religious system in history that sprang up with the determinate object of putting an end to all the male gods and to the degrading idea of a sexual personal deity being the generator of mankind and the “father” of men. Buddhism is a passionate reactionary protest against the phallic worship that led every nation first to the adoration of a personal god, and finally to black magic, and the same object was aimed at by the Nazarene Initiate and prophet.

Download or read book Selfishness is the cause of all sin and suffering written by Helena Petrovna Blavatsky and published by Philaletheians UK. This book was released on 2018-05-23 with total page 9 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: If people could see that life on this earth, even the happiest, is but a burden and an illusion, that it is but our own Karma, the cause producing the effect, that is our own judge, our saviour in future lives, then the struggle for life will soon lose its intensity. Might is not right, it is “the triumph of the most unprincipled.” When vanity and selfishness hinder Nature’s ultimate possibility, they sow the seeds of their ultimate disintegration. This is the destiny of the callous and the spiritually selfish. “Disciples may be likened to the strings of the soul-echoing Vina; mankind, unto its sounding board; the hand that sweeps it to the tuneful breath of the Great World Soul. The string that fails to answer ’neath the Master’s touch in dulcet harmony with all the others, breaks and is cast away.” And the reckless schoolboy cannot be being helped, because it acknowledges no master. The main cause of pain lies in our personality seeking the permanent in the impermanent. Animals do not suffer so keenly as human beings, and do not remember suffering. Only those who dare to lift the veil of illusion can soon stand beyond all pain, all misery, and beyond all the wear and tear of change, which is the chief originator of pain. Mutual toleration and charity for each other’s shortcomings; mutual help in the research of truths in every domain, moral or physical and even, in daily life — these are the hallmarks of a True Theosophist.

Download or read book Does your mind elate with self adoration and self aggrandizement written by Helena Petrovna Blavatsky and published by Philaletheians UK. This book was released on 2021-10-18 with total page 67 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Selfishness, envy, revenge, and malice are mankind’s deadliest curses. Selfishness is love misdirected to, and jealously kept for one’s little self at the expense of his Spiritual Self and of all other selves, who are transient rays of One Universal Self. Selfishness and ambition are mankind’s deadliest curses. Great intellect and too much knowledge is 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 footstool for the elevation of him who possesses them, and a means for the attainment of his objects; while, applied to altruistic and humanitarian purposes, they may become the means of salvation of the many. Pride and Presumption, the two chief prompters of Selfishness and Egotism, are the causes that emptied heaven of one third of its divine dwellers (mystically) and of another third, of the stars (astronomically). The first statement is an allegory intimately connected with humanity; the second, a fact. Our age is criminal in its frightful selfishness, in its scepticism which grimaces at the very idea of anything beyond the material, and in its idiotic indifference to all that does not pertain to the personal self — more than any of the past ages of ignorant barbarism and intellectual darkness. The paths are many but Wisdom is One. Artistic souls envision it, those who suffer dream of it, the pure in heart know it. Only light and empty heads, egotistical and vain drones, confused by their own buzzing, will remain ignorant of the supreme ideal. They will continue existing until life becomes a grievous burden to them. Pride and conceit are the two malignant cancers devouring the heart of “civilized” nations. Selfishness is the sword of Damocles dangling by evanescent personality over the golden thread that links it with its Spiritual Centre and Life Eternal. One never ceases to be astonished by the egoism, vanity, and “self-sufficiency” of the majority. There are some for whom their little personality constitutes the whole universe. The vices and illusions of lower minds are typical of egotistical mediocrities. Overfed by the sweet delicacies of ambition and personal life, man accumulates gravitas. Kipling says that he is gathering “too much ego in his cosmos.” His “little personality constitutes the whole universe,” says Madame Blavatsky. Every veil of illusion that creates a sense of personal isolation, a feeling of separateness from All, must be torn asunder; and those who, through vanity and selfishness, go against the Divine Plan, cannot but incur the punishment of total annihilation. Life on earth is the result and consequence of that unseen, yet ever present autocrat and despot, called Selfishness and Egotism. The strongest will becomes impotent before the voice and authority of this self-appointed commander. Selfish is the life of a hermit, useless to all, and as useless to himself. “Self-culture” is for the solitary Hatha Yogis who shun the society of their fellow men. Pampering the animal self is triply distilled selfishness. The Hindu Yogi, who isolates himself in an impenetrable forest, and the Christian hermit who retires to the desert, are both accomplished egoists. The one seeks refuge in Nirvana, the other to save his soul from hell. Philosophical pantheism is based upon the correct understanding of the mysteries of being. Modern pessimism is yet another system of evil added by unhealthy fancy to an ever-growing sum of social evils, and a systematic slander of sentient life. Neither good nor evil would exist were it not for the light they throw upon each other. The bundle of Egotism disappears after death, as the costume of the part he played disappears from the actor’s body after he leaves the theatre at the end of the play and goes to bed. The slightest tinge of Selfishness precludes the employment of Spiritual Forces. For, unless the intention is entirely unalloyed, the spiritual will transform itself into the psychic, act on the astral plane, and dire results may be produced by it. The powers and forces of animal nature can equally be used by the selfish and revengeful, as by the unselfish and the all-forgiving. But the powers and forces of spirit lend themselves only to the pure in heart — and this is Divine Magic. The greatest crime that was ever perpetrated upon mankind was committed on that day when the first priest invented the first prayer with a selfish object in view. Prayer is an ennobling action when it is an intense feeling, an ardent desire rushing forth from our very heart for the good of other people, and when entirely detached from any selfish personal object; the craving for “the wilds beyond the heavens” is natural and holy in man, but on the condition of sharing that bliss with others. The heart of the purely selfish man, who cares not if all others rot so he can have pleasure in their pain, is softened for those near and dear to him — his family, relatives, and friends. His affections may even extend to religious fanaticism and even patriotic fervour in his country’s wars and political schemes, in the hope of recognition and reward. 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 actions to his brother, and then only thinks of himself — he will remain a pious egotist. For belief in and fear of God will develop and grow in exact proportion to his Selfishness, his fear of punishment and bad results only for himself, without the least concern for his brother. Theism and atheism grow and develop together our reasoning powers, and become either fortified or weakened by reflection or deduction of evidence. The only God which Theosophists worship is Truth. The only devil they recognize and which they fight with unabated fury is the Satan of Egotism and unbridled passions. Alone our Western religion stands in its isolation, as a monument of the most gigantic human selfishness ever evolved by human brain, without one word in favour of, or for the protection of, the poor animal. Selfishness, envy, revenge, and malice are the hallmarks of sorcerers. The Roman Catholic “fathers” and clergy, particularly when pursuing their selfish objectives collectively, they have to be ranked among the adepts of the Black Art. In the crypts of the cyclopean Stonehenge in England, and its twin-brother Carnac of Brittany, curious scenes are taking place whenever there is a new convert in view. Stupefying is the power of blind faith in, and veneration of, ecclesiastical teachings. The conscience of the Roman Catholic priest is most likely at peace. He works personally for no selfish purpose, but with the object of “saving a soul” from “eternal damnation.” In his view, if Magic there be in it, it is holy, meritorious, and divine Magic. Whenever those priest-hypnotists want to control an individual, selected by them for conversion, they retire to an underground place, consecrated by them for such purposes and there, forming a circle, throw their combined will-power in the direction of that individual. This is the kind of ceremonial Magic and sorcery practiced at Stonehenge and elsewhere. The modern Symbologist is exceedingly clever only at detecting phallic worship and sexual emblems, even where none were ever meant. But for the true student of Occult Lore, White or Divine Magic could no more exist in Nature without its counterpart Black Magic, than day without night, whether these be of twelve hours or of six months’ duration. Magic is still in full sway amidst mankind, however blind the latter to its silent presence and pernicious influence, however ignorant society may be of its beneficent and maleficent effects. Most of those magicians are sorcerers by reason of their inherent selfishness, their revengeful natures, their envy, and malice. Man accumulates knowledge, invents religions and philosophies, but he himself remains still the same. In his ceaseless chase after wealth and honours and the will-o’-the-wisps of novelty, enjoyment, and ambition, man is ever moved by one chief motor — Vain Selfishness. We live in an era of the most triumphant display of human genius. But what good has all this great civilization and progress done to the millions in the world’s slums, and to the armies of the “great unwashed”? Selfishness is the chief prompter of our age and the boisterous rebel against Nature’s decrees. The student, at the very outset, learns that the alpha and the omega of life is selflessness, and knows that only in the sanctuary of merit and self-forgetfulness can the true meaning of life reveal itself to his eager heart. By sinking his consciousness deep into his heart he can reach that holy place, only when alone in silence and darkness. When the need for silence has grown great enough, he will turn to seek it even in the midst of the struggle with self, and he will find it. Living for self alone is full of pain and sorrow; living for others is full of divine bliss and joy for ever, free from bonds tied by mortal hands. There is no danger to him who is true and sincere, and especially unselfish. For he is thus prepared to meet any temptation. The pure at heart, who study with a view of perfecting themselves, need not have any fear; but rather those who make of the Sacred Science a sinful pretext for worldly motives, who should tremble. Conscience, God’s vicegerent in the soul, speaks no longer in man when the whispers of the still small voice within are stifled by the ever-increasing din and roar of selfishness. Space and time should be given to the self-appointed censors of morality to cleanse themselves of the ferocious selfishness, narrow-mindedness, and conceit which have made their playing at “the higher life” an almost comical travesty. It is that fierce and unashamed personal selfishness, the chief motor in the “struggle for life,” that is the sole cause of human starvation, and it’s vastly more powerful extension — national egoism and vanity — which stirs up wealthy nations and individuals to bury enormous capitals in the unproductive erection of gorgeous churches and temples, and to support a swarm of social drones called Cardinals and Bishops, who parasitize their subordinates and their flocks. Compassion felt but not acted upon is not altruism, it is bare hypocrisy. Spiritual perfection and knowledge can only be reached on the spiritual plane — in that state in which all sense of separateness, all selfishness, all feeling of personal interest and desire, has been merged in the wider consciousness of the humanity at large. 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 suffering, to discriminate what is beneficial to humanity; and in proportion, as he begins transmuting his materiality to spirituality — lead to gold — his mind will open to receive the guidance of his Immortal Self within. and best friend of the mortal self. Impersonality is the ultimate aim of cosmic evolution. We have to work along with Nature, and not place ourselves in opposition to her inherent impulse, which must ultimately assert itself. To oppose it, must necessitate suffering, since a weaker force, in its egotism, tries to array itself against the mighty Universal Law. Whenever Truth is veiled for the many, it is unveiled for the few. Men had not created evil yet in those hoary days of bliss and purity, for they were more Godlike than human. When Selfishness was born out of desires and passions hitherto unknown, and superhuman knowledge and power were abused, it became necessary to limit the number of those who knew. Thus arose Initiation. The need of veiling Truth to protect it from desecration becoming more apparent with every generation, the thin veil used at first had to be gradually thickened according to the spread of I-ness and Me-ness, Luxury and Lust — and this led to the Mysteries. Our age is pre-eminently materialistic and pietistic. Our literature, our modern thought, and the so-called progress, run on these two parallel lines, so incongruously dissimilar, and yet both so popular and so very orthodox, each in its own way. He who presumes to draw a third line, as a hyphen of reconciliation between the two, has to be fully prepared for the worst. Compassion felt but not acted upon is not altruism, it is mere hypocrisy. Real self-development on esoteric lines requires action. The only way of sacrificing oneself “to the eternal” is by attuning to the collective spirit of life, embodied in and represented in its highest divine aspect by humanity alone. Vice and wickedness are an abnormal, unnatural manifestation, at this period of our human evolution. The fact that mankind was never more selfish and vicious than it is now — civilized nations having succeeded in making of the first an ethical characteristic, and of the second an art — is proof of the of the sorry state we are all in today. The Immortal Titan and True Philanthropist is moved by Compassion-Sacrifice; the mortal man, by Selfishness and Self-adoration in every instance. If man by suppressing, if not destroying, his selfishness and personality, only succeeds in knowing himself as he truly is, he will soon stand beyond all pain and 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 matter, and yet he will live beyond and outside it. His body will be subject to change, but he himself will be entirely above it, and will experience everlasting life even while in temporary bodies of a short span. Happiness cannot exist as long as Egotism reigns supreme, and intellectual progress refuses to accept a subordinate position to ethical progress. And as long as Egotism will not give way to the Altruism, happiness will remain a Utopia. Listen to the voice of the Master: Your motive, being selfish, can only generate a double effect, good and bad, and will either nullify your good action, or turn it to another man’s profit. There is no happiness for one who is ever thinking of his little self and forgetting all other selves.