Who Really Wants the Path of Probation?
Carlos Cardoso Aveline
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First Published in the “Fohat”
magazine,Canada
magazine,
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Each particular existence is but
a ripple in the eternal, unlimited ocean.
From an atom to a
galaxy, everything in the universe pulsates. Most beings vibrate for a time and
then simply dissolve. It may take a long time before they emerge again, dressed
in different forms or envelopes.
Pulsations are everywhere and have their own rhythms. In
ancient Greece
Any learning process in human mind follows the same
Law of Universal Vibration. In order to grasp new realities, we have to adapt
our own rhythms to news ways of pulsating. Each aspect of human knowledge
has its own ways of using the unlimited diversity of wavelengths present
everywhere in life.
Something similar occurs with the process by which we
can learn divine wisdom. Classical books of esoteric philosophy really bring to
us tips and hints of the vibration rates operating at higher levels of reality.
Actually taking advantage of these hints is only a possibility. It depends on
how we read these books.
The overwhelming challenge confronting the student is
much beyond getting acquainted with words and ideas. It is to incorporate those
wiser life-patterns in his daily existence, while eliminating vibration
rates which are not compatible with that wisdom. Of course, such a task tends
to take a long time. Learning esoteric philosophy challenges skandhas
accumulated for several lives. As the student learns about Theosophy, he has to
change himself in a gradual but complete way. Each step along the path means
adopting some new pattern, for which he has to forget some older rhythm or
habit which he used to consider his own. The past sense of identity is
abandoned together with old vibration patterns. He sees that true
self-knowledge can only be obtained by forgetting himself. The same
challenge is expressed in “Light on the Path”:
“Desire only that which is beyond you. (...) It is
beyond you, because when you reach it you have lost yourself.” [1]
How, then, can we make a bridge to that which is
beyond ourselves? That is a question of no small importance.
The core of the modern esoteric philosophy can be said
to be in “The Mahatma Letters to A. P. Sinnett”, in “Letters from The Masters
of the Wisdom”, in the books and texts signed or written by H.P.B., and in
other classical works in line with these. On the other hand, we also have the
actual life-examples of H.P.B. and other disciples or lay disciples who lived
in the 19th century or before. Many of these life lessons can be found in the
texts of the Letters written or dictated by Adepts. H.P.B. had her reasons for
intending to study lives of Initiates at length in the third volume of “The
Secret Doctrine”. Although such a volume never came to light, we do
have several texts by her about the subject. [2]
As we look at these two aspects of esoteric teachings
from the central viewpoint of vibration patterns, we can see at least three
“clusters of rhythms”, whose “keys” are present in them and available
to us:
1) As each
human being is a microcosmic counterpart of the universe, he can literally
know himself by studying the cosmos. The mental wavelengths of a
sublimely philosophical Jnana Yoga can be found in “The Secret Doctrine”
and other writings, including the “Mahatma Letters”. They powerfully expand
Manas and Buddhi-Manas in the learner’s consciousness. [3]
2) A
second “cluster” of higher consciousness-rhythms emerges as a result of the
previous one. It brings about an outwardly silent, beyond-thought, heartfelt
perception of the cosmological processes in their dynamic unity and diversity. Such
group of vibration patterns deeply changes the student’s consciousness as a
whole. It operates independently from thoughts or words, even if words can
stimulate it into action. As a metaphor, it can be said to “float”
slightly above the first “cluster”.
3) Another
chain of opportunities seems to be an unwanted blessing. For many students, it
is a disgusting and shocking process to have any contact whatsoever with
the third main cluster of vibration-patterns present in the core of the
esoteric philosophy. Yet this “cluster” is of the essence in the learning
process. It gives its foundation. It connects it to the soil. It produces
the selflessness and the discernment without which the two previous general
lines of vibration are impossible to sustain.
This group of consciousness-waves brings with it those
probationary possibilities present in the practice of challenging spiritual
ignorance and dogmatism in every form and – in making Theosophy a
living power in one’s life. It provokes an inner revolution in the
student’s life. It puts the student in the uncomfortable outskirts of real
Occult learning.
The three clusters of vibration patterns are unseparable.
Probation can’t really be avoided in life, for any knowledge brings with it
some degree of responsibility and tests. Students face “probations” according
to the strength and purity of their will, and according to the content and
“colour” of their past karma. It is useless, therefore, to ask when and where
does probation begin. Probation is part of life. It never starts or ends. Its
intensity is always in direct proportion to the often changing speed and depth
of the learning process.
Tests are unavoidable because we can’t live wisdom
without eliminating mechanisms of spiritual blindness. These mechanisms are not
only inside ourselves. They are also collectively present in any city, country,
group or institution to which we may belong.
Many people see the spiritual path as a way of
obtaining peace and comfort at the personal level. In their deeds, if not in
words, they try to reject probation. When these people learn about
H.P.B.’s struggle against theological dogmatism and other forms of collective
ignorance, they feel that the main teacher of the esoteric philosophy was
excessively polemist. They think that H.P.B. had a temper and that she
was less peaceful than she should have been. Thinking like this may help us
disguise our own tamasic love for routine and ommision. Those who challenge
collective ignorance are fiercely attacked in various ways – so it is
convenient for us to have some handy explanations and excuses as to why we do
not try to follow the example and the vibration pattern of Initiates.
Hence ill-informed people believe that HPB challenged
the dogmas of her time because she was anxious, neurotic – or perhaps because
she had ‘a missing principle’ in her inner consciousness. The matter of
the fact is that she couldn’t avoid challenging the dogmas of her
time because she was a great soul. The same happened to many
Messengers, great and small, since Pythagoras, Buddha and Lao-tzu. Messengers
don’t care about established dogmas or personal well-being. Seen as an example
of an vibration pattern, H.P.B.’s life and suffering contain an example to be
followed. She was a willing instrument to open a new road and to establish a
better pattern. More than one century after she left her body in
1891, her life is still a living metaphor illustrating the path
which we might take courage to tread one of these days. The
inner aspect of the progress along this road is radiant with eternal
bliss – while, at the outer level, the learner’s personality undergoes a
painful psychological crucifixion.
One Mahatma described this process in a letter to a
lay chela:
“You were told (...) that the path to Occult Sciences
has to be trodden laboriously and crossed at the danger of life; that every new
step in it leading to the final goal, is surrounded by pit-falls and
cruel thorns; that the pilgrim who ventures upon it is made first to confront
and conquer the thousand and one furies [4]
who keep watch over its adamantine [5]
gates and entrance – furies called Doubt, Skepticism, Scorn, Ridicule, Envy
and finally Temptation – especially the latter; and that he, who would see
beyond had to first destroy this living wall; that he must be possessed of a
heart and soul clad in steel, and of an iron, never failing determination and
yet be meek and gentle, humble and have shut out from his heart
every human passion, that leads to evil.” [6]
Big things reflect themselves in smaller ones, and
even now every student can have a taste of real discipleship if he TRIES to
live up to the teaching. Yet consciously or unconsciously many prefer to
ignore the fact that the way to true learning is a dangerous path. Fear,
love for comfort and attachment to routine usually cover themselves with
beautiful ideas. When the sacred path is transformed into something to be
seen by others, people give priority to outer quietness. Then the student
may fall into the theosophical variety of quietism, which is kindly defined in
the “Mahatma Letters” as “that utter paralysis of the soul”. [7]
Esoteric “quietists” cannot understand the vast
opportunities present even in the outer regions of the probationary
path, which leads to real knowledge. As a consequence, they usually
refuse to defend those who are unjustly attacked. When they hear that HPB’s work faces new and great dangers
in the 21st century, they naively shrug their shoulders. They think it has
nothing to do with them or with their spiritual learning.
Perhaps these outwardly peaceful souls try to locate
themselves above every “mundane”, conflicting issue. They certainly deserve a
chance to follow their fancies. For those who will defend truth, though,
there is the tremendous potentiality of referring their lives in a more direct
way to the sacred teachings which they study, and to the sacred source of those
teachings.
No doubt, such a direct combination of theory and
practice is dangerous. To be peaceful is one thing: to seem peaceful is
another, entirely different one. To be spiritual is often to seem
un-spiritual.The deceiving contrast between outer image and inner reality makes
every flower along the way hide at least one or two thorns which can easily
make the pilgrim bleed. “The Voice of the Silence” says of such a learning :
“The name of Hall the second is the Hall of [Probationary] Learning. In it thy
Soul will find the blossoms of life, but under every flower a serpent is
coiled.” [8]
Indeed, the outer, easy way is the false one. It is
the inner motives and intentions that determine which way we are going. Hence
soft words are often the instrument of hypocrisy. In one of his New Testament
lessons, the gentle Master Jesus helps us understand H.P. Blavatsky’s teachings
on the need for us to defend Truth against liars, instead of doing our best to
look like saints in the eyes of others:
“How terrible for you, teachers of
the Law and Pharisees! You hypocrites! You clean the outside of your cup and
plate, while the inside is full of what you have obtained by violence and
selfishness. Blind Pharisee! Clean what is inside the cup first, and then the
outside will be clean too!”(Mt, 23: 25-26)
Those who find HPB’s manners too aggressive should
regularly come back to these strong words of Jesus, who is often misrepresented
as a man capable of using only “kind” words:
“How terrible for you, teachers of the Law and
Pharisees! You hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look fine on
the outside but are full of bones and decaying corpses on the inside. In the
same way, on the outside you appear good to everybody, but inside you are full
of hypocrisy and sins.”(Mt, 23: 27-28)
Thus we can start to understand the profound
difference between the outward show of peace continuously staged by all
kinds of whitewashed tombs – theosophical or not – and the inner spiritual
probation faced by those who volunteer to make some real self-sacrifice. Perhaps
that is the reason why in the “Mahatma Letters” students are invited to act
like “spiritual warriors” [9].
In the first years of the modern esoteric
movement, the task confronting theosophists was described by a
Mahatma as a “forlorn hope”. According to the Webster’s
Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary[10], it means an undertaking
almost certain to fail, a perilous or desperate enterprise. A Master explained
his use of such an expression in a letter to a lay chela:
“What I meant by the ‘Forlorn Hope’ was that when one
regards the magnitude of the task to be undertaken by our theosophical
volunteers, and especially the multitudinous agencies arrayed, and to be
arrayed, in opposition, we may well compare it, to one of those desperate
efforts against overwhelming odds that the true soldier glories to
attempt. You have done well to see the ‘large purpose’ in the small beginning
of the T.S.” [11]
If we look at the problems of our civilization in the
first part of 21st century, or make any serious evaluation of the theosophical
movement worldwide, it is not difficult to understand why the Master had to use
the expression forlorn hope to describe the task which waited for
theosophists. But there is no impossible task in the long run. Practical
work in the right direction brings the tests which in due time will allow
students to attain wisdom in a safe and sustainable
way.
The path of spiritual probation invites us to forget
appearances in order to enhance and protect the temple of Truth
“He who would lift up high the banner of mysticism and
proclaim its reign near at hand, must give the example to others. He must be
the first to change his modes of life; and, regarding the study of the
occult mysteries as the upper step in the ladder of Knowledge must loudly
proclaim it such despite exact science and the opposition of society. ‘The
Kingdom of Heaven
Along the way towards the “kingdom of heaven within”,
we’ve got to TRY hundreds of times, making all the while painful mistakes
and only gradually correcting the greater part of them. But if we do persevere,
we may see that once the good karma starts to get ripe, a new dawn
announces itself and real learning starts to be a central part of the journey.
By that time, the outer side-effects of inner
blessings will probably get to be less painful than ever
before.
NOTES:
[1] “Light
on the Path”, Theosophy Co., Los
Angeles
[2] Some of
them are in the volume XIV of H.P.B.’s “Collected Writings”, T.P.H., 1985, 733
pp.
[3] A
classical and typical text is the one explaining the three fundamental
propositions, in the Proem of “The Secret Doctrine”.
[4] Furies:
in classical Mythology, feminine deities who punished crimes, prompted by
the victims, and who took revenge on behalf of the gods.
[5] Adamantine:
like a diamond; impenetrably hard; utterly and unyieldingly firm.
[6] “The Mahatma Letters to A.P.
Sinnett”, Theosophical University Press, Pasadena ,
California
[7] T.U.P.
edition, 1992, p. 210.
[8] As to the Hall, in the
main text the expression is “The Hall of Learning”. But in a footnote
H.P.B. explains it is “The Hall of Probationay Learning”. See “The Voice of the
Silence”, translated and annotated by H.P. Blavatsky, T.P.H, Wheaton
[9] See
letter LV
[10] In its 1989 edition.
[11]
“The Mahatma
Letters to A. P. Sinnett”, T.U.P., Letter VIII, p. 35.
[12] “The Mahatma Letters to
A. P. Sinnett”, T.U.P., Letter II, pp. 6-7.
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