III
THE
PATH OF DISCIPLESHIP
At the
very beginning of course the student is directed to the Path of
Reverence, and the development of the inner life. But the occult
teaching also gives practical instructions by the observance of which
he may learn to tread that Path and develop that inner life. These
practical directions have no arbitrary basis. They rest on ancient
experience and ancient wisdom, and wheresoever the ways to higher
knowledge are marked out, they remain of the same nature. All genuine
teachers of Occultism are in agreement as to the essential character
of these rules, although they do not always express them in the same
words. This difference, which is of a minor character and is more
apparent than real, is due to circumstances which need not be touched
on here.
No
teacher wishes by means of such rules to establish an ascendancy over
other persons. He would not tamper with individual independence.
Indeed, no one respects and cherishes human individuality more than
the teachers of Occultism. It was said (in the first part of this
book) that the order which embraces all Initiates was surrounded by a
wall, and that two laws formed the principles by which it was upheld.
Whenever the Initiate leaves this enclosure and steps forth into the
world, he must submit to a third inviolable law. It is this: Keep
watch over each of your actions and each of your words, in order that
you may not hinder the free-will of any human being. Those who
recognise that genuine occult teachers are thoroughly permeated with
this principle will understand that they need sacrifice none of their
independence by the practical directions which they are advised to
follow.
One of
the first of these rules may be thus expressed in our language:
“Provide for yourself moments of inward calm, and in these
moments learn to distinguish between the real and the unreal.”
I say advisedly “expressed in our language,” because
originally all rules and teachings of occult science were expressed
in a symbolical sign-language. Those who desire to master its whole
scope and meaning must first obtain permission to learn this
symbolical language, and before this permission can be obtained, it
is necessary to have taken the first steps in occult knowledge. This
may be achieved by the careful observance of such rules as are here
given. The Path stands open to all who earnestly will to enter
it.
Simple,
in truth, is the rule concerning moments of inner calm, and easy it
is to follow; but it only leads to the goal when the pursuit is as
earnest and strict as the way is simple. I will, therefore, state
without further preamble the method in which this rule should be
observed.
The
student must mark off a small part of his daily life in which to
occupy himself with something quite different from the avocations of
his ordinary life, and the way in which he occupies himself at such a
time must also differ from the way in which he performs the rest of
his duties. But this does not mean that what he does in the time thus
set apart has no connection with his daily work. On the contrary, the
man who seeks such moments in the right way will soon find that it is
just this which gives him the full power to do his daily task. Nor
must it be supposed that the observance of this rule really deprives
anyone of time needed for the performance of his duties. If any
person really has no more time at his disposal, five minutes a day
will suffice. The real point is the manner in which these five
minutes are spent.
At these
periods a man should raise himself completely above his work-a-day
life. His thoughts and feelings must take on a different colouring.
His joys and sorrows, his cares, experiences, and actions, must pass
in review before his soul. And he must cultivate a frame of mind
which enables him to regard all his other experiences from a higher
point of view. We need only bear in rind how different is the point
of view from which in ordinary life we regard the experiences and
actions of another, and that from which we judge our own. This is
inevitable, for we are interwoven with our own actions and
experiences, while we only contemplate those of another. Our aim in
these moments of retirement must be to contemplate and judge our own
experiences and actions as though it were not ourselves but some
other person to whom they applied. Suppose, for example, that a
certain misfortune has befallen someone. What a different attitude
that person takes towards it as compared with an identical misfortune
that has befallen his neighbour! No one can blame this attitude as
unjustifiable; it is a part of human nature. And just as it is in
exceptional circumstances, so it is also in the daily affairs of
life. The student must endeavour to attain the power of regarding
himself at certain tines as he would regard a stranger. He must
contemplate himself with the inward calm of the critic. When this is
attained, our own experiences present themselves in a new light. As
long as we are interwoven with them and are, as it were, inside them,
we are as closely connected with the unreal as with the real. When we
attain to a calm survey, the real is separated from the unreal.
Sorrow and joy, every thought, every resolve, appear changed when we
contemplate ourselves in this way. It is as though we had spent the
whole day in a place where we saw the smallest objects at the same
range of vision as the largest ones, and in the evening climbed a
neighbouring hill and surveyed the whole scene at once. Then the
parts of the place take on proportions different from those they bore
when seen from within. The value of such calm inward contemplation
depends less on the actual thing we contemplate than on the power
which such inward calm develops in us.
For in
every human being there is, besides what we call the work-a-day man,
a higher being. This higher being remains concealed until it is
awakened. And each of us can only awaken it for himself. But as long
as this higher being is not awakened, the higher faculties which lie
dormant in every man and lead to supersensual knowledge, must remain
hidden. This power which leads to inward calm is a magic force that
sets free certain higher faculties. Until a seeker feels this magic
force within him, he must continue to follow strictly and earnestly
the rule here given. To every man who thus perseveres, the day will
come when a spiritual light is revealed to him, and a whole new
world, whose existence was hitherto unsuspected, is discerned by an
eye within him.
Because
he begins to follow this rule, there is no need for any outward
change in the life of the student. He performs his duties as before,
and at first he endures the same sorrows and experiences the same
joys as of old. In no way does it estrange him from life, rather is
he enabled to devote himself to it the more completely, because in
the moments set apart he has a Higher Life of his own. Gradually this
Higher Life will make its influence felt on the ordinary life. The
calm of the moments set apart will influence the ordinary existence
as well. The whole man will grow calmer, will attain serenity in all
his actions, and will cease to be perturbed by all manner of
incidents. Gradually will a student who thus advances guide himself
more and more, and be less directed by circumstances and external
influences. Such a man will soon discover how great a source of
strength lies for him in these periods of contemplation. He will
cease to be worried by things that formerly worried him; and
countless matters that used to inspire him with fear will cease to
alarm him. He acquires a new outlook on life. Formerly he may have
taken up this or that task with a sense of timidity. He would say:
“I lack the power to do this as well as I could wish.”
Now he no longer admits such a thought but, instead of it, one quite
different. He now says to himself: “I will summon up all my
strength so as to do my work as well as I possibly can.” And he
suppresses the thought which encourages timidity; for he knows that
this very timidity might spoil his undertaking, and that at any rate
it can contribute nothing to the improvement of his labour. And thus
one thought after another, each fraught with advantage to his whole
life, begins to penetrate the student's outlook. They take the place
of those that had a hampering and weakening effect. He begins to
steer his own ship with a firm, secure course among the waves of
life, which formerly tossed it helplessly to and fro.
And this
calm and serenity react, on the whole being. They assist the growth
of the inner man, and of those inner faculties which lead to the
higher knowledge. For it is by his progress in this direction that
the student gradually attains to a state in which he himself
determines the manner in which the impressions of the external world
shall affect him, Thus, he may hear a word, spoken with the object of
wounding or vexing him. Before he began his occult studies it would
indeed have wounded or vexed him. But now that he treads the Path of
Discipleship, he is able to take from it the sting which gives it the
power to hurt, before ever it enters his consciousness. Take another
example: we naturally grow impatient when we are kept waiting, but
the student is so permeated in his moments of calm with the
realisation of the uselessness of impatience, that this feeling is
present with him on every such occasion. The impatience which would
naturally overcome him vanishes, and an interval which would
otherwise have been wasted in the expression of impatience, may be
utilised by making some, profitable observation during the period of
waiting.
Now we
must realise the significance of these facts. We must remember that
the “Higher Being” in a man is in constant development,
and only the state of calm and serenity here described renders an
orderly development possible. The waves of outward life press in upon
the inner man from all sides, if, instead of controlling this outward
life, he is controlled by it. Such a man is like a plant which tries
to expand in a cleft in the rock, and is stunted in its growth until
new space is given it. No outward forces can supply space for the
inner man; it can only be supplied by the inner calm which he may
give to his soul. Outward circumstances can only alter the course of
his outward life; they can never awaken the spiritual, inner man. The
student must himself give birth to the new and higher man within
him.
The
higher man becomes the “inner Ruler,” who directs the
circumstances of the outer man with sure guidance. As long as the
latter has the upper hand, this inner man is enslaved, and therefore
cannot develop his powers. If another than myself has the power to
make me angry, I am not master of myself, or, to put it better, I
have not yet found “the Ruler within me.” I must develop
the power within of letting the impressions of the outer world
approach me only in the way in which I myself choose; then only do I
really become an occult student. And only by earnestly striving after
this power can a student reach the goal. It is not of so much
importance to achieve a great deal in a given time, as to be earnest
in the search. Many have striven for years without noticing any
marked advance; but many of those who did not despair, and struggled
on undaunted, have sometimes quite suddenly achieved the “inner
victory.”
In many
situations it requires a good deal of effort to achieve these moments
of inward calm. But the greater the effort needed, the more important
is the achievement. In esoteric studies, everything depends on the
energy, inward truthfulness, and uncompromising sincerity with which
we contemplate ourselves and our actions from the standpoint of
complete strangers.
But only
one side of the student's inner activity is characterised by this
birth of his own higher being. Something else is needed in addition.
Even if a man regards himself as a stranger, it is only himself that
he contemplates; he looks at those experiences and actions with which
he is connected through his particular mode of life, and it is
necessary for him to rise above this, and attain to a purely human
point of view, no longer connected with his own individual
circumstances. He must pass on to the contemplation of those things
which concern him as a human being, even though he himself dwell in a
different condition and different circumstances. In this way
something is brought to birth within him which rises beyond the
personal point of view. Thus his gaze is directed to higher worlds
than those he knows in every-day life. And then he begins to feel and
realise that he belongs to these higher worlds about which his senses
and his daily occupations can tell him nothing. In this way he shifts
the central point of his being to the inner part of his nature. He
listens to the voices within him which speak to him in his moments of
calm; and inwardly he cultivates an intercourse with the spiritual
world. He is removed from the every-day world, and no longer hears
its voices. All around him there is silence. He puts away from him
all his external surroundings, and everything which even reminds him
of such external impressions. His entire soul is filled with calm
inward contemplation and converse with the purely spiritual world.
This calm contemplation must become a necessity to the student. He is
plunged completely in a world of thoughts. He must develop an earnest
desire for such calm thinking. He must learn to love the in-pouring
of the spirit. He will soon cease to regard this thought-world as
more unreal than the everyday things which surround him. He begins to
deal with his thoughts as with things existing in space. He discovers
that this thought-world is an expression of life. He realises that
thoughts are not mere phantoms, but that through them beings speak to
him who were hidden before. He begins to hear voices speak to him
through the silence. Formerly his ear was the only organ of hearing;
now he can listen with his soul. An inner language and an inner voice
are revealed to him. It is a moment of the supremest ecstasy to the
student when this experience first comes to him. An inner light
floods the whole external world for him, and he is “born
anew.” Through his being passes a current from a divine world,
bringing with it divine bliss.
This
thought-life of the soul, which is gradually widened into a life of
spiritual being, is designated by the Gnosis and by Theosophy as
meditation (contemplative thought). This meditation is the means by
which super-sensual knowledge is attained. But during such moments
the student must not be content to give himself up to the luxury of
sensation. He must not permit undefined feelings to take possession
of his soul. That would only hinder him from attaining true spiritual
knowledge. His thoughts must be clearly and sharply defined, and he
will be helped in this by not allowing himself to be carried away
blindly by the thoughts that spring up within him. Rather must he
permeate his mind with the lofty thoughts which originated with
advanced students to whom inspiration has already come. Let him first
of all study those writings which themselves originated in such
moments of meditation. The student will find such in the mystical,
gnostic, and theosophical literature of our time, and will there gain
the material for his meditation. Wise men have themselves inscribed
in these books the thoughts of divine science, or have proclaimed
them to the world through their agents.
Such
meditation produces a complete transformation in the student. He
begins to form entirely new conceptions of Reality. All things
acquire fresh values in his eyes. And it cannot be declared too often
that this transformation does not estrange him from actuality, or
remove him from his daily round of duties. For then he knows that his
labour and his suffering are given and endured for the sake of a
great spiritual cosmic whole. Thus, instead of weariness, his
meditation gives him strength to live.
With firm
step the student passes through life. No matter what it may bring
him, he goes forward erect. In the past he knew not why he worked and
suffered, but now he knows. It is obvious that such meditation is
more likely to lead to the goal, if conducted under the direction of
experienced persons, who know actually how everything may best be
done. We should, therefore, seek the advice and direction of such
experienced guides (Gurus they are called in certain schools of
thought). What would else be mere uncertain groping is transformed by
such direction into work that is sure of its goal. Those who apply to
the teachers possessed of such knowledge and experience will never
apply in vain. Only they must be quite clear that it is the advice of
a friend they desire, not the domination of a would-be ruler. Those
who really know are always the most modest of men, and nothing is
further from their nature than what is called the passion for
power.
Those
who, by means of meditation, rise to that which unites man with
spirit, are bringing to life within them the eternal element which is
limited by neither birth nor death.. Only those who have had no
experience of it themselves can doubt the existence of this eternal
element. Thus meditation becomes the way by which man also attains to
the recognition and contemplation of his eternal, indestructible,
essential being. And only through meditation can one attain to such a
view of life. Gnosis and Theosophy tell of the eternal nature of this
essential being, and of its reincarnation. The question is often
asked: “Why does a man know nothing of those experiences which
lie beyond the borders of birth and death?” Not thus should we
ask, but rather: “How may we attain to such knowledge?”
The entrance to the Path is opened by right meditation.. This alone
can revive the memory of events that lie beyond the borders of birth
and death. Everyone can attain to this knowledge; in each of us is
the faculty of recognising and contemplating for ourselves the truths
of Mysticism, Theosophy, and Gnosis; but the right means must be
chosen. Only a being with ears and eyes can perceive tones and
colours, nor can the eye perceive, if the light by which things are
visible be wanting. Occult science gives the means of developing the
spiritual ears and eyes, and kindling the spiritual light. There are,
according to esoteric teachers, three steps by which the goal may be
attained: 1, Probation. This develops the spiritual senses. 2.
Enlightenment. This kindles the spiritual light. 3. Initiation. This
establishes intercourse with the higher spiritual beings.
The
following teachings proceed from a secret tradition, but precise
information concerning its nature and its name cannot be given at
present. They refer to the three steps which, in the school of this
tradition, lead to a certain degree of initiation. But here we shall
find only so much of this tradition as may be openly declared. These
teachings are extracted from a much deeper and more secret doctrine.
In the occult schools themselves a definite course of instruction is
followed, and in addition to this there are certain practices which
enable the souls of men to attain a conscious intercourse with the
spiritual world. These practices bear about the same relation to what
will be imparted in the following pages, as the teaching which is
given in a well-disciplined school bears to the instruction that may
be received occasionally during a walk. And yet the ardent and
persevering pursuit of what is here hinted at will lead to the way by
which one obtains access to a genuine occult school. But, of course,
an impatient perusal, devoid of sincerity and perseverance, can lead
to nothing at all. He who believes himself to be ready for more must
apply to an occult teacher. The study of these things can only be
successful if the student will observe what has already been written
in previous chapters.
The
stages which the above-mentioned tradition specifies are the
following three:
-
Probation,
-
Enlightenment,
-
Initiation.
It is not
altogether necessary that these three stages should be so taken that
one must have quite completed the first before beginning the second,
nor, this in its turn before beginning the third. With respect to
certain things one can partake of Enlightenment, and even of
Initiation, while as regards others one is still in the probationary
stage. Yet it will-be necessary to spend a certain time in this stage
of Probation before any Enlightenment at all can begin, and at least
in some respects one must have been enlightened before it is even
possible to enter upon the stage of Initiation. But in giving an
account of them it is necessary, for the sake of clearness, that the
three stages follow one another.
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