The Theosophical Society,
The Purpose of Life
From
A Textbook of Theosophy
By
C
To
fulfill our duty in the divine scheme we must try to understand not only that
scheme as a whole, but the special part that man is
intended to play in it. The
divine outbreathing reaches
its deepest immersion in matter in the mineral
kingdom, but it reaches its ultimate point of
differentiation not at the lowest
level of materiality, but at the entrance into the
human kingdom on the upward
arc of evolution. We have thus to realize three
stages in the course of this evolution:
(a) The downward arc in which the tendency is
toward differentiation and also
toward greater materiality. In this stage spirit is
involving itself in matter,
in order that it may learn to receive impressions
through it.
(b) The earlier part of the upward arc, in
which the tendency is still toward
greater differentiation, but at the same time
toward spiritualization and escape
from materiality. In this stage the spirit is
learning to dominate matter and to
see it as an expression of itself.
(c) The later part of the upward arc, when
differentiation has been finally
accomplished, and the tendency is
toward unity as well as toward greater
spirituality. In this stage the
spirit, having learnt (Page109) perfectly how to
receive impressions through matter and how to
express itself through it, and
having awakened its dormant powers, learns to use
these powers rightly in the
service of the Deity.
The
object of the whole previous evolution has been to produce the ego as a
manifestation of the Monad. Then the
ego in its turn evolves by putting itself
down into a succession of personalities. Men who do
not understand this look
upon the personality as the self, and consequently
live for it alone, and try to
regulate their lives for what appears to be its
temporary advantage. The man who
understands realizes that the only important thing
is the life of the ego, and that its progress is the object for which the
temporary personality must be used. Therefore when he has to decide between two
possible courses he thinks not, as the ordinary man might: “Which will bring
the greater pleasure and profit to me as a personality?” but “Which will bring
greater progress to me as an ego?” Experience soon teaches him that nothing can
ever be really good for him, or for any one, which is not good for all, and so
presently he learns to forget himself altogether, and to ask only what will be
best for humanity as a whole.
Clearly
then at this stage of evolution whatever tends to unity, whatever tends
to
spirituality, is in accord with the plan of the Deity for us, and is therefore
right for us, while whatever tends to separateness or to materiality is
certainly equally wrong for us. There are thoughts and emotions which tend to unity,
such as love, sympathy, reverence, benevolence; there are others which tend to
disunion, such as hatred, jealousy, envy, pride, cruelty, fear. Obviously the
former group are for us the right, the latter group
are for us the wrong.
In
all these thoughts and feelings which are clearly wrong, we recognize one
dominant note, the thought of self; while in all
those which are clearly right we recognize that the thought is turned toward
others, and that the personal self is forgotten. Wherefore we see that
selfishness is the one great wrong, and that perfect unselfishness is the crown
of all virtue. This gives us at once a rule of life. The man who wishes
intelligently to co-operate with the Divine Will must lay aside all thought of
the advantage or pleasure of the personal self, and must devote himself
exclusively to carrying out that Will by working for the welfare and happiness
of others.
This
is a high ideal, and difficult of attainment, because there lies behind us
such a long history of selfishness. Most of us are
as yet far from the purely
altruistic attitude; how are we to go to work to
attain it, lacking as we do the
necessary intensity in so many of the good
qualities, and possessing so many
which are undesirable?
Here
comes into operation the great law of cause and effect to which I have
already referred. Just as we can confidently
appeal to the laws of nature in the
physical world, so may we also appeal to these
laws of the higher world. If we
find evil qualities within us, they have grown up by
slow degrees through
ignorance and through self-indulgence. Now that
the ignorance is dispelled by knowledge, now that in consequence we recognize
the quality as an evil, the method of getting rid of it lies obviously before
us.
For
each of these vices there is a contrary virtue; if we find one of them
rearing its head within us, let us immediately
determine deliberately to develop
within ourselves the contrary virtue. If a man
realizes that in the past he has
been selfish, that means that he has set up within
himself the habit of thinking
of himself first and pleasing himself, of
consulting his own convenience or his
pleasure without due thought of the effect upon
others; let him set to work
purposefully to form the exactly
opposite habit, to make a practice before doing
anything of thinking how it will affect all those
around him; let him set himself habitually to please others, even though it be
at the cost of trouble or privation for himself. This also in time will become
a habit, and by developing it he will have killed out the other.
If
a man finds himself full of suspicion, ready always to assign evil motives to
the actions of those about him, let him set himself
steadily to cultivate trust
in his fellows, to give them credit always for the
highest possible motives. It
may be said that a man who does this will lay
himself open to be deceived, and
that in many cases his confidence will be misplaced.
That is a small matter; it
is far better for him that he should sometimes be
deceived as a result of his
trust in his fellows than that he should save himself
from such deception by
maintaining a (Page 112) constant attitude of
suspicion. Besides, confidence
begets faithfulness. A man who is trusted will
generally prove himself worthy of
the trust, whereas a man who is suspected is likely
presently to justify that
suspicion.
If
a man finds in himself the tendency toward avarice, let him go out of his way
to
be especially generous; if he finds himself irritable, let him definitely train
himself in calmness; if he finds himself devoured by curiosity, let him deliberately
refuse again and again to gratify that curiosity; if he is liable to fits of
depression, let him persistently cultivate cheerfulness, even under the most
adverse circumstances.
In
every case the existence of an evil quality in the personality means a lack
of the corresponding good quality in the ego. The
shortest way to get rid of
that evil and to prevent its reappearance is to fill
the gap in the ego, and the
good quality which is thus developed will show
itself as an integral part of the
man’s character through all his future lives. An ego
cannot be evil, but he can
be imperfect. The qualities which he develops
cannot be other than good
qualities, and when they are well defined they
show themselves in each of all
his numerous personalities, and consequently those
personalities can never be
guilty of the vices opposite to these qualities; but
where there is a gap in the
ego, where there is a quality undeveloped, there is
nothing inherent in the
personality to check the growth of the opposite
vice; and since others in the
world about him already possess (Page 113) that vice,
and man is an imitative
animal, it is quite probable that it will speedily
manifest itself in him. This
vice, however, belongs to the vehicles only and not
to the man inside. In these
vehicles its repetition may set up a momentum
which is hard to conquer; but if
the ego bestirs himself to create in himself the
opposite virtue, the vice is
cut off at its root, and can no longer exist –
neither in this life nor in all
the lives that are to come.
A
man who is trying to evolve these qualities in himself
will find certain obstacles in his way – obstacles which he must learn to
surmount. One of these is the critical spirit of the age – the disposition to
find fault with a thing, to belittle everything, to look for faults in
everything, and in everyone. The exact opposite of this is what is needed for
progress. He who wishes to move rapidly along the path of evolution must learn
to see good in everything – to see the latent Deity in everything and in every
one. Only so can he help those other people – only so can he get the best out
of those other things.
Another
obstacle is the lack of perseverance. We tend in these days to be
impatient; if we try any plan we expect immediate
results from it, and if we do
not get them, we give up that plan and try
something else. That is not the way
to make progress in occultism. The effort which we
are making is to compress
into one or two lives the evolution which would
naturally take perhaps a hundred
lives. That is not the sort of undertaking in which
immediate results are to be
expected. We attempt to uproot an (Page114) evil
habit, and we find it hard work; why? Because we have indulged in that practice
for, perhaps, twenty
thousand years; one cannot shake off the custom
of twenty thousand years in a
day or two. We have allowed that habit to gain an
enormous momentum, and before we can set up a force in the opposite direction
we have to overcome that
momentum. That cannot be done in a moment, but it
is absolutely certain that it
will be done eventually, if we persevere, because
the momentum, however strong
it may be, is a finite quality, whereas the power
that we can bring to bear against it is the infinite power of the human will,
which can make renewed efforts day after day, year after year, even life after
life if necessary.
Another
great difficulty in our way is the lack of clearness in our thought.
People
in the West are little used to clear thought with regard to religious
matters. Everything is vague and nebulous. For
occult development vagueness and nebulosity will not do. Our conceptions must
be clear cut and our thought images definite. Other necessary characteristics
are calmness and cheerfulness; these are rare in modern life, but are absolute
essentials for the work which we are here undertaking.
The
process of building a character is as scientific as that of developing one’s
muscles. Many a man, finding himself with
certain muscles flabby and powerless
takes that as his natural condition, and regards
their weakness as a kind of destiny imposed upon him; but anyone who
understands a little of the human body is aware that by continued exercise those
muscles can be brought into a state of health and the whole body eventually put
in order. In exactly the same way, many a man finds himself possessed of a bad
tamper or a tendency to
avarice
or suspicion or self-indulgence, and when in consequence of any of these vices
he commits some great mistake or does some great harm he offers it as an excuse
that he is a hasty-tempered man, or that he possesses this or that
quality by nature – implying that therefore he
cannot help it.
In
this case just as in the other the remedy is in his own
hands. Regular exercise of the right kind will develop a certain muscle, and
regular mental exercise of the right kind will develop a missing quality in a
man’s character. The ordinary man does not realize that he can do this, and
even if he sees that he can do it, he does not see why he should, for it means
much effort and much self-repression. He knows of no adequate motive for
undertaking a task so laborious and painful.
The
motive is supplied by the knowledge of the truth. One who gains an
intelligent comprehension of the direction of
evolution feels it not only his interest but his privilege and his delight to
co-operate with it. One who wills
the end wills also the means; in order to be able
to do good work for the world
he must develop within himself the necessary
strength and the necessary qualities. Therefore he who wishes to reform the
world must first of all reform
himself. He must learn to give up altogether the
attitude of insisting upon
rights, and must devote himself utterly (Page 116) to
the most earnest
performance of his duties. He must learn to regard
every connection with his
fellowman as an opportunity to help that
fellowman, or in some way to do him
good.
One
who studies these subjects intelligently cannot but realize the tremendous
power of thought, and the necessity for its efficient
control. All action springs from thought, for even when it is done (as we say)
without thought, it is the instinctive expression of the thoughts, desires and
feelings which the man has allowed to grow luxuriantly within himself in
earlier days.
The
wise man, therefore, will watch his thought with the greatest of care, for
in it he possesses a powerful instrument, for the
right use of which he is
responsible. It is his duty to govern his thought,
lest it should be allowed to
run riot and to do evil to himself and to others;
it is his duty also to develop
his thought power, because by means of it a vast
amount of actual and active
good can be done. Thus controlling his thought and
his action, thus eliminating
from
himself all evil and unfolding in himself all good qualities, the man presently
raises himself far above the level of his fellows, and stands out conspicuously
among them as one who is working on the side of good as against evil, of
evolution as against stagnation.
The
members of the great Hierarchy in whose hands is the evolution of the world are
watching always for such men in order that They may train
them to help in the greater work. Such a man inevitably attracts Their attention and They begin to use him as an instrument
in Their work. If he proves himself a good and efficient instrument, presently They will offer him definite training as an
apprentice, that by helping Them in the
world-business which They have to
do he may some day become even as They are, and
join the might Brotherhood to which They belong.
But
for an honor so great as this mere ordinary goodness
will not suffice. True,
a man must be good first of all, or it would be
hopeless to think of using him,
but in addition to being good he must be wise and
strong. What is needed is not
merely a good man, but a great spiritual power. Not
only must the candidate have cast aside all ordinary weaknesses but he must
have acquired strong positive qualities before he can offer himself to Them with any hope that he will be accepted. He must live no
longer as a blundering and selfish personality, but as an intelligent ego who
comprehends the part which he has to play in the great
scheme of the universe. He must have forgotten himself
utterly; he must have
resigned all thought of worldly profit or
pleasure or advancement; he must be
willing to sacrifice everything, and himself
first of all, for the sake of the work that has to be done. He may be in the
world, but he must not be of the world.
He
must be careless utterly of its opinion. For the sake of helping man he must
make himself something more than man. Radiant, rejoicing, strong, he must live
but for the sake of others and to be an expression of the love of God in the
world. A high ideal, yet not too high; possible, because
there are men who have achieved it.
When
a man has succeeded in unfolding his latent possibilities so far that he
attracts the attention of the Masters of the
Wisdom, one of Them will probably
receive him as an apprentice upon probation. The
period of probation is usually
seven years, but may be either shortened or
lengthened at the discretion of the
Master. At the end of that time, if his work has
been satisfactory, he becomes
what is commonly called the accepted pupil. This
brings him into close relations
with his Master, so that the vibrations of the
latter constantly play upon him, and he gradually learns to look at everything
as the Master looks at it. After yet
another interval, if he proves himself entirely
worthy, he may be drawn into a still closer relationship, when he is called the
son of the Master.
These
three stages mark his relationship to his own Master only, not to the
Brotherhood as a whole. The Brotherhood admits
a man to its ranks only when he has fitted himself to pass the first of the
great Initiations.This entry into the Brotherhood of
Those who rule the world may be thought of as the third of the great critical
points in man’s evolution. The first of these is when he becomes man – when he
individualizes out of the animal kingdom and obtains a causal body. The second
is what is called by the Christian “conversion”, and by the Hindu “the
acquirement of discrimination”, and by the Buddhist “the opening of the doors
of the mind”. That is the point at which he realizes the great facts of life,
and turns away from the pursuit of selfish ends in order to move intentionally along
with the great current of evolution in obedience to the divine Will. The third
point is the most important of all, for the Initiation which admits him to the
ranks of the Brotherhood also insures him against the possibility of failure to
fulfill the divine purpose in the time appointed for it. Hence those who have
reached this point are called in the Christian system the “elect”, the “saved”
or the “safe,” and in the Buddhist scheme “those who have entered on the
stream.”For those who have reached
this point have made themselves absolutely certain of reaching a further point
also – that of Adeptship, at which they pass into a
type of evolution which is definitely superhuman.
The
man who has become an Adept has fulfilled the divine Will so far as this
chain of worlds is concerned. He has reached, even
already the midmost point of the aeon of evolution,
the stage prescribed for man’s attainment at the end of
it. Therefore he is at liberty to spend the
remainder of that time either in helping his fellow-men or in even more
splendid work in connection with other and higher evolutions. He who has not
yet been initiated is still in danger of being left behind by our present wave
of evolution, and dropping into the next one – the “aeonian
condemnation” of which the Christ spoke, which has been
mistranslated “eternal damnation”. It
is from this fate of possible aeonian
failure – that is, failure for this age, or
dispensation, or life-wave – that the man who attains Initiation is
“safe”. He has “entered upon the
stream" which now must bear him on to Adeptship
in this present age, though it is still possible for him by his actions to
hasten or delay his progress along the Path which he is treading.
That
first Initiation corresponds to the matriculation which admits a man to a
University, and the attainment of Adeptship to the taking of a degree at the end
of the course. Continuing the simile, there are
three intermediate examinations,
which are usually spoken of as the second, third and
fourth Initiations,
Adeptship being
the fifth.
A general idea of the line of this higher evolution
may be obtained by studying the list of what are
called in Buddhist books “the
fetters” which must be cast off – the qualities
of which a man must rid himself
as he treads this Path. These are: the delusion of
separateness; doubt or
uncertainty; superstition; attachment to enjoyment;
the possibility of hatred;
desire for life, either in this or the higher worlds;
pride; agitation or irritability; and ignorance. The man who reaches the Adept
level has exhausted all the possibilities of moral development, and so the
future evolution which still lies before him can only mean still wider
knowledge and still more wonderful spiritual powers.
The Theosophical Society,