Adyar Pamphlets

Spiritual Progress

No. 71

Spiritual Progress
by H.P. Blavatsky
Reprinted from "The Theosophist" Volume VI Published in 1 !!"s Theosophi#al Publishing $ouse% Adyar% &hennai '(adras) India The Theosophist *ffi#e% Adyar% (adras. India &$RISTINA R*SS+TTI"s ,ell-.no,n lines/ 0oes the road ,ind up-hill all the ,ay1 2es% to the 3ery end. 0oes the 4ourney ta.e the ,hole long day1 5rom morn to night% my friend. are li.e an epitome of the life of those ,ho are truly treading the path ,hi#h leads to higher things. 6hate3er differen#es are to be found in the 3arious presentations of the +soteri# 0o#trine% as in e3ery age it donned a fresh garment% different both in hue and te7ture to that ,hi#h pre#eded8 yet in e3ery one of them ,e find the fullest agreement upon one point -- the road to spiritual de3elopment. *ne only infle7ible rule has been e3er binding upon the neophyte% as it is binding no, -- the complete sub4ugation of the lo,er nature by the higher. 5rom the Vedas and 9panishads :9panishats; to the re#ently published Light on the Path, sear#h as ,e may through the bibles of e3ery ra#e and #ult% ,e find but one only ,ay% -- hard% painful% troublesome% by ,hi#h men #an gain the true spiritual insight. And ho, #an it be other,ise% sin#e all religions and all philosophies are but the 3ariants of the first tea#hings of the *ne 6isdom% imparted to men at the beginning of the #y#le by the Planetary Spirit1 The true Adept% the de3eloped man% must% ,e are al,ays told% become -- he #annot be made. The pro#ess is therefore one of gro,th through e3olution% and this must ne#essarily in3ol3e a #ertain amount of pain. The main #ause of pain lies in our perpetually see.ing the permanent in the impermanent% and not only see.ing% but a#ting as if ,e had already found the un#hangeable in a ,orld of ,hi#h the one #ertain <uality ,e #an predi#ate is #onstant #hange8 and al,ays% 4ust as ,e fan#y ,e ha3e ta.en a firm hold upon the permanent% it #hanges ,ithin our 3ery grasp% and pain results. Again% the idea of gro,th in3ol3es also the idea of disruption/ the inner being must #ontinually burst through its #onfining shell or en#asement% and su#h a disruption must also be a##ompanied by pain% not physi#al but mental and intelle#tual. And this is ho, it is% in the #ourse of our li3es% the trouble that #omes upon us is al,ays 4ust the one ,e feel to be the hardest that #ould possibly happen -- it is al,ays the one thing ,e feel ,e #annot possibly bear. If ,e loo. at it from a ,ider point of 3ie,% ,e shall see that ,e are trying to burst through our shell at its one 3ulnerable point8 that our gro,th% to be real gro,th% and not the #olle#ti3e result of a series of e7#res#en#e% must progress e3enly throughout% 4ust as the body of a #hild gro,s% not first the head and then a hand% follo,ed perhaps by a leg% but in all dire#tions at on#e% regularly and imper#eptibly. (an"s Page 1

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tenden#y is to #ulti3ate ea#h part separately% negle#ting the others in the meantime -- e3ery #rushing pain is #aused by the e7pansion of some negle#ted part% ,hi#h e7pansion is rendered more diffi#ult by the effe#ts of the #ulti3ation besto,ed else,here. +3il is often the result of o3er-an7iety% and men are al,ays trying to do too mu#h% they are not #ontent to lea3e ,ell alone% to do al,ays 4ust ,hat the o##asion demands and no more8 they e7aggerate e3ery a#tion and so produ#e .arma to be ,or.ed out in a future birth. *ne of the subtlest forms of this e3il is the hope and desire of re,ard. (any there are ,ho% albeit often un#ons#iously% are yet spoiling all their efforts by entertaining this idea of re,ard% and allo,ing it to be#ome an a#ti3e fa#tor in their li3es% and so lea3ing the door open to an7iety% doubt% fear% desponden#y = failure. The goal of the aspirant for spiritual ,isdom is entran#e upon a higher plane of e7isten#e8 he is to be#ome a ne, man% more perfe#t in e3ery ,ay than he is at present% and if he su##eeds% his #apabilities and fa#ulties ,ill re#ei3e a #orresponding in#rease of range and po,er% 4ust as in the 3isible ,orld ,e find that ea#h stage in the e3olutionary s#ale is mar.ed by in#rease of #apa#ity. This is ho, it is that the Adept be#omes endo,ed ,ith mar3ellous po,ers that ha3e been so often des#ribed% but the main point to be remembered is% that these po,ers are the natural a##ompaniments of e7isten#e on a higher plane of e3olution% 4ust as the ordinary human fa#ulties are the natural a##ompaniments of e7isten#e on the ordinary human plane. (any persons seem to thin. that adeptship is not so mu#h the result of radi#al de3elopment as of additional #onstru#tion8 they seem to imagine that an Adept is a man% ,ho% by going through a #ertain plainly defined #ourse of training% #onsisting of minute attention to a set of arbitrary rules% a#<uires first one po,er and then another8 and% ,hen he has attained a #ertain number of these po,ers is forth,ith dubbed an adept. A#ting on this mista.en idea% they fan#y that the first thing to be done to,ards attaining adeptship is to a#<uire "po,ers" = #lair3oyan#e and the po,er of lea3ing the physi#al body and tra3elling to a distan#e are among those ,hi#h fas#inate the most. To those ,ho ,ish to a#<uire su#h po,ers for their o,n pri3ate ad3antage% ,e ha3e nothing to say8 they fall under the #ondemnation of all ,ho a#t for purely selfish ends. >ut there are others% ,ho% mista.ing effe#t for #ause% honestly thin. that the a#<uirement of abnormal po,ers is the only road to spiritual ad3an#ement. These loo. upon our So#iety as merely the readiest means to enable them to gain .no,ledge in this dire#tion% #onsidering it as a sort of o##ult a#ademy% an institution established to afford fa#ilities for the instru#tion of ,ould-be mira#le-,or.ers. In spite of repeated protests and ,arnings% there are some minds in ,hom this notion seems ineradi#ably fi7ed% and they are loud in their e7pressions of disappointment ,hen they find that ,hat had been pre3iously told them is perfe#tly true8 that the So#iety ,as founded to tea#h no ne, and easy paths to the a#<uisition of "po,ers"8 and that its only mission is to re.indle the tor#h of truth% so long e7tinguished for all but the 3ery fe,% and to .eep that truth ali3e by the formation of a fraternal union of man.ind% the only soil in ,hi#h the good seed #an gro,. The Theosophi#al So#iety does indeed desire to promote the spiritual gro,th of e3ery indi3idual ,ho #omes ,ithin its influen#e% but its methods are those of the an#ient Rishis :Rshis; % its tenets those of the oldest Page 2

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+soteri#ism8 it is no dispenser of patent nostrums #omposed of 3iolent remedies ,hi#h no honest dealer ,ould dare to use. In this #onne#tion ,e ,ould ,arn all our members% and others ,ho are see.ing spiritual .no,ledge% to be,are of persons offering to tea#h them easy methods of a#<uiring psy#hi# gifts8 su#h gifts (laukika) are indeed #omparati3ely easy of a#<uirement by artifi#ial means% but fade out as soon as the ner3e-stimulus e7hausts itself. The real seership and Adeptship ,hi#h is a##ompanied by true psy#hi# de3elopment (lokothra) (sometimes lokottara) , on#e rea#hed% is ne3er lost. It appears that 3arious so#ieties ha3e sprung into e7isten#e sin#e the foundation of the Theosophi#al So#iety% profiting by the interest the latter has a,a.ened in matters of psy#hi# resear#h% and endea3ouring to gain members by promising them easy a#<uirement of psy#hi# po,ers. In India ,e ha3e long been familiar ,ith the e7isten#e of hosts of sham as#eti#s of all des#riptions% and ,e fear that there is fresh danger in this dire#tion% here% as ,ell as in +urope and Ameri#a. 6e only hope that none of our members% da??led by brilliant promises% ,ill allo, themsel3es to be ta.en in by self-deluded dreamers% or% it may be% ,ilful de#ei3ers. To sho, that some real ne#essity e7ists for our protests and ,arnings% ,e may mention that ,e ha3e re#ently seen% en#losed in a letter from >enares% #opies of an ad3ertisement put forth by a so-#alled "(ahatma." $e #alls for "eight men and ,omen ,ho .no, +nglish and any of the Indian 3erna#ulars ,ell"8 and #on#ludes by saying that "those ,ho ,ant to .no, parti#ulars of the ,or. and the amount of pay" should apply to his address% ,ith en#losed postage stamps@ 9pon the table before us lies a reprint of "The 0i3ine Pymander"% published in +ngland last year% and ,hi#h #ontains a noti#e to "Theosophists who may have been disappointed in their expectations of Sublime isdom being freely dispensed by $IN0** (A$AT(AS"8 #ordially in3iting them to send in their names to the +ditor% ,ho ,ill see them% "after a short probation"% admitted into an *##ult >rotherhood ,ho "tea#h freely and 6IT$*9T R+S+RV+ all they find ,orthy to re#ei3e". Strangely enough% ,e find in the 3ery 3olume in <uestion $ermes Trismegistus saying/ "5or this only% * Son% is the ,ay to Truth, ,hi#h our progenitors tra3eled in8 and by ,hi#h ma.ing their 4ourney% they a length attained to the good. It is a 3enerable ,ay and plain% but hard and diffi#ult for the soul to go in that is in the body. " erefore we must look warily to such kind of people, that being in ignorance they may be less evil for fear of that which is hidden and secret!" It is perfe#tly true that some Theosophists ha3e been :through nobody"s fault but their o,n; greatly disappointed be#ause ,e ha3e offered them no short #ut to 2oga Vidya% and there are others ,ho ,ish for pra#ti#al ,or.. And% signifi#antly enough% those ,ho ha3e done least for the So#iety are loudest in fault-finding. No,% ,hy do not these persons and all our members ,ho are able to do so% ta.e up the serious study of mesmerism1 (esmerism has been #alled the Aey to the *##ult S#ien#es% and it has this ad3antage that it offers pe#uliar opportunities for doing good to man.ind. If in ea#h of our bran#hes ,e ,ere able to establish a homeopathi# dispensary ,ith the addition of mesmeri# healing% su#h as has already been done ,ith great su##ess in >ombay% ,e might #ontribute to,ards putting the s#ien#e of medi#ine in this #ountry on a sounder basis% and be the means of in#al#ulable benefit to the people at Page 3

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There are others of our bran#hes% besides the one at >ombay% that ha3e done good ,or. in this dire#tion% but there is room for infinitely more to be done than has yet been attempted. And the same is the #ase in the 3arious other departments of the So#iety"s ,or.. It ,ould be a good thing if the members of ea#h bran#h ,ould put their heads together and seriously #onsult as to ,hat tangible steps they #an ta.e to further the de#lared ob4e#ts of the So#iety. In too many #ases the members of the Theosophi#al So#iety #ontent themsel3es ,ith a some,hat superfi#ial study of its boo.s% ,ithout ma.ing any real #ontribution to its a#ti3e ,or.. If the So#iety is to be a po,er for good in this and other lands% it #an only bring about this result by the a#ti3e #ooperation of e3ery one of its members% and ,e ,ould earnestly appeal to ea#h of them to #onsider #arefully ,hat possibilities of ,or. are ,ithin his po,er% and then to earnestly set about carrying them into effect! Right thought is a good thing% but thought alone does not #ount for mu#h unless it is translated into a#tion. There is not a single member in the So#iety ,ho is not able to do something to aid the #ause of truth and uni3ersal brotherhood8 it only depends on his o,n ,ill% to ma.e that something an a##omplished fa#t. Abo3e all ,e ,ould reiterate the fa#t that the So#iety is no nursery for in#ipient Adepts8 tea#hers #annot be pro3ided to go round and gi3e instru#tion to 3arious bran#hes on the different sub4e#ts ,hi#h #ome ,ithin the So#iety"s ,or. of in3estigation8 the >ran#hes must study for themsel3es8 boo.s are to be had% and the .no,ledge there put forth must be pra#ti#ally applied by the 3arious members/ thus ,ill be de3eloped self-relian#e and reasoning po,ers. 6e urge this strongly8 for appeals ha3e rea#hed us that any le#turer sent to >ran#hes must be pra#ti#ally 3ersed in e7perimental psy#hology and #lair3oyan#e (i!e!, loo.ing into magi# mirrors and reading the future% et#.% et#.;. No, ,e #onsider that su#h e7periments should originate amongst members themsel3es to be of any 3alue in the de3elopment of the indi3idual or to enable him to ma.e progress in his "uphill" path% and therefore earnestly re#ommend our members to try for them

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