Theos-Talk Archives (June 2005 Message tt00040)

May 2 2005

Re PRACTICAL OCCULTISM.

Dear Reed:

Many thanks most interesting.

I find CHELAS AND LAY CHELAS by HPB that seems associated to this:

I summarize it below:

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Summary of  

CHELAS AND LAY CHELAS -- by H. P. Blavatsky Summary
H P B Articles, Vol. I 308 - 314
	
Note:

[ This is a document of the THEOSOPHICAL SOCIETY as it was published in the
THEOSOPHIST SUPPLEMENT for July 1893] (see MAHATMA LETTERS 340-2; H P B
Art. II 93; History of the THEOSOPHICAL MOVEMENT -- THEOSOPHY, Vol. 13, p.
390 )

The following seem to be most important:


The THEOSOPHICAL SOCIETY 

P. 310	…the Theosophical Society, one of whose arduous tasks is…to
re-awaken in the Aryan mind the dormant memory of the existence of this
science and of those transcendent human capabilities

[Note: in The KEY TO THEOSOPHY, HPB gives duties and objects of
THEOSOPHICAL SOCIETY as separate from THEOSOPHY, see p. 39 ]


A Guru

P. 308	The spiritual teacher …the real Guru is always an Adept in
the Occult Science. A man of profound knowledge, exoteric and esoteric,
especially the latter; and one who has brought his carnal nature under
subjection of the WILL; who has developed in himself both the power (Siddhi)
to control the forces of nature, and the capacity to probe her secrets by
the help of the formerly latent but now active powers of his being:--this is
the real Guru. 


An Adept

P. 308	…to develop into an Adept the most difficult task any man
could possibly undertake…

P. 308	…a natural-born Adept…we hear at rare intervals of one who
has an extraordinary innate capacity for the acquisition of occult knowledge
and power, yet even he has to pass the self-same tests and probations, and
go through the same self-training as any less endowed fellow aspirant. In
this matter it is most true that there is no royal road by which favourites
may travel. 


P. 311	The Mahatmas are the servants, not the arbiters of the Law
of Karma. 


A Chela

P. 308	A "Chela" then, is one who has offered himself or herself as
a pupil to learn practically the "hidden mysteries of Nature and the
psychical powers latent in man." 

P. 308-9	For centuries the selection of Chelas… has been made by the
Himalayan Mahatmas themselves from among the class… of natural mystics. [
Exceptions have been in the cases of Western men like Fludd, Thomas Vaughan,
Paracelsus, Pico di Mirandola, Count St. Germain, etc., whose temperamental
affinity to this celestial science …forced the distant Adepts to come into
personal relations with them, and enabled them to get such small (or large)
proportion of the whole truth as was possible under their social
surroundings. ]

P 309	From Book IV of Kiu-te, Chapter on "the Laws of Upasans,"
…the qualifications expected in a Chela were:-- 

1. Perfect physical health; 

2. Absolute mental and physical purity; 

3. Unselfishness of purpose; universal charity; pity for all animate beings;


4. Truthfulness and unswerving faith in the law of Karma, independent of any
power in nature that could interfere: a law whose course is not to be
obstructed by any agency, not to be caused to deviate by prayer or
propitiatory exoteric ceremonies; 

5. A courage undaunted in every emergency, even by peril to life; 

6. An intuitional perception of one's being the vehicle of the manifested
Avalokitesvara or Divine Atman (Spirit); 

7. Calm indifference for, but a just appreciation of everything that
constitutes the objective and transitory world, in its relation with, and
to, the invisible regions. 

P. 309	Such, at the least, must have been the recommendations of
one aspiring to perfect Chelaship. With the sole exception of the 1st, which
in rare and exceptional cases might have been modified, each one of these
points has been invariably insisted upon, and all must have been more or
less developed in the inner nature by the Chela's UNHELPED EXERTIONS, before
he could be actually put to the test. [Additional qualifications in H P
B Art., Vol. II p;. 93 ]

P. 309	…the self-evolving ascetic--whether in, or outside the
active world--has to place himself, according to his natural capacity, [and[
make himself master of, his (1) Sarira--body; (2) lndriya--senses; (3)
Dosha--faults; (4) Dukkha--pain; and is ready to become one with his
Manas--mind; Buddhi--intellection, or spiritual intelligence; and
Atma--highest soul, i.e., spirit…. and,…to recognize in Atma the highest
ruler in the world of perceptions, and in the will, the highest executive
energy (power), then may he, under the time-honoured rules, be taken in hand
by one of the Initiates. 

P. 309-10	He may then be shown the mysterious path at whose thither
end the Chela is taught the unerring discernment of …the fruits of causes
produced, and given the means of reaching …emancipation, from the misery of
repeated births and thus of avoiding …transmigration. 


Lay-Chelas

P. 310	…the rules of Chela selection have become slightly relaxed
in one respect. Many members of the Society…pressed to be taken as
candidates…it would be an interference with Karma to deny them the chanceof
at least beginning--since they were so importunate, they were given it. 

P. 310	The results have been far from encouraging…All expected to
have hidden things taught, extraordinary powers given them because--well,
because they had joined the Theosophical Society. Some had sincerely
resolved to amend their lives, and give up their evil courses; we must do
them that justice, at all events. 

P. 310	All were refused at first, Col. Olcott…was not formally
accepted as a Chela until he had proved by more than a year's devoted
labours and by a determination which brooked no denial, that he might safely
be tested. 

P. 311	At last, the word came from the higher authorities that a
few of the most urgent candidates should be taken at their word…Each
candidate was warned that he must wait for years in any event, before his
fitness could be proven, and that he must pass through a series of tests
that would bring out all there was in him, whether bad or good. They were
nearly all married men and hence were designated "Lay Chelas”

P. 311	A Lay Chela is but a man of the world who affirms his desire
to become wise in spiritual things. Virtually, every member of the
Theosophical Society who subscribes to the second of our three "Declared
Objects" is such…he has yet the possibility of becoming one, for he has
stepped across the boundary-line which separated him from the Mahatmas, and
has brought himself, as it were, under their notice.

P. 311	The joining is… the introduction; all the rest depends
entirely upon the member himself, and he need never expect the most distant
approach to the "favor" of one of our Mahatmas, or any other Mahatmas in the
world--should the latter consent to become known--that has not been fully
earned by personal merit. 

P. 311-12	LAY-CHELASHIP confers no privilege upon any one except that
of working for merit under the observation of a Master. 

P. 312	…as to the result: his good thoughts, words and deeds will
bear their fruits, his evil ones, theirs. 

P. 312	To boast of Lay Chelaship…is the surest way to reduce the
relationship with the Guru to a mere empty name…we have been teaching
everywhere the maxim "First deserve, then desire" intimacy with the
Mahatmas. 


Laws of Chelaship under Karma


P. 312	…there is a terrible law operative in nature, one which
cannot be altered… "Let sleeping dogs lie"? No man or woman knows his or
her moral strength until it is tried. 

P. 312	One who undertakes to try for Chelaship…rouses and lashes to
desperation every sleeping passion of his animal nature. For this is the
commencement of a struggle for the mastery in which quarter is neither to be
given nor taken. It is, once for all, "To be, or Not to be"; to conquer,
means ADEPTSHIP; to fail, an ignoble Martyrdom…

P. 312	…to fall victim to lust, pride, avarice, vanity,
selfishness, cowardice, or any other of the lower propensities, is indeed
ignoble…

P. 312	The Chela is not only called to face all the latent evil
propensities of his nature, but, in addition, the whole volume of maleficent
power accumulated by the community and nation to which he belongs. For he is
an integral part of those aggregates, and what affects either the individual
man, or the group (town or nation) reacts upon the other…his struggle for
goodness jars upon the whole body of badness in his environment, and draws
its fury upon him…If he is innately strong he shakes it off

P. 313	…in this moral battle, if the Chela has one single hidden
blemish…it shall and will be brought to light…the Inner Self, naked and
without the slightest veil to conceal its reality, is exposed. [all
conventional] restraints [will be] broken through under the strain of
chelaship.

P. 313	He is now in an atmosphere of illusions--Maya. Vice puts on
its most alluring face, and the tempting passions try to lure the
inexperienced aspirant to the depths of psychic debasement…For the strife
is…between the Chela's Will and his carnal nature, and Karma forbids that
any angel or Guru should interfere until the result is known. 

P. 313	Chelaship was defined… as a "psychic resolvent, which eats
away all dross and leaves only the pure gold behind." 

P. 313	"Let him that standeth take heed lest he fall"--a text that
would-be Chelas should consider well before they rush headlong into the
fray! 

P. 314	"there is no Impossibility to him who WILLS." 

P. 314	And in the wise Kirátárjuniya of Bharávi it is written:-- 

The enemies which rise within the body,
Hard to be overcome--the evil passions--
Should manfully be fought; who conquers these 
Is equal to the conqueror of worlds. (xi, 32.) 

====================================================

These words from MAHATMA LETTERS may also prove useful, and taken
as a warning in this most serous matter:

"I shall waste no condolences upon the poor "lay-chelas" because of the
"delicate weapons they can alone work with." A sorry day it would be for
mankind if any sharper or deadlier ones were put in their unaccustomed
hands! Ah! you would concur with me, my faithful friend, if you could but
see the plaint one of them has just made on account of the agonizing results
of the poisoned weapons he got the wielding of, in an evil hour, through the
help of a sorcerer. 

Crushed morally, by his own selfish impetuosity; rotting physically from
diseases engendered by the animal gratifications he snatched with "demon"
help; behind him a black memory of wasted chances and hellish successes;
before him a pall of dark despair, -- of avitchi, -- this wretched man turns
his impotent rage against our "starry science" and ourselves, and hurls his
ineffectual curses at those he vainly besieged for more powers in chelaship,
and whom he deserted for a necromantic "Guru" who now leaves the victim to
his fate. 

Be satisfied, friend, with your "delicate weapons"; if not as lethal as the
discus of Vishnu, they can break down many barriers if plied with power. The
poor wretch in question confesses to a course of "lies, breaches of faith,
hatreds, temptings or misleading of others, injustices, calumnies,
perjuries, false pretences," etc. The "risk" he "voluntarily took," but he
adds, "if they (we) had been good and kind as well as wise and powerful,
they (we) would have certainly prevented me from undertaking a task to which
they knew I was unequal." In a word, we, who have gained our knowledge, such
as it is, by the only practicable method, and who have no right to hinder
any fellow man from making the attempt (though we have the right to warn,
and we do warn every candidate), we are expected to take upon our own heads
the penalty of such interference, or try to save ourselves from the same by
making incompetents into adepts in spite of themselves! 

Because we did not do this, he is "left to linger out a wretched existence
as an animated poison bag, full of mental, moral, and physical corruption."
This man has, in despair, turned from a "heathen" an atheist and a
free-thinker -- a Christian, or rather a theist, and now humbly "submits" to
Him (an extra cosmical God for whom he has even discovered a local) and to
all delegated by Him with lawful authority." 

And we, poor creatures, are "traitors, Liars, Devils, and all my (his)
crimes (as enumerated above) are as a shining robe of glory compared to
Theirs:" -- his capitals and underscorings being quoted as well as his
words! Now friend, put away that thought that I ought not to compare your
cage with his, for I do not. I have only given you a glimpse into the hell
of this lost soul, to show you what disaster may come upon the "lay-chela"
who snatches at forbidden power before his moral nature is developed to the
point of fitness for its exercise. 

You must think well over the article "Chelas and Lay Chelas" which you will
find in the Supplement of the July Theosophist. 

So the great Mr. Crookes has placed one foot across the threshold for the
sake of reading the Society's papers? Well and wisely done, and really brave
of him. Heretofore he was bold enough to take a similar step and loyal
enough to truth to disappoint his colleagues by making his facts public....
Let him know that its cornucopia is not yet emptied, and that Western
Science has still three additional states of matter to discover. ...We have
no favourites, break no rules. If Mr. Crookes would penetrate Arcana beyond
the corridors the tools of modern science have already excavated, let him --
Try. 

He tried and found the Radiometer; tried again, and found Radiant matter;
may try again and find the "Kama-rupa" of matter -- its fifth state. 

But to find it's Manas he would have to pledge himself stronger to secrecy
than he seems inclined to. You know our motto, and that its practical
application has erased the word "impossible" from the occultist's
vocabulary. 

If he wearies not of trying, he may discover that that most noble of all
facts, his true SELF. But he will have to penetrate many strata before he
comes to It. And to begin with let him rid himself of the maya that any man
living can set up "claims" upon Adepts. He may create irresistible
attractions and compel their attention, but they will be spiritual, not
mental or intellectual. And this bit of advice applies and is directed to
several British theosophists, and it may be well for them to know it. 

Once separated from the common influences of Society, nothing draws us to
any outsider save his evolving spirituality. He may be a Bacon or an
Aristotle in knowledge, and still not even make his current felt a feather's
weight by us, if his power is confined to the Manas. 

The supreme energy resides in the Buddhi; latent -- when wedded to Atman
alone, active and irresistible when galvanized by the essence of "Manas" and
when none of the dross of the latter commingles with that pure essence to
weigh it down by its finite nature. 

Manas, pure and simple, is of a lower degree, and of the earth earthly: and
so your greatest men count but as nonentities in the arena where greatness
is measured by the standard of spiritual development. 

When the ancient founders of your philosophical schools came East, to
acquire the lore of our predecessors, they filed no claims, except the
single one of a sincere and unselfish hunger for the truth. If any now
aspire to found new schools of science and philosophy the same plan will win
-- if the seekers have in them the elements of success. " M L (Barker),
pp. 340-342

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I hope this will be of help.

Best wsihes,

Dallas

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-----Original Message-----
From: Reed Carson [mailto:newsletter@blavatskymail.com] 
Sent: Wednesday, June 01, 2005 10:19 AM
To: 
Subject: Blavatsky Net Newsletter June 1, 2005


Dear Member of Blavatsky Net,

There is a mountain. In the end we all climb that same mountain. The way
up varies from gentler, longer, safer paths to steeper more difficult
ascents. There are steeper sections waiting for us when we are ready.

For this month's newsletter I am quoting from a very revealing article by
Madame Blavatsky entitled PRACTICAL OCCULTISM. It gives an authentic
glimpse
into the challenging rules for true occult development.

This is not the route of easy acquisition of occult knowledge that is
sometimes pictured in the new age. We don't simply agree to open our mouth
and our guru pours in knowledge. Instead, the article lists some of the
ground rules that we must follow for the study of occultism. These rules may
give us pause if we dwell on them. But if we look a little longer they may
give us inspiration and a sense of direction for living where and as we are.

Since the entire article is longer than the usual length of one of these
newletters I have removed various parts. If you are interested, then please
visit the URL http://blavatsky.net/blavatsky/arts/PracticalOccultism.htm
to see the whole article. Along the way, her article contains some less
common and instructive information on the process of gaining occult
knowledge.

Best wishes in its perusal.

_______________

PRACTICAL OCCULTISM

by Madame Blavatsky

IMPORTANT TO STUDENTS

AS some of the letters in the CORRESPONDENCE of this month show, there are
many people who are looking for practical instruction in Occultism. It
becomes necessary, therefore, to state once for all:-- 

(a) The essential difference between theoretical and practical Occultism; 
or what is generally known as Theosophy on the one hand, and Occult science
on the other, and:-- 

(b) The nature of the difficulties involved in the study of the latter. It
is
easy to become a Theosophist. Any person of average intellectual capacities,
and a leaning toward the meta-physical; of pure, unselfish life, who finds
more joy in helping his neighbour than in receiving help himself; one who is
ever ready to sacrifice his own pleasures for the sake of other people; and
who loves Truth, Goodness and Wisdom for their own sake, not for the benefit
they may confer--is a Theosophist. 

But it is quite another matter to put oneself upon the path which leads to
the knowledge of what is good to do, as to the right discrimination of good
from evil; a path which also leads a man to that power through which he can
do the good he desires, often without even apparently lifting a finger. 

CUT