Theos-Talk Archives (November 2006 Message tt00047)

Adelasie, Friends, 
 
In the ?Mahatma Letters?, one sees these two  paragraphs on the idea of  theosophical warriors: 
 
?It has ever been thus. Those who have watched mankind through the centuries of this cycle, have constantly seen the details of  this death-struggle between Truth and Error repeating themselves. Some of you Theosophists are now only wounded in your ?honour? or your purses, but those who held the lamp in preceding generations paid the penalty of their lives for their knowledge.?
 
?Courage, then, you all, who would be warriors of the one divine Verity ; keep on boldly and confidently; husband your moral strength  not wasting it upon trifles but keeping it against great occasions ...? (1) 
 
 
Elsewhere in the ?Mahatma Letters?, a Mahatma uses the significant metaphor of ?soldiers of a forlorn hope?  in order to describe true theosophists: 
 
?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 beginnings of the T.S.? (2) 
 
 
The expression ?forlorn hope? is of German origin.   There is an entry for it in the ?Webster Unabridged?, 1989 edition (3) , which says: 
 
?Forlorn Hope;  1. A vain hope; an undertaking almost certain to fail.    2.  A perilous or desperate enterprise. 3. Obs. A group of soldiers assigned to perform some unusually perilous service. [D. Folk-etymological alteration of  ?verloren hoop? - literally, ?lost troop?.]?  
 
It is not impossible that  in the first centuries after 1875 true theosophists may  look like ?lost  troops? to One Who Really Knows.  
 
But this is only short term.  As the Master says, we are right in seeing ?a  large purpose in the small beginnings?.    
 
 
Best regards,    Carlos. 
 
ooooooooooooooooooo

NOTES: 
 
(1) ?The Mahatma Letters?,  transcribed by A.T. Barker, Theosophical University Press,  1992, Pasadena, CA, USA, 494 pp., see Letter LV, p. 322.  Letter 130 in the Chronological Edition, Philippines TPH, 1993. 
 
(2) ?The Mahatma Letters?,  Theosophical University Press,  Letter VIII,  p. 35.  Letter 15, Chronological Edition, Philippines TPH, 1993.  
 
(3) ?Webster?s Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language?,  Portland House, New York, Copyright 1989, 2078 pp.
 
 
 
 
 
 


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