Theosophy

Boris de Zirkoff – USA

(Original cover photo of Theosophia)

As we ponder over the prevailing circumstances of life, and the difficult conditions in which many students of the Ancient Wisdom live at the present time, certain definite ideas suggest themselves for consideration, in an attempt to help ourselves - all of us in whatever land - to gain a greater perspective, a stronger sense of peace, and a wider vision.

First of all we might mention our common studies - studies of the teachings and precepts of the Ancient Wisdom, or at least as much of that as has been made available to us in years gone by.

We owe it to ourselves, as students and seekers, to make of that study the central point of our lives. A "central point" in any figure is theoretically a mathematical point without size. In actuality, it is a very minute point, whose size is hardly even comparable to the surface or volume of the overall figure or form. It is "central" not on account of its size, but on account of its importance, mathematical and structural, and it serves as the pivot around which everything else gravitates, and with which everything is intimately related.

By analogy, our studies of the Esoteric Philosophy do not have to occupy necessarily long hours in duration, and be "important" on account of the amount of time they consume. But these studies must be of such spiritual importance to us, and of such paramount significance in our life, that even a few moments of profound thinking, of deep meditation. and of self-identification with the teachings, would set the key-note of our consciousness and establish the general direction for our mental and emotional reactions for the rest of the day, and all through its manifold routines and duties.

If we knew how to do it, a few minutes of concentration on some of the lofty principles of thought contained in the teachings of Theosophy, would be sufficient. In most cases, however, students find it necessary to achieve by means of time what they are unable to reach by intensity.

It is to be remembered - and this on the ground of the experience of many generations of devoted students - that nothing is better than regularity in connection with our studies: a specific time set aside in our life when we know that a minimum of interruptions, and a maximum of quiet, will create the condition best suited in our life's routine for reading, pondering, meditation and self-analysis. Our lives differ greatly from each other, and no set rule can be formulated in these respects, although it might be suggested that the first hour upon rising, or the last hour before retiring, are very auspicious times. This does not exclude other periods of the day or night, if the prevailing circumstances are such as to warrant the adoption of some other technique of study.

Collective study of the teachings in a group of students is very good, but it is not sufficient; it must be reinforced by that quiet, solitary form of study which is not interrupted even by the thoughts and words of co-students bent upon the same task. It is equally true that solitary study, with no participation in collective work with other students, is insufficient in most cases, and should be vitalized by active participation in the thoughts and reaction of others, which group-study certainly does.

Try therefore to adjust your lives, your duties, avocations, and personal obligations in such a fashion as to create, make, build for yourself a quiet spot of consciousness, a hermitage of your own in the midst of the world, where you can retire with great regularity for study and self-study; safeguard this spot (a spot in time rather than a locality!) from the intrusion of worldly elements; protect it from the onslaught of routines, habits, trifling nuisances, and the exasperating minutiae of every-day life; consider it to be your own Temple, whose portals can be tightly shut against any and all intruding and disquieting elements; and do not make the psychological mistake of imagining that in doing so you are practicing selfishness, exclusiveness or uncharitableness towards others. You are doing nothing of the kind, because your motive and purpose is to become strengthened and refreshed, spiritually speaking, so that you may go out into the world of everyday routines and duties that much more able to cope with whatever comes your way, and that much more fitted to help others. Are you selfish, exclusive or uncharitable, when you retire from this world, deliberately and regularly, and take refuge every twenty-four hours in the land of sleep, as you must do, whether you choose it or not?

The key-note of this entire process is in the intimate relation that exists, and must exist, between your studies of the ancient truths and their application in daily living, by means of your duties and obligations towards others. Only when this balance is well kept, do your studies build a solid foundation for the future. When that balance does not exist, and the student finds himself absorbed in hours of study, fascinated with its beauty, and forgetful of his outward duties and what he owes to others, he becomes progressively a more and more useless member of society whose mental and spiritual concerns, however lofty they may be in themselves, bear no vital relation to the woes and sufferings of an unprogressed and confused world. He shuts himself in a shell made up of his own spirituality (which can have a selfish aspect, strange as this may sound to some people!), and fails to learn the lessons of compassion and sympathy which only a close contact with the world of men can ever teach him.

Contrariwise, the student who devotes most of his time to benevolent work, beneficent activities, and acts of helpfulness, by means of and through his various duties and contacts, but never gives himself the time to ponder deeply and by himself over the great problems of existence; and does not attempt to commune with the higher part of himself in the silence of his hour of study, is apt to become very superficial in his reactions to life and to find himself with no sure spiritual-intellectual foundation which alone can make his outer work for others inspired and strong.

Another very important subject is the application of the result of our studies to the affairs of daily life. Upon this subject, many misunderstandings exist, and many misconceptions are current, especially among new students.

That the ethical precepts of the Ancient Wisdom - universal in their principles of thought and present in all the great religions and philosophies of the world - are directly applicable to our daily duties and responsibilities, is of course obvious; and we can discover, as we go along, many new ways of putting such precepts into daily practice.

But many students, in their beginner-stage, have been at a loss to find any "practical" application to life of such teachings as those which are concerned with Rounds, Root-Races, invisible Hierarchies, Cosmic Cycles or submerged and long forgotten continents. Ideas have been expressed over and over again by those yet immature in this line of thinking, that such teachings are too abstract and metaphysical to have any practical value in life, while the world is in need of some simple way to solve the existing problems, with a down-to-earth philosophy of life.

This may be so from one standpoint, and the idea is not bad at all as far as it goes; the trouble is that it does not go far enough, and disregards a number of important factors. Some students, on account of their mental conditioning or background, are simply unable to grasp the deeper teachings of the Esoteric Philosophy; they do not have the psycho-intellectual tools with which to do so. For them the Ancient Wisdom has many simpler thoughts which they can fully understand and apply to their respective lives; and no blame can possibly be attached to people whose mental workshop lacks as yet the necessary spiritual mechanism for more serious and intricate work. In time, if they persevere and teach themselves how to think, they may outstrip even some of those students who today consider themselves proficient in the understanding of these deeper and more technical teachings.

But we are here primarily concerned with those students who have the mental and emotional equipment with which to grasp the more technical teachings of the Esoteric Philosophy; but who, on account of lack of careful and systematic thinking, consider them abstruse, metaphysical, unrelated to life, as we know the latter, and as we have to live it every day.

It would be possible to enter into a lengthy discussion on this subject, and to show that the teachings about Rounds, Root-Races, Hierarchies and Cycles have their representative factors in everyday life, and are reflected in the small, mirrored in the minute, and surround us everywhere without our noticing them. But this would take a great deal of time and space, and will have to wait for the present.

However, here is the key with which to approach this subject, and open for oneself vast vistas along the line of the "practical application" of seemingly "abstruse" teachings to what we call the "daily life." Serious study of these teachings, consecutive reading, collating of passages, pondering over the various implications. etc., raises the vibratory rate of the student's mind, elevates his consciousness,  establishes a new rhythm in his entire system, almost imperceptibly to himself. It is especially the case if and when such studies are continued over a long period of time, were it only a few moments on any particular day. Certain new mental grooves of a higher type are established; deeper and more salutary channels are built in the mental mechanism of the student; noble, lofty, quieting and harmonizing thoughts and feelings are unfolded and sustained; and the whole nature is raised as a result of ideas and conceptions - even if only partially understood - which strike notes of grandeur, sublimity, magnanimity, universality, all-inclusiveness and harmony. In due course of time, these thoughts become the main background of the student's mind, and he finds them present almost at all times as a backdrop against which are projected his various mundane activities. He has initiated an undercurrent which does not stop or cease, and this undercurrent begins gradually to permeate his various reactions to life. The worldly affairs of men, as well as his own duties and temporary avocations; his relation to other human beings and their relations to him; the surrounding circumstances, their changing karmic setting, and the passing "show" of outward life - all of these and many other factors take in the student's vision a new perspective; they are automatically compared with the grander, the greater, the more spiritual and enduring facts of being regarding which he has deeply thought; and in this comparison and inter-relatedness, the smaller issues of life are transcended, the petty emotional disturbances are outgrown, and the personal elements of daily life gradually assume their rightful place - a very un-important one - in the overall scheme of being, where the student senses the pulse of a mighty Force whose cosmic objectives and universal aims he knows to be at one with the nobler side of his own Self.

What can be more "practical" than to be able to view the smaller aspect of life, the personal, the fleeting, the imperfect, the relatively distorted and limited, in the light of the greater aspect of universal Life, and with the impersonal, the enduring, the more perfect, and the more harmonious and limitless, as its background? Is this not an "application" of the deeper teachings of the Esoteric Philosophy to "daily life"? Does it make of the student a mere dreamer, a metaphysician, an abstract thinker unrelated to his daily responsibilities and duties? Surely it does not. Any careful thinking along this line would result in a similar deduction.

And so next time when we are confronted with the nasty temper of X, or the entrenched selfishness of Y, or again with the narrow-mindedness of Z; or maybe when we have just been insulted by the bus-driver, or unexpectedly accused by a friend of having done something which we have not even dreamt of, or perhaps scornfully laughed at because we failed to recognize any enduring value in the prating of some political demagogue - let us relate these events and conditions to the scale of cosmic evolution, and ask ourselves what will remain of them all in a few thousand years from now. The chances are very great indeed that we will fail to become unduly excited over the pinpricks of the personal aspect of life, and will remain unperturbed when face to face with its more ugly manifestations. This will be due primarily to the all-important fact that consecutive, serious study of very noble and seemingly "abstract" teachings has raised the key-note of our consciousness, so that it has lost, at least partially, its characteristics of feverishness and irritability; it has begun to vibrate in unison with something far greater and majestic, compared with which the passing phantasmagoria of personal events assumes the characteristics of a marionette-show, whose strings are pulled from behind the visible scene by forces and powers working constantly and steadily towards a higher, impersonal, cosmic Goal.