H. P. Blavatsky; A Great Betrayal

by Alice Leighton Cleather

H. P. Blavatsky on true Occultism.

BEFORE giving some fine passages from M. Lévy's concluding chapters I will quote from H. P. Blavatsky's Practical Occultism: Occultism versus the Occult Arts, mentioned a few pages back. In its original form it is a booklet containing a reprint of two articles which she wrote for Lucifer in 1888, shortly before she founded the Esoteric Section. These extracts will show the "true" teaching in this matter of Occultism, as contrasted with the "false," or Mrs. Besant's and Mr. Leadbeater's. H. P. B. begins by declaring that: "There are not in the West half-a-dozen among the fervent hundreds who call themselves 'Occultists' who have even an approximately correct idea of the nature of the Science they seek to master. With a few exceptions, they are all on the highway to sorcery.... Let them first learn the true relation in which the Occult Sciences stand to Occultism.... [It] differs from Magic and other secret sciences as the glorious sun does from a rush-light, as the immutable and immortal Spirit of Man—the reflection of the absolute, causeless and unknowable ALL—differs from the mortal clay—the human body.... [The word] OCCULTISM is certainly misleading, translated as it stands from the compound word Gupta-Vidya (Secret. Knowledge.) But the knowledge of what? Some of the Sanskrit terms may help us.

"There are four (out of the many other) names of the various kinds of Esoteric Knowledge or Sciences given, even in the exoteric Pur㯡s. There is (1) Yajna-Vidya, knowledge of the occult powers awakened in Nature by the performance of certain religious ceremonies and rites. (2) Mahavidya, the 'great knowledge,' the magic of the Kabalists and of the Tantrika worship, often Sorcery of the worst description. (3) Guhya-Vidya, knowledge of the mystic powers residing in Sound (Ether), hence in the Mantras (chanted prayers or incantations), and depending on the rhythm and melody used; in other words, a magical performance based on knowledge of the Forces of Nature and their correlation; and (4) Atma-Vidya, a term which is translated simply 'Knowledge of the Soul,' true Wisdom by the Orientalists, but which means far more.

"This last is the only kind of Occultism that any Theosophist who admires 'Light on the Path,' and who would be wise and unselfish, ought to strive after. All the rest is some branch of the 'Occult Sciences,' i.e., arts based on the knowledge of the ultimate essence of all things in the kingdoms of Nature—such as minerals, plants and animals—hence of things pertaining to the realm of material nature, however invisible that essence may be, and howsoever much it has hitherto eluded the grasp of Science.... Siddhis (or the Arhat powers) are only for those who are able to 'lead the life,' and to comply with the terrible sacrifices required for such a training, and to comply with them to the very letter. Let them know at once and remember always, that true Occultism or Theosophy is the 'Great Renunciation of SELF,' unconditionally and absolutely, in thought as in action. It is ALTRUISM, and it throws him who practises it out of the ranks of the living altogether. 'Not for himself, but for the world he lives,' as soon as he has pledged himself to the work. Much is forgiven during the first years of probation. But, no sooner is he 'accepted' than his personality must disappear, and he has to become a mere beneficent force in Nature. There are two poles for him after that, two paths, and no midway place of rest. He has either to ascend laboriously step by step, often through numerous incarnations and no Devachanic break, the golden ladder leading to Mahatmaship (the Arhat or Bodhisattva condition), or—he will let himself slide down the ladder at the first false step, and roll down into Dugpa-ship....[8]

"All this is either unknown or left out of sight altogether. Indeed, one who is able to follow the silent evolution of the preliminary aspirations of the candidates often find strange ideas quietly taking possession of their minds. There are those whose reasoning powers have been so distorted by foreign influences that they imagine that animal passions can be so sublimated and elevated that their fury, force and fire can, so to speak, be turned inwards ... until their collective and unexpanded strength enables their possessor to enter the true Sanctuary of the Soul, and stand therein in the presence of the Master—the HIGHER SELF.... Oh, poor blind visionaries!... Strange aberration of the human mind. Can it be so? Let us argue.

"The 'Master' in the Sanctuary of our souls is 'the Higher Self'—the divine spirit whose consciousness is based upon and derived solely (at any rate during the mortal life of the man in whom it is captive) from the mind, which we have agreed to call the Human Soul (the 'Spiritual Soul' being the vehicle of the Spirit.) In its turn the former (the personal or human soul) is a compound, in its highest form of spiritual aspirations, volitions and divine love; and in its lower aspect, of animal desires and terrestrial passions imparted to it by its association with its vehicle, the seat of all these ... the inner animal. [It] is the instinctual 'animal soul,' and is the hotbed of those passions which ... are lulled instead of being killed, ... And where, on what neutral ground, can they be imprisoned so as not to affect man?

"The fierce passions of love and lust are still alive, and they are allowed to still remain in the place of their birth—that same animal soul.... It is thus the mind alone—the sole link and medium between the man of earth and the Higher Self—that is the only sufferer, and which is in incessant danger of being dragged down by those passions, that may be re-awakened at any moment and perish in the abyss of matter.... How can harmony prevail and conquer, when the soul is stained and distracted with the turmoil of passions and the terrestrial desires of the bodily senses, or even of the 'Astral man'?

"For this 'Astral'—the shadowy 'double' (in the animal as in man) is not the companion of the divine Ego but of the earthly body. It is the link between the personal self, the lower consciousness of Manas, and the Body, and is the vehicle of transitory, not of immortal life.... It is only when the power of the passions is dead altogether, and when they have been crushed and annihilated in the retort of an unflinching will; when not only all the lusts and longings of the flesh are dead, but also the recognition of the personal Self is killed out and the 'Astral' has been reduced in consequence to a cipher, that the Union with the 'Higher Self' can take place. Then when the 'Astral' reflects only the conquered man, the still living but no more the longing, selfish personality, then the brilliant Augœides, the divine SELF, can vibrate in conscious harmony with both the poles of the human Entity—the man of matter purified, and the ever pure Spiritual Soul—and stand in the presence of the MASTER SELF, the Christos of the mystic Gnostic, blended, merged into, and one with IT for ever.[9]

"How, then, can it be thought possible for a man to enter the 'strait gate' of occultism when his daily and hourly thoughts are bound up with worldly things, desires of possession and power, with lust, ambition, and duties which, however honourable, are still of the earth, earthy? Even the love for wife and family—the purest as the most unselfish of human affections—is a barrier to real occultism.... While the heart is full of thoughts for a little group of selves, near and dear to us, how shall the rest of mankind fare in our souls? What percentage of love and care will there remain to bestow on the 'great orphan' [Humanity]? And how shall the 'still small voice' make itself heard in a soul entirely occupied with its own privileged tenants?... yet, he who would profit by the wisdom of the universal mind, has to reach it through the whole of Humanity, without distinction of race, complexion, religion, or social status. It is altruism, not ego-ism even in its most legal and noble conception, that can lead the unit to merge its little Self in the Universal Selves. It is to these needs and to this work that the true disciple of true Occultism has to devote himself if he would obtain theo-sophy, divine Wisdom and Knowledge.