Section 11

This applies to all of us, especially in the mental attitude we take up in Theosophy. The perfect fruit of nature is the birth of the true Man. It is no artificial creation, but a natural steady growth ; a birth with pain and sorrow, with mighty throes suffered and joyfully endured. But to be perfect it must be self-born, it must be divine, and that which is born from another than the Self is other than divine, subject to death and decay.
We imcst work out our own salvation, wisely, humbly, nobly. There are no swaddling clothes for the Self, no apron-strings to tie the soul to ; from the very beginning it must walk of itself, of its own energy and force. There is no spoon- meat, no nursing, no whimperings to be hushed. It is a Man, no animal embrj^o. It strides forth as a giant from the egg that envelops it.
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They who have conquered are Shepherds of Compassion, not sheep, are Lions of Mercy, not deer. They are the Christs and the Buddhas, and it is their will that all shall be like unto them, all be one with them.
Let us not, then, weakly repeat the words of others, and reflect the thoughts of others, but if the words are good and the thoughts wise, strive to develop in ourselves the spirit that dictated such words or induced such thoughts. The Lodge does not wish for the mere monkey- dom of external imitation, or the parrot-like repetition of words. It requires companions on whom reliance can be placed, because such companions rely on that Self which is the Self of the Lodge.
The secret of the Self is that it is self-motive. As Cicero writes, repeating the noble doctrine of the Stoics and of the Mysteries :
" Strive on, with the assurance that it is not thou who art subject to death, but thy body. For that which is really thyself is not the being which thy bodily shape declares. But the real man is the thinking principle of each, and not the form which can be pointed to with the finger. Of this, then, be sure, that thou art
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God ; inasmuch as deity is that which has will, sense, memory, foresight ; and rules, regulates and moves the body it has in charge, just as the Supreme Deity does the Universe. And Hke as Eternal Deity guides the universe, which is in a certain degree subject to decay, so the sempiternal soul moves the destructible body. Now that which is ever in motion is eternal. Whereas that which communicates motion to something else, and which is set in motion by an external cause, must necessarily cease to exist when its motion is exhausted."
And then (as Macrobius says), repeating the PhcBclrus of Plato, word by word, Tully con- tinues :
" That, therefore, which has the principle of motion in itself, seeing that it can never fail itself, is the only eternal existence, and, more- over, is the source and causative principle of motion to all other bodies endowed with move- ment. The causative principle, however, can have no antecedent cause. For all things spring from this principle, which cannot, in the nature of things, be generated from any- thing else : for if it were so, it would cease to be the principal cause. And if this is without begin-
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ning, it can evidently have no end, for if the prin- ciple of causation were destroyed, it could not be re-born from anything else, nor give birth to anj'thing out of itself, for all things must neces- sarily be generated from the causative prin- ciple. The principle of motion, therefore, comes from that which is endowed with self- movement ; and this can suffer neither birth nor death ; otherwise every heaven would col- lapse, and every nature necessarily come to a standstill, seeing that it could no longer obtain that force by which it was originally impelled.
" Since, therefore, it is evident that that only is eternal which is self-motive, who is there to deny that this is a rational attribute of souls ? For everything that is set in motion by external impulse is destitute of the soul principle, whereas everything ensouled is energized by an interior and self-created motion ; for this is the soul's proper nature and power. And if it alone of all things has the attribute of self- movement, it surely is not subject to birth but is eternal."^
1 From The Dream of Seipio, in Cicero's Dc RepiihUca, vi. In commenting on this passage, Macrobius (Commcntarius in Somnium Scipkuiis, II. xiii) gives a number of syllogisms which may be useful to set down here.
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But there are those who rely on their intellect, on their strength, on their wealth, or position, their beauty, their relatives or their friends. This is not true Self-reliance, for all these pass away.
Intellect will fade in its turn, just as the body fades in its small cycle, for :
" Thou art the sheath of the Highest, [which in its turn isj enveloped in the intellect." {Taittirtyakopanishad, Valli i, Anuvaka i. i.)
Intellect is but an envelope, a veil to be removed, a garment to be purified, before the, true Self shines forth.
Strength and wealth and position and beauty are even more impermanent : strength and beauty fade even before the body wears out, and
1. The soul is self-motive : Whatever is self-motive is ever in motion : Therefore the soul is ever in motion.
2. The soul is ever in motion : Whatever is ever in motion is immortal : Therefore the soul is immortal.
3. The soul is self-motive : Whatever is self-motive is the principle of motion : Therefore the soul is the principle of motion.
4. The soul is the principle of motion : Whatever is the principle of motion is not subject to birth : Therefore the soul is not subject to birth.
5. The soul is not subject to birth : Whatever is not sub- ject to birth is immortal : Therefore the soul is immortal.
6. The soul is self-motive: Whatever is self-motive is the principle of motion : Whatever is the principle of motion is not subject to birth : Whatever is not subject to birth is immortal : Therefore the soul is immortal. (Aurelii Macrobii Qua Extant Omnia, Patavii, 1736.)
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wealth and position must be abandoned when Yama speaks the word.
Friends and relations, parents, husband, wife and children, are but weaklings like ourselves — to mourn and rejoice with — all subject to the sway of Death. There is but one place of peace, but one source of true reliance.
"That place [of peace] which all the sacred writings sing of, proclaimed by all who strive to purify their nature, for the sake of which men enter the service of the Highest, that place [of peace] will I in brief recount to thee. It is the ' Om.'
" Aye, that word is the Highest, that the Supreme. He who knows this, all that he longs for is his.
" That is the best on which to rely, that the most excellent. He who relies on that, waxes great in the heaven-world.
" He, the [harmonious] singer, is not born, he dies not. He [came] not any whence, nor any one was he. Unborn, eternal, everlasting, ancient — this is not slain when the body is slain.
" If the slayer thinks he slays, or if the slain thinks he is slain, both are deluded. He slays not, nor is slain.
** Smaller than small, greater than great, is
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the Self of a man, hidden in the secret chamber [of his heart] .
" It is by the favour of the Lord [the Logos] that a man beholds the majesty of the Self, [but only when he is] without preconceived notions and free from distress.
" Sitting It goes far, resting It journeys every- where. Who but myself can know that which rejoices and rejoices not.
"The wise man who regards the Self as bodiless among bodies, as ever-abiding among the fleeting, as the mighty Sovereign, he grieves not.
*' This Self is not to be obtained by much instruction, nor by intellectual study, nor by holy writ. Him whom It enfolds by him is It gain- ed. The Self enfolds the very soul of the man.
"But he who has not turned his back on evil-doing, who is not at peace, and not con- trolled, who is not of quiet mind, he, even with knowledge, cannot gain It." {KatJiopanishad, Adhyaya i, Valli ii. 15-24.)
It is in the Self that we find the source of all moral sanction. It is the "still small voice" — " the voice of the silence " — the voice that grows into a roar of thunder if the Law is transgressed. Then it becomes the "great
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terror '' — the one thing that the disciple fears, for it is by the Law of his higher nature that he condemns himself — to continued bondage in the meshes of the karmic net he has supphed threads for the weaving of by neglect of duty. As in the Great World so in the little world, as in the Universal Self so in the individual self, as in the Kosmos so in man. " That art thou ! " As It emanated Itself, so dost thou emanate thyself, O little man ! Thou canst give birth to Chaos or to the Son of Righteousness, and thou wilt. Therefore, choose. Transgression of the Law creates difference, and so a depar- ture from the Self; union with the Law provides the conditions for the Self to show forth its glory. Learn, then, from what takes place in the Great World " unconsciously," what must be done in the little world by the conscious will of him who would be free.
" In the beginning this [manifested world] was non-existent. Thence, veril}', the existent arose. That made its own self. Wherefore is it called the self-made. Now that self-made verily is essence, for only when a man attains to the essence is he filled with blessedness. For who could live, who could breathe, if that
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blessedness were not in the quintessence [of the heart] ? For it is that which causes blessedness.
" For when a man finds fearless reliance in that which no eye can see, which transcends all selves, which caniiot be defined and which needs no support — then has he ceased from fear. Whereas, should a man make were it but a speck^ within It — then fear arises for him. This is ever a terror for him who knows and ponders upon it.
"For thus says the scripture: 'From terror of That the wind blows, from terror the sun rises.' " {Taittiriyakopanishad, Valli i, Anuvaka viii. i.)
And again :
"The whole emanated universe trembles in Its Breath, That is the Great Terror, an up-raised thunderbolt. They who know it, become im- mortal." {Kathopanishad, Adhyaya, ii, Valli vi. 2.)
For no man can flee from the Self, no man can escape from his conscience. The Law enfolds him in his own doings, from which there is no escape until he takes refuge with that Law. As the King- Psalmist says :
1 This expression is given up by the commentators and translators. I would suggest that it may mean the most simple organism, which modern science affirms to be little else than a sac or " stomach." The trained seers and initiates of old were familiar with such primary orgsxiisms psychically.
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" Whither shall I go from thy spirit ? or whither shall I flee from thy presence ?
" If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there also." (Psalms, cxxxix. 7, 8.)
For :
" That which is down here in a man and that which is over there in the sun, both are one.
" He who thus knows, on leaving this sphere, first passes into the food-self, thence into the life-self, thence into the sense-self, thence into the mind-self, thence into the self of blessed- ness, and identifying himself with the spheres beyond, experiencing what he wills,^ assuming whatsoever form he desires, he sings this hymn :
" ' Havu, havu, havu ! Food am I, food am I, food am I ! I am the food-cater, the food- eater, the food-eater ! I blend them, I blend them, I blend them ! ^ I am the First-born of Righteousness. Before the gods was I in the centre of the Immortal. He who gives me, verily he preserves me. I consume him as food, who consumes food.
1 Lit., " eating whatever food he desires."
~ That is to say, I am object (food) and subject (food-eater), and I am the union of both object and subject, the one con- sciousness.
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" ' I have flooded the world, I the Golden Light. So even does he who thus knows.' " {Taittiriyahopanishad, Valli iii, Anuvaka x. 4-6.)
He who has thus conquered, who has become the First-born of Righteousness, who verily is a Twice-born (Dvija), a true Knower of the Highest (Brahma-vid), he verily is :
" The [true] Sun in the Highest — [for] thus stands the doctrine, and thus the exposition thereof.
" In the beginning this was non-existent. The non-existent then became existent. It developed. It turned into an Egg. It lay for the measure of a cycle. It broke in twain. The halves were one of silver, the other of gold. . ,
" Thence was born the Sun. When he was born shouts of joy arose." (Chhcindogyopantshad, Prapathaka iii, Khanda i. 1-3.)
Here we have the whole story of the spiritual evolution in man. The darkness of the soul before it begins to long for final release, for true wisdom. The alchemical separation of the subtle from the fixed, of the higher from the lower, of Spirit from Matter, and the birth of the unclouded Mind, the vSon of Righteous- ness. Only when the Master is born do all
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the Powers rejoice and a mighty shout of glad- ness rends the universe. Aye :
" In Him, heaven, earth and the interspace are woven, and the sensory with all the life- currents. Know Him alone as the Self; away with other words. He is the Bridge to Immortality.
"There [in the heart] where the currents (Nadis) meet, like spokes in a nave. He moves about within, becoming manifold. Chanting the ' Om,' thus meditate on Him. May all blessing attend you to cross beyond the darkness !
" He the all-wise, the all-knowing, to whom is all the glory in the world. He is the Self, established in the shining city of the Highest, in the quintessence [in the heart] .
" He is enshcathed within the sensory, is ruler of the envelope of the life-currents, and finally rests in [the outer sheath of] nutriment. It is by meditating on the heart, that the wise by their knowledge behold that Blessed Immortal Form which shines forth [to their sight] .
"The knot in the heart is loosed, all doubts are solved, and all deeds (Karma) perish, when a man once sees the vision of that which is both high and low.
" In the highest golden envelope dwells the
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passionless, partless one, the Highest. He is the pure Light of all lights, and that they know who know the Self.
" In that [Light] no sun shines, nor the moon and the stars, nor shine those flashings over there, much less this earthly fire. It is because of the shining of this Self that all shines after it, by its shining that all this is so bright.
" This, the immortal Highest, is before, the Highest is behind, to the right hand and to the left, gone forth above and below. The Highest is verily all this. It is the best ! " {Mundak- opanishad, Mundaka, ii, Khanda ii, 5-11.)
The doctrine is mystic and mysterious, the antipodes of the apparent clearness of modern scientific theories, " for the gods love mystery and hate familiarity," as Rishi Yajnavalkya says in the Brihaddranyaka. And yet again more mysteriously than ever :
" There, in the quintessence, within the heart, dwells the [true] Man (Purusha), of the nature of mind, immortal, resplendent hke gold.
"There, above the palate, like a breast- nipple it hangs — that is the Womb of Indra.^
' The "astral fire."
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" There, where the ends of the hair start, having passed through the skull, chanting ' Bhuh,' he is supported in Fire ; chanting ' Bhuvah,' in Water ; chanting ' Suvah,' in the Sun ; chanting ' Mahah,' in the Highest.
" He obtains kingship over himself, he obtains lordship over the mind. He becomes lord of speech, of sight, of hearing, of understanding.
"Thence he becomes that Highest whose body is quintessence, the true Self, that sports in life, of blissful mind, immortal, in perfect peace." {Taittinyakopanishad, Valli i, Anu- vaka vi, i, 2.)
And yet once again, to finally remind us of the nature of true Self-reliance, reliance on the Self— that Self which :
" Does not age with the age of the body, nor is it killed with the wounding of the body. That is the true cit}' of the Highest. In it all desires are contained. It is the Self, sinless, ageless, deathless, griefless, hungerless and thirstless, willing the True, desiring the True." {Chhdnvogyopanishad, Prapathaka Niii, Khanda i,5-)
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