Avatâras: Four lectures delivered at the twenty-fourth anniversary; meeting of the Theosophical Society at Adyar, Madras,; December, 1899Besant, Annie
Religion
Avatâras: Four lectures delivered at the twenty-fourth anniversary; meeting of the Theosophical Society at Adyar, Madras,; December, 1899
Besant, Annie
Avatars (Religion); Theosophy
As Teacher--need I speak of Him as teacher who gave the _Bhagavad-Gîtâ_
between the contending armies on Kurukshetra? Teacher not of Arjuna
alone, not of India alone, but of every human heart which can listen to
spiritual instruction, and understand a little of the profound wisdom
there clothed in the words of man. Remember a later saying: "I, O
Arjuna, am the Teacher and the mind is my pupil;" the mind of every man
who is willing to be taught; the mind of every one who is ready to be
instructed. Never does the spiritual teacher withhold knowledge because
he grudges the giving. He is hampered in the giving by the want of
receptivity in those to whom his message is addressed. Ill do men judge
the divine heart of the great Teachers, or the faint reflection of that
love in the mouth of Their messengers, when they think that knowledge is
withheld because it is a precious possession to be grudgingly dealt out,
that has to be given in as small a share as possible. It is not the
withholding of the teacher but the closing of the heart of the hearer;
not the hesitation of the teacher but the want of the ear that hears;
not the dearth of teachers but the dearth of pupils who are willing and
ready to be taught. I hear men say: "Why not an Avatâra now, or if not
an Avatâra, why do not the great Ṛishis come forward to speak Their
golden wisdom in the ears of men? Why do They desert us? Why do They
leave us? Why should this world in this age not have the wisdom as They
gave it of old?" The answer is that They are waiting, waiting, waiting,
with tireless patience, in order to find some one willing to be taught,
and when one human heart opens itself out and says: "O Lord, teach me,"
then the teaching comes down in a stream of divine energy and floods the
heart. And if you have not the teaching, it is because your hearts are
locked with the key of gold, with the key of fame, with the key of
power, and with the key of desire for the enjoyments of this world.
While those keys lock your hearts, the teachers of wisdom cannot enter
in; but unlock the heart and throw away the key, and you will find
yourselves flooded with a wisdom which is ever waiting to come in.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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