The changing world, and lectures to theosophical students.: Fifteen lectures delivered in London during May, June, and July, 1909Besant, Annie
Religion
The changing world, and lectures to theosophical students.: Fifteen lectures delivered in London during May, June, and July, 1909
Besant, Annie
Theosophy; Theosophy -- Study and teaching
That is the immediate work, the preparation for the coming of some
of those whom I have been mentioning—Damodar, Subba Rao, H. P.
Blavatsky—not, remember, with flourish of trumpets, or with anyone
declaring “this is so-and-so” and “this is someone else,” with the
exception, perhaps, of the first named (Damodar), who went as a boy to
his Master, and is now middle-aged, but will be recognised by old Indian
friends. But others will be coming in new bodies, unknown, with no proof
of who they are. They will have to make their way, they will have to
prove their apostolate, and probably their views of things will be very
different from the views of many of those in the Theosophical Society.
Inevitably so; for people whose eyes are opened to more than one world
cannot see things, as those see them whose eyes are blind save to one;
those who see the wider horizon will have different thoughts from those
who are cabined in by the life and conventions of their day. And that is
why the great Ones are always misunderstood, for They must be other than
those to whom They come, else how could They teach? And that is where
your General Secretary spoke very truly in saying that the mind often
misleads, and the things we “think” cover over the things we “know.” Now
the things you know, you know by the light of the Spirit which is within
you; by that intuition which is the voice of the pure, not the impure
reason, speaking above the mind and through the mind, but very often in
contradiction to the mind. And in order to hear that voice of intuition,
so far as I know, there is only one way, that when once you see the Light
shine out through any human being, you hold to that human being, no
matter what the mind may say. That is what spells success, and that was
pre-eminently the case with H. P. Blavatsky, for anyone more confusing
to the ordinary mind you could not possibly come across—awkward, athwart
one’s conventions in every way; in speech, manner, actions, the very
reverse of all that you would expect. When I first met her and saw in her
the power of the Master, from that day to this I have never challenged
and never doubted her. And very, very largely because of that have come
the knowledge and power that I have won not by reasoning and arguing—“Was
she right or wrong?” “Would it not have been better if she had been
different from what she was?”—but having once seen in her the Light of
Truth, refusing to see anything else except the Messenger of the Master.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account