Theos-Talk Archives (January 2002 Message tt00019)

Part 3 == Avatars -- Mahatmas -- Adepts, etc...


===============================


WORLD REFORMERS


"...there never yet was a great World-reformer, whose name has
passed into our generation, who (a) was not a direct emanation of
the Logos (under whatever name known to us), i.e., an essential
incarnation of one of "the seven," of the "divine Spirit who is
sevenfold;" and (b) who had not appeared before, during the past
Cycles..."	SD II 358-9



THE ORIGINAL SEVEN PROGENITORS - TEACHERS --
DHYANI-BUDDHAS


"The 7 [regions] of Bhumi [our "Earth"], hang by golden threads
[beams or rays] from the Spiritual central Sun [or 'God'].
higher than all, a watcher for each [region]. The Suras come
down this [beam]. They cross the sixth and reach the Seventh
[our earth]. They are our mother earth's [Bhumi] supporters [or
guardians]. The eighth watches over the [seven] watchers."
Suras are in the Vedas deities, or beings, connected with the
Sun; in their occult meaning they are the 7 chief watchers or
guardians of our planetary system. They are positively identical
with the "Seven Spirits of the Stars." The Suras are connected
in practical Occultism with the Seven Yogic powers...Eight great
Gods are often reckoned, as there are 8 points of the compass, 4
cardinal and 4 intermediate points over with preside also
inferior Lokapalas or the "doubles" of the greater Gods. Yet, in
many instances where the number 8 is given it is only a kind of
exoteric shell. Every globe, however, is divided into 7 regions,
as 7 x 7 = 49 is the mystic number par excellence.

To make it clearer: in each of the 7 Root Races, and in every
one of the 7 regions into which the Occult Doctrine (528) divides
our globe, there appears from the dawn of Humanity the "Watcher"
assigned to it in the eternity of the AEon. He comes first in
his own "form," then each time as an Avatara."	HPB ARTICLES II
527-8



AVATARS AND INCARNATIONS


"...Krishna, Sita (perhaps Rama, Tsong-kha-pa too) and
Sankaracharya are Avatars, not Incarnations. Gautama Buddha was
an incarnation, not an Avatar. The term Jivanmukta is to be
applied only to Avatar purushas who are not born of flesh, of no
Mother's womb. But Buddha and other Saviors as well as Mahatmas,
Occultists and ordinary men incarnate; that is to say, they are
born of flesh, of a Mother's womb. Those who pass through the
womb must all, in a comparatively short time, say 10 or 7 months
rather, pass through the whole course of evolution, even
physically from mineral to vegetable to animal, and animal to
man. Then, after being born on earth as a child, they must go
through school training, learn grammar, language, philosophy, and
even go through chelaship, various initiations, etc. All these
are accomplished by a Buddha far more easily, far sooner, and to
far greater perfection than others. Such is the secret of the
grand universal law of repetition.

An Avatar purusha has not to go through any of these things; he
has not to pass through the ten days' ordeal that Buddha went
through. An Avatara just begins from where he left off. An
Avatara had become a Jivanmukta at the last incarnation in which
he had to be born of a Mother. For such an Avatara there is no
more (299) incarnation at all, though according to the
requirements of the cyclic laws and of humanity's welfare, he
might become several times again and again, an Avatar purusha.
The Avatars are not to be regarded as incarnations. In the same
way, an Initiate or a mahatma (like Mah-ji of Benares and others)
who enters the body of another and lives in it has not on that
occasion or on that account to pass through the Vikaras or awful
changes in the womb, nor through the ordeals of chelaship and
initiations which he had before gone through. But if afterwards
that Initiate or Mahatma has to be born and to incarnate, then he
must pass through the whole course of his past progress in a
nutshell again. This is why I said that a Jivanmukta in any of
his Avatars has to repeat no past training whatsoever. If an
Avatar chooses for the sake of humanity to incarnate again then
he has to pass through the whole path once trodden, for he allows
himself to fall into the ocean of incarnation. and it is not soon
that he can again become an avatar."	H.P.Blavatsky -- THEOS.
ARTICLES & NOTES, p. 298-9



AVATARA AND SIDDHA PURUSHA


"A Siddha Purusha (perfect man) is like an archaeologist who
removes the dust and lays open an old well which has been covered
up by ages of disuse.

The Avatara, on the other hand, is like an engineer who sinks a
new well in a place where there was no water before. Great Men
give salvation to those only who have the waters of piety hidden
in themselves, but the Avatara saves him too whose heart is
devoid of love and dry as a desert."	RC -- FP p. 151-2



DIVINE INCARNATIONS ARE VOLUNTEERS --
RENOUNCERS OF BLISS


"...those who of their own free will enter bodies to help
humanity pass through them like any human being, but are not
involved in them. They feel like any human being, and go through
much more than most, so that there may be fresh in their bodily
experience all feelings that afflict or ease humanity. Their
grief--if it may be called so--is over the inability of humans to
understand because of the purely personal elements which prevail
in mankind.

"Masters feel pain but are not disturbed by it." That feeling is
sympathy--a feeling with the condition. They know what any one
feels under the circumstances, but They also know that the
so-called sufferings of others are not due to the circumstances,
but to a false attitude toward them...(195) The pain we feel most
in mental pain..."	RC -- FP p. 194-5



DIVINE INCARNATIONS:-- JESUS & BUDDHA --
THEIR MISSIONS


"I produce myself among creatures" has reference to voluntary and
conscious incarnation of high spiritual beings--avatars, saviours
of the people --including not only the incarnation itself but the
influence of a spiritual kind that attends the being...The Gita
says that They come "whenever there is an insurrection of vice
and injustice in the world." There is an analogy between this
and what was hinted about earthquakes by WQJ, who wrote at the
time of an earthquake that some soul of use had been born...There
is reason to think that the mission of Jesus was a minor one,
being in a falling cycle, and that it was not so much to disclose
as to cover up the avenues to occult knowledge, so that the
following times of the decadence of spirituality should (202) not
have dangerous weapons left for selfish, unprincipled and
ignorant people to use; hence he accentuated ethics. This does
not mean that the being known as Jesus was inferior to the one
known as Buddha. They might have been one and the same being, in
reality. The statement is that the "missions" or efforts were of
a different nature because of the different cycles and
peoples...We cannot judge of the nature of any of these great
incarnations, to the extent of saying that one is superior to the
other...Allied to our period, if we consider that the quality of
the cycle varies in importance, and, consequently, in the degree
of the being needed at any time, we find the conjunction of the
cycles above spoken of points to a most important period, and
consequently, to important "beings"--which may give us a clue to
what the Messengers HPB and WQJ really were. Other periods of
less importance bring incarnations of probationary chelas who are
on their trial." RC -- FP p. 201-2


ADEPTS SERVE TO SHIELD AND TRANSMIT SPIRITUAL INFLUENCE


"...there is the true center of which the sun in heaven is a
symbol and partial reflection. This center let us place for the
time with the Dhyan Chohans or planetary spirits. It is all
knowing and so intensely powerful that, were a struggling
disciple to be suddenly introduced to its presence unprepared, he
would be consumed, both body and soul. And this is the goal we
are all striving after, and many of us asking to see even at the
opening of the race. But for our protection a cover, or
umbrella, has been placed beneath IT. The ribs are the Rishees,
or Adepts, or Mahatmas; the Elder Brothers of the race. The
handle is in every man's hand. And although each man is, or is
to be, connected with some particular one of those Adepts, he can
also receive the influence from the true centre coming down
through the handle.

The light, life, knowledge, and power falling upon this cover
permeate in innumerable streams the whole mass of men beneath,
whether they be students or not. As the disciple strives upward,
he begins to separate himself from the great mass of human
beings, and becomes in a more or less definite manner connected
with the ribs. Just as the streams of water flow down from the
points of the ribs of our umbrellas, so the spiritual influences
pour out from the adepts who form the frame of the protecting
cover, without which poor humanity would be destroyed by the
blaze from the spiritual world."	WQJ ARTICLES II 38


"Admitting that the Adepts have great powers, they have
disclaimed the power to alter human nature in any other was than
through the processes of evolution and always strictly under a
rigid law of justice."

"The Adepts do not yet appear publicly and proclaim themselves to
the world...because the cycle must run its course, since, if they
proclaimed themselves out of time a wrong result would be
produced, just as a note, good in itself, is a producer of
discord when sounded out of time, place or tune. This reason is
the reason deduced from the law of cycles."
WQJ ARTICLES II 53-4



ADEPTS AT WORK NOW


"In this civilization especially we are inclined to look outside
instead of inside ourselves. Nearly all our progress is material
and thus superficial. Spirit is neglected or forgotten, while
that which is not spirit is enshrined as such. The intuitions of
the little child are stifled until at last they are almost lost,
leaving the many at the mercy of judgments based upon exterior
reason. How then can one who has been near the Golden
Gates--much more he who passed through them--be other than silent
in surroundings where the golden refulgence is unknown or denied.
Obliged to use the words of his fellow travelers, he gives them a
meaning unknown to them, or detaches them from their accustomed
relation. Hence he is sometimes vague, often misleading, seldom
properly understood. But not lost are any of these words, for
the sound through the ages, and in future eras they will turn
themselves into sentences of gold in the hearts of disciples yet
to come."


HIEROPHANT TEACHES -- METHOD USED -- AN "INTERPRETER"


"...the "Illuminator" who rarely breaks his contemplative
solitude is shown [in a MSS of the 1st Cent.] inhabiting a
...(cave), and teachings the multitudes of eager scholars
standing outside, not orally, but through this Patar
[interpreter]. The latter receives the words of wisdom by
applying his ear to a circular hole in a partition which conceals
the teacher from the listeners, and then conveys them, with
explanations and glossaries, to the crowd. This with a slight
change was the method used by Pythagoras, who, as we know, never
allowed his neophytes to see him during the years of probation,
but instructed them from behind a curtain in his cave... The
great hierophant of the ancient Mysteries never allowed the
candidates to see or hear him personally. He was the
Deus-ex-Machina, the presiding but invisible Deity, uttering his
will and instructions through a second party...If Jesus knew the
secret meaning of the title bestowed by him on Simon [Peter] then
he must have been initiated...either of the Pythagorean Essenes,
the Chaldean Magi, or the Egyptian priests, then the doctrine
taught by him was but a portion of the "Secret Doctrine" taught
by the Pagan hierophants to the few select adepts admitted within
the sacred adyta."
ISIS II 93-4


CYCLES FOR THE APPEARANCE OF SAGES


"...there never was yet a great World-reformer, whose name has
passed into our generation, who (a) was not a direct emanation of
the LOGOS (under whatever name known to us), i.e., an essential
incarnation of one of "the seven," of the "divine Spirit who is
sevenfold;" and (b) who had not appeared before, during the (359)
past Cycles. They will recognize, then, the cause which produces
in history and chronology certain riddles of the ages; the
reason why, for instance, it is impossible for them to assign any
reliable date to Zoroaster, who is found multiplied by 12 and 14
in the Dabistan; why the Rishis and Manus are so mixed up in
their numbers and individualities; why Krishna and Buddha speak
of themselves as re-incarnations, i.e., Krishna is identified
with the Rishi Narayana, and Gautama gives a series of his
previous births; and why the former, especially, being "the very
supreme Brahma," is yet called Amsamsavatra--"a part of the part"
only of the Supreme on Earth... The esoteric doctrine explains it
by saying that each of these (as many others) had first appeared
on earth as one of the 7 powers of the LOGOS, individualized as a
God or "Angel" (messenger); then, mixed with matter, they had
re-appeared in turn as great sages and instructors who "taught
the 5th Race," after having instructed the two preceding races,
had ruled during the Divine Dynasties, and had finally sacrificed
themselves, to be reborn under various circumstances for the good
of mankind, and for its salvation at certain critical periods;
until in their last incarnations they had become truly only "the
parts of a part" on earth, though de facto the One Supreme in
Nature."	SD II 358-9


"It is interesting to turn to the "Esoteric Character of the
Gospels" [ HPB ARTICLES III 169 fn ], by HPB. Theosophists--at
any rate some of them--who understand the hidden meaning of the
universally expected Avatars, Messiahs, and Sosioshes and
Christs--know that it is no end of the world, but the
consummation of the age--that is, the close of the cycle--that is
fast approaching." [This was written November and December,
1887, and January, 1888.] She said, "There are several
remarkable cycles that come to a close at the end of this century
[nineteenth]. First, the 5,000 years of the Kali-Yuga cycle;
again, the Messianic cycle of the Samaritan (also Kabalistic)
Jews, of the Man connected with Pices. It is a cycle historic
and not very long, but very occult, lasting about 2155 years, but
having a true significance only when computed by lunar months.
It occurred 2410 and 255 B.C. or when the equinox entered into
the sign of the Ram, and again into that of Pices. When it
enters in a few years, the sign of Aquarius, psychologists will
have some extra work to do, and the psychic idiosyncrasies of man
will enter on a great change." [HPB]

This "great change" I think can be stated in three words:
Susceptibility to suggestion, good, bad or indifferent. Look
about you and see if it is not so. Are the "Messiahs" of today
using suggestion? ... Jesus said, "Take heed lest no man lead you
astray, for many shall come in my name, saying, 'I am the
Christ,' and shall lead many astray...If any man shall say unto
you, 'Behold, he is in the wilderness,' go not forth; 'behold he
is in the inner chambers,' believe them not. For as the
lightning (light) cometh from the East, and is seen even in the
West, so shall be the presence of the Son of Man." The esoteric
savior in no man, but is the divine principle in every human
being. What is needed is a knowledge of the Path that leads to
Him or It. Few know the Messenger when He comes, but it is
possible for many to know a true Message by putting it to every
conceivable test. The "Messiah" has come and gone; but (152) He
has left the "Comforter"--His Message. He will return, but not
for several generations of men. it is possible for men to get at
the truth of these things if they will take the trouble to make
the search in all sincerity."	RC -- F P 151-2


"I...know that the Masters exist and actually help the T.S...my
many public statements as to the existence of Masters and help
from Them...is done upon an old order of Theirs and under a law
of mind. The existence of Masters being a fact, the assertion of
that fact made so often in America has opened up channels in
men's minds which would have remained closed had silence been
observed about the existence of those Beings. The giving out of
names is another matter; that, I do not sanction nor practice.
Experience has shown that a springing up of interest in Theosophy
has followed declaration, and men's minds are more and more
powerfully drawn away from blank Materialism. And the Masters
have said: "It is easier to help in American than in Europe
because in the former our existence has been persistently
declared by so many."...[this] has a deep significance and
contains a high endorsement. A very truism when uttered by a
Mahatma has a deeper meaning for which the student must seek, but
which he will lose if he stops to criticize and weigh the words
in mere ordinary scales." WQJ ART II 44-45



THE PATH OF THE INDIVIDUALITY


"H.P.B. said, "Do not follow me nor my path; follow the Path I
show, the Masters who are behind." [HPB ARTICLES I 123] This she
knew to be the safe course for all, for each one will judge of
the words and deeds of a personality from his own standpoint and
understanding, some under-rating, some exaggerating, and some
with indifference...there is recognition of those who are
traveling the same path, and in that recognition, there is
comfort and help which extends from the smallest to the
greatest--a great band of brothers which includes the Masters as
the Guides and the Consummation. "Whosoever does it unto the
least of these, does it unto me."	RC -- FP. p. 151-2



NIRMANAKAYAS WORK -- THEIR RELATIONS WITH US


"Nirmanakayas. They are men who have become perfected--who could
if they chose reach up to and hold the very highest state of
bliss, but who refuse that bliss because it would mean forever to
forsake all chance of helping their fellow-men. They can, when
the nature of the person is true and aspiring strongly,
communicate, if it is necessary to help him. But there is no
mistake in these communications. They are personal, meant for
that one as direct help. It is the within which induces any
outside help that we receive. It is a recognition of the
spiritual nature of ourselves and all beings which makes the true
condition. It is from the spiritual that the strength comes.
And it is for the perfection of humanity that all the Divine
Incarnations have labored."
RC -- FP p. 258



"PERFECTED SOULS" -- STAND AS EXAMPLES: -
WE HAVE TO EMULATE


"No one can know anything for another. Each one has to know for
himself. Each one has to do his own learning. The object of
Theosophy is to teach man what he is, to show man what he is, and
to present to him the necessity of his knowing for himself. No
vicarious atonement, no vicarious transmission of knowledge, is
possible. But the direction in which knowledge lies can be
pointed out; the steps which will lead us in that direction may
be shown, as can be done only by those who have passed that way
before...It is the doctrine of Krishna, of Buddha, of Jesus, no
less than the doctrine of H.P.B... The very fact of suffering is
a blessing. Karma and Reincarnation show us that suffering is
brought about by wrong thought and action; through our
sufferings we may be brought to a realization that a wrong course
has been pursued. We learn through our sufferings.

Life is one grand school of Being, and we have come to that stage
where it is right for us to learn to understand the purpose of
existence; to grasp our whole nature firmly; to use every means
in our power in every direction...to bring the whole of our
nature into accord, so that our lower instrument may be "in line"
and thus more and more fully reflect our divine natures."	RC --
FP p. 263




THE CENTRAL SPIRITUAL SUN AND ITS SEVEN RAYS


"In ancient Symbolism it was always the SUN (though the
Spiritual, not the visible, Sun was meant), that was supposed to
send forth the chief Saviours and Avatars. Hence the connecting
link between the Buddhas, the Avatars, and so many other
incarnations of the highest SEVEN. The closer the approach to
one's Prototype, "in Heaven," the better for the mortal whose
personality was chosen, by his own personal deity (the 7th
principle), as its terrestrial abode. For, with every effort of
will toward purification and unity (639) with that "Self-god,"
one of the lower rays breaks and the spiritual entity of man is
drawn higher and ever higher to the ray that supersedes the
first, until, from ray to ray, the inner man is drawn into the
one and highest beam of the Parent-SUN...Yes; "our destiny is
written in the stars!" Only, the closer the union between the
mortal reflection MAN and his celestial PROTOTYPE, the less
dangerous the external conditions and subsequent
reincarnations--which neither Buddhas nor Christs can escape...He
cannot escape his ruling Destiny, but he has the choice of two
paths that lead him in that direction, and he can reach the goal
of misery--if such be decreed to him, either in the snowy white
robes of the Martyr, or in the soiled garments of a volunteer in
the iniquitous course; for, there are external and internal
conditions which affect the determination of our will upon our
actions, and it is in our power to follow either of the two..."
SD I 638-9





MAN MAKES HIS OWN IMMORTALITY


"...It is owing to this rebellion of intellectual life against
the morbid inactivity of pure spirit, that we are what we
are--self-conscious, thinking men, with the capabilities and
attributes of Gods in us, for good as much as for evil. Hence
the REBELS are our saviours. Let the philosopher ponder well
over this, and more than one mystery will become clear to him.
It is only by the attractive force of the contrasts that the two
opposites--Spirit and Matter--can be cemented on Earth, and,
smelted in the fire of self-conscious experience and suffering,
find themselves wedded in Eternity..."	SD II 103




HOW TO "PERFECT" OURSELVES


"There is no difference between the teachings of Jesus and the
teachings of the Buddha, although those teachings are recorded in
different languages and an interval of six hundred years
separated the two great Teachers. What is true of these two is
likewise true of all the other many Saviours of different times
and peoples--they all taught the same fundamental ideas.

This fact suggests that there is a body of Men, of perfected men,
product of past civilizations and evolution, our Elder Brothers,
in fact, who have acquired and are Custodians of the knowledge
and experience gained through aeons of time. Their knowledge is
actually the Science of Life, for it enters into every department
of existence, of nature...We have each of us the same power to
know that is Theirs. But they have ex-tended (270) the faculties
of the instruments which they possess. They have improved what
they have. They have better brains. They have better bodies.
How did they acquire them? By fulfilling every duty which faced
them, regardless of what came to themselves. They thought
nothing of acquiring power and knowledge for themselves; they
thought only of gaining power that they might expend it for the
benefit of every living creature. in so doing they opened the
doors to the full play of the power of the Spirit within...

The great work of evolution proceeds from within outwards. The
Soul is the Perceiver; it looks directly on ideas. The action
of the will is through ideas. The ideas give the direction.
Small ideas, small force; large ideas, large force; the Force
itself is illimitable, for it is the force of Spirit, infinite
and exhaustless. What we lack are universal ideas..."
RC -- FP p. 269-270



WE HAVE TO TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR SELF-REFORM
AND SELF-TRAINING


"Saviour after Saviour has come to the earth for our benefit, but
no one can give us any more benefit than to point to the truths
that have been given all down the ages. We must take advantage
of that knowledge and advance out of the state in which we have
placed ourselves. No Saviour can save us. No God can protect
us. No devil can torment us. For both God and the devil are
within. The devil is the misunderstanding of our nature...It is
the God in us which demands self-advancement, self-induced and
self-devised exertions, and the full acceptance of
responsibility." RC--FP p. 300


"...to realize our own responsibility to all others and to act in
accordance is to have become unselfish, and to have done away
with the prime cause of sin, sorrow and suffering...We must take
care of each other, not of ourselves...truth, as we know, always
explains."
RC--FP p. 308



WE ARE NEVER 'LEFT ALONE," OR "ABANDONED" BY THE ADEPTS


"Never have we been left alone. Always there are beings greater
in evolution than we, who return to this field of physical
existence to help us, to wake us up to a perception of our
natures. Such has been the mission of all Divine Incarnations
down the ages. Those beings have come and lived among us, have
become "in all things like unto us," as was said of Jesus, in
order that the human words They spoke should be words we would
understand. They meet us on the basis of our ideas and try to
clarify them and set them in a true course. They can do nothing
to stop what we have done and what we want to do; They can not
interfere; but They can help us to see the right direction, if
we are so willed...Always They try to help us, even when we are
proceeding along wrong lines and bringing upon ourselves the
suffering such wrong lines entail--even then They try to direct
the results into a better channel..."
RC -- FP p. 337-8



KRISHNA'S TEACHINGS -- LINE OF TRANSMISSION


"This exhaustless doctrine of Yoga I formerly taught unto
Vivaswata; (the Sun, first manifestation of divine wisdom at the
beginning of evolution) Vivaswata communicated it to Manu
(generic title for the reigning spirit of 20th sensuous universe;
the present one being Vivaswata Manu) and Manu made it known unto
Ikshwaku; (the founder of the Indian Solar dynasty --
[Suryavansa]) and being thus transmitted from one unto another it
was studied by the Raja-rishees, (Royal Sages) until in the
course of time the mighty art was lost, O harasser of thy foes.
It is even the same exhaustless, secret, eternal doctrine I have
this day communicated unto thee because thou art my devotee and
my friend."
B. GITA p. 30


"...in the early part of a new creation called a Manwantara...a
great Being descends among men and imparts certain ideas and
aspirations which reverberate all through the succeeding ages
until the day when the general dissolution --the night of
Brahma--comes on...Although "Vivaswata" as a name for the sun
reveals nothing to our western ears, there is a great truth
hidden behind it, just as to-day there is as great a mystery
behind our solar orb [see WQJ ARTICLES II 121]. He was the Being
appointed to help and guide the race at its beginning. He had
himself, ages before, gone through incarnation during other
creations, and had mounted step-by-step the long ladder of
evolution until by natural right he had become a god. The same
process is going on to-day, preparing some Being for similar work
in ages to come. And it has gone on in the limitless past also;
and always the Supreme Spirit as Krishna (104) teaches the Being,
so that he may implant those ideas necessary for our salvation."
G. NOTES p. 103-4


==========================

On to Part 4 ====