The Pilgrim and the Path: Living Theosophy A Theosophical Study Course By John Algeo, Ph.D. © 1997 The Theosophical Society in America P.O. Box 270, Wheaton, Illinois 60189-0270 PREFACE THE PILGRIM AND THE PATH: LIVING THEOSOPHY Theosophy tells us that we are pilgrims, implying that we are on a journey to a particular place. If we decide that we are indeed pilgrims and start to look for the path that will take us to the goal of our pilgrimage, we should also have some idea of why we are traveling and where we are headed. To begin a process of self-unfoldment, we had also better know what is being unfolded. These matters are considered in the following lesson and some subsequent ones, based on chapters from a book by I. K. Taimni called Self-Culture or, in later American editions, A Way to Self-Discovery . Two other books will also be referred to ( The Pilgrim Self by Robert Ellwood and The Pilgrim and the Pilgrimage by Emily Sellon), and some supplementary material will be included. —J.A. Contents: PREFACE 1 Evolution in the Light of the Wisdom Tradition 1 2 The Human Constitution 12 3 Self Discovery—A Science (Part 1) 21 4 Self Discovery—A Science (Part 2) 27 5 The Functions of the Physical Body 33 6 The Control, Purification, and Sensitization of the Physical Body 38 7 The Functions of the Desire Body 43 8 The Control, Purification, and Sensitization of the Emotions 50 9 The Functions of the Lower Mental Body 57 10 The Control, Purification, and Development of the Lower Mind (part 1) 63 11 The Control, Purification, and Development of the Lower Mind (part 2) 69 12 The Functions of the Causal Body (part 1) 74 13 The Functions of the Causal Body (part 2) 81 14 The Development of the Higher Mind (part 1) 86 15 The Development of the Higher Mind (part 2) 92 16 The Role of Buddhi in Our Life (part 1) 97 17 The Role of Buddhi in Our Life (part 2) 103 18 The Development of Buddhi (part 1) 109 19 The Development of Buddhi (part 2) 115 20 Concepts and Intuition 120 21 The Role of Atma in Our Life (part 1) 127 22 The Role of Atma in Our Life (part 2) 133 23 The Development of Spiritual Will Power 139 24 Self-Discovery: The Unreal World We Live In (part 1) 147 25 Self-Discovery: The Unreal World We Live In (part 2) 151 26 Self-Discovery: The Real World Waiting for Us (part 1) 156 27 Self-Discovery: The Real World Waiting for Us (part 2) 160 28 The Stages of Knowledge, Wisdom, and Realization 165 29 The Nature of Devotion (part 1) 170 30 The Nature of Devotion (part 2) 176 31 The Nature of Devotion (part 3) 181 32 The Means of Developing Devotion 185 33 Samadhi: The Essential Technique of Yoga 193 34 Preparation for Yoga (Part 1) 202 35 Preparation for Yoga (Part 2) 205 36 The Eight Steps of Yoga (Part 1) 210 37 The Eight Steps of Yoga (Part 2) 215 38 Self-Realization and the Quest for Happiness 221 39 The Question of Guidance 227 Chapter 1 EVOLUTION IN THE LIGHT OF THE WISDOM TRADITION Evolution is one of the most influential ideas of modern science. But the materialistic bias of scientific thought has led to this idea’s remaining a half-truth and deprived it of its real meaning and importance in human life. The Wisdom Tradition provides the other half of the truth and thus makes the idea of evolution dynamic and helpful in understanding our own lives. The basic idea of evolution as science presents it is easy to grasp. The theory of evolution was formulated by Charles Darwin (1809–1882) to account for the large variety of species in the animal kingdom, though it was soon applied and extended in other directions and found to throw light on phenomena of the most diverse kinds. A main idea in this theory is that the changes which have brought about such a large variety of species in the animal kingdom do not take place in a haphazard manner but result from the success of forms in adapting to their environments. Forms go on changing continually; and the forms that survive to reproduce themselves are those that are best adapted to the conditions of their changing environment. The continuity of changes in living creatures is thus accounted for by their interdependence with a gradually changing environment. So the theory of evolution introduced order into the apparent confusion of biological phenomena by showing that the large variety of living forms were not unrelated to one another, but rather that a principle of derivation was working behind the changes that produced them, which made them increasingly well- adapted to their environments. In the scientific idea of evolution, changes in forms were attributed solely to the success with which they adapted themselves to the environment by a process of random mutations. This idea was, the natural result of regarding the whole process as a purely physical phenomenon and considering the life side of the process as a by- product of the physical changes. As long as life was regarded as the result of an interaction between matter and force, it was inevitably left out of account, and changes in form were attributed solely to the influence of environment. The limitation in the scientific conception of evolution is thus inherent in the metaphysical position of modern science—materialism. The important contribution made by the Wisdom Tradition to the idea of evolution was to point to the other side of the coin and thus to give a complete picture of the process. The view of the Wisdom Tradition is not an innovation, but is grounded in an ancient teaching which holds that life is not a by-product of matter and force but an independent principle that uses matter and force for its expression on the physical 1 plane. Forms exist to enable the ensouling life to express itself, and they change to meet the growing and varying demands of life for fuller expression. Life takes upon itself form after form, and by the stimuli received through them, all of its inner possibilities are gradually unfolded, and made manifest. Forms die and disappear, but the life that functions through them grows more and more. So behind the changes of form, which make the whole process of evolution appear in the scientific theory to be a meaningless panorama of endless change, we can see a continuously evolving life using these various forms at succeeding stages of its evolution. In the infinite variety of forms and their constant destruction, Nature has an intelligible purpose denied by science. Modern science is thus like a deaf person studying musical instruments of great variety and increasing delicacy, who knows those instruments in great detail but refuses to believe in the reality of music. No wonder then that evolution as studied by science is often thought of as an uninviting subject—a matter of dry facts, of fossils unearthed from the bowels of the earth and skeletons pieced together from them—giving us a partial if not distorted view of the process. On the other hand, evolution in the view of the Wisdom Tradition is a dynamic idea with fascinating and practical implications for our own lives. It gives us, as if it were in a flash, an insight into all the natural processes taking place before our eyes and harmonizes into one integrated whole all the phenomena of life. It not only illumines the past and the present but also gives us a glimpse into the future, not only of humanity as a species, but also of ourselves as individuals. It looks toward the perfection we will all attain one day, and it reveals the steps of the ladder by which we rise to that perfection. Perhaps the most important feature of this Theosophical view of evolution is not the intellectual insight we get from it about the working of nature but the certainty it gives of our final triumph over all our difficulties, imperfections, and limitations. It thus enables us to become active participants in evolution by unfolding our inner powers and faculties with confidence. The object of this work is to deal in a comprehensive manner with the process of self-unfoldment, which is possible only in the wider view of evolution given by the Wisdom Tradition. We have to part company here with the scientific theory of evolution and look instead at what evolution means in the Theosophical Wisdom Tradition and at the various stages on the long road leading to perfection. But to begin with, let us first consider what “perfection” means. The potential unfoldment of life in diverse forms has no limit. At no point can it be said that ultimate perfection has been reached. But for us human beings there is a limit that marks the boundary of the human kingdom, and that limit is the goal to which we are moving. Those who reach that boundary-goal are called by various names. In Christianity they are “saints.” In Confucianism they are said to have the quality of ren 2 (or full humanity). In Hinduism they are jivanmuktas (persons freed from the limitations of this world while still living in it). In Buddhism they are arhats (persons enlightened by the instruction of others). In Theosophy, they are said to have taken the “fifth initiation” and thus to have become Masters of the Wisdom.