Pacific Northwest Theosophist

centered thoughts

October 1996


the Still, small PATH

To hear the silent voice within, our inner or higher self, our inner god, gives us the strength and fortitude to meet each day with the proper attitude and a source to rely on when we need to retreat. Spoken of in all Ages, some have believed it was outside of themselves, manifest perhaps as their 'god.' As Jesus spoke of the 'father within' I speak of the still, small path -- the inner path to the heart of the universal being. -- PNT


Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of the men of old; seek what they sought. -- Basho

...the noblest system of ethics the world knows,... and what the due and perfect practice of them will lead to.... we are told, is along that old, small path, of which the Upanishads speak -- for those who follow it finally come into direct connection and into confabulation with the all-wise and calm-eyed gods, for that path leads us directly to the heart of the universe -- the "heart" in the mystical and esoteric sense: into those places, into those spiritual, superspiritual, and divine, regions where is the core of the being of each one of us....No initiation can be conferred upon another. All growth, all spiritual illumination, takes place within oneself. There is no other way. Symbolic rites and outer paraphernalia are but aids to the learner, aids to the developing of the power of the inner vision, the inner eye. Therefore any initiatory trial, no matter where had or what the arrangements may be, is in essence an individual inner opening....The method is not to fill the mind of the leaner full of other men's thoughts, but to arouse the spiritual fire in himself which brings about an awakening of the understanding, so that in very truth the neophyte becomes his own initiator....What one receives from outside in the way of ideas, of thoughts, are merely the outward stimuli, arousing the inner vibration preparing for the reception of the light within. . . . Light and knowledge then enter the mind and heart -- from oneself, from one's inner god, which thus is awakened or, more correctly, begins to function, temporarily though it be; and it is in this wise that the man initiates himself. The whole process is based on nature's laws, on the natural growth of understanding, of interior vision....To achieve the bond of union with one's essential Self is the supreme aim of initiation. -- G. de Purucker

Silence thy thoughts and fix thy whole attention on thy Master whom yet thou dost not see, but whom thou feelest. -- H.P. Blavatsky

Love is the greatest power in the world and self-control is the magic talisman. With love in our hearts, and self-control, we are on the path that leads to the relative perfection of man....If a man will set his feet firmly on the path of self-directed evolution, believing in the eternal verities that make life joy, that make life peace, that make life powerful and just, then he will begin to hear the voice of the soul. -- Katherine Tingley

The kingly science and the kingly mystery is devotion to and study of the light which comes from within. -- W Q. Judge

Seek, O Beginner, to blend thy Mind and Soul. Shun ignorance, and likewise shun illusion. Avert thy face from world deceptions: mistrust thy senses; they are false. But within thy body -- the shrine of thy sensations -- seek in the Impersonal for the "Eternal Man"; and having sought him out, look inward: thou art Buddha. -- H.P. Blavatsky

Works make for the cleansing of the heart; but not for the attaining of the Real; the gaining of the Real comes through discernment -- not even by myriads of works is it gained. -- Shri Shankaracharya

Lead me from the unreal to the real.

Lead me from darkness to light.

Lead me from death to immortality. -- The Upanishads

It is not "the fear of God" which is "the beginning of Wisdom," but the knowledge of SELF which is WISDOM ITSELF. -- H.P. Blavatsky

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