UNPUBLISHED LETTERS
Extracts from B.P.Wadia Letters

© 2005 Online Teosofiska Kompaniet Malmö 

LETTER  13

Do not get despondent because you always fall short of your ideals; who doesn’t? Often I have thought how the Masters themselves must feel, looking at the aspirations on the part of so many and the lack of effort to realize those aspirations. If we did not notice that we are not raising ourselves to our ideals it would be a dangerous thing; that would be self-satisfaction. We know our limitations and we know what we want to become and want to do; between these there is the gap, and the more clearly we recognize it, the more steadily we will be able to go forward in our endeavours. Don’t let a morbid attitude to what you may regard as your own weaknesses overpower you. It is better to note the important factor that within ourselves, in our own egoic nature, we have powers, faculties and moral stamina, which are out of all proportion to the defects which inhere in our lower nature. It will not do for us to give thought overmuch to the defects and the mistakes that we might have made in the past. It is better to take note through self-examination of our limitations and mistakes; but concentrate all the time on the spiritual powers of a moral and metaphysical nature which inhere in the Manasic ego. By thinking of our weaknesses we give them strength without meaning to do so; while, thinking of our own good, we awaken the inner resources and bring them down through a brain made more and more porous by study and reflection. 

It is too bad that we mortals seem to get so bound up in our personal trials; but we do. As Theosophists, though, we have more of a chance to right the wrong; for, once we see how we are allowing any little personal fault to interfere either with our physical health or directly with the work, we can turn around and make every effort to counteract the bad effects. It keeps us on a constant watch for every quality or weakness as it shows itself forth. 

Do not be pessimistic about yourself. All of us make mistakes of judgment and blunder in discriminating between true and false, spiritual and non-spiritual. As long as we pick ourselves up and go forward, gaining the inner strength through experiences of daily life, we have no need to despair. 

If we remain true to ourselves, keep honest our thought-processes and clean and pure our feelings, the inner peace and prosperity work themselves out in our brain and through our life. The personal self is the opponent and enemy of the Soul-self and the former has its own power to copy the method of self-devising which the latter invariably follows. To be on our guard in reference to that personal self, not only in reference to its weaknesses, but also to its virtues, is important. 

Hold on, and hold fast, to the Truth and to the Way you have already known. The clouds are bound to lift, and never forget that the very hardness of the Law is but seemingly so and under it are hidden its mercy and compassion. You are not alone. There are others who are fighting with their lower natures as you are with yours. All of us are in goodly company. Be just and also patient with yourself. Never think that you are without the aid of thoughtful friends; as you remain calm and positive and pure there will come to you the strength and the vitality to live Theosophically and to serve selflessly. 

The real panacea and prescription you need will be found in the second half of the second chapter of the Bhagavad-Gita. There you will find the method advocated of doing work, whether dutiful or sacrificial, without looking for the reward of action; a wonderful picture is given of the steadfast man and there is much practical advice in all that is said therein. There are wonderful things in our Philosophy that, I think, you will not have any great difficulty in finding out. The difficulty comes in doing what needs to be done. All of us possess knowledge, but we lack the will to strike the blow hard and heavy at our own personal self. 

The higher awakening does not so much increase the foibles of the lower nature as reveal them. By the aid of the higher we see what we did not see, or even suspect before. We know generally that we have weaknesses, but we do not know or even name them. It is knowledge which is the true awakener, and brushing away the dust of our illusions, it points out with precision our lower possessions. On a higher spiral, when we begin to apply the deeper sides of knowledge to ourselves, the lower is lashed into fury, so to speak. Faith in the Masters is the ingredient which is not only necessary; it is the only thing that saves. The higher resignation, true patience, and silent and secret dispassion come to birth through our faith in the Masters, who are not merely our Teachers in theoretical knowledge but open our eyes in a highly practical manner. HPB suffered much through her making public the secret fact about Their existence, about the Path to Them. Why did she do it? She sacrificed herself for our sakes, for such as would benefit from the knowledge about Masters and the Way to Them. Sustained faith brings the hidden occult knowledge and both increase and deepen if we maintain the right attitude and sustain that attitude by persistent endeavour. Brahma-like we must create faith by self-knowledge and self-examination – know what is true in us and increase our faith in it. Vishnu-like we must maintain the faith in being and not die. Shiva-like we must change within and make our faith more and more enlightened. Thus we grow within the heart. Because others have done this, it becomes less difficult for us. We see our own links in the Guruparampara chain.

B.P. WADIA
The Theosophical Movement,
March 1961, Vol 31, # 5, p 193

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