Studies in Occultism; A Series of Reprints from the Writings of H. P. Blavatsky | Page 8

them as neighbors. The "Higher Self"
or Spirit is as unable to assimilate such feelings as water to get mixed
with oil or unclean liquid tallow. It is thus the mind alone--the sole link
and medium between the man of earth and the Higher Self--that is the
only sufferer, and which is in the incessant danger of being dragged
down by those passions that may be reawakened at any moment, and
perish in the abyss of matter. And how can it ever attune itself to the
divine harmony of the highest Principle, when that harmony is
destroyed by the mere presence, within the Sanctuary in preparation, of
such animal passions? How can harmony prevail and conquer, when
the soul is stained and distracted with the turmoil of passions and the
terrestrial desires of the bodily senses, or even of the "Astral man"?

For this "Astral"--the shadowy "double" (in the animal as in man)--is
not the companion of the divine Ego but of the earthly body. It is the
link between the personal Self, the lower consciousness of Manas and
the Body, and is the vehicle of transitory, not of immortal life. Like the
shadow projected by man, it follows his movements and impulses
slavishly and mechanically, and leans therefore to matter without ever
ascending to Spirit. It is only when the power of the passions is dead
altogether, and when they have been crushed and annihilated in the
retort of an unflinching will; when not only all the lusts and longings of
the flesh are dead, but also the recognition of the personal Self is killed
out and the "astral" has been reduced in consequence to a cipher, that
the Union with the "Higher Self" can take place. Then when the "astral"
reflects only the conquered man, the still living, but no more the
longing, selfish personality, then the brilliant Augoeides, the divine Self,
can vibrate in conscious harmony with both the poles of the human
Entity--the man of matter purified, and the ever pure Spiritual
Soul--and stand in the presence of the Master Self, the Christos of the
mystic Gnostics, blended, merged into, and one with IT for ever.[D]
How then can it be thought possible for a man to enter the "strait gate"
of occultism when his daily and hourly thoughts are bound up with
worldly things, desires of possession and power, with lust, ambition
and duties, which, however honorable, are still of the earth earthy?
Even the love for wife and family--the purest as the most unselfish of
human affections--is a barrier to real occultism. For whether we take as
an example the holy love of a mother for her child, or that of a husband
for his wife, even in these feelings, when analysed to the very bottom,
and thoroughly sifted, there is still selfishness in the first, and an
_égoisme à deux_ in the second instance. What mother would not
sacrifice without a moment's hesitation hundreds and thousands of lives
for that of the child of her heart? and what lover or true husband would
not break the happiness of every other man and woman around him to
satisfy the desire of one whom he loves? This is but natural, we shall be
told. Quite so; in the light of the code of human affections; less so, in
that of divine universal love. For, while the heart is full of thoughts for
a little group of selves, near and dear to us, how shall the rest of
mankind fare in our souls? What percentage of love and care will there

remain to bestow on the "great orphan"? And how shall the "still small
voice" make itself heard in a soul entirely occupied with its own
privileged tenants? What room is there left for the needs of Humanity
en bloc to impress themselves upon, or even receive a speedy response?
And yet, he who would profit by the wisdom of the universal mind, has
to reach it through the whole of Humanity without distinction of race,
complexion, religion or social status. It is altruism, not _ego-ism_ even
in its most legal and noble conception, that can lead the unit to merge
its little Self in the Universal Selves. It is to these needs and to this
work that the true disciple of true Occultism has to devote himself, if he
would obtain _theo_-sophy, divine Wisdom and Knowledge.
The aspirant has to choose absolutely between the life of the world and
the life of Occultism. It is useless and vain to endeavor to unite the two,
for no one can serve two masters and satisfy both. No one can serve his
body and the higher Soul, and do his family duty and his universal duty,
without depriving either one or the other of its rights; for he will either