Theosophical Study Paper No 04

SR No.: 006954
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Theosophical Society in Australia
Publisher: Theosophical Society in Australia
Publication Year: 2004
Total Pages: 16
Language: English
Classification: Book_English
File Size: 4 MB

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MASTERS AND GURUS
Radha Burnier
Radha Burnier has been the International President of the TS since 1980. She holds a M.A. degree in Sanskrit from the Benares Hindu University, has lectured extensively worldwide and is the author of a number of books, including Human Regeneration and No Other Path to Go. This article was originally published in The Theosophist, the international journal of the TS, May 1982. Theosophical literature speaks about the unfolding of consciousness through the evolution of forms and organisms. When the form is primitive, unorganized and crude in its response to the environment, consciousness is unable to manifest fully through it. As the form evolves, its ability to respond increases. There is greater sensitivity in the sense organs, the nervous system and the brain. Thus better organization of form enables the consciousness to reveal itself more fully. Man, as he is today, is not the end of the process of evolution. Theosophical writing declares that there is further unfoldment before him. Truth, wisdom, love, bliss, peace and goodness are inherent in consciousness. In the Upanishads, Brahman is described as absolute universal consciousness, perfect in peace, beauty and the other powers mentioned above. In the Adept or Master, these virtues, which are of the very nature of consciousness, have flowered into perfection as his consciousness has blossomed fully in perfect measure, revealing powers as yet latent in the average man. So the Adept is one who is perfect in wisdom, compassion, love and selfless purity. Purity means the total absence of the sense of a separate self. Perfect love implies no choosing, not giving love in return for something else. It is said that when a man is perfected, he is no longer under compulsion to reincarnate, for he has transcended Karma. It is attachment, selfishness - they are the same, which draws one into birth. Because there is the desire for experience, for stimulation from outside, the ordinary man is caught in the wheel of rebirth. But the Adept who is pure and free from attachment because there is no self in him is under no such necessity. But, out of compassion he may remain in touch with the human
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