NATIONAL

WALES

THEOSOPHY

 

 

Curuppumullage Jinarajadasa

1875 - 1953

 

Theosophical Society President 

1946 -1953

 

 

The Law of Renunciation

First Published 1915

Return to Homepage


The joy of life! Is it not everywhere? In plant and animal and man, do we not see an instinct for happiness which impels all creation to rise from good to better, from better to best? Since God said, “Let there be light!” are not all men seeking to step out of darkness into light – blindly, dimly feeling that happiness must be their goal? Yet how few find happiness in life! It is easy to sing:—

God’s in his heaven,
All’s right with the world!

But to sing so for long, one must be blind to the facts. Life is a tragedy to many, and far more truly is it described by Tennyson:—

Act first, this Earth, a stage so gloom’d with woe
You all but sicken at the shifting scenes,
And yet be patient. Our Playwright may show
In some fifth Act what this wild Drama means.

Nevertheless all feel that happiness must be the goal of life, and humanity never errs in its deepest feelings. But then why should not the attainment of happiness be easier than it is ?

MAN AN EVOLVING SOUL

There is a philosophy of life which holds that man is an immortal soul, living not one life on earth but many, growing through the experiences which he gains in them manifold capacities and virtues. This philosophy further postulates that all men are the children of One father, who has created a universe, in order that working therein His children may know something of Him, and come to Him in joy. According to this theory, the purpose of life is not to achieve a stable condition of happiness for any individual, but rather to train him to work in a Plan of an Ideal Future, and find in that work an ever-changing and ever-growing contentment.

From the standpoint of the Theosophist, all men are indeed working for a foreordained ideal future ; but they work at different stages, according to their differing capacities. A recognition of these stages, and the laws of life appropriate to each, makes life less the riddle that it is. There are three broad stages on the Path of Bliss which leads to the Highest Good, and they are happiness, renunciation, and transfiguration.

THE STAGE OF HAPPINESS

God calls upon all His children at this stage to co-operate with Him, by offering them happiness as the aim of life. He has implanted in them a craving for happiness, and He provides work for them which shall make them happy. Love of wife and child and friend, fame and the gratitude of men, success and ease — these are His rewards for them that serve Him. Many are the pleasant paths in life for the young souls at this stage, to reap happinesses as they prove those pleasures.

                                That hills and valleys, dale and field,
                                And all the craggy mountains yield.

Useful up to a point as men are in the Great Work at this stage, yet so long as a man deliberately seeks happiness, his capabilities as a worker are soon exhausted. For soon he “settles down in life” ; the precious gift of wonder slowly fades away, and his happiness ceases to be dynamic. Self-centred, he calls on the universe to give. But the Path to Bliss is by work, and if he is to go ever on, he must fit himself for a larger work than has so far fallen to his share. He must enter on the next stage, but for that he must change utterly. Hither-to he has measured men and things by the standard of his little self; henceforth the Great Self must be his measure. He must break the sway of himself, and realize that evermore what is important in life is not he, nor his happiness, but a Work. Before this realization can begin, there must be a conversion.

CONVERSION

In many ways are men converted from the interests of the little self to the work of the Great Self. Some, loving Truth in religious garb, open their hearts to a Personality who dazzles their imagination. Thenceforth they must serve Him, and be like Him, and gone forever is the standpoint of the little self. Some study science and philosophy, and discover a magnificent plan of evolution, with the inevitable result that they know that the individual is but a unit in a great Whole, and not the centre of the cosmos. If they set to study rightly, they see, too, that there is a Will at work, and that, cost what it may, they must co-operate with that Will. A few there are to whom comes some mysterious experience from the hidden side of things, and life speaks to them a transforming message. Out of the invisible comes a “Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou Me?” and a persecutor of Christians is changed into an Apostle of Christ. Manifold are the ways of conversion, the same in all lands and in all faiths. One factor is common : the old personality is disintegrated, and a new one is reintegrated in the service of a Work.

When, through conversion, the new personality is ready for a larger work, the tools which he uses must be made pure. They are his thoughts and feelings, and slowly a process of purification is begun. Disappointment and pain and grief are his lot – the sad harvest of a sowing of selfishness in the unseen past of many lives, for we reap as we have sown. When the worker is ready, swift is Nature’s response to free him from the burden of his past, in order that he may be fit to achieve the great work which she has prepared for him.

THE MEANING OF PAIN

With some, sorrow hardens the character, but with those who are ready to enter on the second stage, it ever purifies. Does not the very texture and the flesh of a sufferer, who has in patience and resignation borne his pain, seem luminous and pure, as though through every cell there gleamed the light of a hidden fire? How much more so is it with mental suffering? Are we not irresistibly drawn to reverence one who has suffered much and nobly, and sometimes to love, too?

I saw my lady weep,
And Sorrow proud to be advanced so
In those fair eyes where all perfection keep.
Her face was full of woe: But such a woe (believe me) wins more hearts
Than Mirth can do with her enticing parts,
Sorrow was there made fair,
Passion wise ; tears a delightful thing;
Silence beyond all speech a wisdom rare.
She made her sighs to sing,
And all things with so sweet a sadness move
As made a heart at once both grieve and love.

THE STAGE OF RENUNCIATION

Life seems full of evil days to those who come to the end of the first stage, but its lesson is clear. That lesson is, “Thou must go without, go without!” That is the everlasting song, which every hour, all our life through, hoarsely sings to us. Truly does Carlyle voice the wisdom of the ages when he says, “The Fraction of Life can be increased in value not so much by increasing your numerator as by lessening your denominator. Nay, unless my algebra deceive me, unit divided by a zero will give infinity. Make thy claim of wages a zero then ; thou hast the world under thy feet.”

THE LAW OF RENUNCIATION

All great workers know that the Law of renunciation is true, and that “it is only with renunciation that life, properly speaking can be said to begin”. There are no great souls who are completely happy, can ever be! Once more let the great apostle of Work speak to us: “the happy man was never yet created; the virtuous man, tho’ clothed in rags and sinking under pain, is the jewel of the Earth, however I may doubt it, or deny it in bitterness of heart. O never let me forget it! Teach me, tell me, when the Fiend of Suffering and the base Spirit of the World are ready to prevail against me, and drive me from this last stronghold.”

Take whom you will who has done a great work, and he knows that renunciation is the law. In bitterness of heart Ruskin cries out : “I have had my heart broken ages ago, when I was a boy, then mended, cracked, beaten in, kicked about old corridors, and finally, I think, flattened fairly out”. But he persevered in his work all the same. There is no greater name in the world of art than Michael Angelo, “this masterful and stern, life-wearied and labor-hardened man”, whose history “is one of indomitable will and almost superhuman energy, yet of will that had hardly ever had its way, and of energy continually at war with circumstance”. It is the same with all who have been great.

THE MEANING OF LIFE

But through renunciation the soul on the threshold of greatness discover’s life's meaning. If religious, he will state it, “Thy will be done” ; if scientific or artistic he will say, “Not I, but a Work”. He is now as Faust who sought happiness in knowledge, and failed ; sought it in the love of Marguerite, and reaped a tragedy ; and only as he planned to reclaim waste lands for men, and lost himself in the dream of that work, found that long-sought-for happy moment when he could say, “Ah, tarry a while, thou art so fair!”

So, renouncing live the souls of the second stage, lovers of a Work. Sad at heart they are; but if they are loyal to their work, then comes to them in fleeting moments more than happiness ; it is the joy of creation. Such wonders they now body forth that to themselves their masterpieces are enigmas. In fitful gleams they see a Light, and know that now and then it shines through them to the world. Perfect masters of technique they are now, in religion, in art, in science, in every department of life. But alas! Just as they have discovered what it is to live, what it is to create, they are old, and life comes to a close, before it seems hardly begun. Shall the path of renunciation bring nothing but despair?

                                Despair was never yet so deep.
                                In sinking as in seeming;
                                Despair is hope just dropp’d asleep
                                For better chance of dreaming.

THE STAGE OF TRANSFIGURATION

“Hope just dropp’d asleep for better chance of dreaming” – that, truly, is death. The great worker leaves life but to return again, with every dream old and new nearer realization. He returns, with the inborn mastery of technique of the genius, to achieve now where once he only dreamed. The joy of creation is now his sure and priceless possession, that wondrous joy which only those who know can offer all gifts of heart and mind, and stand apart from them, while a Greater than they creates through them. “Seeking nothing, he gains al ; foregoing self, the universe grows I”. Now has he found that life which he lost in the stage of renunciation ; henceforth, in all places and at all times is he become “a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall no more go out”.


THE PATH OF BLISS


So life gives of its best to all — happiness to some, renunciation to others, and, to a few, transfiguration. What if now most of us, who love Truth, must “do without”? Let us but dedicate heart and mind to a Work, and we shall find that renunciation leads to transfiguration. There is but one road to God , for all to tread. It is the Path of Bliss. It has steps — happiness, renunciation, and transfiguration. Whoso will offer up all that he is to a Work, though he “lose his life” thereby, yet shall he find it soon, and “come again rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.”

C Jinarajadasa 1875 - 1953

History of the Theosophical Society

Cardiff Blavatsky Archive

Instant Guide to Theosophy

 

Return to Homepage

 

 Cardiff Theosophical Society

 206 Newport Road, 

Cardiff, Wales, UK, CF24 – 1DL 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For more info on Theosophy

Try these

 

 

 

Cardiff Theosophical Society meetings are informal

and there’s always a cup of tea afterwards

 

Theosophy

Cardiff

The Cardiff Theosophical Society Website

 

Theosophy

Wales

The National Wales Theosophy Wesbsite

 

Dave’s Streetwise Theosophy Boards

The Theosophy Website that

Welcomes Absolute Beginners

If you run a Theosophy Study Group then please

Feel free to use any material on this Website

 

Wales! Wales! Theosophy Wales

The All Wales Guide to

 Getting Started in Theosophy

This is for everybody not just people in Wales

 

Hey Look!

Theosophy in Cardiff

 

Theosophy in Wales

The Grand Tour

 

Theosophy Avalon

The Theosophy Wales

King Arthur Pages

 

Theosophy Cardiff’s Instant Guide to Theosophy

 

Cardiff Theosophical Archive

 

Cardiff Blavatsky Archive

A Theosophy Study Resource

 

Cardiff Theosophy Start-Up

A Free Intro to Theosophy

 

Theosophy in the UK

 

Blavatsky Blogger

Independent Theosophy Blog

 

Quick Blasts of Theosophy

One Liners & Quick Explanations

 

Feelgood

Theosophy

Visit the Feelgood Lodge

The main criteria for the inclusion of

links on this site is that they have some

relationship (however tenuous) to Theosophy

and are lightweight, amusing or entertaining.

Topics include Quantum Theory and Socks,

Dick Dastardly and Legendary Blues Singers.

 

Theosophy

Aardvark

No Aardvarks were harmed in the

preparation of this Website

 

Great Theosophists

The Big Names of Theosophy

 

History of the Theosophical Society

 

History of Theosophy in Wales

 

Theosophy and the Great War

 

Pages About Wales

General pages about Wales, Welsh History

and The History of Theosophy in Wales

 

H P Blavatsky and The Masters

Her Teachers Morya & Koot Hoomi

 

Ocean of Theosophy

William Quan Judge

 

The Blavatsky Blogger’s

Instant Guide To

Death & The Afterlife

 

The Most Basic Theosophy Website in the Universe

If you run a Theosophy Study Group you can use

this as an introductory handout

 

Theosophy

The New Rock ‘n Roll

 

The Voice of the Silence

 

The Key to Theosophy

 

Theosophy

Nirvana

 

The South of Heaven Guide

To Theosophy and Devachan

 

The South of Heaven Guide

To Theosophy and Dreams

 

The South of Heaven Guide

To Theosophy and Angels

 

Theosophy and Help From

The Universe

 

Death & How to Get Through It

Lentil burgers, a thousand press ups before breakfast and

the daily 25 mile run may put it off for a while but death

seems to get most of us in the end. We are pleased to

present for your consideration, a definitive work on the

subject by a Student of Katherine Tingley entitled

“Man After Death”

 

Wales! Wales! Theosophy Wales

The All Wales Guide to

Getting Started in Theosophy

 

Theosophy and the Number Seven

A selection of articles relating to the esoteric

significance of the Number 7 in Theosophy

 

Theosophy Avalon

The Theosophy Wales

King Arthur Pages

 

The Tooting Broadway

Underground Theosophy Website

The Spiritual Home of Urban Theosophy

 

The Mornington Crescent

Underground Theosophy Website

The Earth Base for Evolutionary Theosophy

 

 

A Text Book of Theosophy

Charles Webster Leadbeater

 

What Theosophy Is  From the Absolute to Man

 

The Formation of a Solar System  The Evolution of Life

 

The Constitution of Man  After Death  Reincarnation

 

The Purpose of Life  The Planetary Chains

 

The Result of Theosophical Study

 

 

 

Elementary Theosophy

An Outstanding Introduction to Theosophy

By a student of Katherine Tingley

 

Elementary Theosophy  Who is the Man?  Body and Soul   

 

Body, Soul and Spirit  Reincarnation  Karma

 

The Seven in Man and Nature

 

The Meaning of Death

 

 

 

 

 

Helena Petrovna Blavatsky  (1831 – 1891)

The Founder of Modern Theosophy

 

 

Index of Articles

By

H P Blavatsky

 

 

Elementals

 

 

A Land of Mystery

 

 

A Case Of Obsession

 

 

Devachan

 

 

Reincarnation

 

 

The Mind in Nature

 

 

Elementaries

 

 

Fakirs and Tables

 

 

Is the Desire to Live Selfish?

 

 

A Paradoxical World

 

 

An Astral Prophet

 

 

Ancient Magic in Modern Science

 

 

Roots of Ritualism in

Church and Masonry

 

 

A Year of Theosophy

 

 

Can The Mahatmas

Be Selfish?

 

 

Chelas and Lay Chelas

 

 

Nightmare Tales

 

 

“My Books”

 

 

Dialogue On The Mysteries

Of The After Life

 

 

Do The Rishis Exist?

 

 

"Esoteric Buddhism"

And The

"Secret Doctrine"

 

 

Have Animals Souls

 

 

The Kabalah and the Kabalists

 

 

Babel Of Modern Thought

 

 

Thoughts on the Elementals

 

 

Karmic Visions

 

 

What Is Truth?

 

 

Civilization,

The Death of Art and Beauty

 

 

Gems from the East

A Birthday Book of Axions and

Precepts Compiled by H P Blavatsky

 

 

Obras Por H P Blavatsky

En Espanol

 

 

¿Es la Teosofía una Religión?

 

 

La Clave de la Teosofía

 

 

Articles about the Life of H P Blavatsky

 

 

Biography of H P Blavatsky

 

 

H P Blavatsky

the Light-Bringer

by

Geoffrey A Barborka

The Blavatsky Lecture of 1970

 

 

The Life of H P Blavatsky

Edited by A P Sinnett

 

 

 

 

 

Try these if you are looking for a

local Theosophy Group or Centre

 

UK Listing of Theosophical Groups

 

Worldwide Directory of Theosophical Links

 

International Directory of 

Theosophical Societies

 

 

WALES

Pages about Wales

General pages about Wales, Welsh History

and The History of Theosophy in Wales

 

 

Wales is a Principality within the United Kingdom

and has an eastern border with England.

The land area is just over 8,000 square miles.

Snowdon in North Wales is the highest mountain at 3,650 feet.

The coastline is almost 750 miles long.

The population of Wales as at the 2001 census is 2,946,200.

 

Theosophy in Wales

 

Cardiff Theosophy Start-Up

 

theosophycardiff.org