Three

A theosophist today treads a lonely path. Very few in the exoteric world of philosophy or religion are willing to apply their minds to the theosophical literature and mine its gold. Many a time one wonders if the society will last another couple of centuries, inspite of reading contrary predictions. Can we hold on?

In one of the mahatma letters, it is mentioned that even if there are three people in the society, the masters will support it. This stuck me as significant. Perhaps all I need to do is ensure three people after me, will continue to support the movement with their time and resources. This is not too difficult at first sight, but can be a life challenge, if thought through carefully.

Let us say, these three people come from a closely related member of one’s family, or a close friend. The only way such people will follow you into theosophy is if they see that you have developed into a far better and stronger individual, a clear and unbiased thinker and have lead a meaningful and useful life. It’s the ultimate test of your success in this birth, to see whether you could inspire three other people to walk on parallel paths.

This path requires you to climb the golden stairs every minute of every day forsaking immediate ratification for long term goals.

'A clean life,
an open mind,
a pure heart,
an eager intellect,
an unveiled spiritual perception,
a brotherliness for one's co-disciple,
a readiness to give and receive advice and instruction,
a loyal sense of duty to the Teacher,
a willing obedience to the behests of TRUTH,
once we have placed our confidence in,
and believe that Teacher to be in possession of it;
a courageous endurance of personal injustice,
a brave declaration of principles,
a valiant defence of those who are unjustly attacked,
and a constant eye to the ideal of human progression and perfection which the Secret Science (Gupta-Vidya) depicts
- these are the Golden Stairs up the steps of which the learner may climb to the Temple of Divine Wisdom.'

Yet, if you have not been able to motivate three people, one musn’t be disillusioned, for surely you are one of the three people, someone, whom you cherished, has lead you to this path, and has through you, fulfilled his or her duty to the theosophical society. With this small peace and a hope, one has to continue this lonely track.