Unlike some later versions or variants of Theosophy, the original teachings of Theosophy do not offer any descriptions or details of what actually happens when an individual undergoes and passes through a particular stage or degree of initiation.

H. P. Blavatsky, William Q. Judge, and the Mahatmas or Masters of Wisdom Themselves, certainly mentioned the sacred path and esoteric journey of initiation many times but did not spell out anything in the way of specific details. There are, however, plenty of hints from which the attentive and intuitive student can arrive at some important conclusions, such as in “The Voice of The Silence” and “Light on The Path.”

It may then seem a bit surprising to know that Bhavani Shankar (1859-1936) offered brief yet memorable and potent descriptions of a fourfold path of initiation in the book “The Doctrine of The Bhagavad Gita” (first published in two parts, in 1923 and 1928, based on lectures given in northern and southern India in 1914 and 1925) which at one time was published by the Santa Barbara Lodge of the United Lodge of Theosophists but is now unfortunately out of print, although sometimes referred to in various ULT Lodges.

Yet since the name of Bhavani Shankar is barely known to Theosophists at large nowadays, nor even to many ULT associates, some may understandably ask what makes him qualified to reliably explain such a subject in a trustworthy fashion. One can explore this in greater detail at the start of our article The Teachings of Bhavani Shankar but to sum it up very briefly:

He was one of the most prominent of the last surviving Indian chelas (disciples) of the Masters from H. P. Blavatsky’s Adyar days. He is spoken of in glowing terms by the Masters in Their Letters and elsewhere and was a chela of the Master K.H., who described him as “stronger and fitter in many a way more than Damodar or even our mutual “female” friend [i.e. HPB] . . . Bhavani Shanker has seen me in my own physical body and he can point out the way to others.” Shankar once wrote in a letter: “I was alone in Berabanki, near Lucknow, Oudh. H.P.B. was in Bombay, when I received a letter from the ‘Master K.H.’ bidding me go and see him in Kashmir. I recognised the Master’s writing. . . . I went to Kashmir, and I saw the Master in his physical body.” Shankar’s friendship and esoteric connection with B. P. Wadia of the United Lodge of Theosophists has been referred to in the article The Occult Life of B. P. Wadia. Like the other individuals who were objectively proven and known to be chelas of the Masters, Shankar never supported or endorsed in any way the work and teachings of those various later “Theosophists” who claimed (but could never actually prove or demonstrate) to be the chelas of the same Masters, such as Annie Besant, C. W. Leadbeater, and Alice Bailey.

Having said all that, let’s now read and reflect on his words for ourselves. One should bear in mind that Hinduism – esoteric as well as exoteric – generally uses a fourfold, sometimes threefold, system, whereas Theosophy makes clear that the real esoteric Buddhism uses a sevenfold approach. In Hinduism, the complete seven are often condensed into the four, which will explain why Bhavani Shankar – who clearly followed the real esoteric Hindu path – presented this fourfold series of initiations. As we pointed out in The Secret of Daiviprakriti – The Light of The Logos (which is quite largely based on Shankar’s “The Doctrine of The Bhagavad Gita” and the writings of T. Subba Row who he admired greatly and who he often closely paraphrases in the book):

“Although spoken of as two schools and two esoteric philosophies, the fact that they are one in origin, aim, and essence, means that some of those advanced Initiates who we call “The Masters” are teachers and gurus in both and have disciples belonging to both. In a letter addressed to members of the Theosophical Society in London in the 1880s, the Master K.H. explained that “the true esoteric doctrine [is] identical in substance though differing in terms; all aiming at the same grand object, but no two agreeing seemingly in the details of procedure. It is an every day occurrence to find students belonging to different schools of occult thought sitting side by side at the feet of the same Guru. Upasika (Madam B.) and Subba Row, though pupils of the same Master [i.e. of the Master M.], have not followed the same Philosophy – the one is Buddhist and the other an Adwaitee.””

It is worth pointing out that although, as said, much of what may appear to some at first in “The Doctrine of The Bhagavad Gita” to be “newly disclosed” teachings or information was in fact first presented by T. Subba Row during the time of H. P. Blavatsky, these words about the four initiations are not found or echoed anywhere else, either in Theosophy or Hinduism. Based on his exceptional character and reputation and his unflinching loyalty and devotion to HPB and the Masters, we can only assume that Bhavani Shankar knew what he was talking about and had either undergone one or more of those initiations himself or had been taught about them by the Adepts who were his Teachers.

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THE FOUR INITIATIONS

From “The Doctrine of The Bhagavad Gita” by Bhavani Shankar

(p. 11-25, 32-33, 63, 66 of the Popular Prakashan edition, with some definitions of Hindu terminology added in square brackets for sake of clarity)

I may here lightly touch upon the preparatory qualifications which the aspirant for spiritual life should acquire.

By Karma-marga [i.e. the “path of action or work”], that is, disinterested performances of religious and secular duties, he should control his body, subdue his senses, and purify his mind.

He should strive for the control and concentration of mind by Abhyasa [i.e. “practice,” “exercise,” continual effort, primarily in meditation], that is, by practice; for this purpose, he should have some fixed time in the morning and evening, when he should withdraw his mind from all external objects and learn to retire within himself. By following this practice regularly he gains habitual control of his mind which enables him to discharge his duties more effectually and also acquire the power of concentration which is so essential for deep study and devotion as well.

The third qualification he should acquire, is by study and deep thinking. He should regularly study the scriptures, and by deep thinking and cogitation on the profound truths dealt with therein, he should develop the penetrative intellect which can intuit the spiritual truths which lie embedded under the apparent tangle of scriptural contradictions.

By following this Jnana-marga [i.e. the “path of knowledge”] his intellect perceives the nature of his own self, its connection with Ishwara [i.e. literally “Lord,” the main Sanskrit equivalent of the English word “God,” and here used as a term for the Logos, the Universal Spirit or Lord of the Universe, of whom Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita was the Avatar or incarnation] and the important place of the Guru in the pilgrimage of the Jivatma [i.e. synonymous in Hinduism with the Jiva, meaning the reincarnating soul, the individuality which goes from life to life; “jiva” literally means “living one” and “jivatma” the “living self,” as in “embodied self.”], and as this intellectual conviction grows deeper and gains strength he begins to offer himself to his Guru-deva [i.e. literally “luminous or shining Guru” or even “Guru-God,” a very reverential term used by disciples for their Master/Instructor] and Ishta-deva [i.e. literally “cherished/preferred deity,” a term for the particular form or personification or expression of the Divine which an aspirant most prefers to venerate], and as he surrenders himself he begins to feel the inner peace and joy which gradually transform his conviction into faith and his intellectual perceptions into self-feeling where with true devotion begins.

By following this fourfold discipline inculcated in the four margas of Karma, Abhyasa, Jnana and Bhakti [i.e. devotion, devotional love], he in course of time acquires the qualifications necessary for a disciple.

He has developed the physical, astral and causal centres and has learnt to surrender them to his Guru-deva and at the proper time receives his first initiation.

It takes place, as H. P. B. says in the ‘Voice of the Silence,’ neither in the physical body which she calls the hall of ignorance, nor in the astral body which is called by her the hall of learning, but it is in the Karana-sharira [i.e. literally “causal body;” Hindu Vedanta most commonly divides the human being into three shariras or bodies – Sthula Sharira, physical body, Sukshma Sharira, subtle or astral body, and Karana Sharira, causal body, above which is the transcendent Atman, the true Self, identical with Brahman, the Absolute], the hall of wisdom, in his own Hridaya (heart), that the disciple sees Him for the first time whose life and peace he was so long feeling in his heart. Therefore does the Voice of the Silence teach the aspirant: “Seek for Him who is to give thee birth in the hall of wisdom.”

What happens is that both the physical and astral bodies fall in trance, and the disciple is in his Karana-sharira, that is, in his heart he sees his Guru-deva, and in the heart of his Guru-deva he sees his Ishtadeva, The Ishwara. The Guru-deva transmits to him the life of Ishwara, the only true life – The Self, of which the Mandukya-Upanishad in the 7th sloka speaks as being “shantam, shivam and adwaitam . . sa Atma,” peace, bliss and unity – The Mystic Consciousness wherein as in the words of the 29th sloka of the 6th discourse of the Gita ”he sees the self abiding in all beings and all beings abiding in the self, and sees the same everywhere.”

The unreal life of the false separative self with its triple consciousness – the seer, the seeing and the seen – falls loosened from him and he is awakened in the region of the real. . . .

He has realised the unity of life in his Karana-sharira and the effect of this first initiation, on his physical ego, is that it becomes a mere reflection of the Divine life; in other words, his personality has been killed. Not only has his physical centre, ego, become a reflection of the life of Ishwara, but as a result of the Yoga-fire, the gross particles of his physical body have been purified and etherealised, making that body a vehicle refined enough for the functioning of the higher consciousness (see Swethashwetara [i.e. Shvetashvatara] Upanishad, part II, 12th and 13th slokas). He realises that both his physical centre and the physical centre of the Cosmos are essentially one, that they are expressions of the same Divine Life which, expressing itself in them, transcends both, and he begins to harmonise them. . . . This cosmic physical centre is called in the Upanishads, Vaishwanara, and in the Gita, Adhibhuta [i.e. literally the “underlying base or basis of all elements”], and is the basis of all beings. . . .

In course of time, as the initiate develops in an ever-increasing measure devotion and self-surrender to his Guru-deva and Ishta-deva, he receives his second initiation; and just as, after the first initiation, his physical ego becomes merely the reflection of the Divine life and his physical body purified and refined by the Yoga fire becomes a vehicle fit for higher consciousness, similarly, as a result of the second initiation, his astral body becomes a perfect mirror, reflecting merely the one life. . . . His astral ego is now but a reflection of the Divine life and he realises that his astral centre or ego and the corresponding cosmic centre are in essence one, both reflections of the one life, and his sense of separateness between the two falls off. This astral cosmic centre is called in the Mandukya-Upanishad “Taijasa,” resplendent centre, and in the Gita, Adhidaiva [i.e. literally the “underlying base or basis of all Devas: gods and celestial beings”], the substratum of all the Devatas.

The light of Ishwara which his Gurudeva had transmitted to him at the time of the first initiation has now by his profound devotion and renunciation been transmuted into electro-spiritual force which is called the higher Kundalini and rises upwards. It now rises from the heart into the head and there brings into full functioning all the spiritual centres in the brain which up to now it was vivifying, and it passes on to what Shri Shankaracharya calls the Dhi-guha, the cave of the intellect, the space between the brows, and there electrifies Buddhi into a dynamic power resulting in spiritual clairvoyance.

It then merges in the great Goddess seated in the centre of the full-blown Sahasrara (thousand-petalled lotus). And through these higher spiritual centres the initiate subdues and controls the lower Chakras. According to Hindu books of Yoga, there is in the brain the Sahasrara Chakram. “It is an unopened bud in the ordinary mortal and just as the lotus opens its petals and expands in all its bloom and beauty when the sun rises above the horizon and sheds his rays on the flower, so does the Sahasraram of the neophyte open and expand when Ishwara begins to pour His life into its centre. When fully expanded, it becomes the glorious seat of the Devi (Daivi-prakriti), and sitting on this flower the great Goddess pours out the waters of life and grace for the gratification and regeneration of the human soul.”

H. P. B. refers to this spiritual process in the following passage in the Voice of the Silence and in her notes thereon. “Let not thy ‘Heaven-Born,’ merged in the sea of Maya, break from the Universal Parent (Soul), but let the fiery power retire into the inmost chamber, the chamber of the Heart and the abode of the World’s Mother. Then from the heart that Power shall rise into the sixth, the middle region, the place between thine eyes, when it becomes the breath of the ONE SOUL, the voice which filleth all, thy Master’s Voice.” In her note on the words “power” and the “world mother” in the above passage she says, “these are names given to Kundalini – one of the mystic ‘Yogi powers.’ It is Buddhi considered as an active instead of a passive principle. . . .” Thus the electro-spiritual force called Kundalini is the result of the spiritual development of man and has nothing to do with physical and mechanical processes. . . .

As a result of his harmonising his astral centre with the Adhidaiva centre, the basis of all devatas, through the higher Kundalini, he sees the hierarchies of cosmic intelligences, the Devas, and realises that they and himself are essentially one being – expressions of the one Divine life which, expressing Itself in all these and in himself, transcends all and remains itself. He has now all the great higher Siddhis [i.e. literally “powers”] which are not so much control acquired over something outside, but knowledge realised of the inwardness of cosmic processes – the expansion of his Buddhi into the cosmic Buddhi. With the possession of all these Siddhis the outstanding characteristic of the initiate now is his utter humility. . . .

Then comes his third initiation, and to understand the significance of it, even faintly, it is necessary to know something about the unfolding of the Jivatma. The Jivatma is called in our scriptures Hamsa [i.e. literally “swan”]. Hamsa is a bird which is known to possess the peculiar power of separating off pure milk from a mixture of milk and water, and Jivatma is called a Hamsa, because, it, like the bird of the name, has the power of discriminating the real from the unreal in Samsara [i.e. the cycle of birth, death, and rebirth within the manifested world or Universe], which is a combination of both.

Up till now this Hamsa, that is, Jivatma, had fed itself on the very cream of the best and noblest experience gained in innumerable lives. Even at the time of the first initiation, the initiate has realised that the real self is the Divine Life, which transcends the self of the Jivatma. But now, as a result of further spiritual progress, he realises more deeply than before the utter unreality of this individuality, that it is a thing “which he has created with pain for his own use and by means of which he purposes to reach to the Life beyond individuality.”

He now retires deeper within and approaches the sanctuary of the Self nearer than ever before and is realising in a greater and fuller measure the peace and bliss of the one life.

This further spiritual progress that he has made and which enables him to go through the third initiation, involves the spiritual transformation of his Karana-sharira, which now becomes an upadhi of pure (Satwic) Akasha. His spiritual ego, the centre of Karana-sharira, which, at this stage, is called Prajna in Mandukyopanishad [i.e. Mandukya Upanishad], is seen by him to be a mere reflection of divine light and, now no more being limited by his Karana-sharira, is realised as the cosmic centre of that plane, called Ishwara in the Mandukyopanishad and Adhiyajna [i.e. literally the “underlying base or basis of all sacrifice”] in Gita; and all the rich treasure of knowledge and experience gathered by him with pain and patience through innumerable lives, and of which his Karana-sharira was built, is now gladly sacrificed by him to Adhiyajna, and thus is increased the fund of cosmic intelligence working for the uplifting of the race.

He now sees that the end and consummation of all knowledge, austerities and sacrifices is the Great Goddess, the divine light of Ishwara, at Whose Feet he now offers his individuality purified and ennobled by the virtuous Karma of a series of incarnations. At this stage he is called a Hamsa, that is, one who has realised that he and the cosmic centre of Adhiyajna are one.

Now he finds that all the six great Saktis [i.e. Shaktis, literally “forces,” “energies,” “powers,” a feminine term], which are developed in him, are but the manifestations of the one self, the Divine Life. These six Saktis are: (1) Jnana Sakti, ability to see the past and future; (2) Ichha Sakti, the power of the will; (3) Kriya Sakti, the mysterious power of thought which enables it to produce external perceptible and phenomenal results by its own inherent energy; (4) Mantrika Sakti, the power of letters and mantras; (5) Para Sakti, which includes the powers of light and heat; (6) Kundalini Sakti, already mentioned.

He has now to fight the final struggle against flesh that will liberate him once and for ever from the bonds of matter, and pass the 4th initiation.

He has now risen above the limitations of the three bodies, but he has still to cross the neutral barrier. He has to fasten the energies of his soul on this supreme struggle.

When the human monad is completely isolated from the three bodies – physical, astral and causal, it is as it were at a neutral point of consciousness and no consciousness is experienced by it. It is the Maha Sushupti [i.e. “Great Dreamless Sleep” or “Great Deep Sleep”], and before the monad can be finally liberated, it should cross this neutral barrier. Bhagavan [i.e. literally “Lord” and, like Ishwara, the main Hindu word for “God,” applied in this case to Krishna, who is often addressed as such by Arjuna in the Gita, but often used by Shankar as a term for the Logos, like Ishwara] refers to this struggle when he says in the 14th sloka of the 7th chapter of the Gita, “Hard is my divine Maya to surmount. Those who seek Me alone pass over this Maya.”

The result of this last struggle, that is, success or defeat in it, entirely depends upon the latent energy of the Jivatma resulting from devotion to Ishwara, its previous training and past Karma. It is the real Kurukshetra [i.e. the name of the battlefield on which the Bhagavad Gita is set] for the Jivatma where it hears in full the song of life – Mahashmashana, the great burning ground, where it hears the voice of the cosmic deep and where Ahamkara [i.e. egoism, the feeling of “I,” usually associated with self-identification with the lower or personal ego] is reduced to ashes. It is Mahashmashana because it is the death of the individual man from whose ashes the regenerated man springs into existence electrified by the Song of Life.

If he has emerged from this final struggle triumphant, then he is a full-blown adept, a Jivanmmukta [i.e. liberated or emancipated soul, still living in the body], who has entirely merged himself in the One Life. He is now called a Paramahamsa [i.e. literally “supreme swan” or “supreme great swan”], that is, one who has realised “That,” that is, He, the One Life and himself are one. He has become “Om” because “sa” and “ha” of “Soham” [i.e. literally “I am He,” an Upanishadic affirmation of one’s own identicality with the Divine] being eliminated in him, he remains only the “Om.” Thus far we have the guidance of the Mandukyopanishad, from stage to stage, in the spiritual progress of the Jivatma, till the liberated man has triumphed over all the bonds of matter.

He is now a Jivanmukta, for whom Samsara can weave no illusion, and nature holds no secret. He has crossed the ocean of Maya and has fully entered the divine light. Even for him there stretch forth further vistas of progress. Saith the Light on the Path: “For within you is the light of the world – the only light that can be shed on the Path. If you are unable to perceive it within you, it is useless to look for it elsewhere. It is beyond you; because when you reach it you have lost yourself. It is unattainable, because it for ever recedes. You will enter the light, but you will never touch the flame.”

. . . when isolated from its three bodies the Jivatma passes into Maha-Sushupti, the neutral barrier, the Great Sunyam [i.e. Shunya, Shunyata, literally “void” or “emptiness”], which can only be passed through devotion to Bhagavan. Not unless his Karana-Sharira ego is surrendered to Bhagavan with deep devotion, and the Real Self, the One Life, is realised thereby, is it possible to cross this neutral barrier. . . . His fear goes, because once he has attained to the Light of Ishwara, the Life above individuality, he can cross the neutral barrier, for, now he hears the Song of Life and wakes up through the Grace of Bhagavan on the other side of the Cosmos, a regenerated man, a Jivanmukta. . . . you cannot cross the neutral barrier without the help of Ishwara.

. . . when Parabhakti [i.e. supreme devotion] sets in, all ignorance and delusion are destroyed and when you go to Bhagavan with supreme devotion, you can cross the neutral barrier and reach the gateway which points towards the Goal.

The further stages of progress hinted at in this passage are also referred to in the Hindu scriptures which darkly hint at five further stages of spiritual height. They involve the most arduous Tapas [i.e. literally “austerities” but meaning ascetic self-discipline] out of all human experience and utterly beyond human perception or imagination.

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Some of the expressions used by Bhavani Shankar, such as “the Life of Ishwara” and “the Light of Ishwara” have a particular distinct meaning, which will not be obvious or apparent without a very careful study of “The Doctrine of The Bhagavad Gita” or of our article The Secret of Daiviprakriti – The Light of The Logos. Such terms refer indeed to Daiviprakriti, often termed “the Light of the Logos” by H. P. Blavatsky but spoken of by Bhavani Shankar (and by T. Subba Row) in such expressions as we saw above: “the great Goddess [who] pours out the waters of life and grace for the gratification and regeneration of the human soul . . . the end and consummation of all knowledge, austerities and sacrifices is the Great Goddess, the divine light of Ishwara.” Most Theosophists are not used to conceiving of a Divine Feminine side or aspect to the Logos but it is impossible to clearly or fully comprehend the real esoteric Hinduism of Bhavani Shankar, T. Subba Row, and indeed of the great Adi Shankaracharya, without it. The Daiviprakriti article just linked to is all about this.

The Sanskrit word “Daiviprakriti” (literally “Divine Nature”) appears in the Bhagavad Gita, as do other terms which Bhavani Shankar mentioned above, such as Adhibhuta, Adhidaiva, and Adhiyajna. They are used so briefly and passed over so quickly and vaguely in that scripture, however, that no-one unacquainted with esotericism would ever be likely to give them much of a thought, least of all even consider that they may relate to some of the greatest mysteries and processes of the Cosmos and of initiation into Divine Wisdom.

The same is true for the Mandukya Upanishad which Bhavani Shankar mentions. We saw him say “Thus far we have the guidance of the Mandukyopanishad, from stage to stage, in the spiritual progress of the Jivatma, till the liberated man has triumphed over all the bonds of matter,” but although that Upanishad does relate in a certain sense to that subject and goal, there is not a single mention in it of initiation or of the processes Shankar here described. As HPB often said, the true meaning of many ancient esoteric texts only becomes perceptible once one is in possession of certain “keys” with which to unlock the deeper meanings and interpretations. Theosophy provides us with some of these keys but the Masters provide Their chelas with many more.

We ought to briefly clarify the concept of “Higher Kundalini” and “Lower Kundalini” which Bhavani Shankar speaks of, including on pages we have not quoted here, and which for whatever reason is worded in such a way that it can easily lead to misunderstandings and cause people to conclude that within the human being there are two Kundalinis, one at the base of the spine which is “bad” or impure and one in the heart which is “good” and pure. But that is not what Theosophy teaches and we doubt very much that this is what Bhavani Shankar actually meant, even if his wording does at times seem to imply it.

Kundalini is one but its process of rising from the Muladhara Chakra at the base of the spine is twofold. During the first stage – when it is rising up to the Heart Chakra, or the innermost chamber of the Heart – it can be termed lower Kundalini. It must be allowed – naturally and in its own time, unforced and of its own accord – to “retire into” the chamber of the Heart, which is called the proper “abode” of the Kundalini. From the Heart it rises, transmuted, as the higher Kundalini and passes into the head, culminating in the Crown Chakra, the Sahasrara or Brahmarandhra, where it merges into the great Goddess, the Devi, the Shakti, Daiviprakriti, the Light or Energy or Power or Force of the Logos, who is described symbolically as sitting on that thousand-petalled lotus.

You can explore many of the subjects touched upon in this article through other articles on this site such as The Great Sacrifice & The Mystery-Land of Shambhala (mentions the four or rather seven degrees of initiation in the real Esoteric Buddhism), The Teachings of Bhavani Shankar, The Secret of Daiviprakriti – The Light of The Logos, Understanding The Logos, Who or What is Ishwara?, The Theosophy of The Bhagavad Gita, Atman – The Higher Self, The Upanishads, Vedanta & The Mahavakyas, The Mandukya Upanishad, Theosophy on Kundalini: The Serpent Power and Mystic Fire, Chakras – The Centres in The Astral Body, The Daily Initiation, The Theosophical Guide To Meditation, The Raja Yoga of Theosophy, and Masters of Wisdom: Outwardly Mortal, Inwardly Immortal.

“My friend, in the Masonic Lodges of old times the neophyte was subjected to a series of frightful tests of his constancy, courage and presence of mind. By psychological impressions supplemented by machinery and chemicals, he was made to believe himself falling down precipices, crushed by rocks, walking spider-web bridges in mid-air, passing through fire, drowned in water and attacked by wild beasts. This was a reminiscence of and a programme borrowed from the Egyptian Mysteries. The West having lost the secrets of the East, had, as I say, to resort to artifice. But in these days the vulgarization of science has rendered such trifling tests obsolete. The aspirant is now assailed entirely on the psychological side of his nature. His course of testing – in Europe and India – is that of Raj-yog [i.e. Raja Yoga, which in Theosophical esotericism means something much more than its standard Hindu definition] and its result is – as frequently explained – to develop every germ good and bad in him in his temperament. The rule is inflexible, and not one escapes whether he but writes to us a letter, or in the privacy of his own heart’s thought formulates a strong desire for occult communication and knowledge. As the shower cannot fructify the rock, so the occult teaching has no effect upon the unreceptive mind; and as the water develops the heat of caustic lime so does the teaching bring into fierce action every unsuspected potentiality latent in him.” (Master K.H., “The Mahatma Letters” p. 365-366)

“It is supposed by some that initiation is always and in every case a set and solemn occasion for which the candidate is prepared and notified of in advance. While there are some initiations surrounded by such solemnities as these, the daily one, without success in which no aspirant will ever have the chance to try for those that are higher, comes to the disciple with almost each moment. It is met in our relations with our fellows, and in the effects upon us of all the circumstances of life. And if we fail in these, we never get to the point where greater ones are offered. If we cannot bear momentary defeat, or if a chance word that strikes our self-love finds us unprepared, or if we give way to the desire to harshly judge others, or if we remain in ignorance of some of our most apparent faults, we do not build up that knowledge and strength imperatively demanded from whoever is to be master of nature. . . . the “daily initiation” [is] of the very greatest importance to each earnest student. But all of this has been said before, and it is a pity that students persist in ignoring the good advice they receive.” (William Q. Judge, “What is the “Daily Initiation”?”)

~ BlavatskyTheosophy.com ~