Thirteen Points for Self-Discipline
Unknown Authors
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An Editorial Note
Daily self-discipline is a decisive
factor in learning Theosophy. It cannot be
based on blind obedience. It must emerge from
true self-knowledge, which is the knowledge
of one’s own higher self and divine potentialities.
The following text was first published with
no title at “The Theosophist”, Bombay / Mumbai,
in October 1880, page 7. The magazine was then
edited by Helena P. Blavatsky. It is here reproduced
from “The Aquarian Theosophist”, August 2012 edition.
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A Society, called the Aryavatsal Society, has been formed in Kuntiyana, Kattywar, and has adopted the following sensible rules: –
1. To devote an hour every morning and evening to meditate upon the Divine Spirit in a secluded spot and perfect calm state of mind, passing all the time in holiness.
2. To speak always the truth, knowing that our conscience is a witness to all our actions.
3. To eat, drink, &c., with all men, bearing well in mind the fact that all were alike when they were born, and to regard all mankind as one brotherhood.
4. Not to commit adultery or give way to lustful desires; in short, to gain mastery over the passions of the body.
5. To be simple and regular in eating and drinking, in wearing clothes and speaking and in all habits.
6. Not to use intoxicating liquors or drugs.
7. Not to tease or kill any animal, knowing well that all are alike the creatures of one God [1], and that others feel the same pain as ourselves.
8. To be honest in all our dealings, and never to have recourse to lies or to fraud.
9. To remember all our evil actions and to try to be free from them.
10. To avoid the company of immoral persons.
11. To abstain from early marriage.
12. To consult our conscience as to what is right and what is wrong, and then to adopt the proper course which intuition may dictate.
13. To be kind to the poor and to assist them in proportion to our means.
NOTE:
[1] “Creatures of one God”. In fact, there is no monotheistic God in the universe – or even outside it – as the Masters of the Wisdom clarify in Letters X and CXXXIV of “The Mahatma Letters”, TUP edition; or Letters 88 and 30, in the Chronological Edition of the Mahatma Letters, among other classical writings. In theosophy, therefore, it is better to say that all beings are alike “creatures of the One Law”, or children and disciples of the One Life. (CCA)
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On the role of the esoteric movement in the ethical awakening of mankind during the 21st century, see the book “The Fire and Light of Theosophical Literature”, by Carlos Cardoso Aveline.
Published in 2013 by The Aquarian Theosophist, the volume has 255 pages and can be obtained through Amazon Books.
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