To Light a Thousand Lamps - The Theosophical Society

138 / TO LIGHT A THOUSAND LAMPS
As for the fourth pāramitā, virāga, ‘‘dispassion,’’ nonattachment
to the e¤ects upon us of the ups and downs of
life: how diªcult we find this and yet, if in our deepest self
we cherish the bodhisattva ideal, the cultivation of virāga by
no means condones indifference to the plight of others.
Rather, it demands a wise exercise of compassion. It is interesting
that to our knowledge this pāramitā is not given in the
usual Sanskrit or Pāli lists. That the Voice includes virāga has
significance in that the fourth position is pivotal, midway in
the series of seven. We are reminded here of the seven stages
of the initiatory cycle, of which the first three are preparatory,
consisting chiefly of instruction and interior discipline.*
In the fourth initiation the neophyte must become
that which he has learned about, that is, he must identify
with the inner realms of himself and of nature. If successful,
he may attempt the three higher degrees, leading to
su¤ering the god within to take possession of his humanity.
To become equal-minded in every circumstance, in joy
and pain, success and failure, is to have attained the calm of
a muni, a ‘‘sage’’; it is fully to identify with the truth that
whereas all that is born carries within it the seed of its
decline, the indwelling wonder, the imperishable spirit, as so
eloquently chanted in the Bhagavad-Gītā, is deathless, unperturbed
by the pairs of opposites. To achieve the stature
of a sage may seem rather distant for us; however, when we
give the practice of virāga a fair trial, what a release this
a¤ords from the burden of tension we needlessly inflict
upon ourselves — and, alas, on others.
*Cf. The Mystery Schools, pp. 41‒58.