To Light a Thousand Lamps - The Theosophical Society

Who Will Save Us? / 169
The cyclic appearance of savior figures is to remind us of
our divine possibilities, not to deprive us of our urge to grow
and become as they are. We can begin now by jettisoning
from our nature all that is extraneous and less than we esteem
in human behavior. There is no call for exaggerated
physical or mental austerities: practice of the ancient and
universally honored precepts — call them commandments,
beatitudes, pāramitās, or virtues — is our open sesame to
the future. In spite of the pull toward material concerns in
kali yuga’s descending cycle, we do not have to be downtending
in our thinking or aspiration. The history of mankind
from the earliest era confirms that in every age,
whether one of spiritual clarity and upward reach or one of
spiritual darkness and downward bent, pioneers are quietly
at work, forward-thinking men and women who keep alive
the fires of aspiration. The stronger the pull matterwards,
the more powerfully they swim against it in order to produce
the needed countercurrent.
Patently, we are in the midst of a critical period where
the light energies are in direct contest with the dark forces
— not only on the national and international scene, but
within our own natures. Unless we begin now, individually
and collectively, to rely on our own inner strength, we will
have little to draw upon in future crises. This isn’t the time
to lean on great leaders; it isn’t the time to wait for a messenger.
If we feel that the odds are overwhelmingly against
our steadfast e¤orts to hold aloft the torch of hope, let us
recall Mother Teresa. When asked how she could bear up
under the enormity of su¤ering she witnessed daily, without
any possibility of her stemming the tide appreciably, she