To Light a Thousand Lamps - The Theosophical Society

24 / TO LIGHT A THOUSAND LAMPS
barhishads, those who sit on kuśa grass for meditative or
ceremonial purposes; or they are referred to simply as pitṛis,
‘‘fathers’’ — terms that preserve the tradition that solar and
lunar fathers, progenitors, gave mind and the power to
choose to early humanity so that we humans might pursue
our further evolution with conscious intent.
The awakening of mind in an entire humanity could
not have been accomplished by a single heroic deed; it must
have taken hundreds of thousands, if not several million
years to achieve. And the humans of that predawn period
no doubt were as diverse as we are today: the most enlightened
were probably few in number, the great majority of
mankind being in the middle range of attainment, while
some lacked the impetus to activate their potential. The
coming of the light-bearers was indeed an act of compassion,
yet it was destined also because of karmic links with
humanity from previous world cycles.
Understandably, the unleashing of this new power
among a humanity as yet undisciplined in the use of knowledge
called for guides and mentors to point the way.
Legends and traditions of many peoples relate that higher
beings remained to teach, inspire, and foster aspiration as
well as intellect. They imparted practical skills: navigation,
star lore, metallurgy, and husbandry, herbal medicine, carding
and spinning, and hygiene; also a love of beauty through
the arts. More important than all else, they impressed deep
within the soul memory of those early humans certain fundamental
truths about ourselves and about the cosmos, to
serve as an inner talisman for ensuing cycles.
In the West poets and philosophers for centuries have