The enemies which rise within the body,
Hard to be overcome—the evil passions—
Should manfully be fought; who conquers these
Is equal to the conqueror of worlds.—Kiratarjuniya of Bharavi
Popular beliefs, though often containing some truth, when distorted and corrupted become superstitions destructive to soul-life and, further, obscure the truth. One such soul-destroying concept is that of the Personal Devil.
In her article, "The Fall of Ideals," H.P.B. wrote:
The Churches tell the world that "man is born in sin," and John (1st Epist. iii, 8) adds that "He that committeth sin is of the devil, for the devil sinneth from the beginning." Those who still believe in the rib-and-apple fable and in the rebellious angel "Satan," believe, as a matter of course, in a personal Devil—as a contrast in a dualistic religion—to a personal God. We, Theosophists of the Eastern school, believe in neither. Yet we go, perhaps, further still than the Biblical dead letter. For we say that while as extra-cosmic Entities there is neither god nor devil, that both exist, nevertheless. And we add that both dwell on earth in man, being in truth, the very man himself, who is, as a physical being, the devil, the true vehicle of evil, and as a spiritual entity—god, or good. Hence, to say to mankind, "thou hast the devil," is to utter as metaphysical a truth as when saying to all its men, "Know ye not that god dwelleth in you?" Both statements are true. But, we are at the turning point of the great social cycle, and it is the former fact which has the upper hand at present. (U.L.T. Pamphlet No. 27, pp. 2-3)
The only Devil, therefore, which the Ancient Wisdom recognizes abides within man, not outside of him. The horned Devil of popular Christian belief is but a graphic symbol, a poetic personification of human evil and wickedness. So also the Mara of exoteric Buddhism. H.P.B. explains that Mara is "personified temptation through men's vices, and translated literally means 'that which kills' the Soul"; it is symbolized as a King in whose crown shines the jewel of fascination, blinding those who look at it. The power of evil, of human weaknesses and vices, lies in its temptations. To make more graphic the activities of these temptations spiritual teachers have had recourse to the device of personification. Thus the Devil, Mara, Ahriman, are personified; orthodox religions have personalized and carnalized them.
From the time man became a thinking entity, he has been, and is even now, the vehicle of a dual force—good and evil; and these are at eternal strife in him. The problem of this dual force so intimately touches our life that its solution becomes for us the starting point of the quest for truth and wisdom.
Though evil exists in all, as the opposing power to active goodness, and though at the present stage of evolution it seems to be gaining the upper hand owing to man's ego-ship or selfishness, yet many aspire to eschew evil and to do good. But Paul-like they give way to weaknesses and vicious tendencies against their well-formed intentions and resolves. Many are left bewildered as to how this comes about, for the meaning of Temptation is not really comprehended. Even students of Theosophy, who speak of "the nefarious influence of the Astral Light," seldom understand the real import of these words.
The earnest and persevering aspirant must learn the art of resisting temptation, of overcoming the spell of fascination that Mara, the Great Ensnarer, has cast over him. Ordinary evils of ordinary lives are a very different proposition from the precipitated evils in the life of Chelaship. Persistent treading of the Inner Path that leads to Adeptship ultimately brings one to that stage when the whole force of evil power is arrayed against the good end he has set before him. Mr. Judge has remarked that every real aspirant will some day, in some life, arouse the "Dweller on the Threshold," of which there is more than one kind. The very act of trying to conquer the inner foe with the help of the Higher Self stirs up the slumbering Tanhaic elementals. These, sensing instinctively the danger to themselves, coalesce to become one composite entity and to overthrow if possible the would-be Adept of Light. The neophyte has to drive it out of his system and face it objectively as his own Elementary. Not till he destroys that Elementary by the power of the Inner Ego is he safe; for, if this "thing of darkness" is allowed to gather strength, it will eject the Ego, usurping its place, ultimately producing the phenomenon of the "Soulless" man. In Hindu Esotericism this human elemental in the devotee is named Papa-Purusha, the man of sin.
It is of this peculiar "personified temptation" that The Voice of the Silence speaks:
This light shines from the jewel of the Great Ensnarer (Mara). The senses it bewitches, blinds the mind, and leaves the unwary an abandoned wreck. (pp. 8-9)
Strive with thy thoughts unclean before they overpower thee. Use them as they will thee, for if thou sparest them and they take root and grow, know well, these thoughts will overpower and kill thee. Beware, Disciple, suffer not, e'en though it be their shadow, to approach. For it will grow, increase in size and power, and then this thing of darkness will absorb thy being before thou hast well realized the black foul monster's presence. (p. 13)
The ladder by which the candidate ascends is formed of rungs of suffering and pain; these can be silenced only by the voice of virtue....Woe unto him who dares pollute one rung with miry feet. The foul and viscous mud will dry, become tenacious, then glue his feet unto the spot; and like a bird caught in the wily fowler's lime, he will be stayed from further progress. His vices will take shape and drag him down. His sins will raise their voices like as the jackal's laugh and sob after the sun goes down; his thoughts become an army, and bear him off a captive slave. (pp. 16-17)
Such a fearful and dangerous experience the beginner is not likely to encounter. In most men and women the force of evil circulates as an an inchoate mass. It is the resolve to displace it, taken by the earnest and devoted practitioner of the Theosophic life, that awakens it to life. In the candidate for Adeptship, there rages an ever-strengthening struggle against the "man of sin" within. It is to this that The Voice of the Silence refers when it says: "The more thou dost advance, the more thy feet pitfalls will meet." The Great Ensnarer draws the aspirant to the three Gates of Hell—the domain of Mara, the Devil. Kama, Kridha, Lobha—Lust, Wrath, Greed—develop in him, colouring the mental consciousness to such an extent that time and again the would-be-Adept forgets his mission; nay, more, allows the Inner Ego to be driven out. Therefore we are told: "Ere thou canst near the goal...thou must have mastered all the mental changes in thy Self and slain the army of the thought sensations that, subtle and insidious, creep unasked within the Soul's bright shrine."
No devoted and persevering aspirant can escape special tests in the shape of subtle temptations. Each has to pass through the "portal of assembling" where "Maha Mara stands trying to blind the candidate by the radiance of his 'Jewel.'" To prepare himself for the future, the student-aspirant of today is called upon to get his "mental luggage" ready. For all those who know little of the depths of "human nature," H.P.B. wrote the article "Chelas and Lay Chelas" (reprinted in Raja-Yoga or Occultism). That memorable article contains everything in germ: the rules, regulations, difficulties, operations of and about Chelaship. A careful study of this article is a must for all those who would take the first step in fitting themselves for the noblest of all pursuits, the study of the Science of Life and the Art of Living.
The beginner's duty to himself, to the race and to the Cause he has resolved to serve requires that he make it his first concern to fight Lust, Wrath and Greed in the small affairs of everyday life. His present efforts to purify himself will aid him later when he has to face the Great Tests. Let him control these forces now, at the very start, when they are isolated, even though very strong. Once they coalesce and become one, as sooner or later they will, the subduing of the Personified Temptation which kills the Soul will prove to be an infinitely more difficult undertaking. Forewarned is forearmed.
The Secret Doctrine merely asserts that a system, known as the Wisdom Religion, the work of generations of adepts and seers, the sacred heirloom of pre-historic times—actually exists, though hitherto preserved in the greatest secrecy by the present Initiates; and it points to various corroborations of its existence to this very day, to be found in ancient and modern works. Giving a few fragments only, it there shows how these explain the religious dogmas of the present day, and how they might serve Western religions, philosophies and sciences, as sign-posts along the untrodden paths of discovery. The work is essentially fragmentary, giving statements of sundry facts taught in the esoteric schools—kept, so far, secret—by which the ancient symbolism of various nations is interpreted. It does not even give the keys to it, but merely opens a few of the hitherto secret drawers.
—H. P. Blavatsky