Ever since the birth of orthodoxy, of exoteric religion and of black magic, thousands upon thousands of years ago, two predominant vices have held sway over the minds of men—Doubt and Hypocrisy. In pure Occultism, White Magic or Divine Wisdom, these two are known as unpardonable sins. The first anthropomorphists who worshipped form and matter were the creators of these two vices, which invariably go together.

Doubt is ever rooted in the doubt of and about one's own Higher Self and Inner God. Hypocrisy is related to the lower personal self. The self of matter is like a woman with many paramours—innumerable expressions of hypocrisy—who ever doubts the very existence of virgin chastity or marital fidelity.

Hypocrisy is the human psychological aspect of the metaphysical Maya; the great Buddha taught that life has coverings which give to our existence and problems false meanings and so veil the Light of Nirvana that its very existence is doubted.

Hypocrisy is pardonable in the ordinary man whose upbringing—social, religious and educational—keeps him in crass ignorance about the God within him. Anthropomorphism and Atheism, i.e., religious orthodoxy and scientific orthodoxy, blind him; however different these two orthodoxies, they produce the same result—doubt in regard to the Divinity which abides, albeit in a slumbering state, in the heart of every man.

Unpardonable becomes hypocrisy when a person accepts the rational philosophy of Theosophy and its very primary teaching, the existence of a living God within the consciousness of man. No student deliberately commits the sin of hypocrisy; for no student deliberately doubts the existence of his own Inner Ego and Higher Self. But is there anyone among us who is absolutely free from doubt and hypocrisy and who does not, unconsciously to himself, commit these sins?

But, while all aspirants slip into these sins, the earnest rectify their mistakes with the aid of self-examination and study. But there are others whose Karma blinds them and whose defects are not unadulterated vices but are the defects of their quality and virtues. One of the most pitiable instances of such a sinful aspirant is the Selfish Devotee. The very taint of his motive is hidden from him; fancying himself a devoted servant of the Cause, ever ready to extend a helping hand, he, unconsciously to himself, enveloped in egotism, self-righteousness and false piety, falls—never suspecting that he is developing into an Uriah Heep while believing himself to be on the highway to Adeptship.

Turn to Mr. Judge and note what he has to say about doubt:

Some too have doubt and darkness, the doubt mostly as to themselves. This should not be harboured, for it is a wile of the lower man striving to keep you back among the mediocre of the race....

Doubt is not to be solely guarded against when applied to Masters (whom I know you doubt not). It is most to be guarded and repelled in relation to oneself....We are not to try to be chelas or to do any one thing in this incarnation, but only to know and to be just as much as we can, and the possibility is not measured....

All doubts come from the lower nature, and never in any case from the higher nature.

This doubt in regaqrd to one's own Divinity does not always take the familiar forms—of despair, of nonchalance, and so on. Very often it is subtle in manifestation, producing subtle forms of hypocrisy.

In this Kali-Yuga many are the lures which draw the aspirant to Adeptship away from the Path of Purity. One of the most powerful lures is that of running away from one's Karma in the belief that there is a Call for self-sacrifice in behalf of the Cause of Masters and Human Brotherhood.

The teaching reiterated by W. Q. Judge is very often overlooked, that "Duty persistently followed is the highest Yoga." He calls it "the royal talisman." He writes:

Perhaps I see in you—I hope I mistake not—a pure desire to seek Knowledge for its own sake, and that all others may be benefited. So I would point out to you the only royal road, the one vehicle. Do all those acts, physical, mental, moral, for the reason that they must be done, instantly resigning all interest in them, offering them up upon the altar.

Doing that which must be done, but instantly resigning interest in what is done—duty without interest in the accruing results. This, be it noted, leads to knowledge—this, the method which must be ensouled by the pure motive—is of benefit to others. Mr. Judge further explains:

I do not say, nor have I said, that you ought to do something other than you do....It is one's duty to try and find one's own duty and not to get into the duty of another. And in this it is of the highest importance that we should detach our minds (as well as our tongues) from the duties and acts of others, whenever those are outside of our own. If you can find this fine line of action and inaction you will have made great progress....Often we do not know our duty, but that too is our own fault; it is a Karmic disability.

In another place he gives a very direct teaching on the subject which would-be occultists will do well to memorize, take to heart and practise from day to day:

It is not that you must rush madly or boldly out to do, to do. Do what you find to do. Desire ardently to do it, and even when you shall not have succeeded in carrying anything out but some small duties, some words of warning, your strong desire will strike like Vulcan upon other hearts in the world, and suddenly you will find that done which you had longed to be the doer of. Then rejoice that another had been so fortunate as to make such a meritorious Karma....

Remember it is the little things the work is done through....

The very first step towards being positive and Self-centred is in the cheerful performance of duty. Try to take pleasure in doing what is your duty, and especially in the little duties of life. When doing any duty put your whole heart into it.

When the instructions contained in the above citations are neglected, then the Selfish Devotee is born. In a couplet of The Voice of the Silence this whole teaching is imparted, but it is the genius of W. Q. Judge who explains it in a way which the ardent practitioner of this era admiringly accepts and in silent gratitude applies. Here is H.P.B.'s rendition of that couplet:

The selfish devotee lives to no purpose. The man who does not go through his appointed work in life—has lived in vain.

Follow the wheel of life; follow the wheel of duty to race and kin, to friend and foe, and close thy mind to pleasures as to pain. Exhaust the law of Karmic retribution. Gain Siddhis for thy future birth.

To go through our appointed work, i.e., our congenital duties, the duties which Karma has brought us, but without seeking pleasures or shunning pains which result from their performance. Thus not only is freedom from Karma achieved but also yogic powers are unfolded; or, to repeat and complete the above-quoted words of W. Q. Judge:

Duty persistently followed is the highest yoga, and is better than mantrams or any posture, or any other thing. If you can do no more than duty it will bring you to the goal.

Now, in this correct performance of duties are developed primarily Faith in the Inner Ruler and veracity in outer life. The artlessness and ingenuousness of the child-state which has to be attained is reached through this veracity in the doing of duties; the doer thereof is the Soul in whom we have faith. Those who have faith in others before they have faith in their own Soul cannot but go wrong.

To avoid hypocrisy we should develop Faith in the God within, in the Inner Ruler immortal. And remembering him as continuously as possible, we should work outwardly, confining ourselves to the field of duty. As we grow, that field will expand, for as H.P.B. has pointed out in The Key to Theosophy:

Duty is that which is due to Humanity, to our fellowmen, neighbours, family, and especially that which we owe to all those who are poorer and more helpless than we are ourselves. This is a debt which, if left unpaid during life, leaves us spiritually insolvent and moral bankrupts in our next incarnation. Theosophy is the quintessence of duty.

All of us are debtors to Nature and to humanity. But unless we find out the quality and the quantity of that debt we may turn speculators on the psychic plane, gamblers who gamble more and more in the mere hope of acquiring merit by which the debt incurred might be paid. Therefore the very straight warning of H.P.B. to all would-be chelas:

A man tied by his duty to one place has no right to desert it in order to fulfil another duty, let it be however much greater; for the first duty taught in Occultism is to do one's duty unflinchingly by every duty.

Light and darkness chase each other through the days and the nights. Real and false devotion also run a race in the life of every earnest aspirant. Devotee and Selfish Devotee by rotation, so to speak, play each his part in the Occult World as in the heart of the aspirant. It is for each individual to establish himself in the Life of Duty in such a way that the very desire to grow and to serve becomes automatic and his mind does not always turn to peer whether he is growing or serving.

When we do not find peace of mind in ourselves it is useless to look for it elsewhere.

—La Rochefoucauld