White Lotus Day commemorates the great event of the passing out of our physical world of a noble Soul, whose devotion and sacrifice have enabled us to become what we now are.

In her will, no monument was asked for; instead, she asked her friends and students, if they wished to remember her, to gather together on her anniversary day and simply read from her two favourite books, the Bhagavad-Gita and The Light of Asia, the one embodying the wisdom of Sri Krishna, and the other that of the Great Enlightened One. Her students, out of devotion and gratitude to her, have added to these two readings a third one, from The Voice of the Silence, embodying the Golden Precepts learned by her at the feet of the Great Gurus.

Why is the day called White Lotus Day? The lotus is a symbol and conveys certain great ideas. It enshrines mighty truths which mortal men aspiring to immortality should learn. Great in purity, it springs from the mud and mire of the earth, passes through the water, and resting on its surface bares its heart to the sun. In its centre lie the seeds. These, perfect replicas of the whole lotus plants of the future, make possible the re-embodiment of a plant after it withers and dies. White lotuses were used as a decoration at H.P.B.'s first anniversary meeting, and since then the white lotus has become the symbol of that great being whom the world knew as Helena Petrovna Blavatsky; her students, as H.P.B.; and who was known "otherwise" to the Great Mahatmas, as one of them wrote.

Did she teach anything "new"? No one ever teaches anything new. Krishna spoke of how mankind gradually lost the "mighty art" "in the course of time." He taught the same eternal doctrine to Arjuna (Nara—man)"because thou art my devotee and my friend." We, H.P.B.'s students, also, must become her devotees and her friends in order to benefit by the great ideas she put forward. These ideas belong to the ageless divine Wisdom, the Bodhi-Dharma or the Wisdom-Religion, the Brahma-Vidya or the Esoteric Science. They were not invented by the ancient Sages any more than by H.P.B. They are as old as thinking man.

What teachings were specially emphasized by her for our modern era? First, the existence today, even in our present Kali Yuga, of a great body of Teachers: Mahatmas, Sages, Rishis, Munis, Dyanis. They are living, divine Men. In India and elsewhere there prevail today false ideas of gurus and chelas. The great idea has been perverted. The Gracious Ones have been forgotten and many false claimants are followed to the detriment of the followers. The idea of the Great Chain of Gurus (Guruparampara) has been distorted when not forgotten. It now needs serious reconsideration. True Gurus cannot be found in the world of moha and the mayavic fascinations of worldly life. They are to be found only in the realm of Sat, of Truth, where They live unseen by the world. The true Guru will not cure illnesses, solve difficulties and perform miracles. If that were possible, then Sri Krishna would have said to Arjuna, "I shall do the fighting for you!" But he did not. He began instead by teaching the ancient philosophy, and he closed his discourse with the injunction: "Act as seemeth best unto thee." That is the mark of a true Guru—he does not interfere with the free will of the disciple.

H.P.B. did not stop with the giving out of this teaching about the Great Gurus. She showed us that living Masters not only exist today but that there is a way to reach them. They are to be known by the study of their Wisdom. "Seek this wisdom by doing service, by strong search, by questions, and by humility," says Sri Krishna; and "the wise who see the truth will communicate it unto thee." We have to serve, search, enquire and be humble. Only when these prerequisites are built into our character may we hope to gain recognition from the Masters. Masters need companions. Their teachings and the practice of these teachings will lead us across the ocean of Samsara. Spiritual Knowledge will then spring up spontaneously in us.

The Sangha of these Great Teachers is not far, but is near at hand. It can be reached through self-study. "Man, know thyself!" ever said the ancients. It is much more than the physical body, much more than the personal man, that we have to know in order to seek the way. Shall we follow the eightfold Way of the Buddha, the steps that Shankara taught, the 18 chapters of the Gita, the beatitudes of Jesus, and the Golden Precepts of The Voice of the Silence, which says, "Look inward: thou art Buddha"? Or, shall we take the way of wealth, money, friends, family—and then death and rebirth, to begin the weary round again? This is the great challenge always facing us.

The nature of the true Gurus has to be understood. No true Guru ever claimed that position. Anyone who makes such a claim, or accepts it, is a false guru. The true Gurus are hidden, "difficult to meet."

All of H.P.B.'s teachings revolve round the central idea about how to gain intimacy with the Great Ones, and through Them, with the Great Self. "Of teachers there are many; the MASTER-SOUL is one, Alaya, the Universal Soul. Live in that MASTER as Its ray in thee. Live in thy fellows as they live in It." A ray of the Great Self is in us; that ray can lead us to the Source, and help us to gain conscious union with the Self. Distinctions of race, creed, caste, etc., prevent us from living in our fellows "as they live in It." Does not Sri Krishna say in the Tenth Chapter of the Gita: "I am the Ego which is seated in the hearts of all beings"; and in the Thirteenth Chapter: "The spirit in the body is called Maheshwara, the Great Lord, the spectator, the admonisher, the sustainer, the enjoyer, and also the Paramatma, the highest soul"? This brings us out of our narrow circle into the sphere of true Brotherhood, where castes, races, sexes and religions exist not, where man is Man, the Thinker. This is the first step if intimacy with the true Gurus is desired; otherwise, let us be honest enough to admit that we are ready neither to know them nor to tread the way of the spiritual life. In spite of our present limitations we can all reach that stage. This is the encouraging message H.P.B. brought. If Upali, the barber, could become a disciple of the Great Buddha and walk the eithtfold path, then why not we?

We must go forward step by humble step. If we see a fault or weakness in our character, then it has to be crushed out beyond reanimation, and then only can we go forward. Procrastination can spell ruin. What will give us the enthusiasm and courage to press forward? The memory of the fact that the Great Sages, the Rishis, the Masters exist. If there are gods in human form, it is these Great Ones. As the poet-saint of India, Kabir, has put it, the Guru is greater than Ishwara, because he shows us the way to Ishwara, the divine Spirit in us. It is necessary to have knowledge which will bring some glimpse of the Guruparampara, not one link of which can be disregarded or treated with disrespect. All men are our teachers. The whole of Nature teaches us. The vegetable, mineral and elemental kingdoms of Nature, too, can teach us great mysteries—if we have humility.

Students of Theosophy owe what they know and what they are to the Buddha-like and Christ-like heart of H.P.B. Her teachings provide the nourishment which all of us need, and without which "neither sacrifice nor wisdom comes our way," as the Buddha taught. The Great Teachers are Lords of Yagna. They embody sacrifice in their personalities. "Awake, arise, seek the Great Ones, and learn," sing the Upanishads. And having learnt, we have to pass on the great truths.

He who sees all beings in his own self, and his own self in all beings, loses fear.

—Isa Upanishad