The Theosophical Forum – September 1946

BREAKING THE MOULDS OF MIND OF MEN — Helen G. Steward

We have been told that "Madame Helena Petrovna Blayatsky came to break the moulds of mind of men," not of a limited number, but of men — that could mean hundreds, or thousands, or even millions. Was this so that man could re-create for himself a new concept of God?

The breaking of mental limits with the ensuing expansion of thought has ofttimes appeared to hinge upon the most casual of incidents.

A great seer like H. P. B. lifts the lid or "breaks the mould of mind" and, lo, the powers of mind in man, released, revolutionise the thinking world.

An apple falls, in its maturity, and the heretofore unseen laws of gravitation spring into "ken," but not for the betterment or enlightenment of the few — the world is set a little freer, millions benefit.

A youth discovers Petrarch in his father's shop, and Samuel Johnson gives to the world, not the few, a dictionary.

"The mind with its activities," wrote Emerson, "is the center of man," and he continues, "the mind in its highest and purest state of enjoyment is the highest ethical existence."

Some men can easily and pleasurably accumulate an enormous store of learning, some can retain in the lower brain-mind an enormous accumulation of facts and by constant exercise can develop what is regarded by some as a high degree of intellectual ability and intellectual attainment. Some can give the impression of ripe wisdom and sane balance, and can so act that others of lesser intellectual ability are stimulated to emulate this "wisdom and balance"; which is certainly conducive to personal enjoyment, but is it of spiritual worth?

H. P. B. opened the door to an unseen and almost undreamed-of world. She gave a logical explanation for some of the so-called "happenchances'; and whether people took the explanation at the time or not, time has proved that the so-called accidents which have led to some great "discovery," to some things which have proved beneficial to humanity, were not "fate" or "chance," but a glimmering of a something greater in the realms of reality.

One of our Great Leaders who was a deep student of H. P. B. says, "Break the moulds of your mind at all costs," and again, "Free your minds, keep them plastic." How often have we heard the expression, "keep an open mind, do not close the doors of your minds, do not let your thought become crystalized."

H. P. B. most emphatically did not come merely to shock us with something that was "new," but she most certainly did come with a message that was sublime, and as one of our great writers has said, "Because some have given out ridiculousness in place of her sublime message, it does not mean that the great Lodge and its powers and wisdom are exhausted, or that there must be no advance in teaching or knowledge," nor, I might presume to add, no change in procedure, as long as it follows the spirit of that Great Messenger, Helena Petrovna Blavatsky.



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