There may be deep, challenging layers of meaning, in the apparently simple idea expressed by the motto of the theosophical movement. Perhaps the phrase sums up the long-term purpose of the movement. Its careful consideration may help the student see from a broader perspective some old obstacles and mechanisms of spiritual ignorance, both individual and collective.
In order to better understand the movement’s motto, one must study the theory of Maya or Illusion. If the learner wants to go further and live up to the motto, he will have to take practical steps to find his own way out of Maya. It will be a long journey. Yet the very fact of keeping the motto alive in the temple of his mind and heart will help him get to the steep and narrow, uphill path to truth.
Borrowed from the Maharajah of Benares, the motto is originally Sanskrit: “Satyat Nasti Paro Dharma”. It was famously translated by H.P. Blavatsky as “There is no religion (or law) higher than Truth”.[1]
Included in parenthesis, the word “law” indicates that “dharma” has a wider meaning than just “religion”. In fact, “Dharma” means religion, law, sacred scriptures, doctrine, science, duty, right conduct, virtue, equity, justice and philosophy.
The other term of the occult equation present in the motto is “Satyat”, which also has a relatively wide meaning. It is synonym not only to truth, but to supreme reality, being and essence. “Satyat” suggests “Sat”, the one ever-present Reality, the essential Be-ness which corresponds to the first fundamental proposition of the Secret Doctrine. [2]
The motto is a multidimensional axiom.
If we preserve the two main Sanskrit concepts in it, we will have the phrase “There is no Dharma Higher than Satyat” which can also be read as “There is no Duty Higher than Truth”, and “There is no Scripture higher than Direct Realization”, among other possible meanings. Hence the way we see the motto may get deeper and dynamic.
The changing aspects of the search for Truth are essential to the esoteric philosophy. They question the established mayavic routines. They lead the focus of one’s consciousness to the realm of the higher self, where true stability is to be found.
As one’s spiritual soul not only lives in the territory of truth but also exists in inner communion with all beings, it follows that truth cannot be found in separativeness. It is only natural, then, that the first object of the theosophical movement is to create a collective environment where the law of karmic solidarity among all beings can be lived as a conscious experience. Truth and brotherhood are the two inseparable terms, or poles, of another occult equation.
Although the search for truth may be a supreme and transcendent goal for any individual, it must begin with the simple elements of our life. Truth has to be sought in big as in small things, and for this reason Theosophy is inseparable from Ethics. In every aspect of life, we must gradually become the truth we look for.
(Carlos Cardoso Aveline)
NOTES:
[1] “The Secret Doctrine”, H.P. Blavatsky, Theosophy Company, Los Angeles, 1982, I, p. xli.
[2] “The Secret Doctrine”, volume I, p. 14.
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