A Definition of Esotericism and School
The words esoteric and occult signify that which is hidden; they indicate that which lies behind the outer seeming and point to the causes which produce appearance and effects; they are concerned with the subtler world of energies and forces which all outer forms veil and hide.
Distinguishing characteristics of an Esoteric School:
1. An esoteric school is one in which the relation of the soul, the spiritual man, to the personality is taught.
2. An esoteric school is an extension into the physical outer world of the inner group or Ashram of a Master.
3. A true esoteric school works on four levels of service and of experience as follows-
3a. That of the outer world. (Disciple is taught to live normally, practically, effectively and spiritually in the everyday world.)
3b. That of the world of meaning. (Disciple is taught the why and the wherefore of circumstances and happenings - both individual and universal.)
3c. That of the soul in its own world. (This makes the disciple a channel for divine love, for the nature of the soul is love.)
3d. That of his Master's Ashram or group. (Disciple is taught to co-operate with the hierarchical plan as it is gradually revealed to him and to arrive at the knowledge which will permit him to direct some of the energies producing world happenings.)
4. An esoteric school trains the disciple in group work relinquishing personality plans in the interest of group purpose - ever directed to the service of humanity and the Hierarchy.
5. An esoteric school is not founded upon authority or on the demand of some teacher for recognition and obedience. The only authority recognised is that of truth itself, intuitively perceived and then subjected to the mental analysis and interpretation of the disciple.The disciple who (working under some one of the Masters) starts an esoteric school has absolutely no authority, except that of a life lived as close to the truth as possible, plus the measure of truth which he can present to his group. The obedience developed in his group of students is that of recognising joint responsibility, united loyalty to group intention and purpose, as indicated by the group leader (suggested by him and not presented as a command).
The truths upon which an esoteric school functions can be summarised :
1. The Science of Impression.
2. The Science of At-one-ment.
3. The Nature of the Hierarchy.
4. The Science of Meditation.
5. The Laws of the Spiritual World
6. The Plan, of which the Hierarchy is the custodian
7. The Energies and Forces, which are the very substance of creation
8. Esoteric Psychology
As an example when Theosophical society was founded by H.P. Blavatsky she emphasised that truth of one-ness is the the highest religion and wrote extensively around that theme plus much more. (that was intuitively perceived by its members and then subjected to their analysis) . Same was the case when an ashram was formed around Sri Aurobindo where he proclaimed that man was evolving into a superman. Similarly a group was formed around Alice Bailey around the teachings of Seven Rays of Djwal Khul.
6. An esoteric group is one in which the rounded-out development of the disciple receives attention. The head (illumined mind) and the heart (mystic and devoted) are regarded as of equal importance and as equally divine.
7. An esoteric school is, therefore, a medium through which the disciple s life-focus becomes that of the soul; neither the physical world, nor the emotional and mental worlds are to him the major sphere of his activities.
Esoteric schools of the Past (Old Mystic Schools)
They are definitely for neophytes upon the Path of Probation. They are concerned with
the heart approach to God. Their methods are, in the last analysis, exoteric; they give
training, based upon what is already known and given out, for they teach little that is new, no matter how they dress it up in grades and mystery. They use the standard books on occultism or compile their own textbooks from those already written, frequently choosing the spectacular and the unimportant details and omitting that which is spiritual and essential. They advertise their schools in some way or another, and frequently emphasise the commercial angle. They have a definite place in the plan of the Hierarchy but they are not esoteric schools and their leaders are not disciples; they are aspirants upon the Probationary Path and of no great advancement.
Examples include new Theosophical groups born out of original, the Rosicrucian orders and the countless mystical and metaphysical organisations.
Esoteric schools of last hundred years till Present
These are esoteric schools, started by disciples, who are learning, through their attempt to aid their group, how to teach and serve. Such a disciple who attempts to start the school tries to teach humbly and with no claim-making; he is aware that he is himself slowly arriving at soul knowledge, and that his contact with the Master is still very infrequent. He is usually academic and theological in his presentation of truth but not often personally authoritative. His influence and radiation is not yet very powerful but he is carefully watched by the Master because potentially he is an asset and can be trusted to learn - usually by his mistakes. He reaches a much smaller public than the first, noisy group but he gives a sounder training and grounds beginners in the fundamentals of the Ageless Wisdom. His work comes midway between the groups now forming and the old groups. These schools advance the teaching beyond the point reached in the earlier schools, carrying it out of the three worlds into the realm of the soul. They will deal with the world of occult values and will be mental in nature, laying the emphasis upon knowing God, and not just upon feeling after a sensed divinity. They reveal that behind the dualism of the mystic (a necessary stage) there is the occult fact of identity with the divine.
Esoteric schools in the distant Future
The new schools which will appear in some distant future (depending upon the success of the present schools) will take disciples and prepare them to tread the Path of Initiation. The intuition will be highly developed and the disciple will be taught to work consciously on spiritual levels and to act as a soul in the three worlds of human evolution, through the medium of a highly intelligent personality. Disciples will be prepared for initiation, and initiates will be trained to take the higher major initiations. Focus will be upon wisdom as the result of applied knowledge and upon the work and plans of the Hierarchy.
Image is of Theosophical convention 1884 which shows asiatic subgroup (includes Olcott,Damodar and Subba Row) around HPB.
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