What role does Self-Love play in Esoteric Teachings?
One very popular new age spiritual concept that is growing by leaps and bounds is perhaps the philosophy of Self-Love. From life coaches to new age spiritualists, all suggest we must love ourselves. And, some even claim if we cannot love ourselves we can not love others. But, is such a philosophy true?
We can investigate this concept of self love from an esoteric perspective and see where it actually points to. First and foremost we must understand what is LOVE? Is love a product of thought? Can love blossom from the self, the “me”, the “I”? All spiritual teachings from Vedas to the Bible speak about selflessness. Do such teachings fit with self love Philosophy?
The truth is they don’t. According to Esoteric teachings, Love is something universal that pours into humanity from the spiritual world. It is devoid of “I” or the personal self. The teachings of the Vedas, the Bible and all other religious and esoteric scriptures have taught us about self-denial which is the way to love. One can not deny oneself and practice self-love at the same time. Through self-denial, self-forgetfulness and selflessness we can come upon love, not otherwise according to esoteric teachings.
“Love starts when we push aside our ego and make room for someone else.” – Rudolf Steiner
If one has ever loved, one might have noticed the moment one loved, the self ceased to be. There was only the thing one loved and the delightful feeling with it. If we have experience true love we all can affirm this experience. The self only came later when our delightful experience became a memory. The self or the personal “I” is a bundle of memories. It is the sum total of our personal waking consciousness with all it’s memories, experiences, feelings, pain, sorry, pleasure, wants, desires etc etc. That self is undoubtedly a product of thought and that of memory. Love being something new and living cannot be that self or “I” and nor can it blossom from that self or that “I”. This is what the esoteric teaching says.
Some people who couldn’t accept this fact started preaching we should love the personal self. Why did they do it? Perhaps their selves were broken, perhaps to suppress their pain, their sufferings and to forget their agony they decided to love themselves. Not all people are trained in Esoteric science. So those who found no better way, used self love to temporarily forget their pain, their sorrow and their mediocrity. While that can be a temporary solution, it is akin to sweeping our problems under the carpet. And as we do that, we create more problems for ourselves which we will have to confront at a later date in the future.
“Love is not the self. Self cannot recognize love. You say ‘I love’, but then, in the very saying of it, in the very experiencing of it, love is not. But, when you know love, self is not. When there is love, self is not.” – J Krishnamurti
True love is something ineffable, something so beautiful that it wipes away all sorrow, all suffering along with the very sense of self. But, when we love ourselves instead of finding that selfless love, we strengthen the self which is the very cause of our sorrows and our suffering. That is why we see this self love philosophy prevalent in practitioners of cheap pseudo-spirituality, life coach etc. One will not see a genius philosopher or a scientist buying into self love. Because to come upon what is true and what is real, self denial is very important. Many of the great painters and writers were initiates. Due to their selflessness, spiritual impulse flowed into them allowing them to produce masterpieces. In the Gospel of Matthew Jesus states, whoever wants to follow him must deny themselves. In the Lords prayer too there is a phrase, “Let thy will be done”. In other words not my personal will, but let the will of the divine be done. This is the very foundation of all spiritual and esoteric teachings.
“JESUS, KING OF MERCY…I beg You, by all the love with which Your Heart burns, to destroy completely within me my self-love and, on the other hand, to enkindle in my heart the fire of Your purest love.”
~ St. Faustina, Diary, 371
Divine love is devoid of self. It is universal in nature thus not limited to the self. Most people have never experienced this, but one can come upon this love if one is selfless and self-forgetful. Ageless Wisdom teacher Torkom Saraydarian was once asked the question, “Can you explain the statement that one cannot love someone else if one cannot love himself.”, this was his reply.
Answer: Eventually when you love yourself too much you become a wound, a cancer in the body of humanity. All the troubles happen when a family member loves himself more than others. It is the same in the group. It is the same in the nation. If part of humanity loves itself too much, it becomes the center of the troubles. This is it. It burns wounds in the system.
-Torkom Saraydarian
Esoteric Science of Healing
Some people might find this shocking as usual but esoteric science is never meant for the masses. It is for people who strive towards spiritual perfection, people who have gone beyond their religions, their dogmas, their limited beliefs. Those who are not ready to be selfless, sacrificial and self-forgetful are never forced. The teachings are given for those who strive. The teachings are given to us to protect us against false philosophies like “Self-Love” which is so popular today. As Holy Master DK says,
“The disciple will learn effectively to decentralize himself. This means that….
a. The disciple will ask nothing for the separated self. One can therefore easily see why aspirants are taught to pledge allegiance to their Higher Self, and to foreswear all claims of this separated self.
One can see also why so many react against it. They are not ready for it, and such a pledge therefore acts as a great discriminating agent. To those for whom the standard of selflessness is set too high, it is neither understood nor desired. Therefore the unready criticize it. Later these will come back and with understanding take this obligation in the light.
b. The disciple’s eyes are towards the light and *not towards desire for contact with the Master. This, therefore, rules out that spiritual selfishness which has been expressed by the desire, innate and deep, for recognition by one of the Great Ones. When this freedom from the personal is found, then the Master can dare to make a contact and to establish a relation with the disciple. It would be well for us to ponder on this.”
Source: Esoteric Psychology II
Not everybody is ready for an unselfish altruistic life. Not everyone can deny themselves and do the will of God. If everyone could do that, we would have heaven on earth by now. The reason we have conflict in this world is because people love themselves too much. They have too little place of others in their hearts. They care about their own interest over the interest of humanity thereby creating conflict with the egos of other human beings. To serve the will of the divine we must give up our own will, our self-love which is nothing other than masked egotism. True occultism is about denial of the self, it’s not about loving the self which is the cause of all sorrow, pain and suffering.
“True Occultism or Theosophy is the “Great Renunciation of SELF,” unconditionally and absolutely, in thought as in action. It is ALTRUISM, and it throws him who practises it out of calculation of the ranks of the living altogether. “Not for himself, but for the world, he lives,” as soon as he has pledged himself to the work.”
— H.P Blavatsky
Raja-Yoga or Occultism, 32
One enters the path to discipleship when the impulse of altruism, selfless love and benevolence grows within one’s heart. One becomes an accepted disciples when one has demonstrated one’s sacrificial nature and one’s self-denial to the masters. Unfortunately this becomes impossible when one accepts the philosophy of self-love into their life. That’s what the dark forces want. Hinder people from becoming disciples using pseudo-teachings. Those who are following the teachings of ageless wisdom must therefore guard themselves against esoteric deception, false prophets and distortions that the dark forces use to hinder the progress of humanity.
“The one thing you are going to learn is this, and if you know this you have the secret of progress. Be uncomfortable with yourself. Do not believe those trash psychiatrists, psychologists who say love yourself and be whatever you are. They are putting you in a grave and closing the door. Be uncomfortable. To be uncomfortable means to strive towards perfection.” -Torkom Saraydarian; Esoteric Science of Healing
The dark forces do not want disciples to grow, to strive towards perfection. They want disciples to be stagnated to the confines of their little selves. Self-love philosophy therefore becomes an useful tool in the hands of dark forces to hinder the progress of world disciples. To follow the way that leads to spiritual illumination we must learn how to deny ourselves and take up the cross as taught by Lord Jesus.
“People strive to be somebody. This is fairly easy to do, if they do not stop on their path. The most difficult thing is to be consciously “nobody.” You are asserting every minute to be somebody. All your attention is on yourself – you are not allowing that ego to dissipate itself. Denial of self must be explained. It is the denial of egotism, the glamor of self-interest, self-importance, touchiness, feelings of hurt, hurt pride, show-offness. The less you are interested in your separated self, the more you can serve, cooperate, and harmonize with people.”
-Torkom Saraydarian
“Reckon how much each one has given. Let us count accurately. On the left: fear, self-love, greediness, suspicion, demeaning, self-pity, misinterpretation of the Teaching, dusty whispering, treason in deed and thought. On the right: giving, compassion for others, daring, fearlessness, devotion, firmness, vigilance, movability, realization of the Shield, the path and light of achievement, adornment of the temple of the spirit, righteousness of understanding, exaltation of the good. On the left—loss and payment. On the right—the receiving.”
– Agni Yoga
In order to develop the sense of selflessness what we all can do is understand the simple teachings of Christ Jesus as he put in the Beatitudes,
The eight Beatitudes in Matthew:
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the Earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied.
Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.
Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.
Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”
As students of esoteric wisdom it is our duty to dispel falsehood and to point out false teachings that hinder us from finding the kingdom of Heaven within us. Those who teach and practice the philosophy of Self-love are therefore doing great damage to the essence of true esoteric teachings which is self-denying, selfless, which is empty of self. Let us preserve the purity of the teachings and stand against philosophies and forces that distort the sacred teachings of the spiritual hierarchy.
Cover Painting from Grev Kafi
http://www.grevkafi.org/
"Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me."
