Theos-Talk Archives (August 1998 Message tl00072)

Approaching Adepts

We have seen some traffic on the question of how to approach Adepts with a
view that they may consider one for a chelaship which may ultimately lead
Adeptship and beyond.

Consider the case of Olcott. Before he came into touch with HPB, while a
man of very high integrity and talents, he was a man of bars, nightclubs
and women. He was a smoker and meat eater. 

In the traditional model of a candidate for attention of an Adept, he will
be the most unfit person. On the other hand, the Brothers who launched TS
found him to be their best choice. 

In one of the letters to APS, one of the Brothers clearly stated that while
Olcott was far from perfect he was the best man available for the job. BTW,
in one of the letters to APS one of the Brothers did mention that if there
were 10s of thousands of people leading a very pure life but they did not
chose them due to their wrong beliefs which are more difficult to deal with
rather than some of the purely physical habits like smoking and meat eating
etc.  

During his life time, Olcott was blessed with personally meeting several
Brothers. It should also be noted that when he and HPB lived in Adyar he
ate meat and also enjoyed smoking his cigar. 
In a similar manner, HPB also was a meat eater and smoker. Nor did she fit
into the "cultured" model of the day. She swore and used language not fit
for "cultured" society. I do not think that she sought and found the
Brothers. One of the Brothers always kept a watchful eye on her from the
day she was born.

So when we talk of looking for Adepts by leading a model life – non
smoking, non-meat eating, celibacy, non use of fur etc. while all of that
may be good for health of the physical body, I am wondering if lot more is
needed in one's quest for looking for an Adept. Like Willie Nelson's song –
"Looking for love in all the wrong places", may be it is time to re-examine
the whole question and ask ourselves if we are Looking for the Adept in all
the wrong places...

Perhaps when a Brother knows that we can get a job done in the interests of
Humanity, there may no need to look for a Brother. Brothers will come
knocking.

mkr.../\...