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The Hill of Discernment

By Alfred Trevor Barker

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H. P. B.: A Holding Center of Spiritual Energy

Wherever H. P. B. was, there appeared signs of new vitality in every direction; she was the center of energy.

It was said by many that her knowledge was ill-digested, that she arranged her materials badly, that she was misty, muddled and self-contradictory, and that she was hasty, that she "shut up" inquirers, that she repelled would-be disciples. Little wonder that she wrote to W. Q. J. that the T. S. was a "fiend" and that it needed a soul if not a spirit to incarnate into it to save it from destruction. But we must never forget that H. P. B. varied with the people who approached her. To the honest inquirer she was gentle and patient; she was abrupt, sharp and repellent to the merely curious, even if disguised under polite forms and fake courtesy. She was the test of the members, whatever substance was present was precipitated by the test. Do we not pledge ourselves to carry on this Work of which Humanity stands in as much need today as it did in H. P. B.'s time? This is really all one must care about. Being chosen by the Great Ones means that, whatever his personal oscillations, he has evolved "a holding center" to Them. Let us therefore try to aim at this ideal, of having a "holding center" to Those responsible for the Society, and remembering at the same time that others may have that "holding center" as well, and that we must fix our minds on that and not on the imperfections of their human frailty.