Seeking the Doctrine of the Heart
by Leoni Hodgson

As we all know, the major task facing those who have stepped from the Mystical on to the Occult Path is to free consciousness from the hold of the ego and its primary weapon--the lower mind. This sets up the major battle of the opposites, as the wily ego (the hydra in the labours of Hercules mythology), is a formidable and powerful foe! Of this H.P.Blavatsky said in The Voice of Silence:

The pupil must seek out the rajah of the senses,
the Thought-Producer, he who awakes illusion.
The Mind is the great Slayer of the Real.
Let the Disciple slay the Slayer.

The ego does not want to lose control of the energies of life, which it controls by the mere fact that it controls a person’s consciousness. And the more developed the mind, the more formidable the battle. After all, Mind has provided all the answers before, and proved to be a trusted ally, why abandon it because some esoteric teaching says this is the way it should be? Where is the evidence to prove this esoteric way and its philosophy is the right way?

Lower mind does not lose its power until the point is reached when all the tricky passages of mind and "solutions" of mind have been exhausted and the weary seeker finally realizes and accepts that  the answer is not to be found there. This is the preliminary point that is reached before one steps onto the Occult Path. And as HPB says:

Then only, not till then, shall he (begin the task to) forsake the region of Asat, the false, to come unto the realm of Sat, the true.

Up until this point, consciousness is enslaved because mind perceives incorrectly. The ego holds our gaze riveted on form life, things, objects--and not upon true Being. Mind holds on to that which has been known, old concepts, outdated beliefs, and rejects all inner promptings to leave behind these old mental ghosts, and pioneer into uncharted waters on a search for self and life discovery. (The Light of the Soul, Book 1).

Overcoming this mind state is the challenge as was demonstrated by the student who asked,"O Teacher, what shall I do to reach Wisdom?" Among other things the Teacher replies, "Learn above all to separate Head-learning from Soul-Wisdom, the ‘eye’ from the ‘Heart’ doctrine." (The Voice of the Silence. H.P. Blavatsky)