Perhaps you’re wondering what exactly is the Pilgrim’s Path and what are the secrets to walking it? A Pilgrim is defined as one who journeys to a sacred place. In the esoteric teachings, the Pilgrim’s Path is not really a linear path that one walks from A to B, but rather a deepening and opening into the life of the soul. Naught can then be hidden, and at each turn, a man must face himself.
On that path, one of the first lessons learned is that you cannot go it alone. Each Pilgrim, knowing this, presses his footsteps forward, and finds himself surrounded by his fellowmen. This lesson is not easy to remember because often when we begin the esoteric study, we get lost in our “little me” and tend to isolate ourselves.
Eventually, some circumstance will happen that shakes us to our core. As we grow spiritually, we become more in tune with other people and we naturally forget about our own needs and begin to focus on everyone else. The Pilgrim eventually learns that soul consciousness is synonymous with group consciousness. Living as soul involves new duties, new obligations, and new relations to others. The call to service becomes something wider and more embracing.
In the teachings of Alice Bailey, she gives a mystical formula in her six “Rules of the Road.” Each one can be a seed thought for meditation. These simple rules can provide much insight to the Pilgrim in all of us.
I. The Road is trodden in the full light of day, thrown upon the Path by Those Who know and lead. Naught can then be hidden, and at each turn, a man must face himself.
II. Upon the Road the hidden stands revealed. Each sees and knows the villainy of each. (I can find no other word, my brother, to translate the ancient word which designates the unrevealed stupidity, the vileness and crass ignorance, and the self-interest which are distinguishing characteristics of the average aspirant.) And yet there is, with that great revelation, no turning back, no spurning of each other, and no shakiness upon the Road. The Road goes forward into day.
III. Upon that Road one wanders not alone. There is no rush, no hurry. And yet there is no time to lose. Each Pilgrim, knowing this, presses his footsteps forward, and finds himself surrounded by his fellowmen. Some move ahead; he follows after. Some move behind; he sets the pace. He travels not alone.
IV. Three things the Pilgrim must avoid. The wearing of a hood, the veil which hides his face from others; the carrying of a water pot which only holds enough for his own wants; the shouldering of a staff without a crook to hold.
V. Each Pilgrim on the Road must carry with him what he needs: a pot of fire, to warm his fellowmen; a lamp, to cast its rays upon his heart and show his fellowmen the nature of his hidden life; a purse of gold, which he scatters not upon the Road but shares with others; a sealed vase, wherein he carries all his aspiration to cast before the feet of Him Who waits to greet him at the gate – a sealed vase.
VI. The Pilgrim, as he walks upon the Road, must have the open ear, the giving hand, the silent tongue, the chastened heart, the golden voice, the rapid foot, and the open eye which sees the light. He knows he travels not alone.
— “Glamour: A World Problem” by Alice A. Bailey
Wisdom Teaching School 