Pythagoras: His Life and Teaching, a Compendium of Classical Sources Read Online Free

speaking of their more profound doctrines with outsiders, nor did they accept, without caution, the opinion of others. The hearts and minds of the uninitiated are not prepared for basic instruction and, “The goods of wisdom ought not to be communicated to those whose soul is not purified.” The Master admonished his disciples not to conceal faults with words, but amend them with constructive action, and to appreciate one who legitimately reproves us, for this leads to improvement through self-discovery. He maintained that it is better to lie on the ground with settled and calm nature, than to lie upon a golden bed and be troubled. No man is free who cannot command himself. Only the most dedicated disciple could pass Pythagoras' means of testing. Yet, the procedures for qualification and purification were indispensable for those who desired to know That Man.
    It was at Crotona, a seaport of much wealth and commercial activity, that Pythagoras, about the year 529 B.C. , established his Academy. It was a secret scientific-religious brotherhood. The school prospered with centers of the society developing in other parts of the known world. The number of disciples and auditors numbered several hundred. The more serious students were divided into the classes of Probationers or Exoterics, and Mathematicians or Esoterics. To attain advancement in this academy, it was required that science, especially mathematics and astronomy, be mastered as subjects best fitted for the enlightenment of man. The disciples needed also to deepen their religious insights, master their feelings, and purify their souls, thus mitigating the necessity for rebirth.
    Wisdom results when the intellect is so integrated as to partake in intuitive cognition of vital causes. Pythagoras taught that with developed capacities one may comprehend and become a part of creative principles by relating to them with one's inner being. He accepted the reality of a constant interchange of energies and consciousness between the universe and man. Man and his greater environment are related as microcosm and macrocosm, and at no point in time or space is there a break in continuity, no dichotomy. Again, true wisdom is hidden from the profane and must be discovered by looking, not outward, but inward. Therein is to be revealed all that man will ever know.
    The Master was accredited the ability to communicate to each disciple what was most proper for him to know at a particular time. Not being alike, it is fitting that they not partake alike. The distinction between Exoteric and Esoteric disciples was significant, for the latter were entitled to an inner instruction in which the others were not privileged to partake. This distinction had to do with the difference between the lesser and greater initiations, between lesser preparatory concerns, and complete consecration.
    By degrees, the serious disciple experienced a transition from the mundane to the contemplation of incorporeal elements in nature. Gradually, the eye of the mind turned inward toward the realization of eternal principles which do not change and which, when partaken of, make man wise. Pythagoras believed mathematics capable of abstracting the soul from sensibles, preparing it for intellectual and emotional ascension, and making it possible to intuit things inherent in Divine mind. The Master, “Seeing that they could not in words express incorporeal forms and first principles, had recourse to demonstration by Numbers,” realizing that God himself is the number of numbers. Without mastering mathematics, the disciple could never become a Pythagorean. Men usually know what they want, but seldom what they need. Pythagoras assisted his disciples with the needs required by nature to comprehend the meaning and purpose of life.
    The Pythagorean community was an unusual experiment in human relations. It comprised a close membership adhering to strictly prescribed rules, which they regarded as reversed ordinances. The