Theos-Talk Archives (July 1996 Message tt00020)

Bjorn:

[writing to Richard Taylor]

>For many theosophists gathering cosmologic information and
>pondering subtilities of karmic law, reincarnation etc seem
>to be the main purpose for studying T.

I think that the the draw to studying the Philosophy is due to a
deja vu, where we recognize that we've known these ideas before,
and need to understand life at a deeper level that offered us by
modern society.

The cosmology has to do with how we picture the world and our
place in it. That "picturing" is not just in terms of ideas that
we have when we decide to think about philosophy. Rather, it gives
meaning, perspective, depth, and insight into life.

Life is organized along fractal lines, where the big is reflected
in the small. If we increase our insight along cosmological lines,
we also grow in understanding of our own personal "coming into
birth" and our own personal "self-creation" which we continually
do, as our life energies pour out from within, along our stream of
life, the Sutratman.

>This is made the ultimate goal and BECOMING and LIVING the
>teachings is taking the back seat, at best.  An emphasis on
>ethics would turn this around.

I'd say that we first study the Philosophy, and work on
understanding and experiencing impersonality. That is not
*non-personality*, but rather a state of mind where our personal
concerns and selfish wants no longer cloud our perceptions.

The intellectual study of the ideas becomes the expressor of an
inner spiritual practice that we awaken, rather than our end goal.
Our intellectual study continues, but is both inspired with new
insights, as well as accompanied by an awareness that our lives
are changing *from the inside out*.

This *inside out* involves our dwelling in spiritual things, our
filling our minds and hearts with high, noble, uplifting content,
and discovering that our outer lives start changing themselves for
the better, almost automatically, of their own accord.

>We all need "strenuous self-evolution toward altruism for the
>betterment of the whole" and if this was our main goal there
>would be less hairsplitting and more service affecting the
>present and future civilisation for the better.

The work is strenuous, but does not feel that way. When there's
something that you enjoy so completely that you've lost yourself
in it, that you've forgotten that you are such-and-such a person
and become enfilled with the love of what you're doing -- that is
perfect unselfishness, perfect action, perfect service.

When one is acting a certain way because of the thought that
they're "supposed to", because that is what they've taught, it's
still *personal* unselfishness, since the notion of "me doing
this" is still predominant. It's not yet quite pure action, not
yet quite altruism, because one hasn't completely given up one's
self in the Service.

A study of Theosophy can be "hair-splitting" at times, if the
study goes in extremely fine detail into a particular doctrine. Is
this good or bad? It's bad if it's only intellectual in nature,
and takes on the coldness of playing a video game. It's perfectly
fine, if the people involved are inspired, excited about what
they're studying, and the visible inner warmth that they display
shows that there's more to their interchange than the playing of
word games.

>Mother Theresa is an example of a Chela who is living the path.
>There are many shining examples, and they all became what they
>are by unselfish service.

I would describe this higher form of living in a different way,
rather than calling it "unselfish service". Certainly the
spiritual often manifests itself in that way, but is that what
it's about?

What we have is a higher form of awareness, a higher form of
living life, where the notion of personality no longer distorts
our experience of life, often bringing in ugly selfishness.

Is the higher evolution to serve others, rather than oneself? Not
exactly. That may be the observed change of behavior. Someone who
reaches this point may spend all their time in serving others. But
that is not the only way they may express their new perspective on
life.

With a mind no longer clouded with "me and my wants", no longer
made ugly with selfishness, the common good is utmost. The wants
of another are as important as one's own wants and needs. It may
mean that most of the time one acts in the interests of others.
But there also may be times when one acts in one's own interest,
because in that case it is the best thing to do.

Always trying to think of others first is a good exercise, a good
practice, but it is still a crutch, still a game we play while
*trying* to be better people. At some point, we stop *trying* and
simply *become* better. That is, we see the good and work for it,
because we love it, because it is the contents of our minds and
hearts, because we see it clearly and have become it.

This cannot be measured in external terms. We cannot look at the
degree of self-sacrifice that someone undertakes, and necessarily
deduce what inside. A hermit with a pure inner life may be as good
to the world as a Ghandi. When the cloud of selfishness is lifted,
the way that the spiritual expresses itself through our lives is
*individual*, and we cannot decide in advance how it will manifest
itself, nor decide for others what are proper methods of
expression. What we can do is to brighten the world about us,
bettering both ourselves and those that cross our paths in life.
Mother Theresa is an example of one kind of life of unselfishness;
there are as many different kinds of higher lives as there are
people in the world. Let's find our own, and live it!