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Re:Why world is not perfect?

Oct 17, 1997 10:43 PM
by Dallas TenBroeck


Thanks Rudy for the comments.  I viewed the Web-site you
recommended and read the 2 paras there.

To achieve the balance of non-involvment in past, present and
future [memory, choice and anticipation ] one has to place all
ordinary memory aside.

But who, or what in us has this capability ? How is it to be
defined ? What terms shall we use that place it beyond the realm
of the false (illusions) and in the realm of the TRUE ? How are
we to assure ourselves that the consciousness we use and are
familiar with in this state of wakefullness is "fale,"
"illusionary," or, that it can be replaced by something that is
"true ?"

To say boldly that truth must reside in "negation" may cause many
to retreat, not understanding that "negation" in this case (as I
undersand it) means something that is not conditioned.  It would
then be "unmanifest."

Would this be the concept of the ABSOLUTE SPIRIT, of which Mme.
Blavatsky writes and speaks in the "Secret Doctrine", Vol.  1, p.
14-16 ? Can you compare those statements with what you have
gained from considering that "negation" you speak of ?

It is agreed that we are most of the time, when awake, constantly
bathed in the flow of the mind we use, including its 3 main
aspects: memory, choice, and anticipation.

If as you say attaining a state of freedom from those limitations
(do you call this "emptiness ?") should lead to discovery of the
true (assuming that the limitations are all false !) .

So how is the "consciousness revolved ?" It cannot be that there
are many consciousnesses, as you would be faced with a great
difficulty: What is it in "me" that records both false and true
"consciousness, or many consciousnesses ?"

I would say, logically to my way of thinking, that there has to
be something which is neither of the nature of the illusion or of
the negation.  It has to be of the nature of TRUTH ITSELF.  If
so, it relates to the ABSLUTE SPIRIT, which by definition is
changeless, ageless, unmodifyable, and undefinable.

Being itself unmodifiable, it peirces through any changes and is
the sole focus for stability.  It is THAT which lies at the core
of our being (not physical, emotional, or mental, but SPIRITUAL
-- a "ray" of the ABSOLUTE.  The logic is (as I grasp it) that if
SPIRIT is everywhere, it is in us and we cannot escape from its
presence.  If it is the "Observer," then nothing in the nature of
experience, either false or true, can escape its observation and
recording.  I wonder if this approaches the concepts you have
developed, quoted and adopted ?

I could go further (in my thinking) and say that what we call
"ourselves" as consciousness when we are awke -- the embodied
self/mind--must be a "reflection" of the Spiritual Ray.  It is
this which sees the "false" and the "illusions." It is therefore
also this mind/soul which tries to purify itself.  What does it
"purify" itself from ? I would say ignornace.

Ignorance coves a vast field.  It is not only of material things,
but it includes our feeling, passions and thoughts of many kinds.
But few of us have had the urge to study or classify those.  I
think that there is assistance in some theosophical books.  I
found HPB's KEY TO THEOSOPHY to be very helpful in securing a
"code," or "schema" which describes Nature to us.  I would also
say that if we study Nature and our own selves deeply we will get
rid of the ignorance that annoys us.  But, it takes time and
perseverence to do this.

I also agree that to the embodied consciousness (when we are
awake and thinking---or writing as I do now) this change in
thinking that keeps us from constantly resting on the realm of
physical and waking illusions, appears as a "blank," a "negation"
of any sensory references.  But that is not entirely true, as the
Witness, the Thinker is there and is awake, not asleep.  In fact
it is said that it never sleeps.

In the "Secret Doctrine" we are offered the hint that since this
Witness is of the nature of SPIRIT, as one of its "rays," we
might consider that it represents to use the aspect of a "tutor"
which resides always in the innermost recessses of our mind and
heart.  To this tutuor with its connection with all SPIRITS there
would be no falseness or illusions.  But it would be able to
pierce through those falsenesses and illusions so as to warn or
help the embodied/mind-soul to make better decisions.  This has
been called "the voice of conscience." [these hints I found in SD
II 79-80, 93-94 ]

But it takes a great deal to bring the average person to
understand such a concept, as a whole system of thinking about
our world and Universe needs to be detailed and shown.  I think
that this is what Theosophy has done if one uses the "Secret
Doctrine" to follow it, and not the so-called intorductory books
written by other persons.  At best they show what those persons
understood of the "Secret Doctrine." At worst, they can confuse
thinking and learning because of their biases, introduced
beprhaps unconsciously in what they write.  And for this reason
what I write should also be considered to express whatever
"biases" I have developed, and treated accordingly.

In any case each person has to study for themselvs, and make up
their own minds.  And thus by exchanging views and ideas we help
each other.

I quoted this before from an old text:

"Our consciousness is one and not many, nor different from other
consciousnesses.  it is not waking consciousness or sleeping
consciousness, or any other but consciousness itself.

...  the one consciousness of each person is the witness, the
spectator of the actions and experiences of every state we are in
or pass through...

The one consciousness pierces up and down through all the states
or planes of Being, and serves to uphold the memory--whether
complete or incomplete--of each state's experiences.

Thus in waking life, SAT experiences fully and knows.  In dream
state, SAT again knows and sees what goes on there, while there
may not be in the brain a complete memory of the waking state
just quitted.  In Sushupti--beyond dream and yet on indefinitely,
SAT still knows all that is done or heard or seen.

The way to salvation must be entered.  To take the first step
raises the possibility of success.  Hence it is said, "When the
first attainment has been won, MOKSHA (salvation) has been
won...."

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