Theos-Talk Archives (December 1998 Message tt00142)

Jerry:

> >> Perhaps the real question is HOW do we live to benefit
> >> mankind? It has been shown, for example, that to give
> >> "primitve" people more food encourages them to have
> >> more children which perpetuates the food shortages. I
> >> think we each have to adress this in our own way.
> >

Paul:

> >By "primitive people" do you mean ourselves?; i.e. five-only sensed
> >humanoids with a speck of Mind and a huge lump of personality?

Jerry:

> No, actually I was referring to research conducted by
> many expert ecologists who studied African populations
> who were starving. When given food, these tribes would
> simply have more children and the starving would begin
> all over again. They concluded that just giving these
> starving people food merely prolonged their agony.


Are you suggesting that one should sit idly by and allow the hungry masses
to starve to death on the basis that it is doing them some good? "Inaction
in a deed of mercy becomes an action in a deadly sin." ("The Voice of the
Silence", pg 31).

Are these the same "expert ecologists" who fill their own stomaches with
grants from tax payers money, while all the time burried up to the eye balls
in statistics gleaned from mayavic *effects*?

Consider:

"If thou art told that to become Arhan thou hast to cease to love all
beings - tell them they lie."

("The Voice of the Silence, pg 28).

"Let thy Soul lend its ear to every cry of pain like as the lotus bares its
heart to drink the morning sun.

Let not the fierce Sun dry one tear of pain before thyself hast wiped it
from the sufferer's eye.

But let each burning human tear drop on thy heart and there remain, nor ever
brush it off, until the pain that caused it is removed".

("The Voice of the Silence", pg 12/13).

What is your view as regards the (spiritual) "food" - Theo-sophia - given to
Humanity by Masters/HPB?  Is this, too, merely prolonging our own agony?!

>My point is that "helping" other people is not always an
> easy or straightforward thing to do. And sometimes it
> backfires so that the helpee is worse off.


It only "backfires" if there is a personality in the way to "backfire"
against.


> >The quotes are of HPB.  What is the "problem"?

> The problem is that Theosophists have their priorities wrong.

How can a Theosophist (de-facto) have wrong priorities?

> They think they need to help others first and then get occult
> knowledge for themselves second.

Who are "They"?

> This is opposite the view
> of the Bodhisattva teachings which all say that we need
> knowledge and wisdom first in order to know how to help
> others properly. There are, of course, exceptions and I am
> speaking here in gross generalities, but I have seen where
> trying to "help" without wisdom leads, and its more like control
> and domination than real altruistic helping.

To live to benefit mankind is the FIRST step.

Best,
Paul.