Theos-Talk Archives (January 1999 Message tt00044)

Jan 5th 1999

Dear Martin:

I am very little concerned about the wanderings of the mind of
individuals.  If one concentrates on what Theosophy has to teach
we are not led astray by opinions.  However we have the duty of
defending calumniated reputations, if we would be true to the
Sources of our knowledge.  Knowledge, if also WISE, defends
itself, and needs no advocates, only exponents.

WE owe Theosophy to HPB and to the Masters who stood behind her,
and whom she called the WISE - members of the Great Brotherhood
of good-will to mankind. (see SD I 207-210)

As far as I am concerned Theosophy has been introduced to me by
Judge and HPB - consequently I owe then a debt of deep gratitude.
Behind them stand the Masters and the Great Lodge.  We all owe
Them the gratitude and respect which their achievements and
sacrifice for us imply.

I agree (if I understand you correctly) that Theosophy is to be
considered a record of the History of the Ages and of the many
adepts and devotees (chelas) who have verified the great LAW as
it operates in the many departments of Nature.  ( SD I 272-3)  In
this process they, we, all of us, are to be perceived as a united
whole, in spite of the many apparently divergent paths we choose
for our personal selves in each day, each life, etc... we all
reconverge together in the final analysis.

While I can understand the modern psychology as described by such
chosen "authorities" as Freud, Jung, Adler, Maslow, Jones,
etc....  When I compare it (modern psychological conclusions) to
the "wholeness" of the Theosophical concept (which includes the
spiritual and the Manasic as immortal but immaterial beings --
who are the actual support of our temporary being) I see that it
concerns itself largely with the description and account of the
PERSONALITY, i.e.: Lower Manas enveloped in the clouds of Kama,
as it is presently to be met in each of us.

When our modern psychologists have perceived the IMMORTAL BEING
which is the CAUSE of the personality, then we will have some
real progress.  If they can adopt the concept that Theosophy
offers of the Spiritual being the actual source of all things,
 I mean ATMA, BUDDHI, and MANAS ).  But, I can also see that if
such modern psychologists begin speaking of the "Spiritual" they
will soon be ostracized as "fools" by the majority of their
"peers."

To me it is not important as to "who" wrote what.  It is however
important to make sure that what is written is reasonable.  As I
see it we are all in that position.  But few have the courage to
say it clearly and openly.  Are we able to bear the isolation
that may result from adopting an "unpopular" position and
declaring it openly, soliciting others to investigate it?

Any learning process is a testing process.  The selection of
"trustworthy authorities" is dangerous unless one has gone
through the process of testing each statement with the logic of
wholeness.  Any time one "accepts" without verification is a
danger point.  We do not actually know, but we are trusting the
say-so of some other.  For example, when one sits in a University
and studies for a doctorate, are we not verifying the accuracy of
earlier conclusions ?  It is not only the leaning of the
scholarly process, but also a testing of whether or not we have
the strength and independence to stand on our own academic work
and declare clearly and honestly what we have discovered ?  We
learn there that "Unity is strength."  But, is it to be the
continued unity of the blind or of those who "see ?"  Obviously,
if it is the "blind" who review individual work and have the
power to "grant a degree" is misused to deny honest scholarship
the position one has earned. It is the "appliers" alone, and not
the "system" that ought to be blamed.  This is also true in
"Societies," and other bodies which serve to "recognize"
scholarly work.  [  See for instance the current controversy
between geologists and Egyptologists on the antiquity of the
Sphinx. ]

I am sure that to progress in Theosophy it is incumbent on each
one of us to ask constantly - How does this fresh statement mesh
with others ?  Does the jig-saw puzzle (or mosaic) of thought,
philosophy, psychology, etc... make up a WHOLE, or is it
somewhere, somehow, an attempt to put square pegs into round
holes, etc... -- and demand in spite of all logic that they be
"fitted" simply because of the "authority" of the claimant (which
has to be defended at all costs even in the face of truth and
honesty.)?

I have said that we owe to HPB and the Masters who stood behind
her the entire exposition that we now study as THEOSOPHY.  Are we
making Theosophy ours ?  Or do we regard it as a kind of
pastiche, a collage of statements that we have some respect for,
but have not verified.  Interiorly, we may have an intuition:
"That is true,"  But in our personal minds we remain unsure, and
perhaps we are afraid to verify, because some cherished thing
that we "like" will have to be altered ?

Above all:  Are we prepared to live our lives ethically and
morally on the basis of the philosophy of the Buddha, and of
Theosophy ?  In what way would a "theosophical life" diverge from
an honest, sincere, diligent, and compassionate life ? And if we
make mental distinctions between those "idealisms," then what are
they ,and why?

Obviously such questions and answers are personal to us only and
cannot be of use to anyone else.  This kind of self-analysis will
reveal what is our actual nature - that which is private to us,
and unknown by others.  It provides us (as INDIVIDUALITIES) with
a view of what the "Lower Mind," which we use in our embodied
waking existence, actually is in its ethical nature.  What does
the "Looking at it" do for our own self-evaluation ?  It is the
HIGHER, THE IMMORTAL MANAS, linked to Atma and to (and a part of)
the Divine Three-In-One our own MONAD that alone can perform such
a survey.

Students in these posts ask what is "practical Theosophy.  It is
basically securing in this life a true knowledge of our active
Lower Manas and its motives.  We then, as practical psychologists
(and each of us is such a one, like it or not) set about amending
our "ambassador" - the Lower Mind.  Here is (as I see it) where
the real "battle" is.  It is the determination of what the
"ambassador - Lower Mind" shall say or do in physical life on
behalf of the HIGHER MIND which is the source of its ex-istence.
And this is not easy to see.  The very fact that we can conceive
of such a bifurcation implies that it is a fact and we are able
to perceive and handle it.  [ The BHAGAVAD GITA is full of this
kind of self-analysis if we assume that Krishna is our HIGHER
SELF, and Arjuna is the best aspect of the Lower Manas - that
which aspires to become one with , and actor and the active
chooser as the ambassador of the HIGHER SELF in personal life. ]

When I write of my vision of the great "pilgrimage" of the
immortal Soul (Manas), this is what I have in mind.  But why
should anyone consider this to be important until they have
proved or disproved the validity of the statement ?  We are all
inherently IMMORTALS.  Our "School" is the World and our
Universe.  Our progress is by self-choice.  Law is immutable and
covers all things, past, present, and future.  Unity is in
Spirit, not in the constructs of matter.  Human progress is
through reincarnation.  Final Perfection is a Goal for all
Beings, including ourselves.  Finally, the greatest assistance we
can provide to the growth of intelligence in Nature is to apply
our acquired wisdom to help others.

Everyone (I mean the lower Mind) wants a "shortcut."  And with
great unanimity we/they adopt what they "like" instead of what is
valid on an eternal basis.

What are the "virtues?"  Why are they so designated ?  Where do
they lead us ?  Are they really at odds with our likes and
dislikes?  And if so why ?   These are questions and points we al
need to resolve for ourselves.

Theosophy provides us with the metaphysics, the philosophy of
living, and the mental and moral tools to do our own study, prove
our independent value to ourselves and then progress on a "path"
which we see more clearly and therefore are able to choose with
accuracy - and thus develop our own future.  The so-called
"virtues" are expressions of the practice of LAWFULNESS in daily
life.  No more, no less.

In general we (as personalities) are obsessed by our own
mortality and a fear of "death."  We do not perceive it as
"sleep" because it is most difficult for the Lower Mind to
perceive that while its "name" may be lost, it actually continues
in the virtues and character that it has developed and uses now
for its constant work of adapting its choices to the Universal
and the Eternal.  This is the important concept it is able to
develop now with this in mind.

We do not fear sleep.  We are not conscious of the billions of
"little-lives" atoms, molecules and cells that enter, are
developed and used in our bodies (not only physical, but
emotional, mental, and psychical), and then they leave us.  If we
are wounded and bleed, we do not sense the "despair" (if any) of
those blood cells that leaving us, are doomed to death while they
help to staunch the blood-flow and thus preserve life for the
greater being?  Physiologist who study the human physical
structure tell us that the body renews itself internally and
imperceptibly almost entirely each year.  Yet, our consciousness
as a, a MIND, does not alter much - considering the things we
have thought over and adopted or rejected in that interval.
Theosophy states that the "personality renews itself entirely
every 7 years.

In that marvelous article THE ELIXIR OF LIFE this process is
explained, and applied to a life where spiritual aspiration -
self-induced and self-applied makes enormous moral changes in the
individual constitution of the "personality."  The "permanent
astral" reflects this change and the adopting in a practical way
of the virtues that are so well explained in THE VOICE OF THE
SILENCE.

Best wishes, as always,

Dallas