Theos-Talk Archives (September 1999 Message tt00037)

Sept 4th 1999

Dallas observes:

I think Richard is quite right in taking me to task for not being
clear.

So let me say this:  We all need instructors, parents, friends,
assistance, and also exemplars or, those who inspire us.  WE also need
if we study a science, a philosophy or a psychology a workable
vocabulary -- the KEY TO THEOSOPHY is a useful Text-book and provides
not only such a vocabulary, but also explains the fundamentals and
main doctrines of Theosophy.

When I mentioned the awful responsibility of self-development I was
referring to the concept of progressive growth through reincarnation.
Each life we learn something new, and add to our growing moral sense.
And each incarnation we go through the process of childhood to
adolescence, and a fresh learning process in a new country, and
probably some fresh "religion."  The idea of Immortality and
Self-growth are important ones if we are to make any sense out of our
so few years of living and striving.  We have to be able to store the
knowledge and abilities we acquire, and continue to make use of them,
as character and talent, from life to life to make this whole
theosophical scheme logical and worth considering.

But what I also meant was the Theosophy offers us some keys so that we
can do a good part of the work ourselves, once that we pass the
childhood and the young adult levels -- we all gradually assume the
education process consciously and deliberately steering ourselves and
selecting our areas of work.  Any work we do in college or
Trade-Schools, or by additional courses, is an illustration of this
aspect of our innate knowledge and our augmenting it.

I think this is called maturation, and it is also in various stages
depending on what we actually learn about our selves and our inherent,
innate capabilities.  Theosophy serves to make these precise.  So a
vocabulary, a set of goals, a coherent doctrine and plenty of leeway
for self-choice are its chief characteristics.

As to HPB and the Masters presence.  I believe it is clear from all
they wrote that they do not die. And (as influences) the are very much
present around us all the time.  Our interest in studying and
practicing Theosophy serves to attract their notice. If we develop, in
addition, the  desire to help our fellows because we can see the value
of brotherhood, we would again deepen their interest in us.  But this
is neither psychic,  nor anything else but a sense of inspiration.
Some may claim that this is derived merely from a study of their
writings -- so be it.  Whatever the inspiration may be, it is
something that adds a greater meaning to our living and goals.

For instance, the concept of Brotherhood is one that purifies motive,
if it is used deliberately as a base from which to make our decisions.
If we universalize our outlook, we impersonalize and broaden our
":personality" -- the inclinations of which (personality) are always
selfish and analytical.

We have been given a vast amount of literature by HPB and the
Masters - almost more than we can fully digest, but it is possible
through application and diligence to transform ourselves into the
likeness of a Damodar, or a Wm. Q. Judge.

In the very short but succinct "EPITOME OF THEOSOPHY," starting on
page 25,  Mr. Judge gives hints that are practical and useful
regarding "spiritual cultivation."  [ I reproduce them below. ]

I do feel that Rich limits his view of HPB, if the only the words that
HPB used were to be insisted on as the only ones to be employed.  But,
really, that is not the case.  One could study Judge's THE OCEAN OF
THEOSOPHY and acquire from that text-book a broad and useful knowledge
of theosophy.  But why not make use of that which has been so kindly
provided for us this incarnation ?

To me her (HPB's) ideas have always seemed very living and vibrant.
It is the ideas she advanced that have been of inspiration, I believe,
to all those who desire to make of Theosophy a "living power in their
lives."  Without HPB there would be no Theosophy as we know it today.
I feel quite sure that as Judge wrote in one of his articles:  "the
pathway to the Masters for all true theosophists is through HPB."
This means a certain respect as well as an attempt to well understand
her as the Source through whom the Perennial Philosophy comes in this
time and era.

I can well understand that Richard may feel cramped if HPB is assumed
to be the limit which is to be placed on Theosophy.  I am sorry if I
gave that impression. But really it is not, as with every effort that
students today and in the future make to spread theosophical ideas
around, he/they devises his own ways of phrasing and explaining it --
so to that extent Theosophy keeps pace with the modern changes of
language and ideas.  In that way each is always creating a fresh
presentation.

Magazines like "THEOSOPHY"  [ULT, Los Angeles] or THE THEOSOPHICAL
MOVEMENT [ Bombay, India] (both are monthlies) keep emphasizing the
study and rephrasing of theosophical ideas.  They do not deal with
persons or the names and qualifications of the writers, but use that
space to point to the fundamentals of Theosophy, its teachings, and
their practical application.  They also keep up to date on recent
developments in the realms of science and research that show how
Theosophical ideas are reaching into more and more of the world of
science and philosophy today.

There is no question that in Theosophy each one who adopts it for
study and potential use has to do that work on their own.  Every
moment of the day we make independent decisions -- to follow others,
or to frame our own pathway;  to depend on "authority," or to seek and
find out if such dicta is accurate and true.  In every case the
responsibility is always OURS.

In the beginning we all need "teachers."  HPB is perhaps the wisest
and most impartial of them all.  Those who have received an
introduction to Theosophy always will owe an allegiance to the person
or persons who first introduced him or her to those ideas.  That is
natural gratitude.  Assistance and further suggestions by those who
may be more advanced in study than we are, is always welcome -- hence,
every Lodge or Study Group is an attempt to provide a forum where
everyone can share ideas and questions, while in search of the
teachings that best explain the difficulties that we encounter,
whether of doctrine or in personal, practical life.

HPB was very careful to disclaim "authority."  She always said that
Theosophy was "like" what she was explaining -- meaning that each one
always adds an element of their understanding to that which was
offered as argument or evidence.  Of course if one rigidly seeks to
make HPB the only basis from which to think and operate, we do her and
the Theosophical Movement a disservice.  Freedom is an inherent right
in all, and must be respected.

One of the reasons that I frequently refer to the KEY TO THEOSOPHY--
as a useful text to be well acquainted with, is that Theosophy, like
all sciences or philosophies has a vocabulary that ought to be
familiar to the investigator.  The KEY not only provides such a basic
vocabulary, but also serves to present the broad details of doctrine
which will be useful to one who desires to read and understand the
SECRET DOCTRINE and other of HPB's basic articles as well.

If one needs a textbook it might as well be a reliable one.

I do hope this helps to set my meaning plainer.

Best wishes,

Dal.

--------------------------------------------

Extract for THE EPITOME OF THEOSOPHY on "Spiritual cultivation"



"The process of evolution up to reunion with the Divine is and
includes successive elevation from rank to rank of power and
usefulness. The most exalted beings still in the flesh are known as
Sages, Rishis, Brothers, Masters. Their great function being the
preservation at all times, and when cyclic laws permit, the extension
of spiritual knowledge and influence.

When union with the Divine is effected, all the events and experiences
of each incarnation are known.

As to the process of spiritual development, Theosophy teaches:

First. That the essence of the process lies in the securing of
supremacy, to the highest, the spiritual, element of man's nature.

Second. That this is attained along four lines, among others,

[a] The entire eradication of selfishness in all forms, and the
cultivation of broad, generous sympathy in, and effort for the good of
others.

(b) The absolute cultivation of the inner, spiritual man by
meditation, by reaching to and communion with the Divine, and by
exercise of the kind described by Patanjali, i. e., incessant striving
to an ideal end.

(c) The control of fleshly appetites and desires, all lower, material
interests being deliberately subordinated to the behests of the
spirit.

(d) The careful performance of every duty belonging to one's station
in life, with-out desire for reward, leaving results for Divine law.

Third. That while the above is incumbent on and practicable by all
religiously disposed men, a yet higher plane of spiritual attainment
is conditioned upon a specific course of training, physical,
intellectual and spiritual, by which the internal faculties are first
aroused and then developed.

Fourth. That an extension of this process is reached in Adeptship,
Mahatmaship, or the states of Rishis, Sages and Dhyan Chohans, which
are all exalted stages, attained by laborious self-discipline and
hardship, protracted through possibly many incarnations, and with many
degrees of initiation and preferment, beyond which are yet other
stages ever approaching the Divine.

As to the rationale of spiritual development it asserts:

First. That the process takes place entirely within the individual
himself, the motive, the effort, and the result proceeding from his
own inner nature, along the lines of self-evolution.

Second. That, however personal and interior, this process is not
unaided, being possible, in fact, only through close communion with
the supreme source of all strength.

As to the degree of advancement in incarnations it holds:

First. That even a mere intellectual acquaintance with Theosophic
truth has great value in fit-ting the individual for a step upwards in
his next earth-life, as it gives an impulse in that direction.

Second. That still more is gained by a career of duty, piety and
beneficence.

Third. That a still greater advance is attained by the attentive and
devoted use of the means to spiritual culture heretofore stated.

Fourth. That every race and individual of it reaches in evolution a
period known as "the moment of choice," when they decide for
themselves their future destiny by a deliberate and conscious choice
between eternal life and death, and that this right of choice is the
peculiar appanage of the free soul. It cannot be exercised until the
man has realized the soul within him, and until that soul has attained
some measure of self-conscious-ness in the body. The moment of choice
is not a fixed period of time; it is made up of all moments. It cannot
come unless all the previous lives have led up to it. For the race as
a whole it has not yet come. Any individual can hasten the advent of
this period for himself under the previously stated law of the
ripening of Karma. Should he then fail to choose right he is not
wholly condemned, for the economy of nature provides that he shall
again and again have the opportunity of choice when the moment arrives
for the whole race."  EPITOME OF THEOSOPHY , p. 25 - Judge.


Dallas
dalval@nwc.net 

============================================

-----Original Message-----
From: owner-theos-talk@pippin.imagiware.com
[mailto:owner-theos-talk@pippin.imagiware.com]On Behalf Of
Richtay@aol.com
Sent: Friday, September 03, 1999 3:52 PM
To: theos-talk@theosophy.com
Subject: Theos-World Arrested development



In a message dated 9/3/99 2:42:47 AM, dalval@nwc.net writes:

<< Why worry about "modern saints?"  Each one of us is potentially a
"saint."  There is a clue to this in our "Seven-fold Nature -- the
7-Principles"  We are a part of the ONE SPIRIT in our highest nature,
and also being immortals we carry with us all the time in the
principle named Buddhi a memory of all our honorable past. >>

Indeed, why worry about saints, teachers, Masters at all, past,
present or
future?  Let us simply be lamps unto ourselves, radiant babes with
crowns of
thorns!

By the logic indicated above, humanity doesn't need living role models
at
all!  We can just pull ourselves up by our own bootstraps...

The fatal error in this can be plainly seen even through the lens of
Blavatsky's own writing, let alone modern Theosophical FAILURES.  The
S.D.
assures us that it took the Manasa-putras to light up the fire of
mind -- it
would not have happened on its own.  Later, it took the Elder Brothers
to
coax infant humanity from spiritual latency to operative spiritual
insight.
And it took Masters and their Messenger to bring the Message last
century, to
bring Theosophy out again into (partial) public view.

The sense of finality in Dallas' writings, that we have the last word
with
HPB, and that she somehow "lives" invisibly in the aether about us
gives the
lie to the entire program of the Great Lodge's work.  Agreed, one must
work
on one's own self-induced and self-devised lines of effort, but this
does not
obviate the absolutely ESSENTIAL need for spiritual guidance.

We might as well teach that tiny children should raise themselves,
feed,
clothe, educate themselves!  Certainly, we should all agree that the
child
must direct his/her efforts, must work consciously at learning to walk
and
speak and read, accept or reject moral guidance.  But the role of the
parents
-- ALIVE AND PRESENT is quite clearly indispensable.  Plenty of
evidence
indicates that without a doubt, children who are abused and neglected
by
their parents (one poor girl locked in a closet for ten years) never
learn to
speak, to socialize, to grow into a true adult, whatever form the
material
body may grow into.  Children without direct, living guidance
vegetate, or at
best, remain frozen at the level at which guidance ceased.  This is
called in
psychological jargon "arrested development."  (It is a sad truth that
a GREAT
many adults today are in fact "arrested" in late adolescence and never
learn
to have adult relationships, take responsibility for their actions,
learn to
control anger and fear, etc.)  Unlike ancient societies, or even
modern India
and Tibet, the West has no true SAGES.  We have scientists and doctors
and
businessmen aplenty, all shoveling out droll and mostly useless
information.
But we have no native guides.  And then Theosophists advise us to
ignore the
SAGES that have come to us, at great personal expense, from the East.

More and more I feel that Theosophists falter in their own wake.  HPB
was
such a great personage that Theosophists huddle around her fading
auric glow
and refuse to seek out MORE LIGHT --- absolutely necessary to have
more
light.

Speaking from experience, meditation without a qualified master is NO
MEDITATION.  Education without qualified teachers is NO EDUCATION.
And
spiritual development without qualified guidance is NO DEVELOPMENT.
It is
all fine and well to point to the Master within, and books that direct
us to
look for such, but how many Theosophists among us have raised
themselves to
true Chela, let alone Adept status?  (Is this reserved only for
unimaginably
distant lives??  What a cop-out.)  The only ones we can be SURE of
(outside
of the founders) are those named by HPB, for example Damodar, Mohini,
others
-- and EACH AND EVERY ONE WAS UNDER DIRECT SUPERVISION OF A MASTER OF
WISDOM.


So it is quite a coy doublecross to instruct people now to rely solely
on
themselves and not seek out the spiritual riches that current teachers
have
LABORED and SACRIFICED to provide to us.  In doing so, we turn our
backs on
the very progress that our own tradition has made POSSIBLE in this
century.
For it is because of (limited) Theosophical SUCCESS that the West now
has
direct representatives of umpteen BONA FIDE spiritual traditions from
the
East -- preaching and practicing THE VERY TEXTS HPB INDICATED WE
SHOULD STUDY
!!  And yet we should ignore them, and continue on with our
bibliolatry (for
example, all the calls recently posted to return once again to the
study of
the Key to Theosophy).

If the modern Theosophical movement "arrests" with Blavatsky, then
modern
Theosophy is already dead.

Rich

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