Theos-Talk Archives (August 2000 Message tt00021)

Aug 14th, 2000

Dear Mauri:

I like what you have written.  May I suggest that the over-view
Theosophy offers us to consider is that KARMA (yours, mine and
the cumulate mass of everyone's individual Karma) is ALWAYS IN
OPERATION.

If we were to ask ourselves why this is so, we find that
Theosophy suggests there is a fundamental CAUSE.  HPB calls it
the "Cause of SUBLIME PERFECTION."

When this manifestation began for all of us and the whole
universe, and our World in particular, the KARMA of past
Manvantaras materialized as conditions of evolution and the
individualism of thinking entities (Mankind--ourselves).  These
all seem to be 'separate.'

However since Karma unites us (and them) into a UNITY, our
gradually developing power of perception realises that we are
volunteers (independently dependent, to use a paradox) in the
process of improvement which we call "evolution."

We are IMMORTAL MONADS  (life-atoms), doing this in and for
ourselves and for all other beings who are involved in this
universal process of improvement which surrounds us all.  The key
to grasping our present opportunity is to realise that we have to
control and regulate our choices and our resulting living,
voluntarily.  The fact that we are all independent and immortal
Spirit/Souls (THINKING BEINGS) is an important basic fact to
always carry in mind.  That can never be taken away from us or
destroyed.  It is the continuous chain that links each day to
those earlier and those to come, and, links each life to those we
lived, and will be living in the future.

First we have to acquire the best information we can from efforts
made BY THOSE WHO HAVE PRECEDED US.  This is what the Masters of
Wisdom and HPB try to offer us to study as "Theosophy."  They do
not say we have accept blindly, but rather, take what they offer
and TEST it out, using our own independent power of thinking.

The basis of our personal and impersonal (higher) power of
thinking is that one primary and basic SPIRITUAL UNITY from, and
in which, we all exist.  In the fact of this power we are all
"equals."  We receive this power as a fundamental fact of our
existence.  We live in a body and an environment (feeling and
thought) which we have over thousands of lives and uncountable
millions of years have created for ourselves.  We have drawn the
life-atoms of the universe (skandhas) together to form these
'bodies.'

We are urged to study and see if this idea is a true and
practical one which can be applied as a basis for our independent
decision making in daily and hourly living.  Ever, we are urged
to be independent and prove to ourselves the validity of these
concepts.  We come together, as in this exchange of notes and
ideas so as to reinforce our thoughts and conclusions using the
minds of our companions, near and far, to assist us.

The over-view of the 7 principles in man and nature gives us a
basis to see how these interact on several levels:  physical,
emotional, personal-mental, and finally, the ideal (spiritual, or
the Higher Mind -- Buddhi-Manas).  Above these all is the eternal
SPIRITUAL PERSON, the ATMA, which is one with the UNIVERSAL
SPIRITUAL ONE SELF.

As you delve into Theosophical doctrines and examine them closely
you will find that they all inter-relate.  They support and
reinforce each other.  At no point are you ever asked to take
anything on blind faith. So it is an area of very hard work.  We
reap the fruit of our devotion to seeking for truth and then
exposing our conclusions to others to see if they can agree to
them, or assist us to modify and improve our own.

Theosophy is the philosophy not only of BROTHERHOOD, but of the
reason why brotherhood ought to be considered always,

Best wishes, as always,


D. T. B.

-----Original Message-----
From: Mauri [mailto:mhart@idirect.ca]
Sent: Sunday, August 13, 2000 5:47 PM
To: basic@blavatsky.net
Subject: [bn-basic] karma and theosophy


subject: considerations about Karma in the
study and application of Theosophy

One might enquire, in the "spirit of
theosophy", about the role of Karma in the
various persistent efforts, in the "past and the
present," in the veiling, misrepresentation and
the destruction of the Secret Archaic Doctrine
and the Gupta-Vidya that HPB and the
Masters introduced to a wider audience.
Presumably, then,  in light of the present
wide-scale societal/ecological deterioration,
the theosophic (karma-related) approach and
solutions to many worldly/mental/spritual
complications would seem to be becoming an
increasingly obvious need: especially from a
karmic standpoint.  Ought the
theosophically-minded  to keep in mind that, in
keeping with the Law of Karma, they are now
not only reaping what they sowed in previous
lives, but have the opportunity of taking
advantage of applicable/tactful empathic
consideration/assessment of those who could
very well be now representative of their own
past in some form?

In other words, what might be the common
ground that, when empathetically/tactfully
addressed, would yield the most positive
results?  If the present world-Karma situation
demands an appropriate karma-based solution,
(not some impromptu patch-up job),  it would
seem that that solution would call for some
form of large-scale empathic/tactful
theosophically-based effort to address, in some
practical-enough way, our past selves in some
sense.   (For example, consider Leon Maurer's
"Solar World Chronicles" project, and various
other tactful approaches.)  Also, since our
present selves are far from perfect, one can
wonder about the mind-sets and motivation of
those who might be inclined to "carefully
address us" in a parental sense, remembering
that they too were once as "backward" as we.
That is, our apparent "middle-position" in the
universal Karmic Scheme ought to remind us
of our responsibilities much in the same way
that one might be reminded of one's
responsibilities to younger and older brothers
and sisters.

So while we are reaping the results of karma
we sowed, at the same time we are creating
new karma that we will have to face in the
future, all of which would seem to suggest
that, since the role of karma is so very crucial
in our lives, it would seem that much might be
accomplished or learned from a thorough
study of the Secret Doctrine, Isis Unveiled,
etc., from the perspective of various possible
karmic links, meanings, permutations,
complications:  (e.g., for a start) it would seem
that the primary objective of the many history
lessons within the Secret Doctrine is the
promotion and eliciting of more-concerted
effort toward more karmically-responsible
individual and collective behaviours and
policies.  Another example (worthy of
attention/reconsideration?) might be any
study-approach to the Secret Doctrine that
over-emphazises the "dead-letter" or bare
"historical fact" aspects (such as those that
may be the unbalanced pre-occupations of
some of the "scholarly memory-gifted")
without due/balancing theosophic ethical/moral
references in some way, (however indirectly
or even belatedly, "within reason"), to
theosophic/karmic/spiritual or "transcendent"
objectives.

In other words, the study of Theosophy and
the Secret Doctrine can be as "dead-letter" and
theosophically unproductive as the
approach-mind-set of its students, regardless
of certain forms of very apparent progress;
and yet, whatever form those studies may
take, they represent of course the culmination
of karma and are, in a sense, (objectively
speaking), the "best efforts" to date, "for better
or worse": thereby the need for individual
wakefulness (alertness to one's widest
"theosophic perspective") becoming
increasingly crucial sooner rather than later,
especially in today's precarious
societal/ecological setting.

Mauri





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