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Progress? Who steers?

Apr 13, 2001 04:50 PM
by dalval14


Friday, April 13, 2001


Thursday, April 12, 2001




Dear Friend:

One of the first propositions of Theosophy is " Something can not
be made
out of Nothing."

Anything that is in existence now, has a cause for its
"beginning" and a
history of its own -- of its progress on the great and common
evolutionary
path, which leads from the ignorance of potential "beginning" to
the full
WISDOM of the Sage, who has investigated the entire Universe and
knows it
all (visibly and invisibly) currently and in every detail of its
'past.'

Theosophy says that the plant always starts with a seed.

If you look at any plant you see the truth of this fact. So if
you look for
the beginning of a Universe, you start with an earlier one of
which this
present one is the "child." From the "atom" (and the such-atomic
particles
and forces) to the furtherest extent of our perceptible GALACTIC
SPACE you
will discover that Law rules everything. Each cause produces an
exact
result.

We get confused by the multitude of effects that flash across our
perception
and it becomes difficult to identify and isolate any one of
those -- this is
because the whole Universe and every being in it is united into a
harmonious
whole. Separately if compared (in spite of our similarities), we
are a
discordant and helter-skelter lot. Apparent chaos and
lawlessness seems to
rule our so petty lives. Yet behind and within our natures the
harmony
reigns and affords us a living space.

The theory of the BIG BANG with which this tangible physical
Universe is
supposed to have began is -- when all is said and done only an
hypothesis.
Theosophy states that instead of a violent and causeless
explosion of the
PRIMORDIAL UNIVERSAL ATOM into heat, motion, isolation and
"cooling" there
was very simply an awakening.

Tis awakening is comparable to the assembling of our own
faculties when we
wake every morning to resume our daily tasks, work and
responsibilities.
Both consciously and unconsciously we draw together our faculties
and change
our physical situation from repose to the guided activity of
Waking.
Consciousness floods through the may structures of our bodies,
our emotions,
our minds, and our memory. This is of course an
oversimplification of many
processes, which if carefully analyzed are seen to impact and fit
in and
around one another.

In a grand way it is the same for a solar system, a Planet, or a
Galaxy
(like the Milky Way -- made up of numberless solar-systems,
comets, planets,
suns, novae, "dark" matter, meteors and other forms of
substance ).

Philosophically it is said that SPIRIT (or perfection and Wisdom)
always
finds itself wrapped up in "Primordial Matter." Matter is said
to set real
or arbitrary limits to environment. In matter as well as in
Spirit are
stored (permanently) the memories of every experience we have
ever had. The
primary compound of SPIRIT/MATTER is called a MONAD.

The MONAD is said to be an immortal being which is called the
"Eternal
Pilgrim" for the reason that with it starts the whole
evolutionary process
in which we already participate. At the core of ourselves (as
humans with
an active and independent Mind) is a MONAD. Spirit-Matter-Mind
is thus the
"life-unit."

It may be conceived as the building block of the Universe and
since it never
dies, it passes through experiences of many kinds, always
acquiring greater
understanding of its environment and its own nature.

Since it is not possible to learn everything at once, this
immortal pupil
passes through its own days and nights. One might say that our
life-time is
for it a day. Then the body becoming old and worn is set aside
and a period
of sleep supervenes. This is a period of reflection and
meditation. And
when the forces that induced this state are exhausted, a
reawakening in a
fresh body occurs. But the process is not hap-hazard. It is
always
regulated by the law of Nature that adjusts all phases of
interactive life
so that we have not only community growth and responsibility but
individual
seclusion during which we review our own acquired experiences.

This long introduction is to show you have the philosophical
pictures of our
Universe and our Earth dovetail with our own seemingly minor
existence and
work. Everything has its place.

The concept that we carry with us our own facilities and
disabilities is a
basic one in Theosophy. Our bodily makeup, for instance, is
dependent on
the quality of the atoms, molecules, cells, and other structures
that
compose it, and which come and go all through our life-time with
an
intelligence of their own, constantly filling gaps that become
vacated by
other "life-atoms" and "Life Units" that pass into, through and
out of us
all the time. A good book on physiology will show you details of
this
process.

We are usually not conscious of our bodies until they fall ill,
or tired and
fail us in some response. We occupy them, and treat them
(usually) as we
would slaves. But the thing to remember is that they too are
living beings.
And although we may call them today "Monads of lesser
experience," they are
immortals in their own right, and will eventually rise to the
human stage
when the progressive set of tests conducted on a universal scale
gives them
the opportunity we now enjoy: of studying nature voluntarily and
examining
her secret workings.

The term "Predestination" seems to imply a Being of compelling
and superior
power. A being that imposes arbitrarily a fate on others. That
may cause
sorrow, suffering, joy, pain, disease, elation, and that these
swings of
fate are whimsical, uncontrollable (by us) and totally
inexplicable. We
then begin to believe we live in a chaotic and lawless situation
in which
there is no place for our independent and free choice, action or
progress.
But is this logical in any way?

This concept has been offered by a priesthood which stands to
benefit from
the ignorance and the lack of ability to reason in their "flock."
I say if
the priests know better, then why not educate? Why perpetuate a
condition
of ignorance and illogical stupidity? If they take refuge in the
often
quoted: "It's the Will of god." -- which explains nothing --
then either
they are deluded or they delude their votaries. Theosophy opens
the whole
situation for logical consideration.

It does this first by stating that although the body will die and
be
dispersed, the SPIRIT/SOUL within is an immortal entity and
perpetually
reincarnates. Thus loved ones because of the force of love,
service, mutual
assistance, and interdependence, will eventually reincarnate
together

But earlier we indicated that the Monads are all pupils, from the
"beginners" which have just emerged from the Universal MONADIC
ESSENCE,
through humanity (as a stage of education) to the position of the
Wise Sages
who are able to assist Nature in her perpetual work of
cooperation.

The operation of this vast process (in which not a single
"life-unit" is
ever forgotten or "discarded") s handled by immutable and
ever-acting just
and impartial laws. Fundamentally we may say the LAW (of Karma -
action and
reaction) is always present, even in the most intimate and
secluded aspects
of our life -- when we think and feel intently we evoke it. The
Monads that
surround us are the repositories of our thought-feelings. We
impress them.
That impression is either of assistance to them or it distorts
them. They
leave us and take with them the impress we gave them, and after a
while
according to their own laws and to the Great Law that controls
all Nature
they return to us. They bring also the return of the impressions
we laid in
and on them. Becoming thus "clothed" in our old vestures we are
helped or
impeded by those impressions. It I at that time we feel the
impact of fate,
or accident and the result may be joyous or sorrowful.

If from this small survey, The ideas of theosophy are seen, then
we may see
we are every moment creating our own future. Changing our
residence, or
adopting some new work, does not wipe out the burden of
responsibility we
assumed when we impressed those Monads that came to us for
assistance, and
trusted us to treat them fairly and constructively.

Thus instead of "PREDESTINATION" we are offered the continuous
opportunity
to improve. We have to do the work ourselves. We thus create
our own
future. It is clear that the more we know about Nature and her
work, the
better will we be able to make choices. Life and Living now
assumes a
position of great and valuable importance for us.

Theosophy adds to our understanding of life several things.

1. There is a universal urge, or purpose, and that is to become
WISE. The
whole of SPACE is our shared habitat -- we constantly depend on
others for
our life (air, water, food clothing, housing, warmth, etc...) and
we share
them in one ay or another with the rest.

2. Nature (the Universe) already contains everything and all
lines and laws
of progress are available to those who seek to find and use them.
Nature
lives and works according to LAW.

3. Brotherhood is the main process that places the cooperative
and
interdependence aspect of Nature right before us to understand
and to use.

4. Being immortals, and our learning being continuous we are
"brothers" not
only to other humans and to our families, but also to every least
"life-unit" in or near us. We are their protective parents or
"elder
brothers," for the time-being.

5. Karma is the Law of evolution. It is fair, just, true,
honest, and
demands that if we desire to become wise we must also become
harmless to all
other things. Generosity and charity are the prime qualities
required of
one who would advance in wisdom and spiritual living.

6. We make our own "path." We advance at the speed and in the
directions
that we chose.

7. Sleeping and waking are the vibratory changes that enable us
to work and
then reflect on what we have learned. We do this on a voluntary
basis. No
one can compel us to do anything. The Planet we live on and our
solar
system, as well as the whole galaxy, have their vaster periods of
work and
rest. But the underlying immortal beings that we all are, ever
progress
forward to the ONE COMMON GOAL: UNIVERSAL SPIRITUAL PERFECTION.

No period of rest however long will have the effect of destroying
or
annihilating us as MONADS., We are the ETERNAL PILGRIMS of our
UNIVERSE.
The only "predestination" we meet is that which we have ourselves
created by
voluntary choice.

I hope this may prove to be of some help

Best wishes,

Dallas

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


-----Original Message-----
From: DNisk98114@aol.com [mailto:DNisk98114@aol.com]
Sent: Wednesday, April 11, 2001 6:40 AM
To: basic@blavatsky.net
Subject: [bn-basic] Re: bn-basic digest: April 10, 2001

In a message dated 4/11/01 3:00:53 AM Eastern Daylight Time,
bn-basic@lists.lyris.net writes:




subject: progress/Progress?

Recently, Gerald Schueler wrote partly:

I am trying to eliminate the illogic
that I see in some Theosophical writings. It is
totally illogical to say on the one hand that we
"progress" and then on the other hand say that
we have no beginning or end. The "progress"
seen by science does have a start - the Big
Bang, but no one can say what happened
before that event nor where the original dense
matter came from, nor why it exploded, etc.
etc.
=========


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