Theos-Talk Archives (September 2001 Message tt00051)

Saturday, September 08, 2001
Re: TRUTH -- and LAW -- and LIVING

Dear Bruce:

This is how it looks to me:

If we consider that every human is a being where the triple lines
of evolution meet and mingle (see S D I 181 ) it may not be so
difficult to see that TRUTH is also triune.

1. There is a Universal metaphysical and impartite TRUTH --
which to our minds corresponds to the concept of the
ABSOLUTENESS -- of that which is TOTALLY PERFECT. This kind of
truth stands as a "touchstone" for those who can access it,
against which every event or discovery is measured.
corresponds to SATTVA ]

2. Then there is the intermediary pathway whereby that TRUTH
is conveyed to the material forms and the "psychological
personality" which we all are when we are "awake." The Mind has
the power to perceive law in dynamic action -- the RIGHT WAY to
cooperation on a universal scale. This is dynamic and full of
action, but it also changes constantly in expression and
definition as new factors of the ongoing study revels wider and
deeper areas of cooperation and penetration.
[ corresponds to RAJAS ]

And finally:

3. There is the truth of the aggregation of forms -- of
primordial matter (as MONADS of higher or lower intelligence
levels) -- but the karma of choices in the past, which have been
aimed against cooperation and the universal LAW of harmony
(Karma) has colored the nature of those "little lives" -- the
"skandhas / samskaras" [which are the bearers (carriers) of our
personal Karma.]
It is this that acts at present as a drag that slows down and
even tends to reject any concept of a universal NORM -- where the
practice of virtue is normal as it is simple [ this corresponds
to TAMAS - inertia, ignorance and darkness ].

Our problem is to find out whey we rebel against the fact of law.
Why is it that we desire to believe we can escape the
consequences of our evil and vicious deeds, thoughts and feelings
( all rooted in selfishness) -- yes, those are strong words and
all apply to me as well as to most other humans unless then have
become Adepts, Seers, Mahatmas. [ Should we not positively
discover who "WE" are ? The "Real Man ?" Is it not this REAL
MAN we are that controls the mind by mans of the WILL ?

Questions may well be asked as to how those connections between
ourselves as conscious INTELLIGENCES and the TRUTH OF UNIVERSAL
LAW became blurred. Why do we now have the burden of undoing the
evils of our past, that follow us around like the tail of a
comet. From incarnation to incarnation.

A wise man once wrote:

" The Self only, eternally is. Now what are all the rest?
Perceptions, I think; some permanent, being related to the Self,
or of the Self; others perceptions of perceptions and
impermanent in that they are in constant change.

The two classes or bundles of perceptions in individuals would be
the Higher and the Lower Mind. Perhaps Higher and Lower Self
would be better, but no set terms can give anything but
approximations of differences of perceptions.

We may call what is perceived "matter," or "prakriti," that basis
by which action may take place. It would seem that this basis
is the general result of the interpenetrations, interblending,
and interaction of the perceptions of multitudinous classes of
beings [Monads].

The "mind" with which we work is just a bundle of perceptions of
this physical plane where in every idea held has a physical
basis. Can such a "bundle" include or solve that which is the
cause, or sustaining power itself?

Each plane has its own mode of "mind," and the only way by which
we in lower manas can approximate the inner, is by rising to that
plane where the perceptions and the mode is different.

Can it be wondered at that all attempts to solve by brain-mind
must be temporary hypotheses, one after the other discarded as we
see its futility? Yet, the very exasperation induced sometimes
opens a door to us.

There is a state of Soul as Spectator [PATANJALI p. 3] without a
spectacle, also many states of "spectacles" more or less
circumscribed.

Spirit, I think, would not be the whole of any given class,
although such a condition might be called "spirituality," if the
ideas were the eternal verities. Naught adheres to Spirit.

There must be that Mind or Power to perceive which, taken in
primal causes as well as subsequent effects; also that other
circumscribed action which deals with minor causes and effects.
Mind is the power to perceive residing in the Perceiver, its
manifold perceptions and possibilities presenting kinds of mind
and separative ideas and actions.

All spiritual beings are the same in kind, differing only in
degree.

Terms are confusing, but ideas may be had out of the confusion,
if we adhere to the One Reality--which is both Being and
Non-Being. Each has his own way of seeing and translating what he
sees.

It is all lived out in the mind. Most minds, instead of living
and acting out their ideals in the present, and fulfilling their
present known duties to others, waste most of their opportunities
in memory and anticipation. To live and act fully and rightly in
the present is the whole of life; the dynamic force of the brain
would then act fully and rightly, and there would be no
exhaustion." [ F P 157-9 ]


I hope this may prove useful. More questions ?

Best wishes,


Dallas

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



-----Original Message-----
From: B---e F.
Sent: Wednesday, September 05, 2001 1:53 PM
To:
Subject: Truth: How and why perceived? Proof ?

Peter, you write:

I find the
>concept of truth a great problem in my present incarnation. I
have this
>'Feel' that truth is invariant and never changing. But I live in
a physical
>world that is changing all the time and what I believe to be a
truth seems
>to change as life changes. So what is true or truth? Can you or
anyone help
>me with this very unsettling problem please.

The problem of truth has caused not only a great deal of
discomfort and uncertainty for individuals through history, but
has also
caused many wars and genocide. What tends to happen is that
people are not
content to accept that truth actually does change as they grow
into more
experience of life. So, in their uncertainty, they decide that
one
"truth," usually a religious or political or economic or racial
"truth" is
the only right one and they feel so strongly about this that they
are
willing even to kill others to impose their "truth." All
religions have at
one time been involved in this, as also political systems like
Capitalism
or Communism. Sometimes the "truth" that people will kill for is
a racial
one, like with Hitler or the former Yugoslavia (religious and
racial), or
with Israel and Palestine, etc.
So the problem you are having is actually a very good
"problem" to
have, because it means that you have not decided that you have
THE TRUTH
for which you will kill others or exclude them or punish them.
The
relative truth we live with is good because it means it gives us
the
motivation to search for something which is even "more true for
us." That
way we read and listen to others and discuss and try to discover
something
which is even more fulfilling than what we know or believe or
think right
now.
I would say, be happy you haven't found THE TRUTH,
because when
you do, you stop looking for even greater truth, you stop being
human,
compassionate, loving and begin to try to "convert" others to
your truth,
and then when they are not converted you get angry, and from
anger develop
all the other evils I have spoken of above.
It is impossible to have Universal Brotherhood (which is
the
central theme of Theosophy) if you think you have THE UNCHANGING
TRUTH, but
if you are like most people, searching for truth, then you can
have
compassion and fellow-feeling for everyone else on the planet and
perhaps
at some point in time we will all work together to find an even
greater
truth. But I hope we never discover THE TRUTH! It would destroy
us.
I hope that helps. Keep looking for more truth, and you
will keep
growing.

CUT