Theos-Talk Archives (April 2002 Message tt00244)

Saturday, April 20, 2002

Are thee any DIVINE ETHICS ?

Dear Jerry:

I mean IDEAL ETHICS, not the shams that have debased the concept
of ETHICS and MORALS. The problem is how does one distinguish a
VIRTUE from a vice ?

If we deny that the Universe is lawful then there is nothing more
to say.

If we do not agree that the difference between VIRTUE and vice is
the matter of the breaking of Nature's law of UNIVERSAL
BROTHERHOOD, then all further consideration vanishes into
fruitless arguments.

When Theosophy speaks (as I understand it) of idealism it means
the spiritual and the divine -- not the many perversions so
commonly abused and mouthed in the "here and now."

I find little excuse for them and marvel at th way we who have
been educated into this particular kind of civilization have
accepted so many hypocrisies and sly methods of dealing with one
another. I keep on saying to myself: " You can't take it with
you." So what do we "take?" and where do we take it ?

I agree that compassion says it all. Bu to make that reasonable
we ought to find out if theosophy offers a logic for that action.
As a mind being I want to understand -- otherwise it is again the
trap (to my mind) of belief and faith. We have seen enough of
the errors they cause. They are the tools of "authority." And
"authority" is not always COMPASSIONATE, or dispassionate and
impartial..

Happy paradox time


Dallas

-----Original Message-----
From: g s
Sent: Saturday, April 20, 2002 7:57 AM
To:
Subject: Re to Dallas - ethics vs compassion

<<<<Dallas asks:
I do not understand how one can speak of "ethics without
compassion." Pity and sorrow for the perversion of the TRUE is
(to my mind) a mandatory part of "ethics" or any one who adheres
to the strict limits of an exact ethical standard.>>>>

Perhaps you are too close to it, Dallas. History is filled with
examples of ethics without compassion -- all religious wars but
maybe especially the crusades, and all forms of "ethnic
cleansing" that we find throughout history, but especially with
Christians, is another good example.

Absolutely no one person in this world except a buddha can hope
to know "the TRUE" as you put it. One person's "true" is another
person's "false" and those people who see only black/white or
good/evil and who cannot allow for shades of grey, are the most
dangerous of all (BTW this is one of the characteristics of a
borderline personality disorder).

The human mind uses what is called rationalization in order to do
nasty things to other people in the name of "good" or in the name
of "God" or of "Jesus" or whatever. People use ethics and morals
as a rathionale for hurting other people. It all comes down to
motive, but without compassion one's motives are usually selfish.
Fundamentalists, of any kind, are by definition people who extol
ethics while lacking compassion for others. Hitler is a prime
example - he honestly believed that he was doing the world a
favor. Theosophists, being human, are no exception.

Brigitte writes, "In any case I find these claims by
"Theofundies" dishonest if not bizarre to say the least, and
wonder why they behave like this ?" Theosophists who interpret
the entire set of core teachings literally (like the Christian
Bible, obviously much can be taken literally) are at best
literalists and at worst fundamentalists, and in my view Leon and
Frank are in that category. Neither have shown any compassion on
any post that I have read, have been very nasty to me, and
personally I hope never to read any more of their posts. And I am
sure that both of these gentlemen are very ethical and follow
strict moral codes, but without compassion such codes mean
nothing at all.

So, my point here is that Theosophy should NOT emphasize ethics
and morals, but rather compassion, which is sadly lacking. A
compassionate person will automatically and spontaneously be
ethical and moral while an ethical person need not be
compassionate. Developing compassion is infinitely more important
on a valid Path than readying/studying intellectual material
although that is important too.

Jerry S.