Theos-Talk Archives (March 2003 Message tt00371)

Wednesday, March 19, 2003


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THEOSOPHY : HUMAN SOLIDARITY


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THE GOLDEN RULE



Hindu: This is the sum of duty: do naught unto others which if
done to thee would cause thee pain.

Zoroastrian: That nature alone is good which refrains from doing
unto another whatsoever is not good for itself.

Taoist: Regard your neighbour's gain as your own gain, and your
neighbour's loss as your own loss.

Buddhist: Hurt not others in ways that you would find hurtful.

Confucian: Do not unto others what you would not have them do unto
you.

Jain: In happiness and suffering, in joy and grief, we should
regard all creatures as we regard our own self.

Jewish: Whatsoever thou hatest thyself, that do not to another.

Christian: All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you,
do ye even so to them.

Islamic: No one of you is a believer until he desires for his
brother that which he desires for himself.

Sikh: As thou deemest thyself, so deem others.

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SOLIDARITY


"Humanity is a great Brotherhood by virtue of the sameness of the
material from which it is formed physically and morally. Unless,
however, it becomes a Brotherhood also intellectually, it is no better
than a superior genus of animals."

"Where shall we find the true foundation for a changed civilization
that all men and women can see and stand on? It is not philosophies
nor religions nor political panaceas that are needed; but Knowledge,
and a wider scope of vision than the vicissitudes of one short
physical life.

The knowledge that is greater than all the forms of religion ever
invented is the knowledge of the very nature of man himself, for
himself and in himself. For we are not here as things apart; we are
here because of one great sustaining Cause--infinite and omnipresent,
not separate from us, nor from any other being.

It is the same in all beings above the human and in all beings below
the human--the very root of our natures, the very man himself. It is
the Source of all powers and of all actions, whether good or evil.

Then, everything that is done by beings affects all beings, and all
that is has been caused by beings, each one affected according to its
share in the cause. What the past has been, we are experiencing
now--our lives now being but repetitions of lives that preceded them.
What the future will be, we are making now--the lives to come
depending entirely on the choice and direction of our thoughts and
actions now."

"War,...any time, is the result of the warring spirit, of the
selfishness of mankind. It is the result of the failure to understand
the great purpose of life, the nature of our minds, the full power of
attainment within each being, the one Law of absolute justice inherent
in all beings, the One Deity behind and in all, the one Goal for every
Pilgrim, however the path varies.

As soon as men are brought to the perception that every one reaps
exactly what he sows, no one will do harm to any other being; there
will then be no war. There will be no such misery as now exists; for
to realize our own responsibility to all others and to act in
accordance, is to have become unselfish, and to have done away with
the prime cause of sin, sorrow and suffering."

"...Universal Brotherhood is an actual thing, whether it is recognized
or whether it is not...Every nation, every civilization has brought
forward this doctrine and the facts of history show us that, more
than at any other time, the last 1800 years have seen this doctrine
violated in society, in government, and in nations.

So that at last men have come to say, "Universal Brotherhood is very
beautiful; it is something that we desire, but it is impossible to
realize." With one word they declare the noble doctrine, and with the
other they deny the possibility of its ever being realized."

"...so little satisfactory social work is accomplished...there is no
really guiding principle, and there is certainly no one principle
which connects them all. Valuable time and energy are thus wasted;
for men, instead of co-operating, strive one against the other, often,
it is to be feared, for the sake of fame and reward rather than for
the great cause which they profess to have at heart, and which should
be supreme in their lives...these principles are--universal Unity and
Causation; Human Solidarity; the Law of Karma; Re-incarnation.
These are the four links of the golden chain which should bind
humanity into one family, one universal Brotherhood. "

"In the present state of society, especially in so called civilized
countries, we are continually brought face to face with the fact that
large numbers of people are suffering from misery, poverty and
disease. Their physical condition is wretched, and their mental and
spiritual faculties are almost dormant. On the other hand, many
persons at the opposite end of social scale are leading lives of
careless indifference, material luxury, and selfish indulgence.

Neither of these forms of existence is mere chance. Both are the
effects of the conditions which surround those who are subject to
them, and the neglect of social duty on the one side is most closely
connected with their stunted and arrested development on the other.
In sociology, as in all branches of true science, the law of universal
causation holds good. But this causation necessarily implies, as its
logical outcome, that human solidarity on which Theosophy so strongly
insists.

If the action of one reacts on the lives of all, and this is the true
scientific idea, than it is only by all men becoming brothers and all
women sisters, and by all practising in their daily lives true
brotherhood and true sisterhood, that the real human solidarity, which
lies at the root of the elevation of the race, can ever be attained.
It is this action and interaction, this true brotherhood and
sisterhood, in which each shall live for all and all for each, which
is one of the fundamental Theosophical principles...not only to teach,
but to carry out in his or her individual life."

"Contrast the lives not only of the masses of the people, but of many
of those who are called the middle and upper classes, with what they
might be under healthier and nobler conditions, where justice,
kindness, and love were paramount, instead of the selfishness,
indifference, and brutality which now too often seem to reign supreme.

All good and evil things in humanity have their roots in human
character, and this character is, and has been, conditioned by the
endless chain of cause and effect. But this conditioning applies to
the future as well as to the present and the past. Selfishness,
indifference, and brutality can never be the normal state of the
race--to believe so would be to despair of humanity--and that no
Theosophist can do."

"Progress can only be attained by the development of the nobler
qualities. Now, true evolution teaches us that by altering the
surroundings of the organism we can alter and improve (it); and in
the strictest sense this is true with regard to man... Such efforts
should be made with a view to (his) ultimate social emancipation, or
the development of the sense of duty in those who now so often neglect
it in nearly every relation of life."

"No one person and no society can lay down a hard-and-fast rule in
this respect. Much must necessarily be left to individual judgment.
One general test may, however, be given. Will the proposed action
tend to promote that true brotherhood which it is the aim of Theosophy
to bring about? ...once he is satisfied of this...duty will lie in the
direction of forming public opinion. And this can be attained only by
inculcating those higher and nobler conceptions of public and private
duties which lie at the root of all spiritual and material
improvement. In every conceivable case he himself must be a center of
spiritual action, and from him and his own daily individual life must
radiate those higher spiritual forces which alone can regenerate his
fellow-men."

It is the very law of Karma that gives strength to all this. The
individual cannot separate himself from the race, nor the race from
the individual. The law of Karma applies equally to all, although not
all are equally developed. In helping on the development of others,
the Theosophist believes that he is not only helping them to fulfill
their Karma, but that he is also, in the strictest sense, fulfilling
his own.

It is the development of humanity, of which both he and they are
integral parts, that he has always in view, and he knows that any
failure on his part to respond to the highest within him retards not
only himself but all, in their progressive march. By his actions, he
can make it either more difficult or more easy for humanity to attain
the next higher plane of being...

If our present lives depend upon the development of certain principles
which are a growth from the germs left by a previous existence, the
law holds good as regards the future...universal causation is not
merely present, but past, present and future, and every action on our
present plane falls naturally and easily into its true place...every
mean and selfish action sends us backward and not forward, while every
noble thought and every unselfish deed are stepping-stones to the
higher and more glorious planes of being."

If one breaks the laws of Harmony, or,..."the laws of life," one must
be prepared to fall into the chaos one has oneself produced..."the
only conclusion one can come to is that these laws of life are their
own avengers; and consequently that every avenging Angel is only a
typified representation of their re-action."

Karma-Nemesis is no more than the (spiritual) dynamical effect of
causes produced and forces awakened into activity by our own actions.
It is a law of occult dynamics that "a given amount of energy expended
on the spiritual or astral plane is productive of far greater results
than the same amount expended on the physical objective plane of
existence."

This state will last till man's spiritual intuitions are fully
opened... until we begin acting from within instead of ever following
impulses from without, namely those produced by our physical senses
and gross selfish body. Until then the only palliative to the evils
of this life is union and harmony--a Brotherhood in actu, and altruism
not simply in name.

The suppression of one single bad cause will suppress not one, but a
variety of bad effects...still unity in thought and action, and
philosophical research into the mysteries of being, will always
prevent some, while trying to comprehend that which has hitherto
remained to them a riddle, from creating additional causes in a world
already so full of woe and evil..."

There is another view of Universal Brotherhood...That is, that there
is in this world an actual Universal Brotherhood of men and women, of
souls, a brotherhood of being who practice Universal Brotherhood by
always trying to influence the souls of men for their good...This
actual brotherhood of living men says: "Why, men of the West, why
will you so long refuse to believe you are gods? We are your brothers
and we are gods with you. Be then as gods! Believe that you are
gods, and then, after experience and attainment, you will have a place
consciously in the great Brotherhood which governs the entire world,
but cannot go against the law."

This great Brotherhood of living men, living souls, would, if they
could, alter the face of civilization; They would, if they could,
come down and make saints of every one of (us); but evolution is the
law and they cannot violate it; they must wait for (us)...

I do not believe I was born in original sin. I believe that I am
pretty bad, but that potentially I am a god, and I propose to take the
inheritance if it is possible. For what purpose? So that I may help
all the rest to do the same thing, for that is the law of Universal
Brotherhood... We are as gods, and we are only prevented from being so
in fact by our own insanity, ignorance, and fear to take the
position...that Universal Brotherhood is a fact in nature. It is a
fact for the lowest part of nature; for the animal kingdom, for the
vegetable kingdom, and the mineral kingdom.

We are all atoms, obeying the law together. Our denying it does not
disprove it. It simply puts off the day of reward and keeps us
miserable, poor and selfish... All the great ethical teachers of the
world have said: "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you,"
would there (then) be any necessity for legal measures and policemen
with clubs...One of this great Brotherhood has said...all the troubles
of the world would disappear in a moment if men would only do
one-quarter of what they could and what they ought. It is not God who
is to damn you to death, to misery. It is yourself...[this is] the
constitution of matter and of Life as they are, which we can never
understand but by practicing right ethics. Live with each other as
brothers; for the misery and trouble of the world are of more
importance than all the scientific progress that may be imagined.

[Extracts from: Theosophical Glossary, p.146; Friendly Philosopher, p.
307...; Judge: Brotherhood: A Fact in Nature, Articles I,p. 41...;
H.P.B.: Key to Theosophy, p. 233...; Secret Doctrine, Vol. I, p.
644.]
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QUESTIONS and REFLECTIONS


"No man has a right to say that he can do nothing for others, on any
pretext whatever... we have no right to pre-judge a person, not even
if the voice of a whole community should be against him...Our duty is
to sow seeds broadcast for the future, and see they are good; not to
stop to inquire why we should do so...those who will reap the harvest
in days to come will never be ourselves.

[How help ?]

Act individually and not collectively; follow the Northern Buddhist
precepts: "Never put food into the mouth of the hungry by the hand of
another;" "Never let the shadow of they neighbor (a third person)
come between thyself and the object of thy bounty;" "Never give the
Sun time to dry a tear before thou hast wiped it."..."Never give money
to the needy, or food to the priest, who begs at thy door, trough thy
servants, lest the money should diminish gratitude, and thy food turn
to gall."...The Theosophical ideas of charity mean personal exertion
for others; personal mercy and kindness; personal interest in the
welfare of those who suffer; personal sympathy, forethought and
assistance in their troubles and needs ...We believe in relieving the
starvation of the soul, as much if not more than the emptiness of the
stomach; for gratitude does more good to the man who feels it, than
to him for whom it is felt." (244)


[Can the uneducated masses understand your teachings ?]

It does not require metaphysics or education to make a man understand
the
broad truths of Karma and Reincarnation. Look at the millions of poor
uneducated Buddhists and Hindoos, to whom Karma and re-incarnation are
solid realities, simply because their minds have never been cramped
and distorted by being forced into an unnatural groove. They have
never had the innate human sense of justice perverted in them by being
told to believe that their sins would be forgiven because another man
had been put to death for their sakes. And the Buddhists...live up to
their beliefs without a murmur against Karma, or what they regard as a
just punishment; whereas the Christian populace neither lives up to
its moral ideal, nor accepts its lot contentedly. Hence murmuring and
dissatisfaction, and the intensity of the struggle for existence in
Western lands...We see selfishness, crime, immorality, and all the
evils imaginable, pouncing upon unfortunate mankind from (what you
call) an age of progress, and increasing...with the growth of your
material civilization." (Key, p. 246-7)


[Then are the metaphysics and mysticism of no importance ?]

To the masses, who need only practical guidance and support, they are
not of consequence; but for the educated, the natural leaders of the
masses, those whose modes of thought and action will sooner or later
be adopted by those masses, they are of the greatest importance. It
is only by means of the philosophy that an intelligent and educated
man can avoid the intellectual suicide of believing on blind faith;
and it is only by assimilating the strict continuity and logical
coherence of the Eastern...doctrines , that he can realise their
truth. Conviction breeds enthusiasm, and "Enthusiasm," says Bulwer
Lytton, "is the genius of sincerity, and truth accomplishes no
victories without it."...The chief point is, to uproot that most
fertile source of all crime and immorality--the belief that it is
possible for them to escape the consequences of their own actions.
Once teach them that the greatest of all laws, Karma and
Reincarnation, and besides feeling in themselves the true dignity of
human nature, they will turn from evil and eschew it as they would a
physical danger." (KEY TO THEOSOPHY, pp. 244-9)

"There could be no diversity without unity as a basis."
ANS. TO QUEST., P. 63


"True brotherhood includes the least developed as well as the very
highest."
FRIENDLY PHILOSOPHER, p. 363


Why is this the case? ... We have had the theory but not the
practice...has there been something wanting? It is the only doctrine
of [Theosophy], the only thing that any man is asked by us to
subscribe to...The reason that it has not prevailed in practice is
that it has been denied in the heart.

The Theosophist who knows anything about life insists that Universal
Brotherhood is not a mere theory. It is a fact, a living ever present
fact, from which no nation can hope to escape; no man can escape from
it, and every man who violates it violates a law, violates the
greatest law of nature, which will react upon him and make him suffer.
And that is why we have suffering...in all the great cities of the
world [are] masses of people who are claiming with violence what they
call their rights and saying they must have them, and that another
class is oppressing them; and danger lurks in every corner because
men are insisting on Universal Brotherhood. This noble doctrine has
already become a danger... Now, we propose to show you, if we can that
it is a fact.

"...when it rains over a certain area vast numbers of men are affected
similarly...If you examine society you will find that at the same
hour every day almost all the people are doing exactly the same
thing...[rushing to work, rushing to business] all doing the same
thing, one common thought inspiring them. That is one of the
proofs--...in social or business life that they are affected together,
they are all united. Then in the evening they will come home at the
same hour, and ...all eating together and digesting together, and then
later on they are all lying down together at the same hour...go
further still materially and you will find that all men are alike. We
have the same kind of bodies, a little different perhaps in height,
weight, and extension, but as human beings we are all alike...

We know every man and woman has exuding from him or her what is called
perspiration. The doctors will tell you there is a finer perspiration
you cannot see, the invisible perspiration which goes out a short
distance around about us; we know it comes out from every person, and
the emanations of each person are affecting every other person, being
interchanged always. All those in this room are being affected by
these emanations and also by the ideas of each other, and the ideas of
the speakers speaking to you. So it is in every direction; wherever
you go, wherever you look, we are united; in whatever plane, the
plane of the mind as well as the plane of the body; the plane of the
emotions, of the spirit, what not, we are all united, and it is a fact
from which we cannot escape. (WQJ I p. 41-4)

"...science is beginning to admit what the old Theosophists have
always said, that there is going on every minute in every person a
death, a dissolution, a disappearance...it is admitted today by your
best scientific men in every part of Western civilization that you do
not see matter at all; it is only the phenomena of matter we see;
and it is my senses which enable me to perceive these phenomena. It
is not matter at all and we do not see matter...there is constant
change in matter so-called, that is this table is in motion...every
molecule is separate from every other and there is space in between
them, and they are moving. So it is with every man; he is made of
atoms and they are in motion...the atoms are alive, constantly moving,
coming and going from one person to another; and this is the modern
doctrine today ...the momentary dissolution of atoms... I am losing,
all of you in this room are losing a certain number of atoms, but they
are being replaced by other atoms...from the people in this room.
These atoms help rebuild your body as well as the food you eat. And
we are exuding atoms from our minds, and we are receiving into
ourselves the atoms other men have used... So these atoms leave us in
a stream and rush into other people. And therefore the atoms of good
men go into bad men, the atoms impressed by bad men go into good
men... In that way as well as others we are affecting everybody in
this world; and the people...who are living mean, selfish lives are
impressing these invisible atoms with mean and selfish characters, and
these mean and selfish atoms will be distributed by other men, and by
you again to your and their detriment. That is another phase of
Universal Brotherhood. It teaches us to be careful to see that we use
and keep the atoms in our charge in such a conditions that they shall
benefit others to whom they shall go."


"Every living creature, of whatever description, was, is, or will
become a human being in one or another Manvantara." HPB --
TRANSACTIONS, p. 23


"...every man has a god within, a direct ray from the Absolute, the
celestial ray from the One...he has his "god" within, not outside of
himself.
HPB -- TRANSACTIONS, p. 53


"He must think of himself as an infinitesimal something, not even as
an individual atom, but as part of the world-atoms as a whole, or
become an illusion, a nobody, and vanish like a breath, leaving no
trace behind. As illusions we are separate distinct bodies, living in
masks furnished by Maya. Can we claim one single atom in our bodies
as distinctly our own? everything, from spirit to the tiniest
particle, is part of the whole, at best a link. Break a single link
and all passes into annihilation; but this is impossible.
There is a series of vehicles becoming more and more gross, from
spirit to the densest matter, so that with each step downward and
outward we get more and more the sense of separateness developed in
us. Yet this is illusory, for if there were a real and complete
separation between any two human beings, they could not communicate
with, or understand each other in any way."
HPB -- TRANSACTIONS, p. 138



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SOME IDEAS ON HUMAN SOLIDARITY:


1. Where does the idea of human solidarity arise ? Humanity derives
its "spirit", as individual, from the universal one spirit.


2. Human body, or form, is made up of imperishable atoms. as a form
it can be destroyed, or rather dispersed.


3. When the body dies, or is killed, the spirit, plus the experience
acquired, are together transferred in time into another body.
(reincarnation, or rebirth)


4. The general purpose of all evolution is for the matter to be
refined by experience. this is provided by reincarnation. matter,
or form, provides mind or soul, with a plane of life and work, where
this process can proceed in a regular and lawful manner.


5. The laws of evolution and of refinement of the human mind/soul
are exact and are sensitive to all acts, feelings and thoughts.


6. We receive back as circumstances, from birth to death, exactly
what we have put into our living and treating of others.


7. Nature is sensitive and aware of our acts, thoughts and feelings,
and returns to us exactly what we have put out. if we do good, we
receive good. if we think and do evil, even secretly, we receive the
same back.


8. Everyone reacts on everyone else and on his environment,
especially on his own body, which is closest to his mind/soul. in
this way everything is welded into one unit.


9. The quicker we understand this, the quicker will we take up the
work of improving our own selves.


10. As we improve ourselves and our attitudes we will automatically
reach out to others to assist; and to treat them as our companions
and brothers, as co-pilgrims on the path of life.


11. The ultimate goal is to learn to understand all the universe - in
all its variety, diversity and true spiritual meaning.


12. This all begins with human solidarity.

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(from the writings of H.P.Blavatsky, W. Q. Judge and R. Crosbie)


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