Theos-Talk Archives (April 2003 Message tt00000)

Tuesday, April 01, 2003

Dear Jesse:

I think in the light of Theosophy we have to look on the
unrolling of events as an opportunity to see Karma developing --
both individual and national. Cataclysms, such as wars, floods,
earthquakes, etc bring the philosophy to a focus for such effort.
Is this Universe and world ONE ? Is there a set of universal and
intransgressible laws that rule everything? If so, where do we
and humanity stand ? Have we been missing something?

Everything, and event, near or far, is a kind of test -- and we
are students watching, seeking to learn more, and meanwhile,
testing the information we receive in and through our lives and
those of others to find out if Theosophy describes the parameters
of existence on a living stage. Does it supply links that our
ordinary education has not made plain to us ?

We also are examining ourselves to see if the description of our
natures as seven-fold beings may be true. Are we choosers? Do
the actions and words we initiate eventually return to us as
circumstances (good or bad) in life ?

It is a splendid opportunity for self-development if we are able
to detach ourselves from our own inclinations and prejudices and
be impartial. But that is not easy. In this we can make
ourselves participants in the pleasures and woes of individuals
and the “world.” But even this capacity will not be satisfactory
unless we are able to make some application personally to
ourselves and our way of living. Will it?

The operative agent for the true SELF within, the MONAD
(Atma-Buddhi) is Manas -- the Mind. Specifically, it is
Buddhi-Manas -- the wise-mind.

It looks on our embodied mind (Kama-Manas -- the mind enveloped
in desires) as its “son.”

This is ourselves as Kama-manasic entities -- desire-minds. It
is involved in the” here and now” of our lives, and mixed with
our desires. We can set those aside and for an instant we can
consider an ideal situation. Paint an image of what that would
be if we were to take certain steps. Do we want idealism? Do we
want everyone to share in wisdom equally? Are we certain? Are we
able? Are we sure of the principles involved ?

Our “species” is that of a physical body highly adapted and
refined, living in an environment which given a chance, would
stimulate the virtues to be understood logically, and then
adopted as a common way of life. Unfortunately for most of us,
we have been cut off at an early age from a clear view of virtue
in operation. We don’t even know how many virtues there are or
whether they are valid. “Virtues” are called “paramitas” in
Hindu philosophy --you will find them enumerated in the VOICE OF
THE SILENCE at the beginning of the 3rd “fragment.” If you have
a copy of THE LIGHT OF ASIA (on the Buddha) by Sir Edwin Arnold,
you will find the enumerated again (read Book Sixth).Book the
Eighth gives still more detail. It is valuable to know these.

It seems to me that we need to discover those, analyse them and
become familiar with their effects if applied. Only our Higher
Mind ( Buddhi-Manas) can do that if we ( the Kama-Manas --
embodied mind) allows it.

Two books make this clearer for me: the VOICE OF THE SILENCE and
PATANJALI'S YOGA SUTRAS . I hope you have them.

Best wishes,

Dallas

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

-----Original Message-----
From: Jesse B
Sent: Monday, March 31, 2003 3:18 PM
To:
Subject: [bn-study] in these times

These are indeed truly turbulent times in the world. It is clear
that humanity is being shaped though how exactly is not fully
disclosed. In the eyes of the Creator I can only imagine what
the whole of our species and the changes taking place within Us
actually look like. The only solace, I feel, is found in the
faith that the world is continually being shaped for the good. I
try to take refuge daily in this belief, though from inside the
storm, it often seems bleak. I have held as conviction for some
time now that the only way to be of any service to the world is
first to open oneself to the larger sentiments of It. This is to
say that I have maintained the beleief that unless one can feel
the pain of the world, they cannot hope to be a part of it's joy.
These times are full of pain and uncertainty and we all approach
the current global events from our own levels of perception and
knowledge.! For some, these are times of patriotism and
nationalism, for others, these are times of contempt for the
domineering regimes of certain countries, be them the US, Iraq...
I figure my question is, to what ends is our species being
reshaped in this time... how do others see the current events and
to what ends do others think that these events will a/effect the
course of our civilization and our species? Will this too pass,
or are we nearing an event horizon that will lead to another
paradigm shift in our world? Are these exciting times or dismal
times? I guess this is my question.

Regards,
Jesse


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