Theos-Talk Archives (September 2003 Message tt00138)

Dear Adelasie

<<<these teachings
come from the Masters, who have done exactly that, gained control
over all nature's finer forces.>>>

It depends on what "nature's finer forces" means, and what they are. Is
working with those forces the same as gaining control over them?

<<<By living
the Golden Rule strictly, by gaining control of their lower natures
absolutely, by practicing altruism with perfect devotion.>>>

This is how HPB puts it in "Occultism versus the Occult Arts:"

"It is only when the power of the passions is dead altogether, and when they
have been crushed and annihilated in the retort of an unflinching will; when
not only all the lusts and longings of the flesh are dead, but also the
recognition of the personal Self is killed out and the "astral" has been
reduced in consequence to a cipher, that the Union with the "Higher Self"
can take place. Then when the "Astral" reflects only the conquered man, the
still living but no more the longing, selfish personality, then the
brilliant Augoeides, the divine SELF, can vibrate in conscious harmony with
both the poles of the human Entity--the man of matter purified, and the ever
pure Spiritual Soul--and stand in the presence of the MASTER SELF, the
Christos of the mystic Gnostic, blended, merged into, and one with IT
forever."

Apologies for sounding blunt, but "gaining control" comes over as lower
nature and dugpa orientated. If we gain control over those lower passions
we can then use them (and unwittingly or otherwise be used by them), but
"when they have been crushed and annihilated in the retort of an unflinching
will"...we no longer have those desires and passions, and therefore can't
use them, and can no longer be touched by them.
Best wishes
Tony





-----Original Message-----
From: adelasie [mailto:adelasie@surfari.net]
Sent: 16 September 2003 8:46 pm
To: theos-talk@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: Theos-World just a daydream


Hi Eddy,

Your comments are very wise. What use indeed to memorize literature
if we don't attempt to put its lessons to work in our daily lives? As
far as I am able to determine, that is the very point of theosophy,
and of all the world's great teachings. After all, these teachings
come from the Masters, who have done exactly that, gained control
over all nature's finer forces. And how did they do that? By living
the Golden Rule strictly, by gaining control of their lower natures
absolutely, by practicing altruism with perfect devotion. We have a
long way to go to attain such accomplishment, but there is no time
like the present to begin. And more may depend upon our making a
beginning, and continuing to the best of our ability, than we could
possibly imagine.

All the best,
Adelasie