Theos-Talk Archives (January 2004 Message tt00045)

Jan. 5 2003

 

The Karma of life and death – mercy and compassion – 

How? When?

 

 

Dear Friend:

 

 

Thinking over your specific example of karmic involvement, I would say
that the Buddha had the best answer in the early incident that occurred
in his life when his cousin shot a free swan, and the Buddha saved it.

 

You will find it at the end of the 1st Book in Sir Edwin Arnold’s THE
LIGHT OF ASIA ( p. 10 in my book)

 

-----------------

 

In the Royal garden on a day of spring,
A flock of wild swans passed, voyaging north
To their nest-places on Himâla's breast.
Calling in love-notes down their snowy line
The bright birds flew, by fond love piloted;
And Devadatta, cousin of the Prince,
Pointed his bow, and loosed a wilful shaft
Which found the wide wing of the foremost swan
Broad-spread to glide upon the free blue road,
So that it fell, the bitter arrow fixed,
Bright scarlet blood-gouts staining the pure plumes.


Which seeing, Prince Siddârtha took the bird
Tenderly up, rested it in his lap --
Sitting with knees crossed, as Lord Buddha sits --
And, soothing with a touch the wild thing's fright,
Composed its ruffled vans, calmed its quick heart,
Caressed it into peace with light kind palms
As soft as plantain-leaves an hour unrolled;
And while the left hand held, the right hand drew
The cruel steel forth from the wound and laid
Cool leaves and healing honey on the smart.
Yet all so little knew the boy of pain
That curiously into his wrist he pressed
The arrow's barb, and winced to feel it sting,
And turned with tears to soothe his bird again. 

Then some one came who said, "My Prince hath shot
A swan, which fell among the roses here,
He bids me pray you send it. Will you send?"


"Nay," quoth Siddârtha, "if the bird were dead
To send it to the slayer might be well,
But the swan lives; my cousin hath but killed
The god-like speed which throbbed in this white Wing."


And Devadatta answered, "The wild thing,
Living or dead, is his who fetched it down;
'Twas no man's in the clouds, but fall'n 'tis mine,
Give me my prize, fair Cousin." 

Then our Lord
Laid the swan's neck beside his own smooth cheek
And gravely spake, "Say no! the bird is mine,
The first of myriad things which shall be mine
By right of mercy and love's lordliness.


For now I know, by what within me stirs,
That I shall teach compassion unto men
And be a speechless world's interpreter,
Abating this accursed flood of woe,
Not man's alone; but, if the Prince disputes,
Let him submit this matter to the wise
And we will wait the word." 

So was it done;
In full divan the business had debate,
And many thought this thing and many that,
Till there arose an unknown priest who said,


"If life be aught, the savior of a life
Owns more the living thing than he can own
Who sought to slay -- the slayer spoils and wastes
The cherisher sustains, give him the bird:"


Which judgment all found just; but when the King
Sought out the sage for honor, he was gone;
And some one saw a hooded snake glide forth, --
The gods come ofttimes thus! So our Lord Buddh
Began his works of mercy. 

--------------------------------

 

And later in Book Fifth we read: (p. 84-6)

 

But Buddha softly said,


"Let him not strike, great King!" and therewith loosed
The victim's bonds, none staying him, so great
His presence was. 

 

Then, craving leave, he spake
Of life, which all can take but none can give,
Life, which all creatures love and strive to keep,
Wonderful, dear and pleasant unto each,
Even to the meanest; yea, a boon to all
Where pity is, for pity makes the world
Soft to the weak and noble for the strong.


Unto the dumb lips of his flock he lent
Sad pleading words, showing how man, who prays
For mercy to the gods, is merciless,
Being as god to those; albeit all life
Is linked and kin, and what we slay have given
Meek tribute of the milk and wool, and set
Fast trust upon the hands which murder them.


Also he spake of what the holy books
Do surely teach, how that at death some sink
To bird and beast, and these rise up to man
In wanderings of the spark which grows purged flame.
So were the sacrifice new sin, if so
The fated passage of a soul be stayed.


Nor, spake he, shall one wash his spirit clean
By blood; nor gladden gods, being good, with blood;
Nor bribe them, being evil; nay, nor lay
Upon the brow of innocent bound beasts
One hair's weight of that answer all must give
For all things done amiss or wrongfully,
Alone, each for himself, reckoning with that
The fixed arithmic of the universe,
Which meteth good for good and ill for ill,
Measure for measure, unto deeds, words, thoughts;
Watchful, aware, implacable, unmoved;
Making all futures fruits of all the pasts.


Thus spake he, breathing words so piteous
With such high lordliness of ruth and right,
The priests drew back their garments o'er the hands
Crimsoned with slaughter, and the King came near,
Standing with clasped palms reverencing Buddh;


While still our Lord went on, teaching how fair 
This earth were if all living things be linked 
In friendliness and common use of foods, 
Bloodless and pure; the golden grain, bright fruits, 
Sweet herbs which grow for all, the waters wan, 
Sufficient drinks and meats.

Which when these heard, 
The might of gentleness so conquered them,
The priests themselves scattered their altar-flames 
And flung away the steel of sacrifice;


And through the land next day passed a decree 
Proclaimed by criers, and in this wise graved 
On rock and column: 

"Thus the King's will is: --
There hath been slaughter for the sacrifice 
And slaying for the meat, but henceforth none 
Shall spill the blood of life nor taste of flesh, 
Seeing that knowledge grows, and life is one, 
And mercy cometh to the merciful."



----------------------------------------

 

It appears every incident in one’s life brings a test concerning
compassion – that wisdom which gives to others and takes from none. The
devising of a trap is inferior in Karmic merit to the saving of an
impotent victim. THEOSOPHY teaches we are in essence immortals – as are
all other beings. How should we, as immortals behave? Let us think on
this and suppose: 

We need to, can we view all living as though we were all immortals who
will inevitably meet again – to be again confronted by those whiom we
damn or those whom we succor? Would we rather not have friends than
foes?

To my mind succoring the mice is the first step in exercising pity. The
second is in preventing a return of the mice to a place where they are
not wanted. This can be done by removing enticement. All peasants know
this, but some are lazy and kill the mice.

Any incident around us shows how our Karma is manifesting. Are we
responsive to it?

We could widen the vista by asking ourselves why we so seldom visit
slaughter houses and witness the stone hearted treatment of those beasts
that have already provided us with many of our foods and vestments, and
now must give up their lives to satisfy a taste for meat. Hardly a
compassionate treatment, or thanks for long service and slavery in some
cases.

Best wishes,

 

Dallas

 

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

-----Original Message-----
From: L.R. A
Sent: Sunday, January 04, 2004 8:00 PM
To: 
Subject: THEOSOPHICAL NEW YEAR January 4, 2004

 

Dallas, I'm sure you have a lot to do. A small matter: someone was
discussing recently different types of karma. Say one finds dead mice
who perished in those sticky glue devices. The little critters
apparently go to their next stage slowly, in a tortuous manner, biting
their little limbs off in a vain attempt to free themselves. If that
causes the observer and others around him distress, should he interfere
with the mices' little karma? Should he if he can find a way to get rid
of the mice quickly, with a device that kills them instantly?

 

Many thanks. Happy New Year

 

L.R.

Dallas TenBroeck <dalval14@earthlink.net> wrote:




JANUARY 4 2004


The Theosophical NEW YEAR



THOUGHTS PAST AND PRESENT


"The question is always naturally asked "What is the Path?" or "What is
the Philosophy?" which is the same thing, for of course the following of
any path whatever will depend upon the particular philosophy or
doctrines believed in. The path we had in view is held by us to be the
same one which in all ages had been sought by Heathen, Jew and Christian
alike. By some called the path to Heaven, by others the path to Jesus,
the path to Nirvana, and by the Theosophists the path to Truth. Jesus
has defined it as a narrow, difficult and straight path. By the ancient
Brahmins it has been called, "the small old path leading far away on
which those sages walk who reach salvation"; and Buddha thought it was a
noble fourfold path by which alone! the miseries of existence can be
truly surmounted.

But of course mental diversities inevitably cause diversity in the
understanding of any proposition. Thus it happens that Theosophists have
many different views of how the path should be followed, but none of
them disagree with the statement that there must be one Truth, and that
no religion can be called higher that Truth. We therefore have pursued,
as far as possible, a course which is the result of the belief that the
prevalence of similar doctrines in the writings and traditions of all
peoples point to the fact that the true religion is that one which will
find the basic ideas common to all philosophies and religions.

We turned most readily and frequently to the simple declarations found
in the ancient books of India, esteeming most highly that wonderful epic
poem - the Bhagavad-Gita. And in that is found a verse that seems to
truly express in powerful words what philosopher! s have been blindly
grasping after in many directions.

"It is even a portion of myself (the Supreme) that in this material
world is the universal spirit of all things. It draweth together the
five organs and the mind, which is the sixth, in order that it may
obtain a body, and that it may leave it again; and that portion of
myself (Ishwar) having taken them under his charge, accompanieth them
from his own abode as the breeze the fragrance from the flower."(1)

To catch the light which gleams through this verse, is not for mortal
minds an easy task, and thus it becomes necessary to present as many
views from all minds as can be obtained. But is seems plain that in
every religion is found the belief that that part of man which is
immortal must be a part of the Supreme Being, for there cannot be two
immortalities at once, since that would give to each a ginning, and
therefore the immortal portion of man must be derived from the true an!
d
only immortality.

This immortal spark has manifested itself in many different classes of
men, giving rise to all the varied religions, many of which have forever
disappeared from view. Not any one of them could have been the whole
Truth, but each must have presented one of the facettes of the great
gem, and thus through the whole surely run ideas shared by all. These
common ideas point to truth. 

They grow out of man's inner nature and are not the result of revealed
books. But some one people or another must have paid more attention to
the deep things of life that another. The "Christian" nations have
dazzled themselves with the baneful glitter of material progress. They
are not the peoples who will furnish the clearest clues to the Path. A
few short years and they will have abandoned the systems now held so
dear, because their mad rush to the perfection of their civilization
will give them control over now undreamed of forces. T! hen will come
the
moment when they must choose which of two kinds of fruit they will take.
In the meantime it is well to try and show a relation between their
present system and the old, or at least to pick out what grains of truth
are in the mass. 

In the year just passing [written in 1877] we have been cheered by much
encouragement from without and within. Theosophy has grown not only in
ten years, but during the year past. A new fate is not far away. The
huge, unwieldy flower of the 19th century civilization, has almost fully
bloomed, and preparation must be made for the wonderful new flower which
is to rise from the old. 

We have not pinned our faith on Vedas nor Christian scriptures, nor
desired any others to do so. All our devotion to Aryan literature and
philosophy arises from a belief that the millions of minds who have
trodden weary steps before ours, left a path which might be followed
with profit, yet with discriminatio! n. For we implicitly believe that
in
this curve of the cycle, the final authority is the man himself. 

In former times the disclosed Vedas, and later, the teachings of the
great Buddha, were the right authority, in whose authoritative teachings
and enjoined practices were found the necessary steps to raise Man to an
upright position. 

But the grand clock of the Universe points to another hour, and now Man
must seize the key in his hands and himself - as a whole - open the
gate. Hitherto he has depended upon the great souls whose hands have
stayed impending doom. Let us then together enter upon another year,
fearing nothing, assured of strength in the Union of Brotherhood. For
how can we fear death, or life, or any horror or evil, at any place or
time, when we well know that even death itself is part of the dream
which we are weaving before our eyes.

Our belief may be summed up in the motto of the Theosophical Society,
"There is! no religion higher than Truth," and our practice consists in
a
disregard of any authority in matters of religion and philosophy except
such propositions as from their innate quality we feel to be true.
[extracts from W Q Judge A YEAR ON THE PATH]

------------------------------------


THE UNIVERSAL SCOPE OF EVOLUTION -- HPB



"Thus far, for individual, human, sentient, animal and vegetable life,
each the microcosm of its higher macrocosm. 

The same for the Universe, which manifests periodically, for purposes of
the collective progress of the countless lives, the outbreaking of the
One *Life*; in order that through the *Ever-Becoming*, every cosmic atom
in this infinite Universe, passing from the formless and the intangible,
through the mixed natures of the semi-terrestrial, down to matter in
full generation, and then back again, reascending at each new period
higher and nearer the final goal; that each atom, we ! say, *may reach
through individual merits and efforts that plane where it re-becomes the
one unconditioned ALL. 

But between the Alpha and the Omega there is the weary "Road" hedged in
by thorns, that "goes down first, then -- 

"Winds up hill all the way...

Yes, to the very end..." 

(SecretDoctrine Vol I page 268.)

------------------------







[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]