Theos-Talk Archives (November 2004 Message tt00103)

Nov 10 2004

Dear Gopi:

Please consider this:


DEITY / GOD SURROUNDS US


If GOD is UNIVERSAL then we are never separate from God.

If GOD IS EVERYWHERE and we are INSIDE GOD.

GOD and the UNIVERSE are one. All BEINGS are aspects and part of the 
ONE UNIVERSAL GOD.


Sri Krishna states to Arjuna that HE is inside each of us.  

[ I am the Ego seated in the Heart of ALL BEINGS.] Chapter X Verse 20.
[See also in Chapter 11, Verse 7.]



I think we read and do not understand --- or do we mistrust Sri Krishna?

If we do not perceive IT [GOD] then why?

How did such a condition arise?

How is it that we are confused and do not know we are all "Gods?"

How is it that we think we are separate from God -- especially if GOD 
is UNIVERSAL ?

This is a paradox hard for me to resolve. What has happened to our 
minds to become clouded with Kama and desires?

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

The SECRET DOCTRINE explains why:


"It is a strange law of Nature, that on this plane, the higher (Spiritual) 
Nature should be, so to say, in bondage to the lower. 

Unless the Ego takes refuge in the Atman, the ALL-SPIRIT, and 
merges entirely into the essence thereof, the personal Ego may goad it 
to the bitter end...

That which propels towards, and forces evolution, i.e., compels the growth 
and development of Man towards perfection, is 

(a) the MONAD, or that which acts in it unconsciously through a force 
inherent in itself; and 

(b) the lower astral body or the personal SELF...

unless the higher Self or EGO gravitates towards 
its Sun--the Monad--the lower Ego, or personal Self, will have the upper 
hand in every case. 

For it is this Ego, with its fierce Selfishness and animal desire to live a 
Senseless life (Tanha), which is "the maker of the tabernacle" as 
Buddha calls it...the Atman alone warms the inner man; i.e., it 
enlightens it with the ray of divine life and alone is able to impart to 
the inner man, or the reincarnating Ego, its immortality."
SD II 109-110

Here is another view to think about


THEOSOPHY : HUMAN SOLIDARITY

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

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.

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


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.]

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


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


 
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.

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

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


Best wishes, always,

Dallas
 
===========================================
-----Original Message-----
From: Gopi Chari 
Sent: Wednesday, November 10, 2004 5:42 AM
To: dalval14@e...
Cc: theosophia@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [theosophia] 129 YEARS OF THEOSOPHY REMEMBERED


Hello Dallas,

Brotherhood and 'Brothers' are interesting terms. 


I wonder if it is a product of the term 'Our Father' (Father Mother in
Aramaic. Please note
that Jesus did not say 'My Father.' 


So we are all the children and again English translation changed it to Son.
Son is the term that is actor. So it is Him (Him / Her) in reality.

Do you see if that is the origin?

Gopi