Theos-Talk Archives (April 2006 Message tt00164)

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

  INFORMATION  AND DIS-INFORMATION ALONG THE PATH

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo


Friends,

Having information is not the same as having consciousness.

Our age is an age of  excessive information -- and lack of consciousness.  
Radio, television, newspapers,  magazines and internet are all sources  of 
both information and pseudo-information which often turn it more difficult, 
and not easier,  for citizens to make the right decisions in life.

In the esoteric community, the management of information is also an issue.  
It is not always easy to have the best information possible,  in the right 
quantity,  or to preserve our ability  to manage and process informations  
independently,  preserving  inner silence and the intellectual liberty to be 
creative.

It is relatively  easy nowadays to find lots of books on the spiritual path, 
 both good and bad, in the Internet.

Yet -- what is the purpose of such an extraordinary amount of information 
around us?

Information is only useful when it serves a purpose in  life. Information,  
in itself,  is less important than the motives which make us search for it.

“Seek and your will find”, says  the New Testament (Matthew 7:7.).

Such is  the karma law. Exactly as we seek , thus we  will find.  If we look 
for information on esoteric philosophy with an open mind and a clean heart, 
we get the corresponding level of information. If we seek it  with a 
superficial and vain curiosity, we will have the proper harvest according to 
the energy patterns with which we search.

On the other hand, it is important to see what we DO about the information.  
Do we carefully consider it? Do we meditate on it, and are  we inspired by 
it?  Do we act according to it in our daily lives?

In the New Testament,  the Master says:

“Do not  throw your pearls to the pigs -- they will only trample them 
underfoot.” (Matthew 7: 6)   And this means that as we give information to  
others, we should  take responsibility, at least in part, for the result of 
that sharing of thought and ideas.  Are others prepared to hear?

Avoiding an excess of information is important to preserve one’s ability to 
actually live according to what he  learns.

About the need to link our thoughts and  words to actual actions, the New 
Testament says:

“Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord’ and yet don’t do what I tell you?  Anyone 
who comes to me and listens to my words, and obeys them -- I will show you 
what he is like.   He is like a man who, in building his house, dug deep and 
laid  the foundations on rock.  The river overflowed and hit that house but 
could not shake it, because it was well built.  But anyone who hears my 
words and does not obey them is like a man who built his house without 
laying a foundation; when the flood hit that house it fell at once -- and 
what a terrible crash that was!” (Luke 6: 46-49)

Of  course for the student of philosophy there is no blind obedience here -- 
only an effort to act according to the ideals he freely chose to himself.

As one understands the direct, unavoidable connection between Theosophy and 
Ethics --  between Right Vision and Right Action --,  one will naturally pay 
greater attention to the quality and to the rhythm in which one absorbs 
information about Philosophy or  the Art of Living -- and other kinds of 
information too.

What’s the alternative, then, to the danger of excessive information 
becoming pseudo-information,  and
actually dis-information?

The “World Goodwill Newsletter” says:

“Part of the answer may be the deliberate attempt to limit our consumption 
of media  -- for instance, to go on periodic television  and/or internet 
fasts.  This right to be ‘uninformed’, at times of our own choosing,  is 
important, if we are to reach a point of inner silence through prayer and 
meditation. It is this inner silence that allows us to receive subtle 
impressions from higher sources of light  and love.  Yet over-indulgence in 
this  would carry the risk of cutting us off from humanity completely: 
spiritual visions that do not help create solutions to planetary problems 
are a luxury that we cannot afford.  Somehow, the server must learn to stand 
poised  between the two realms, of lower information that can confuse the 
mind and emotions, and of higher inspiration that clarifies and redeems; for 
it is only by acting as a bridge between the two that the higher light can 
dispel the illusions and confusions of  the lower realm.” (1)


Best regards,


Carlos Cardoso Aveline



NOTE:

(1) “World Goodwill Newsletter”,  Number 01, 2006. Website: 
www.worldgoodwill.org.  “World Goodwill” is an worldwide citizen’s 
organization  inspired  by Alice Bailey’s philosophy.  It cooperates with 
the United Nations system, stimulating universal brotherhood and planetary 
cooperation. Its Newsletter is edited by the Lucis Trust, New York.


oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

_________________________________________________________________
COPA 2006: Enfeite o seu MSN Messenger de verde e amarelo! 
http://copa.br.msn.com/extra/emoticons/