Theos-Talk Archives (November 2006 Message tt00602)

Friends,
 
 
One or two persons may think that intentions are not important in life, or in esoteric philosophy.  
 
But the idea is wrong,  and ultimately harmful to those who feed it.  
 
Motives and intentions are the rudder by which we determine the course of our lives.  Because of that,  the observation and ?purification? of our real  and deeper intentions is considered to be of extreme importance in the path of self-knowledge.   
 
It should be no surprise, then, that as Masters evaluate students,  they judge them us by their motives. 
 
In the ?Mahatma Letters? (an extraordinary volume in terms of wisdom),  one can read these two  stimulating sentences,   in a  text  specifically addressed to Alfred Sinnett: 
 
?(....) Let not your too sensitive heart be troubled, or your imagination lead you to suppose that one single word of what I have now said is meant  to convey a reproach. We, half savage Asiatics judge man by his motives, and yours were all that  is sincere and good.? (1) 
 
Such a topic has extreme importance in every learning process,  and it can  be found several times in the Mahatma Letters.  In another moment, it is expressed in a more emphatic way:
 
?We, my dear sirs, always judge men by their motives and the moral effects of their actions: for the world?s false standards and prejudice we have no respect.? (2) 
 
In another letter, while examining the apparent mistakes of a disciple,  the Master writes: 
 
?Motive is everything and man is punished in a case of direct responsibility, never otherwise.? (3)
 
Masters saw that it was difficult to convey  such an idea to Western minds:  
 
?Alas, my friends, I am very much afraid that our respective standards of  right and wrong will never agree, since motive is everything with us, and that you will never go beyond appearances.? (4) 
 
Abstract  good motives may be a good  start, as they play the role of a  rudder and change the course of a boat, so to say, for the better.  But such a symbolic boat must be  put in actual movement, too, and that is guaranteed by practical actions.  
 
To use another symbol, the trees of karma are eventually assessed by  their fruits. The Master says to Mr. Sinnett: 
 
?I know your motives are sincere and true, and that a real change, in the right direction, has come over you,  though even to yourself that change is imperceptible. And ? the chiefs know it too. But, say they ? motives  are vapours, as attenuated as the atmospheric moisture: and, as the latter develops its inner dynamic energy for man?s use only when concentrated and applied as steam or hydraulic power, so  the practical value of good motives is best seen when they take the form of deeds. (5) 
 
The conclusion is that, as one thinks of  the learning process in esoteric philosophy, the good quality of our motives ?is everything?.  In due  time, one can be confident that sincere good motives will unavoidably provoke and inspire right actions.   
 
Best regards,   Carlos. 
 
 
NOTES
 
(1) ?Mahatma Letters to A.P. Sinnett?, Theosophical University Press,  Pasadena, CA, USA, 1992, 494 pp., see letter  XXVII, p . 206. 
 
(2) ?Mahatma Letters to A.P. Sinnett?, Pasadena, CA,  Letter LXXXI, p. 386. 
 
(3) ?Mahatma Letters to A.P. Sinnett?, Pasadena, Letter XXc, p. 132. 
 
(4) ?Mahatma Letters to A.P. Sinnett?, Pasadena, Letter LIV, p. 311. 
 
(5) ?Mahatma Letters to A.P. Sinnett?, Pasadena, Letter VII, p. 25. 


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