Untitled Document

FROM June 2009, THROUGH September 2011

JUNE 2009 Theosophical Independence

What Ought We to Do?

In the last chapter of “The Bhagavad-Gita,” Krishna instructs Arjuna to “act as seemeth best unto thee.” This phrase could be adopted as the motto of all those aspiring to Theosophical independence. However, five-thousand years later we are still asking “what ought we to do?” Our western philosophers are not much help since they can’t seem to agree on universal ethical principles or even if such general principles exist.

Our moral intuition often helps us recognize that a particular action is morally good or morally wrong. However, we often have to make decisions between actions that
arouse conflicting moral intuitions. For example, Arjuna is conflicted between having to regain his kingdom which seems morally good to him and having to kill his former friends, teachers, and relatives which seems morally wrong to him. At this point, he can’t evaluate the situation on the basis of his moral intuitions alone. He needs general ethical principles which Krishna patiently discloses to him. Having general ethical principles should be very important because they help one identify an action as morally good or morally wrong and therefore to know what to do in the face of a moral dilemma.

Are there universal ethical principles that can be applied in any situation? Ethical theorists respond to this question in three ways. The philosophical position that there are no ethical values that are true for all people at all times is called Ethical Relativism. What one ought to do can only be assessed in relation to one’s wishes and aspirations, or in relation to the particular culture to which one belongs. On the other hand, Ethical Objectivism is the position that there are some universal moral truths. These truths exist independent of our relative individual and cultural moral judgments. Since Moral Objectivism can’t identify any one ethical principle that is true everywhere, for all people, at all times, some philosophers hold to the position of Moral Pluralism which states moral truth consists of multiple factors that each contribute to our understanding of moral reality, but do not individually embrace the whole truth. The four western schools of moral theory each embrace one of these factors. As we shall see, Theosophy synthesizes these four theories and shows how each has its place in the whole.

The Divine Command Moral Theory proposes that an action is morally right if it is in harmony with God’s commands. Those who hold to this principle believe that God is the creator of moral rules. They tend to judge their moral intuitions and actions on the basis of a code of moral conduct handed down by this God or a divinely inspired being. Divine Command Moral Theory is primarily religion based. Restated Theosophically, this approach would evaluate any proposed action on the basis of its harmony with universal unity and the spiritual identity of all beings. Such actions are guided by a realization that universal brotherhood is a fact in nature and that the spiritual Self of each is one with the spiritual SELF of all.

The Utilitarian Theory proposes that an action is morally right if it produces overall well-being and happiness. John Stuart Mill was one of the best known proponents of this approach. Those who believe that human happiness is the ultimate good hold to this theory. They also believe that actions have to be judged in relation to their consequences for producing happiness or misery. Theosophically understood, this principle is the law of ethical causation. Any action that maintains or restores harmony where it has been disturbed is productive of the highest human happiness and well-being and is morally good. Those actions that disturb the harmony in nature are morally wrong and are productive of suffering and dis-ease. In this light, Utilitarian Theory is scientifically based.

Deontology proposes that an action is morally right if the motive behind the action is good. The German philosopher, Immanuel Kant, developed this moral theory. It is called Deontology because it is based on the concept of duty. This theory proposes that good will has the highest moral value. It is not necessary to produce happiness all the time to be morally right. We are morally good, not because our efforts succeed in making the largest number of people happy, but because we try as hard as we can to perform our highest duty of good will to others. The other aspect of Kant’s theory is that moral rules are universal and are binding for all rational beings equally. He called this principle the “categorical imperative.” Another aspect of this principle is that we always respect the autonomy of another individual. Treat yourself and the other as an end in itself, not as a means to an end. Deontology is primarily motive-based. In the light of Theosophy, one altruistically performs those acts which are rightfully due to all beings and abandons all selfish personal interest in whether one’s efforts succeed or fail.

Virtue-based Theory is not concerned with rules, consequences or motives. It emphasizes the role of the thinker as the agent in moral judgment. The emphasis here is on improving moral character and identifying what constitutes high moral character. Those who hold to this position ask “What sort of person ought I to be?” or “What sort of person ought I to become?” An act is judged to be morally right if an agent who had all the virtues would have performed the action. They might ask themselves what would Jesus or Buddha do. This approach is based on the ideal of human moral perfectibility and is therefore evolution-based. A theosophist might try to imagine how a perfected human being, who understands universal truths, might act in the same circumstance.

Theosophy teaches that universal moral truth exists and provides one with universal principles to understand why they exist and how they can be discovered. Yet it regards every thinking self-conscious being capable of free-will and choice as an independent moral agent who must acquire this knowledge through effort. In the course of this moral evolution, the thinker will adopt, hold, and discard many relative moral truths. The self-realization of the principles of Deity, Law, and Evolution as taught in Theosophy are our best guide along the way.

Theosophical Movement November 2008
“Patanjali points out that all knowledge rests in three things— pratyaksha, anuman and pramana, i.e., Perception, Inference and Testimony. First is what one sees for himself, i.e., one’s own perception. How do we know that we exist? Do we know because others tell us or by inference from what goes on about us? First and foremost we know it by self-perception. As Descartes says: “I think, therefore I am.” But, knowing that our perceptions are not infallible, we compare notes with others. We go to another and if he also says that he sees what we see then that becomes evidence. We then try to corroborate our perception with ten or twenty other people and if their perceptions agree with our perception, then it becomes testimony. From our own perception combined with the testimony of others’ perception, we draw a conclusion, which we call inference. Though our theoretical knowledge of the purpose of life arises by inference—by observing lives of others around us or from the scriptures—its true realization depends upon self-evident perception.”

Theosophical Independence

JULY 2009 Making Choices

Every action has an implicit purpose, and serves some purpose. Initially, we understand the purpose of life in terms of short term goals we set for ourselves. So long as we have some goal, we feel our life has a purpose. But almost all our goals are transitory. We realize one goal and then we are after another. When we choose these goals guided by desire, sooner or later, as these desired goals are achieved, we experience existential vacuum. Then comes a turning point. Instead of our choices being guided by desires, we begin to make our desires follow our choices. From setting up self centred goals such as making money, getting power or position, winning a beauty contest or becoming a world-renowned athlete and so on and on, we begin to set goals where emphasis is on “others”. More and more young people are motivated, these days, to leave well-paying, prestigious jobs, or promising careers to join organizations which work for the betterment of the downtrodden. Life itself gradually leads us from choosing self-centred to self-less goals. But everyone is not fortunate enough to get the opportunity or have the facility to undertake social work, especially when one is handicapped or old or poor. What is he going to make his purpose of life? In such circumstances we do not have much choice of determining the purpose of life. It is then that we begin to see that the purpose of life is common for all. Universe exists for the experience and emancipation of the soul. The purpose of life is to learn and that it is all made up of learning. The purpose of life is self-realization. We then find that whether we set up short-term or long-term goals, or take life as it comes, we only need to be aware of this purpose as an underlying current. Some lessons are learnt consciously while others unconsciously. If we are able to do what comes our way, carefully, cheerfully and selflessly then with every such action we are stepping closer to the grand purpose of self realization, which involves perfection on physical, mental and moral planes. Knowing that there is ever-growing perfectibility to be achieved through continuous process of learning and assimilation, life will never seem purposeless.
Theosophical Movement, November 2008

My will shall shape the future. Whether I fail or succeed shall be no man's doing but my own. I am the force; I can clear any obstacle before me or I can be lost in the maze. My choice; my responsibility; win or lose, only I hold the key to my destiny.
ELAINE MAXWELL

What needs to exist is for people to be made aware of how they will get better results, by pointing out the consequences of their behavior and giving them the choice and opportunity to make adjustments.
SIDNEY MADWED

I believe that we are solely responsible for our choices, and we have to accept the consequences of every deed, word, and thought throughout our lifetime.
ELISABETH KÜBLER-ROSS

You must train your intuition -- you must trust the small voice inside you which tells you exactly what to say, what to decide.
INGRID BERGMAN

Don't gain the world and lose your soul, wisdom is better than silver or gold.
BOB MARLEY

Liberty, taking the word in its concrete sense, consists in the ability to choose.
SIMONE WEIL

To choose what is difficult all one's days, as if it were easy, that is faith.
W. H. AUDEN

All too often arrogance accompanies strength, and we must never assume that justice is on the side of the strong. The use of power must always be accompanied by moral choice. THEODORE BIKEL

As human beings, we are endowed with freedom of choice, and we cannot shuffle off our responsibility upon the shoulders of God or nature. We must shoulder it ourselves. It is up to us. A. J. TOYNBEE

We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms -- to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way.
VIKTOR FRANKL

Because you are in control of your life. Don't ever forget that. You are what you are because of the conscious and subconscious choices you have made. BARBARA HALL

There's a right way and a wrong way to do things. If you make a chair, you want to make a nice chair. You want people to admire it. I think doing something well is a form of respect for humanity in general. I have found that all incompetence comes from not paying attention, which comes from people doing something that they don't want to do. And doing what you don't want to do means either you have no choice, or you don't think that the moments of your life are worth fighting for. HAL HARTLEY

The self is not something ready-made, but something in continuous formation through choice of action. JOHN DEWEY

One ship sails East,
And another West,
By the self-same winds that blow,
Tis the set of the sails
And not the gales,
That tells the way we go.
ELLA WHEELER WILCOX

We can learn from history how past generations thought and acted, how they responded to the demands of their time and how they solved their problems. We can learn by analogy, not by example, for our circumstances will always be different than theirs were. The main thing history can teach us is that human actions have consequences and that certain choices, once made, cannot be undone. They foreclose the possibility of making other choices and thus they determine future events.
GERDA LERNER

By the choices and acts of our lives, we create the person that we are and the faces that we wear. KENNETH PATTON

Consciously or unconsciously we all strive to make the kind of a world we like.
OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES

The power of choosing good and evil is within the reach of all. ORIGEN

Decision is a risk rooted in the courage of being free. PAUL TILLICH

Abraham Lincoln did not go to Gettysburg having commissioned a poll to find out what would sell in Gettysburg. There were no people with percentages for him, cautioning him about this group or that group or what they found in exit polls a year earlier. When will we have the courage of Lincoln?
ROBERT COLES

“Theosophical Independence” is produced monthly by Associates of The United Lodge of Theosophists in Philadelphia located at 1917 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103. The contents of this newsletter are provided freely and anonymously. It may be reproduced without permission.

Theosophical Independence Vol. 9 - 6 August 2010

Is It Necessary To Judge Others?

Much has been written on Brotherhood and its application to the outer work for The Theosophical Movement. Fortunately, the subject is exhaustless and there can be no final word. However, a few points can be made regarding the inner dimension of the work on ourselves. This aspect is as important, if not more so than the outer work since external conditions are the reflection of the prevailing inner state of affairs of humanity. Balance is important, as well as care and vigilance not to neglect either the outer or inner dimensions of the work. There will be little time or inclination to judge others if we follow our duty to the work for Theosophy.

Universal Brotherhood is an ethical principle founded on the philosophical truth of the spiritual identity and unity of all beings, as well as on the scientific fact of the interdependence, the interconnectedness and the interrelationship between all beings. There are subtle connections between Man and every department of nature. Every force in nature and every degree of being is represented in human nature. Such is the great fact; such is the great opportunity and responsibility of the human being.

This ethical principle, philosophical truth and scientific fact reminds us that if there exists injustice, hypocrisy, selfishness, and disloyalty in some of the membership of any or all Theosophical associations, representative as they are of the world at large, then these human weaknesses and faults either exist in us actively or potentially, or we have contributed to their activity in others by what we have done or not done in the performance of our work for Theosophy in the world and in ourselves. So, our initial duty is to turn up the light of Theosophy and let it shine in every corner of our being. This will illuminate the inner path to be followed and the work that must be done in and upon our nature.

While performing this inner work, we may simultaneously perform our duty to help others in Theosophical study and life. Only with such balance, can we maintain compassion and charity for these frailties of human nature as they appear in others, firm opposition to these weaknesses as they reveal themselves in our nature, and hope for the innate dignity and perfectibility of humanity.

Nevertheless, it is important to judge between Theosophy and Pseudo-Theosophy, or what appears to be Theosophy, just as it is important to be able to judge the truth from what appears to be truth. How can we distinguish between Theosophy and Pseudo-Theosophy? Well, how does one distinguish between the sun and the moon? They are distinguished by the quality and effect of their light. The light of the former illuminates the heaven and earth. In other words, its principles are universal and illuminate every aspect of our lives. The light of the former shines on every form of life regardless of its degree of perfection and nourishes it. In other words, its principles are universal ethics and are beneficial to all human beings regardless of their race, creed, gender, condition or organization. The light of the former makes everything clear and reveals the beauty and dangers of everything in nature. In other words, it reveals the unity of Science, Religion, and Philosophy and the eternal truths in all. In its light, truth is clearly seen in contrast to error.

As the light of the moon waxes and wanes, so the light of Pseudo-Theosophy is evanescent and temporary when it appears rather that eternal and constant. As the light of the moon primarily illuminates itself, those who bring Pseudo-Theosophy into the world primarily illuminate themselves rather than others. As the light of the moon reflected on the waters casts but an image of its source, those who bring Pseudo-Theosophy into the world endeavor to see themselves reflected in their followers. They rely on dogmatism, strict reflection in the mind of the image of the source of the light, rather than independent thought and the self-reliant will. As the light of the moon, which manages to illuminate the world, still leaves much in darkness and shadow, concealing the presence of friend and foe, so the teachings of those who bring Pseudo-Theosophy into the world shed a little light here and there, but leave much of the world in darkness and confusion.

Most important to remember is that when the moon eclipses the sun, it temporarily blocks out the sunlight but not the existence of the sun whose fiery rim continues to embrace it. In trying to eclipse the sun, the moon reveals its own true dark nature. When those who bring Pseudo-Theosophy into the world try to eclipse the Teachers of Theosophy, they may succeed in temporarily obscuring the message, but they can not block out the presence of the Teachers in the world whose compassion and understanding continues to embrace them. In spite of their efforts, those who try to eclipse Theosophy only make the darkness of their own natures more apparent to all.

“Theosophical Independence” is produced monthly by Associates of The United Lodge of Theosophists in Philadelphia. Comments, questions and contributions for publication may be sent to The United Lodge of Theosophists, 1917 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103.

The contents of this newsletter are provided freely and anonymously. It may be reproduced without permission.

Theosophical Independence Vol. 9 -7 September 2010

Wm. Q. Judge on JUDGING

The follies and the so-called sins of people are really things that are sure to come to nothing if we treat them right. We must not be so prone as are the people of the day, of whom we are some, to criticize others and forget the beam in our own eye. The Bhagavad Gîtâ and Jesus are right in that they both show us how to do our own duty and not go into that of others. Every time we think that someone else has done wrong we should ask ourselves two questions:
(1) Am I the judge in this matter who is entitled to try this person?
(2) Am I any better in my way? Do I, or do I not offend in some other way just as much as they do in this?
This will settle the matter, I think. And in . . . there ought to be no judgments and no criticism. If some offend, then let us ask what is to be done, but only when the offence is against the whole. When an offence is against us, then let it go. This is thought by some to be “goody-goody,” but I tell you the heart, the soul, and the bowels of compassion are of more consequence than intellectuality.
- LETTERS THAT HAVE HELPED ME

If we look at the subject (Karma) only from the point of view of the person who knows not of Theosophy and of the nature of man, nor of the forces Theosophy knows to be operating all the time, then the reply to the question will be just the same as the everyday man makes. That is, that he has certain rights he must and will and ought to protect; that he has property he will and may keep and use any way he pleases; and if a man injure him he ought to and will resent it; that if he is insulted by word or deed he will at once fly not only to administer punishment on the offender, but also try to reform, to admonish, and very often to give that offender up to the arm of the law; that if he knows of a criminal he will denounce him to the police and see that he has meted out to him the punishment provided by the law of man. Thus in everything he will proceed as is the custom and as is thought to be the right way by those who live under the Mosaic retaliatory law.
The untheosophical view is based on separation, the Theosophical upon unity absolute and actual. Of course if Theosophists talk of unity but as a dream or a mere metaphysical thing, then they will cease to be Theosophists, and be mere professors, as the Christian world is today, of a code not followed. If we are separate one from the other the world is right and resistance is a duty, and the failure to condemn those who offend is a distinct breach of propriety, of law, and of duty. But if we are all united as a physical and psychical fact, then the act of condemning, the fact of resistance, the insistance upon rights on all occasions - all of which means the entire lack of charity and mercy - will bring consequences as certain as the rising of the sun tomorrow.
What are those consequences, and why are they?
They are simply this, that the real man, the entity, the thinker, will react back on you just exactly in proportion to the way you act to him, and this reaction will be in another life, if not now, and even if now felt will still return in the next life.
The fact that the person whom you condemn, or oppose, or judge seems now in this life to deserve it for his acts in this life, does not alter the other fact that his nature will react against you when the time comes. The reaction is a law not subject to nor altered by any sentiment on your part. He may have, truly, offended you and even hurt you, and done that which in the eye of man is blameworthy, but all this does not have anything to do with the dynamic fact that if you arouse his enmity by your condemnation or judgment there will be a reaction on you, and consequently on the whole of society in any century when the reaction takes place. This is the law and the fact as given by the Adepts, as told by all sages, as reported by those who have seen the inner side of nature, as taught by our philosophy and easily provable by anyone who will take the trouble to examine carefully. Logic and small facts of one day or one life, or arguments on lines laid down by men of the world who do not know the real power and place of thought nor the real nature of man cannot sweep this away. After all argument and logic it will remain.
The Master "K. H.," once writing to Mr. Sinnett in the Occult World, and speaking for his whole order and not for himself only, distinctly wrote that the man who goes to denounce a criminal or an offender works not with nature and harmony but against both, and that such act tends to destruction instead of construction. Whether the act be large or small, whether it be the denunciation of a criminal, or only your own insistence on rules or laws or rights, does not alter the matter or take it out of the rule laid down by that Adept. For the only difference between the acts mentioned is a difference of degree alone; the act is the same in kind as the violent denunciation of a criminal. Either this Adept was right or wrong. If wrong, why do we follow the philosophy laid down by him and his messenger, and concurred in by all the sages and teachers of the past? If right, why this swimming in an adverse current, as he said himself, why this attempt to show that we can set aside karma and act as we please without consequences following us to the end of time? I know not. I prefer to follow the Adept, and especially so when I see that what he says is in line with facts in nature and is a certain conclusion from the system of philosophy I have found in Theosophy.
- MEN KARMIC AGENTS

I dare not declare that any one thing or course is evil in another. For me it may be evil. I am not wise enough to know what it is for another. Only the Supreme knows, for He only can read the heart, the mind, the soul of each. "Thou shalt not judge," saith the sacred writing.
My duty is clear in many places, but in the performing of it I may neither act as a judge or hold animosity, anger, or disgust.
Were a man to abuse an animal, surely I must interfere to prevent suffering to the helpless, dumb and weak, for so we are ajoined. This done, my duty lies in helping my brother, for he knew not what he did.
My aim is to find Wisdom, and my duty, to do away with ignorance wherever it is encountered. His act was caused by ignorance. . . . my duty lies toward the man, not in condemnation, but seeking the cause that makes him unwise, strive to alleviate - if not free him from it. He also is my brother.
- AM I MY BROTHER'S KEEPER?

The contents of this newsletter are provided freely and anonymously. It may be reproduced without permission.

Theosophical Independence Vol. 9 - 8 October 2010
The Two Worlds

The human condition involves existence in two worlds, the physical world made up of all the objective phenomena of our so-called physical reality, and the spiritual world that is the domain of consciousness and our unseen subjective reality. The awareness of the physical world is dictated and limited by our physical senses. This world is important for gaining knowledge of self and nature. It is certainly true that we have to take care of the body, sleep, provide clothing, shelter and pay bills. The problem is that if we only live in this material world, we become subject to illusion, because the physical senses are limited, and delusion, because the sense limitations distort thought, judgment, intellect, and self perception. The false assumptions lead to the pursuit of transient enjoyments, material pleasures, selfish, harmful and destructive behaviors. The big problem is learning how to be in his world, but not of it.

The awareness of the spiritual world is dictated and limited by the ideas held in the mind. This world is the realm wherein lie the potential seeds of every manifested power, faculty and form. It is the world of causes, whereas the physical world is the world of effects. Knowledge of this world is necessary to gain a truer realization of the Self and a profounder conviction that universal brotherhood is a fact in nature. Awareness of this world is important and desirable because spiritual knowledge liberates the mind from the illusions of the senses, the delusions of the intellect, the chains of selfish passions, and the suffering that accompanies change and loss of transient enjoyments. The problem is that it is possible to live in this world with a personal desire for eternal bliss or with a sense of spiritual pride in the great accomplishment of acquiring spiritual knowledge. Spiritual selfishness suffocates the feeling of compassion for suffering humanity. The big problem is learning how to live in and benefit from the bliss and knowledge of the spiritual world, and yet be able to renounce the great reward if compassion for the suffering of others demands it.

The goal of the independent thinker is to live in both worlds without bondage to material illusions and delusions on one hand and spiritual selfishness on the other. In order to do this a bridge must be built to bring the two worlds together. The key to building this bridge is the realization that the real inner man is a thinking being. Therefore, our real life is in the mind. The physical world and the spiritual world meet in man within the mind. The mind as the mental plane of existence is occupied by thoughts, feelings, intentions, memories, and images. The real man is not any of these transient mental phenomena, but is the enduring witness of all of them. It has been said that, “the soul is vision itself that looks directly upon ideas.”

The bridge that spans the two worlds is built of thoughts, feelings, intentions, memories, and images that relate to the two worlds. They comprise what has been called the highest aspect of lower mind (kama-manas), or the antaskarana. That which is sometimes called “care of the soul” is in fact care of this bridge between the spiritual and physical worlds of our being. The thoughts that form this bridge are universal ideas such as the unity of life, the universality of law, and the path of physical, mental and spiritual growth through self induced evolution. The feelings that form this bridge are those of brotherhood, charity, love, and compassion. The intentions are the virtues synthesized by an overarching desire to make these universal ideas and higher feelings living fires that illuminate, inspire, and guide our every thought, word and deed in the physical world. The memories that form this bridge are those of the sacrifices made by others for us and the forgiveness they have shown for our faults and failings, so that we might in turn be better able to exercise forgiveness of others and sacrifice ourselves for the benefit of others. The images that form this bridge are of those who embody our ideal of the fact of human perfectibility.

The stones that must be cast aside because they are unsuitable to form this bridge are ideas of separateness, selfish desires for personal reward for action, any malevolent feelings, memories of past failures, painful regrets and experiences, as well as images of past or future pleasurable sensations. These stones, more than likely, already form walls that surround the mind and separate it not only from other mind beings, but also from its spiritual nature. These walls must be torn down or they will obstruct the building of the bridge or threaten to destroy it. The wall is torn down amid mental suffering and pain, but a great reward lies beyond. It is the ability to live consciously in both worlds, beyond personal pain and suffering, but yet ever willing and able to relieve the suffering of others with the spiritual knowledge and power acquired.

“To live to benefit mankind is the first step.” Voice, p.36

The contents of this newsletter are provided freely and anonymously. It may be reproduced without permission.

Theosophical Independence Vol. 9 -9 November 2010

QUOTES ON THE TWO WORLDS

Theosophy comes like a current of pure air off the uncontaminated seas through the foul streets of a great city in summer. Theosophy is a breath of pure Spiritual teaching blown square across the fetid atmosphere that we call religion, philosophy and science. We all seek something, else we had not come inquiring to Theosophy; we cannot possibly have the imagination and the longing unless that which we desire and that for which we long, exists. In the teachings of Theosophy is to be found what a captain of a ship finds in the chart room; there is to be found the topography and the lines of action, of study, of reflection, of meditation, which shall lead into the position indicated by Krishna when he says: "I will now tell thee what is the object of wisdom from which a man enjoys immortality." Because we think we are mortal, the best enjoyments we can get are mortal enjoyments. The best enjoyments we can get are earthly enjoyments because we think we are of the earth earthy.

We are Spiritual, however ignorant, however corrupt, however depraved we may be. To cure that corruption, to remedy that depravity, to once more see God as omnipresent; to once more see the Supreme Spirit in all things is the final step in the path of Spiritual evolution. All Nature exists for no other purpose than for the sake of the Soul's experience and emancipation, and that all shall to some degree be helped to see, is the purpose of the teachings of Theosophy. Theosophy Magazine 11, p.564

We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience.
- Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
Every natural fact is a symbol of some spiritual fact.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

The fact that I can plant a seed and it becomes a flower, share a bit of knowledge and it becomes another's, smile at someone and receive a smile in return, are to me continual spiritual exercises.
- Leo Buscaglia

Form follows function - that has been misunderstood. Form and function should be one, joined in a spiritual union.
- Frank Lloyd Wright

The spirit of man is more important than mere physical strength, and the spiritual fiber of a nation than its wealth.
- Dwight D. Eisenhower

We do not need more intellectual power, we need more spiritual power. We do not need more of the things that are seen, we need more of the things that are unseen.
- Calvin Coolidge

You have to grow from the inside out. None can teach you, none can make you spiritual. There is no other teacher but your own soul.
- Swami Vivekananda

A life is either all spiritual or not spiritual at all. No man can serve two masters. Your life is shaped by the end you live for. You are made in the image of what you desire.
- Thomas Merton

The spiritual path - is simply the journey of living our lives. Everyone is on a spiritual path; most people just don't know it.
- Marianne Williamson

It is not the end of the physical body that should worry us. Rather, our concern must be to live while we're alive - to release our inner selves from the spiritual death that comes with living behind a facade designed to conform to external definitions of who and what we are.
- Elisabeth Kubler-Ross

Intuition is a spiritual faculty and does not explain, but simply points the way.
- Florence Scovel Shinn

Music is mediator between spiritual and sensual life.
- Ludwig van Beethoven

In order to experience everyday spirituality, we need to remember that we are spiritual beings spending some time in a human body.
- Barbara de Angelis

We can hear the silent voice of the spiritual universe within our own hearts.
- Ruth St. Denis

The only thing you're taking out of here is your spirit and your soul, so we need to be conscious to try and develop that part of ourselves, because we're all spiritual creatures.
- Smokey Robinson

Spirit is an invisible force made visible in all life.
- Maya Angelou

If the only prayer you said in your whole life was, thank you, that would suffice.
- Meister Eckhart

When the act of reflection takes place in the mind, when we look at ourselves in the light of thought, we discover that our life is embosomed in beauty.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

The stronger the reverence for natural life, the stronger grows also that for spiritual life.
- Albert Schweitzer

Here is the test to find whether your mission on Earth is finished: if you're alive, it isn't.
- Richard Bach

Only in the human form is it possible for life to attain its final goal, which is to realize the all-pervading and infinite Divinity.
- Meher Baba

Every honest student, no matter how far he has gone, realizes that the philosophy holds, in the darkness receding before his foot-steps, yet innumerable mysteries. On the other hand, any student, however little "advanced" recalls well when some long-unconquerable mystery suddenly solved itself as by a flash of light. True, it may not have been a very deep mystery; rather in fact, it may have been a mystery to others why the puzzled student was so delayed in his comprehension. But the perception was a step, and deeply important as illustrative of possibilities, to say the least. Now none of these problems get solved by simply puzzling over them in the schoolboy way. In fact, few of them get solved at all by a mere process of study. Often it is a combination of study -- from a particular basis -- with a general, deep flux of the nature and of the mental forces, brought about by sincere self-forgetfulness and the flow of will along worthy lines; all of which produce a reorientation of view permitting the man to glimpse the vistas of a valley hitherto unseen because, however keenly he had been looking, he had been looking in the wrong direction.
Theosophy Magazine 23, p.16

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DECEMBER 2010

THEOSOPHICAL INDEPENDENCE

THE VESSEL

December 21st marks the winter solstice. On this day of the year, the duration of daylight in the northern hemisphere is the shortest. From this day forward, the daylight time will increase until it reaches its maximum duration on June 21st, the summer solstice. In ancient legends, the sun gods were born on this day. It was a time of celebration in many different cultures. Besides its mythological, astrological and astronomical significance, the winter solstice has a deeper psychological and spiritual impact. Corresponding to the increasing daylight, there is the potential awakening of the light of the spiritual Sun, or Atma, in the darkness of the human mind. It is potential because its presence and influence will depend on how suitable the mind is as a vessel to receive and share the light of spirit.

A vessel is an appropriate metaphor for the mind. It has also been called a sheath (kosa) or basis (upadhi). The word vessel helps one comprehend three important functions of the mind. Like any vessel, the mind has three functions – to receive, to carry and to share. The mind is a vessel that receives, carries, and shares impressions. What makes up the vessel we are calling the mind? The mental vessel is made up of will, thought, and desire or feelings. The size and strength of the mental vessel are determined by the thoughts and desires in the mind. Will is the energy of mind that determines the force of the impressions that are received, stored and shared by the vessel. The greater the vessel in size, strength, and force, the greater is its ability to receive, store and share. The greater the thoughts, desires and will of the mind, the greater is its ability to receive, store and share impressions. How do we expand the mind as a vessel to receive and share the light of the Higher Self?

The process begins with another faculty of mind - imagination. Imagination is the image-making faculty. Without a strong and trained imagination the will cannot do its work. The imagination creates the mold, formed from the image of one’s highest ideal of human perfectibility, into which desire, thought and feeling can expand. Jesus, Buddha, Krishna, or any of the Sun Gods would be good ideals of human perfectibility, since many already carry a mental image of what they may have looked like. Our highest idea of the nature of a great soul, or Mahatma, is also very helpful. The next step is to harness the positive aspect of the powerful mental faculty of memory. Even while in the midst of the duties, conflicts, and chaos of everyday life, one tries to recall what might be the motive, thought and feeling of such a perfected human being in this situation.

One soon discovers that it is not easy to desire, think, feel and act like a perfected human being. The limitations and imperfections of personal desires, feelings and ideas get in the way. These limitations and imperfections in one’s mental vessel are exactly what prevent it from receiving and sharing the light of spirit. The present vessel resists one’s effort to expand it. There are two ways to generate the urgency and force to break through the resistance. One is the fruit of experience of long and bitter personal suffering that drives the individual to the point of doing whatever is necessary to remove the causes of suffering. The individual vows and resolves to will the change. There is no alternative. There is no turning back. There is no compromise. The second way is by the accumulated karmic stamina of vows made and kept in previous lives that propels one from within around the obstacles and past old errors.

There is another way. Forget about one’s spiritual progress and live to benefit humanity. Nurture the desire to fit oneself to be the better able to help and teach others. Gradually learn to feel oneself as part of all that lives and that all that lives is part of oneself. In this effort the personal idea of self is slowly replaced by an expanding awareness of the Self of All. The growing impersonality of the desire is proportional to the intensification of the energy of the spiritual will to be a force for good. There is no risk in this method. No effort is wasted. Internal obstacles are gradually destroyed and replaced by a vessel suitable to be the receiver and transmitter of spiritual light.

From THEOSOPHICAL MOVEMENT Vol. 74
We seldom think creatively. Creative thinking is exploring various methods of solving a problem. It consists in readiness to rethink — not being satisfied with the first answer. Ordinarily we think reproductively, hence our response is based on our previous experience on a similar occasion. We need to think productively taking into account alternative possibilities and approaches.

The Voice of the Silence suggests that the creative mind is the mind with breadth and depth. Depth of mind comes from knowing the "why" of everything. It is the ability to link effect to cause. It is also the ability of going from the particulars to universals.

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THEOSOPHICAL INDEPENDENCE

JANUARY, 2011

Quotes on building THE VESSEL

Forget about one’s spiritual progress and live to benefit humanity. Nurture the desire to fit oneself to be the better able to help and teach others.

To live to benefit mankind is the first step. To practise the six glorious virtues is the second. - The Voice of the Silence

Virtue and wisdom are sublime things; but if they create pride and a consciousness of separateness from the rest of humanity in the mind of a man, then they are only the snakes of self re-appearing in a finer form.

The virtues of man are steps indeed, necessary -- not by any means to be dispensed with. Yet, though they create a fair atmosphere and a happy future, they are useless if they stand alone. The whole nature of man must be used wisely by the one who desires to enter the way.

- Light on the Path

Until he extends the circle of his compassion to all living things, man will not himself find peace.

- Albert Schweitzer

Brotherhood is the starting point in discipline. The practice of Brotherhood does not imply non recognition of outer differences of mind, character and body. The differences, however, disappear in the process of evolution; their remains and residuum make a grand unity.

- Theosophical Movement Volume 6

Each must find out which virtues carried to excess are most dangerous for him

- Theosophical Movement Volume 30

Lying can never save us from another lie.

- Vaclav Havel

When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us.

- Helen Keller

Live in the present.

Do the things that need to be done.

Do all the good you can each day.

The future will unfold. - Peace Pilgrim

It is better to believe than to disbelieve, in so doing you bring everything to the realm of possibility. - Albert Einstein

Never bear more than one kind of trouble at a time. Some people bear all three — all they have had, all they have now, and all they expect to have. - Edward Everett Hale

A rock pile ceases to be a rock pile the moment a single man contemplates it, bearing within him the image of a cathedral.

- Antoine De Saint-Exupery

... break all the glasses and fall toward the glassblower ... - Rumi

I am not bound to win, but I am bound to be true. I am not bound to succeed, but I am bound to live up to what light I have.

- Abraham Lincoln

Honesty and transparency make you

vulnerable.

Be honest and transparent anyway.

- Mother Teresa

The first principle is that you must not fool yourself — and you are the easiest person to fool. - Richard Feynman

What we see depends mainly on what we look for. - Sir John Lubbock

In our daily lives, we must see that it is not happiness that makes us grateful, but the gratefulness that makes us happy.

- Albert Clarke

When asked if my cup is half-full or half-empty my only response is that I am thankful I have a cup. - Sam Lefkowitz

Everything is given to me and I pass it on. You must give if you want to receive.

- Peace Pilgrim

If you don't like something change it.

If you can't change it, change your attitude.

- Maya Angelou

It's not that I'm so smart, it's just that I stay with problems longer. - Albert Einstein

Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up. - T.A. Edison

Sometimes your greatest asset is simply your ability to stay with it longer than anyone else. - Brian Tracy

When you get into a tight place and everything goes against you, till it seems as though you could not hang on a minute longer, never give up then, for that is just the place and time that the tide will turn.

- Harriet Beecher Stowe

It's a little like wrestling a gorilla. You don't quit when you're tired, you quit when the gorilla is tired. - Robert Strauss

Be gentle with yourself, learn to love yourself, to forgive yourself, for only as we have the right attitude toward ourselves can we have the right attitude toward others.

- Wilfred Peterson

Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around. - Leo Buscaglia

It is more important to understand the ground of your own behavior than to understand the motives of another.

- Dag Hammarskjold

You will discover that you have two hands.

One is for helping yourself and the other is for helping others. - Audrey Hepburn

There are two ways of spreading light — to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it.

- Edith Wharton

What we have done for ourselves alone dies with us; what we have done for others and the world remains and is immortal.

- Albert Pike

Genius is eternal patience. - Michelangelo

The true meaning of life is to plant trees, under whose shade you do not expect to sit.

- Nelson Henderson

The purpose of the journey is compassion. When you have come past all the pairs of opposites you have reached compassion.

- Joseph Campbell

Confidence, like art, never comes from having all the answers; it comes from being open to all the questions. -Earl Gray Stevens

The greatest good you can do for another is not just to share your riches, but to reveal to them their own. - Benjamin Disraeli

It is the food which you furnish to your mind that determines the whole character of your life. - Emmet Fox

... character is what God and angels know of us. - Thomas Paine

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THEOSOPHICAL INDEPENDENCE

FEBRUARY, 2011

FINDING BALANCE

Karma is the undeviating universal law of Nature that restores harmony, balance and equilibrium. Finding balance in one’s life is a path of study of Nature’s laws so that one can live in accordance with those laws. Maintaining balance is a path of action or duty continuously pursued and regulated by an understanding of karma. Physical nature alone is so vast that it may seem to be an impossible task to comprehend the laws of nature. Yet nature’s secrets are visible and manifested right before us and within us. If Man is a small copy of the Universe, it follows that “as above, so below.” Nature’s secrets and the keys to finding balance lie within us. They may be known and grasped if we cultivate the practice of self-study. This is to be followed by self-discipline.

Looking within, we know immediately what it means to be in balance. Harmony in the outer world corresponds with inner tranquility. Emotional equilibrium exists when there are no stirrings of anger, jealousy, or sorrow. Inner tranquility also exists when our feelings of pleasure and joy are not extreme. There are events, seemingly beyond our control, which disturb our inner tranquility. There are thoughts, desires and actions, within our control, which either disturb or restore and maintain our inner balance. The inner life is not only where we can begin to understand the laws of nature, it is also where we can begin to gain control and find balance. The ancient sage, Epictetus, taught:
“Some things are within our control and some things are not. It is only after you have faced up to this fundamental rule and learned
to distinguish between what you can and can’t control that inner tranquility and outer effectiveness become possible.”

Theosophy, the accumulated wisdom of countless generations of sages, gives us this important clue. When we conduct our inner life and perform our outer duties in harmony with our Higher Self, which is the One Self in each and all, we are living in harmony with all that lives. Living in Harmony with our Higher Self requires recognition of the spiritual unity and identity of all beings with the One Self, or Absolute Deity. A prerequisite to this recognition is grasping the idea that we are not separate; therefore, separateness or selfishness in all its expressions must be restrained. This is only half of one’s duty. The other half is cultivating altruism in thought, word, and deed. As soon as we try to check, test and verify this teaching with our own experience, the inner life will be a laboratory where we can study the resulting emotional balance or disturbance, if we waver from our duty.

In the article “Celestial Experience in Mundane Duties,” B.P. Wadia quotes Mahatma K.H.:

Look to the future; see to it that the continual performance of duty under the guidance of a well-developed Intuition shall keep the balance well poised. Ah! if your eyes were opened, you might see such a vista of potential blessings to yourselves and mankind lying in the germ of the present hour's effort, as would fire with joy and zeal your souls!
Every tyro in Theosophy knows that present actions mould our future character as well as our environment. The performance of duty, day by day, has also its immediate recompense. The Master implies, in the words quoted above, that such performance would tend towards sustaining our balance and equanimity. The small, plain duties of life hourly call upon us to acquire skill in action as well as concentration of mind. - B.P. Wadia

It is a great mistake to suppose that an individual is the mere puppet of the past, the helpless victim of fate. The law of Karma is not fatalism, and a little consideration will show that it is possible for an individual to affect his own Karma. - W.Q. Judge

It has often been said that “when the materials are ready, the Architect will appear.” So our work must be to get the material ready, and that means we have to get rid of the purely personal bias by making Theosophy a living power in our lives. - Robert Crosbie

Standing as we do in the balance position, the seesaw play between our two natures must be slowed down. The material life is not to be destroyed; it has to be made the vehicle of the Spiritual Light. - B.P. Wadia

The Theosophist who delights to call himself practical and logical, an abhorrer of mysticism, should try to see what the mystical Theosophist means, and the mystic one should read carefully the words of the practical member to the end that he may counterbalance himself. A wholly practical or entirely mystical mind is not well balanced. - W.Q. Judge

Every good as well as evil action has its effects, as palpably as the stone flung into calm water. The simile is trite, but it is the best ever conceived, so let us use it. The eddying circles are greater and swifter as the disturbing object is greater or smaller, but the smallest pebble, nay, the tiniest speck, makes its ripples. And this disturbance is not alone visible and on the surface. Below, unseen, in every direction - outward and downward - drop pushes drop until the sides and bottom are touched by the force. More, the air above the water is agitated, and this disturbance passes, as the physicists tell us, from stratum to stratum out into space forever and ever; an impulse has been given to matter, and that is never lost, can never be recalled! . . .
- H.P. Blavatsky

“Theosophical Independence” is produced monthly by Associates of The United Lodge of Theosophists in Philadelphia. Comments, questions and contributions for publication may be sent to The United Lodge of Theosophists, 1917 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103.
The contents of this newsletter are provided freely and anonymously. It may be reproduced without permission.

Theosophical Independence Vol.9 - 12 February 2011

THEOSOPHICAL INDEPENDENCE

MARCH, 2011

QUOTES on BALANCE

Toleration is the greatest gift of the mind; it requires the same effort of the brain that it takes to balance oneself on a bicycle. - Helen Keller

I believe that being successful means having a balance of success stories across the many areas of your life. You can't truly be considered successful in your business life if your home life is in shambles. - Zig Ziglar

If you're interested in 'balancing' work and pleasure, stop trying to balance them. Instead make your work more pleasurable. - Donald Trump

Happiness is not a matter of intensity but of balance, order, rhythm and harmony. - Thomas Merton

Just as your car runs more smoothly and requires less energy to go faster and farther when the wheels are in perfect alignment, you perform better when your thoughts, feelings, emotions, goals, and values are in balance. - Brian Tracy

I look forward to these confrontations with the press to kind of balance up the nice and pleasant things that come to me as president. - Jimmy Carter

The best and safest thing is to keep a balance in your life, acknowledge the great powers around us and in us. If you can do that, and live that way, you are really a wise man. - Euripides

One should see the world, and see himself as a scale with an equal balance of good and evil. When he does one good deed the scale is tipped to the good - he and the world is saved. When he does one evil deed the scale is tipped to the bad - he and the world is destroyed. - Maimonides

In today's society we sometimes forget to balance our hearts and our heads; this is the reason we stop laughing.
- Yakov Smirnoff

How seldom we weigh our neighbor in the same balance with ourselves.
- Thomas Kempis

Man maintains his balance, poise, and sense of security only as he is moving forward. - Maxwell Maltz

What is the essence of America? Finding and maintaining that perfect, delicate balance between freedom "to" and freedom "from." - Marilyn vos Savant

If the blood humor is too strong and robust, calm it with balance and harmony. - Xun Zi

The true humanist maintains a just balance between sympathy and selection. - Irving Babbitt
The breaking wave and the muscle as it contracts obey the same law. Delicate line gathers the body's total strength in a bold balance. Shall my soul meet so severe a curve, journeying on its way to form?
- Dag Hammarskjold

We must not permit our respect for the dead or our sympathy for the living to lead us into an act of injustice to the balance of the living. - Davy Crockett

The human mind, if it is to keep its sanity, must maintain the nicest balance between unity and plurality.
- Irving Babbitt

A well-developed sense of humor is the pole that adds balance to your steps as you walk the tightrope of life. - William Arthur Ward

I want my life to effect the balance to the positive. - Mira Sorvino

You need a balance in life between dealing with what's going on inside and not being so absorbed in yourself that it takes over.
- Nigella Lawson

It is better to lose everything you have to keep the balance of justice level, than to live a life of petty privilege devoid of true freedom.
- Bryant H. McGill

Balance is key: I need to be successful in my career to feel fulfilled, be surrounded by people I care about to share it with, and have my health to be able to do the things I love to do! - Kiana Tom

I don't know if it's a sign of all the chaos that is happening out there or not, but I've lately craved the structure and order of classical music, the balance and symmetry.
- Helen Reddy

The most general law in nature is equity-the principle of balance and symmetry which guides the growth of forms along the lines of the greatest structural efficiency.
- Herbert Read

I do think the heart can balance out the mind, if your heart is in a good place it can give you the strength to do the right thing and behave the right way and overcome the mind.
- Alexis Arguello

The mandala describes balance. This is so whatever the pictorial form.
- Stephen Gardiner

The key to keeping your balance is knowing when you've lost it.
- Anonymous

Theosophical Independence Vol.10 - 02 April 2011

THE CAUSES OF DECEPTION

How can one know the real from the unreal, the true from the false? Only by regular pursuit of a path of self-development and guarding oneself against the causes of deception can one achieve this goal. This two-fold path requires self-study and self-discipline. In order to guard oneself against the causes of deception one must know what they are, where they originate and where they are likely to exert their influence.

In one sense, the chief cause of deception originates from without and influences the unwary disciple through the senses. Mistrust thy senses; they are false, teaches Krishna in The Bhagavad-Gita. In Hindu and Buddhist philosophy, change is considered to be the greatest foe. Maya is the great deceptive illusion. It includes all that is subject to change, and has a beginning and an ending. Sat is the name for the one reality that is ever-present, changeless and eternal. We have no control over this cause of deception since being one with manifested nature, we are continuously changing, therefore illusionary and unreal as any other object in the manifested universe.

In another sense, the chief cause of deception originates from within and influences the unwary disciple through the mind. As it is written in The Voice of The Silence, “… the pupil must seek out the Rajah of the senses, the thought-Producer, he who awakes illusion. The Mind is the great Slayer of the Real. Let the Disciple say the Slayer.” (pages 1-2). The name for this deception is “Great Heresy,” attavada, the sin of separateness and personality. As explained in the footnote on page 4, it is “the heresy of the belief in Soul, or rather in the separateness of soul or Self from the One Universal Infinite Self.” We have control over this cause of deception because there is the essential spiritual nature of every being, “Self”, which is one and identical with the One Universal SELF. But without knowledge of it we are lost.

The deception from without- change- and the deception from within- separateness- ultimately meet in the mind. The disciple who is in reality the Human Ego, Manas, must renounce the influence of the inner and outer deception and turn towards direct knowledge of the One Self. This is to be achieved by self-induced and self-devised effort. All our daily self-contemplation, writing, reading, purification of motives, self-study, self-discipline and correction, planning of outer work, and service to others are selected with this one all encompassing aim and sacred duty in view.

This is the slow steady progress of “raising the self by the Self.” One cannot raise oneself without lifting to some degree all other beings and making oneself better able to help nature in its divine cyclic manvantaric task. That is one reason why the fixed time spent every day to concentrate on this goal is so sacred and vitally important. As everything in nature evolves gradually, our self-induced spiritual evolution is the steady work of many years and lifetimes.

This is a difficult path. The effort towards self-development requires that one keep trying to live up to the teachings. The “Notes on the Bhagavad-Gita” is a wonderful treasure chest of pearls of wisdom. Relevant to this subject, W.Q. Judge writes in the second chapter:

“But we ought to set up a high ideal at which to aim, for a low one gives a lower result at the expense of the same effort. We should not put before us an aim less than the highest merely because it seems that our success will not be as great as we think it ought to be. It is not so much the clearly perceived outward result that counts, as the motive, effort, and aim, for judgment is not passed upon us among the things of sense where human time exists, but in that larger sphere of being where time ceases, and where we are confronted by what we are and not by what we have done. That which we have done touches us only in mortal life among the delusions of material existence; but the motives with which we live our lives go to make up our greater being, our larger life, our truer self.”

The enduring foundation of our nature is on the inner plane of our being beyond space and time, as we know it, just as the real foundation of the Theosophical Movement is beyond the physical vehicles that temporarily exist in space and time.
~~~~
(The Key to Theosophy) is not a complete or exhaustive text-book of Theosophy, but only a key to unlock the door that leads to the deeper study. It traces the broad outlines of the Wisdom Religion, and explains its fundamental principles ... That it should succeed in making Theosophy intelligible without mental effort on the part of the reader, would be too much to expect; but it is hoped that the obscurity still left is of the thought not of the language, is due to depth not to confusion. To the mentally lazy or obtuse, Theosophy must remain a riddle; for in the world mental as in the world spiritual each man must progress by his own efforts. The writer cannot do the reader's thinking for him, nor would the latter be any the better off if such vicarious thought were possible."
- H.P. Blavatsky

“Theosophical Independence” is produced monthly by Associates of The United Lodge of Theosophists in Philadelphia. Comments, questions and contributions for publication may be sent to The United Lodge of Theosophists, 1917 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103.
The contents of this newsletter are provided freely and anonymously. It may be reproduced without permission.

Theosophical Independence Vol.10 - 03 May 2011

Self-Development Quotes

The Doctrine teaches that in order to become a divine, fully conscious god — aye, even the highest — the Spiritual primeval INTELLIGENCES must pass through the human stage. And when we say human, this does not apply merely to our terrestrial humanity, but to the mortals that inhabit any world, i.e., to those Intelligences that have reached the appropriate equilibrium between matter and spirit, as we have now . . . Each entity must have won for itself the right of becoming divine, through self-experience.
- The Secret Doctrine

Saith the Great Law: In order to become the KNOWER of ALL-SELF thou hast first of SELF to be the knower. To reach the knowledge of that SELF, thou hast to give up Self to Non-Self, Being to Non-Being. - The Voice of the Silence

Many persons have a wrong idea about what constitutes true happiness. It is not attained through self-gratification, but through fidelity to a worthy purpose. - Helen Keller

Genius is one percent inspiration and 99% perspiration. - Thomas A. Edison

Success in life depends upon staying power. The reason for failure in most cases is lack of perseverance. Men get tired and give up. - J R. Miller
Nothing is so fatal to character or accomplishment as unfinished jobs.
- S. W. Sill

Never despair, but if you do, work on in despair. - Edmund Burke

The greatest results in life are usually attained by simple means and the exercise of ordinary qualities. These may for the most part be summed up in these two -- commonsense and perseverance. - Owen Feltham.

The secret of success is constancy of purpose. - Disraeli

There are two ways of attaining an important end: force and perseverance. Force falls to the lot only of the privileged few, but austere and sustained perseverance can be practiced by the most insignificant. Its silent power grows irresistible in time.
- Anne Swetchine

Some men give up their designs when they have almost reached the goal; while others, on the contrary, obtain a victory by exerting, at the last moment, more vigorous efforts than before.
- Polybius

The world wants the kind of men who do not shrink from temporary defeats in life, but come again and wrestle triumph from defeat.
- Theodore Roosevelt

The difference between perseverance and obstinacy is that one often comes from a strong will, and the other from a strong won't.
- Henry Ward Beecher

Never give in, never give in, never never never never -- in nothing, great or small, large or petty -- never give in except to convictions of honor and good sense.
- Winston Churchill

Nothing is so strong as gentleness. Nothing is so gentle as real strength.
- Francis de Sales

Life is short and we have not too much time for gladdening the hearts of those who are traveling the dark way with us. Oh, be swift to love! Make haste to be kind!
- Henri Amiel

This above all : to thine own self be true,
And it must follow, as the night the day,
Thou canst not then be false to any man.
- William Shakespeare

Be as careful of the books you read as the company you keep. Your habits and character will be as much influenced by the former as by the latter.
- Paxton Hood

The best effect of any book is that it excites the reader to self activity.
- Thomas Carlyle

The books that help you most, are those which make you think the most. The hardest way of learning is that of easy reading, but a great book that comes from a great thinker is a ship of thought, deep freighted with truth and beauty.
- Theodore Parker

It is not miserable to be blind; it is miserable to be incapable of enduring blindness.
- John Milton

Contentment, even in poverty, brings happiness; discontent is poverty, even in riches. - Confucius

He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has. - Epictetus

The world wants the kind of men who do not shrink from temporary defeats in life, but come again and wrestle triumph from defeat.
- Theodore Roosevelt

Tough times never last. . . but tough people do. -- Robert Schuller

“Theosophical Independence” is produced monthly by Associates of The United Lodge of Theosophists in Philadelphia. Comments, questions and contributions for publication may be sent to The United Lodge of Theosophists, 1917 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103.
The contents of this newsletter are provided freely and anonymously. It may be reproduced without permission.

Theosophical Independence Vol.10 - 04 June 2011

ON THE NATURE OF WISDOM

[The use of the term ‘Man’ refers to the real man who is the thinker. Therefore, it includes men and women, the young and the old.]

There is no end to the search for wisdom.

There are two kinds of wisdom: the terrestrial (lower) and Spiritual (Higher).

Wisdom can be shared; it cannot be imparted. Only the path to Wisdom can be imparted.

Knowledge is learned from the outside; Wisdom comes from within.

Wisdom is the child of experience and must be lived in order to be realized.

The Higher Wisdom is beyond Space and Time; it is eternal and universal; it illuminates every part of life.

A Wise Man knows that the Divine Spirit is within himself. He is not separate from It, even if he is unaware of Its presence. He knows that the Divine Spirit is within all beings and therefore we are all brothers from One Divine Source.

A Wise Man knows that all men are Divine in essence; he does not merely believe it. The realization comes from living accordingly and loving and serving all beings as our brothers.

A Wise Man knows that hope and responsibility are based on an eternal divine law that moves to good, justice, harmony and balance.

A man may be ignorant of this law and act in opposition to it and suffer accordingly. But a Wise Man knows this law and lives according to this law and serves it. He prospers accordingly. “As a man sows, so shall he also reap.”

A Wise Man knows that hope and responsibility are not merely high sentiments. They are facts. He has hope because he knows that if he acts in harmony with Divine Law, there is no power on earth that can prevent the accomplishment of his goal. He has responsibility because he knows that being one with the Divine Source and Origin of Divine Law, he must act accordingly.

A Wise Man realizes this hope and responsibility because he has tested, checked and verified this law for himself. There is not a moment of our lives where we cannot be checking and applying this law.

A Wise Man knows his purpose in life. He knows that there are no special gifts or privileges. All is earned through self- induced and self-devised effort. If one seems to be favored, it is the result of previous effort.

A Wise Man knows that is he is responsible for his destiny, he must know his purpose in life. His purpose in life is not merely to have fun, and to aspire to gain the most toys, money, power and fame.

Life is a school. A Wise Man knows that his purpose is to learn. He needs to learn his unity with the Divine Spirit, all Men and beings and all of life. He also need to learn how to help and teach others to realize this wisdom.

The highest mark of wisdom is not what one knows, but how well one can lift others to the realization of wisdom.
~~~~
True wisdom of a spiritual kind is freedom from self-esteem, hypocrisy, and injury to others; it is patience, sincerity, respect for spiritual instructors, purity, firmness, self-restraint, dispassion for objects of sense, freedom from pride, and a meditation upon birth, death, decay, sickness, and error; ... it is a never-ceasing love for me alone, the self being effaced, and worship paid in a solitary spot, and a want of pleasure in congregations of men; it is a resolute continuance in the study of Adhyâtma, the Superior spirit, and a meditation upon the end of the acquirement of a knowledge of truth; this is called wisdom or spiritual knowledge; its opposite is ignorance.
- The Bhagavad-Gita
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The discoveries of the age are already whole centuries in advance of its ethical culture, and the knowledge that should place still further power in the hands of a few individuals whose ethical code is below, rather than above, that of the ignorant, toiling, suffering masses, could only minister to anarchy and increase oppression. On these higher planes of consciousness the law of progress is absolute; knowledge and power go hand in hand with beneficence to man, not alone to the individual possessors of wisdom, but to the whole human race. The custodians of the higher knowledge are equally by both motive and development almoners of the divine.
- W.Q.J.: Synthesis of Occult Science
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Not only in the Theosophical Society, but out of it, are tyros in Occultism. They are dabblers in a fine art, a mighty science, an almost impenetrable mystery. The motives that bring them to the study are as various as the number of individuals engaged in it, and as hidden from even themselves as is the center of the earth from the eye of science. Yet the motive is more important than any other factor.
....Meanwhile the world of real occultists smiles silently, and goes on with the laborious process of sifting out the living germs from the masses of men. For occultists must be found and fostered and prepared for coming ages when power will be needed and pretension will go for nothing.
- W.Q.J.: Occultism: What Is It?

“Theosophical Independence” is produced monthly by Associates of The United Lodge of Theosophists in Philadelphia. Comments, questions and contributions for publication may be sent to The United Lodge of Theosophists, 1917 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103.
The contents of this newsletter are provided freely and anonymously. It may be reproduced without permission.

Theosophical Independence Vol.10 - 05 July 2011

Quotes on WISDOM

A good head and a good heart are always a formidable combination.
- Nelson Mandela

A man begins cutting his wisdom teeth the first time he bites off more than he can chew. - Herb Caen

A poem begins in delight and ends in wisdom. - Robert Frost

A prudent question is one-half of wisdom. - Francis Bacon

A wise man is superior to any insults which can be put upon him, and the best reply to unseemly behavior is patience and moderation. - Moliere

Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience. - Ralph Waldo Emerson

All this worldly wisdom was once the unamiable heresy of some wise man.
- Henry David Thoreau

By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; Second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest. - Confucius

Cleverness is not wisdom. - Euripides

Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishment. - Jim Rohn
Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail. - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Every man is a damn fool for at least five minutes every day; wisdom consists in not exceeding the limit.
- Elbert Hubbard

Few of the many wise apothegms which have been uttered have prevented a single foolish action. -Thomas B. Macaulay

From the errors of others, a wise man corrects his own. - Publilius Syrus

Give me a lever long enough and a fulcrum on which to place it, and I shall move the world. - Archimedes

Good nature is worth more than knowledge, more than money, more than honor, to the persons who possess it. - Henry Ward Beecher

He dares to be a fool, and that is the first step in the direction of wisdom.
- James Huneker

He who devotes sixteen hours a day to hard study may become at sixty as wise as he thought himself at twenty.
-Mary Wilson Little

He who lives by the crystal ball soon learns to eat ground glass.
- Edgar R. Fiedler

Honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom. -Thomas Jefferson

If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart.
- Nelson Mandela

If you're trying to achieve, there will be roadblocks. I've had them; everybody has had them. But obstacles don't have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don't turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it. - Michael Jordan

Ignorant men raise questions that wise men answered a thousand years ago. -Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks.
-John Muir

Never does nature say one thing and wisdom another. - Juvenal

It is a characteristic of wisdom not to do desperate things.
-Henry David Thoreau

It is a common experience that a problem difficult at night is resolved in the morning after the committee of sleep has worked on it. - John Steinbeck

It is astonishing with how little wisdom mankind can be governed, when that little wisdom is its own.
- William Ralph Inge

It is great folly to wish to be wise all alone.
-Francois de La Rochefoucauld

It is the nature of the wise to resist pleasures, but the foolish to be a slave to them. - Epictetus

It is the neglect of timely repair that makes rebuilding necessary.
- Richard Whately

It requires wisdom to understand wisdom: the music is nothing if the audience is deaf. - Walter Lippmann

It's not what you look at that matters, it's what you see. - Thoreau

Knowledge comes, but wisdom lingers. - Alfred Lord Tennyson

Learning sleeps and snores in libraries, but wisdom is everywhere, wide awake, on tiptoe. -Josh Billings

Life is a travelling to the edge of knowledge, then a leap taken.
- David Herbert Lawrence

Memory is the mother of all wisdom.
- Aeschylus

Nine-tenths of wisdom is being wise in time. - Theodore Roosevelt

No man was ever wise by chance.
- Lucius Annaeus Seneca

Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one.
- Albert Einstein

“Theosophical Independence” is produced monthly by Associates of The United Lodge of Theosophists in Philadelphia. Comments, questions and contributions for publication may be sent to The United Lodge of Theosophists, 1917 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103.
The contents of this newsletter are provided freely and anonymously. It may be reproduced without permission.

Theosophical Independence Vol.10 - 06 August 2011

Discerning the Difference between the Psychic and the Spiritual

One of the first tasks of a student trying to understand one’s self in the light of the teachings of Theosophy is learning to distinguish between the psychic and the spiritual. This is particularly important to those who aspire for Theosophical independence because a basis for true self-reliance has to be established in the recognition of the permanent spiritual individuality and not the psychic personality. This is not an easy task. When looking within for the first time, all may appear to be dark, like looking into a glove as W. Q. Judge would say. Or, it may appear to be a jumbled kaleidoscope of impressions. The teachings of Theosophy are helpful in distinguishing the permanent from the transient and perishable.

Modern scientific research may discover evidence that corroborates the teachings. This may generate enthusiasm and excitement among Theosophists. However, even though scientific testimony is welcomed and thought provoking, it doesn’t replace persistent study of the philosophy, self-study, and meditation when it comes to acquiring soul wisdom. It is certainly helpful to try to restrain the tendency to becoming overly infatuated with scientific discoveries to the point where those discoveries are used as a basis upon which to speculate upon occult processes going on in the human being and nature, of which we have no direct knowledge or reference to in the teachings.

One such instructive example is the modern scientific research that has been done on the Near Death Experience (NDE), which has deservedly generated enthusiasm among students of Theosophy. The evidence acquired through this area of scientific research gives a good argument for the mind and senses being able to function at a distance and independently of the brain, and for the reality of soul powers and soul survival after the death of the body. But one must be discriminating in what one concludes from these studies about the nature of soul and what survives after death. Even though the immediacy and reality of the experience may convince the person having a NDE that there is more to one’s self and life than physical existence and a physical life, the experience does not prove anything to us. It appears to be a psychic experience, though a very powerful and potentially life changing one, for the person involved. But, is it a spiritual experience?

One of the more common features of NDEs is the experience of a “being of light.” But, does this make it a spiritual experience? Even though for some it may appear to be a personal relationship with an entity of light, this experience and its interpretation varies across different cultures and religious backgrounds. In other words, psychic experiences are often variable, distorted, and colored by our personal thoughts and feelings, which are themselves psychic experiences. This does not invalidate the importance and reality of psychic experiences. It only reinforces the idea that we should be cautious about the conclusions drawn from such experiences whether they are ours or someone else’s. In the light of the teachings of Theosophy, nothing that is personal and has a personal relationship with another being, physical or otherwise, can be part of the immortal reincarnating ego and spiritual individuality. It is the spiritual affinity of Egos who have incarnated together many times, which accounts for the deep spiritual love and understanding that exists between human beings.

Even in daily life, it is possible for the personality to feel the presence and light of the Higher Ego. This is not a personal relationship with a separate entity. The Higher Ego is our higher inner self and is not separate from the personality. The personality is its vehicle for expression and contact with others on this physical plane. At any conscious moment of our lives we can experience with direct knowledge the spiritual permanent reality of the Self as the unchanging witness and observer of all the changing aspects of mental, psychic and physical life.

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H. P. Blavatsky defines the difference between the psychic and the spiritual sense: "...there are two kinds of Siddhis, one group embraces the lower, coarse, psychic and mental energies; the other is one which exacts the highest training of Spiritual powers...”
- The Voice of the Silence
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"The Self of matter and the SELF of spirit can never meet. One of the twain must disappear; there is no place for both..."
- The Voice of the Silence
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“...the Astral Light gives out nothing but what it has received; that it is the great terrestrial crucible, in which the vile emanations of the earth (moral and physical) upon which the Astral Light is fed, are all converted into their subtlest essence, and radiated back intensified, thus becoming epidemics - moral, psychic and physical..."
-Theosophical Glossary
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“Theosophical Independence” is produced monthly by Associates of The United Lodge of Theosophists in Philadelphia. Comments, questions and contributions for publication may be sent to The United Lodge of Theosophists, 1917 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103.
The contents of this newsletter are provided freely and anonymously. It may be reproduced without permission.

Theosophical Independence Vol.10 - 07 September 2011

The Psychic and the Spiritual

The Universe is worked and guided from within outwards. As above so it is below, as in heaven so on earth; and man – the microcosm and miniature copy of the macrocosm – is the living witness to this Universal Law and to the mode of its action. We see that every external motion, act, gesture, whether voluntary or mechanical, organic or mental, is produced and preceded by internal feeling or emotion, will or volition, and thought or mind.
- The Secret Doctrine I p.274
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Thus proceed the cycles of the septenary evolution, in Septennial nature; the Spiritual or divine; the psychic or semi-divine; the intellectual, the passional, the instinctual, or cognitional; the semi-corporeal and the purely material or physical natures.
- The Secret Doctrine 1 p.267
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Between the fear of, but respect for, the invisible which makes a student impotent, and the forceful pushing of himself in without proper comprehension of its dangers, which injures him seriously if it does not kill him spiritually speaking, there is the middle course.
... It is through "the small plain duties of life properly performed" that the Ego is often attracted to stream forth its radiance: "It is the little things the work is done through." Therefore, Home-Building provides a most excellent play-ground for our spiritual and psychic muscles.
- B.P. Wadia “The Building of the Home”
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Imagination, is more important than knowledge. - Albert Einstein
Theosophy teaches not to seek dominance of Nature, nor dominance of one's fellow man, but to seek to co-operate with Nature and with the life in all evolving fellow beings; not to seek possessions but to work for the necessities of life. What are the necessities of life? The necessity of the Spiritual Life is Brotherhood; without that it starves as far as knowledge here is concerned.

... Every man sees from what to him is the highest, down to what to him is the lowest; that is his angle of Spiritual vision, because Spiritual knowledge is our perception of life itself as it is, and Spiritual knowledge must necessarily include all kinds of actions and manifestations good and bad. With that sheer distinction of good and noble and true and philanthropic and benevolent and fraternal, on down to the most devilish idea of preying upon our fellows, cannot we see which is the better path? Unless a man chooses the better, chooses the nobler, chooses the truer as he sees it and then practices it, he will infallibly use his powers according to the lower perception.

... We are Spiritual, however ignorant, however corrupt, however depraved we may be. To cure that corruption, to remedy that depravity, to once more see God as omnipresent; to once more see the Supreme Spirit in all things is the final step in the path of Spiritual evolution. All Nature exists for no other purpose than for the sake of the Soul's experience and emancipation, and that all shall to some degree be helped to see, is the purpose of the teachings of Theosophy.
- Magazine Theosophy 11 p.564 to p.567
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Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one. - Albert Einstein
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The goal of the aspirant for spiritual wisdom, is entrance upon a higher plane of existence; he is to become a new man, more perfect in every way than he is at present, and if he succeeds, his capabilities and faculties will receive a corresponding increase of range and power, just as in the visible world we find that each stage in the evolutionary scale is marked by increase of capacity. This is how it is that the Adept becomes endowed with marvellous powers that have been so often described, but the main point to be remembered is, that these powers are the natural accompaniments of existence on a higher plane of evolution, just as the ordinary human faculties are the natural accompaniments of existence on the ordinary human plane.

...Many persons seem to think that adeptship is not so much the result of radical development as of additional construction; they seem to imagine that an Adept is a man, who, by going through a certain plainly defined course of training, consisting of minute attention to a set of arbitrary rules, acquires first one power and then another and when he has attained a certain number of these powers is forthwith dubbed an adept. Acting on this mistaken idea they fancy that the first thing to be done towards attaining adeptship is to acquire "powers" -- clairvoyance and the power of leaving the physical body and traveling to a distance, are among those which fascinate the most.

To those who wish to acquire such powers for their own private advantage, we have nothing to say, they fall under the condemnation of all who act for purely selfish ends. But there are others, who, mistaking effect for cause, honestly think that the acquirement of abnormal powers is the only road to spiritual advancement.

...we would warn all our members, and others who are seeking spiritual knowledge, to beware of persons offering to teach them easy methods of acquiring psychic gifts, such gifts (laukika) are indeed comparatively easy of acquirement by artificial means, but fade out as soon as the nerve-stimulus exhausts itself. The real seership and adeptship which is accompanied by true psychic development(lokothra), once reached is never lost.
- H.P. Blavatsky “Spiritual Progress”
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Listen to your heart. it knows all things, because it came from the Soul of the World, and it will one day return there.
- Paulo Coelho
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To know that what is impenetrable for us really exists and manifests itself as the highest wisdom and the most radiant beauty, whose gross forms alone are intelligible to our poor faculties – this knowledge, this feeling ... that is the core of the true religious sentiment. In this sense, and in this sense alone, I rank myself among profoundly religious men...
- Albert Einstein
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“Theosophical Independence” is produced monthly by Associates of The United Lodge of Theosophists in Philadelphia. Comments, questions and contributions for publication may be sent to The United Lodge of Theosophists, 1917 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103.
The contents of this newsletter are provided freely and anonymously. It may be reproduced without permission.