Theosophy In Daily Life



Many people think that religion means a preparation for death or the states of the future. Religion really means a preparation for and a knowledge of life - a living of our life as it should be lived. That which prepares for death is life, and ever living. Formal religions do not even answer the question, why is death - nor any of the other burning questions in daily life. Why do we have suffering and sorrow? Why are we here? What was the origin of man? Why so many different conditions among mankind; why are some born to sorrow, and others to joy; why some in lowly places, some in high; why some with great faculties and others with very few and poor ones? Justice demands an answer which is not furnished by religion, with its so-called "mysteries" - for if man is the creature of a creator he cannot help himself and is absolutely irresponsible. Any being, if “perfect,” would maintain justice; yet there are injustices among men. The caprice or whim of a creator does not explain the difficulty. Any being, however great or high, must of necessity be limited, finite, and imperfect - something outside us, something which does not contain the universe but is contained by it.

We have to go behind any idea of a Being, to the source of all being - to a basis common to the highest and to the lowest being. That basis and source is not to be found by looking outward at all, but is the very power to perceive, wherever there is life. Spirit, Life, Consciousness are the same in every being - undivided, however many and varied the perceptions. Evolution is not a compelling force from without, but the impelling force of Spirit from within, urging on to better and better expression through spiritual evolution. All advancement is from within. All the knowledge that we gain, all the experience that we obtain, is obtained and held within. 

Each one, then, is the Seer; all the rest are seen. So, the knowledge that we have to obtain is not information from without, not the thoughts of other men, but an understanding of our own essential nature, which represents every element in the great universe, from the basis of all life to every outward expression, and every possibility of further expression - just as each drop of water contains in itself everything existing in the great ocean from which it came. Nor does Law exist outside of us. Law is always inherent in Spirit; it is the action which brings re-action in every individual case, and to the collective mass of humanity. We are here under the law of Karma and we go through the cycle of reincarnation under justice. There is no such thing as injustice in the universe.

You will find more on these topics in the over-1000 articles and books at the Theosophy Trust  written by H.P Blavatsky, W.Q. Judge, and Robert Crosbie, and in the Lead Articles from HERMES Magazine by Raghavan Iyer.
Location: United States

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Fundamental Propositions of Theosophy

The following are some of the fundamental propositions of Theosophy put forth by HP Blavatsky in the 19 th Century:   The spirit in man is the only real and permanent part of his being; the rest of his nature being variously compounded. And since decay is incident to all composite things, everything in man but his spirit is impermanent.   Further, the universe being one thing and not diverse, and everything within it being connected with the whole and with every other thing therein, of which upon the upper plane (below referred to) there is a perfect knowledge, no act or thought occurs without each portion of the great whole perceiving and noting it. Hence all are inseparably bound together by the tie of Brotherhood.   This first fundamental proposition of Theosophy postulates that the universe is not an aggregation of diverse unities but that it is one whole. This whole is what is denominated "Deity" by Western Philosophers, and " Para-Brahma " b
Read more

THE THINKING PRINCIPLE, MINDFULNESS AND THE CULTURE OF CONCENTRATION

We are all a prey to those fears that tend to disrupt the very instrument by means of which true concentration may be attained; but it may be attained. The peculiar power and nature of concentration is that, when complete, the attention can be placed on any subject or object to the exclusion of every other for any given length of time; and this thinking principle – this mind of ours which has been flitting about – can be used to shape itself to the object gazed upon, to the nature of the subject thought about.  While the mind takes the shape of the object, we get from that shape the form, the characteristics of every kind that flow from it; and when our inquiry is complete, we are able to know everything that can be known of the subject or object. Such a height of concentration we can easily see is not to be attained by intermittent efforts, but by efforts made from "a firm position assumed" with the end in view. All efforts made from that basis are bound to be of a
Read more

THE LIFE OF ONE IS THE LIFE OF ALL

Writing of the relationship of any one individual life to the life of All, Robert Crosbie writes: "The life of each of us is the Universal Life. Many imagine that Life means existence in a physical body, and that only; that outside of physical existence there is no life. But Life includes all things and forms from the highest spiritual down to life in its grossest form; it is the same Life all through, common to all. It is the One Life, the One Spirit in each and all, so that in each being of every grade there lies the potentiality of All- Being. There is that in each which is beginning less and endless, which is changeless; and that, though illimitable, invisible, inconceivable, can be realized by every human being. Some illustrations will bring this fact forcibly to our minds. We speak of ourselves, of our identity. We say, "I was a child; when I was a young man or woman; when I was middle-aged; as I am today; as I will be in the future." Now, what is That
Read more