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

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