LAW IS INHERENT IN OURSELVES AND NOT OUTSIDE OF US



Humanity has been cursed by false and distorted ideas of whether the consequences of one's actions inexorably return to oneself – as in the Eastern traditions – or whether one can short circuit one's responsibility of one's thoughts, feelings and outward actions (such as words). Many think by confessing one's "sins" to a priest or a therapist that one can thereby escape the results of those sins, or that the effects that flow from a particular action can be avoided by the giving of money to churches or some other form of sacrifice. All of these perverted attitudes rest upon the assumption – never clearly and openly stated – that the Law is something that is outside of us, that it is external to our nature, and thus in the hands or control of some external beings or forces.

Robert Crosbie put the matter in this vein:

"The ideas we entertain of the Supreme, of Law, of Nature, and of our own Being govern the actions we perform. When we were children we had certain ideas, and we acted according to them, and so on, all through the years. Some of our ideas we have from time to time discarded, and others that we have collected have taken their place. We are now acting according to the ideas we now hold. Are they the best and highest possible to us?

If we change our ideas, we change our actions. If we see that Law rules, that this Law is inherent in our highest nature and not outside of us, we shall see that it is the Spirit in us – our very Self – that is the cause and sustainer of all our actions; and this Spirit by its very power as the Highest, through false ideas creates for itself false positions and false destinies. We have often adopted and we often change our ideas without any real consideration as to their truth, as to their relation to Life, as to their bearing upon existence. 

We must adopt and hold fast to three great ideas: that each human being has what are called the "three attributes of the God-head" – the power of creation, the power of preservation as long as that creation seems satisfactory, and the power to destroy that creation and regenerate better ones. All we have to do is to realize our own real nature, see what our defects are, strengthen our virtues, and move on. Just so surely as we do this, we shall find that our virtue and strength increase, and our defects gradually fall away."

More of Robert Crosbie's essays, including the full text of his article, The Recognition of Law, can be found at https://www.theosophytrust.org.

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