Theos-Talk Archives (August 2001 Message tt00097)

From: <AnandaYoga@aol.com>
To: <theos-talk@yahoogroups.com>

> I am currently studying The Voice of Silence and I am puzzled. Please give
> my your thoughts on verses 14-16.
> My confusion lies in this, I live in a world of created illusion, yet
> should I not be joyful that I have this physical life to learn about the
> portion of truth that my mind can understand.

Ahimsa or harmlessness is a major theme in Eastern religions. Fragment 1
of the VOICE emphasises this attitude to other lives. Fragments 2 & 3
explicitly go beyond doing no harm to being an active helping force.
No joy needs to be avoided, but since it is illusory, there is no point in
concerning yourself with whether it goes, stays, is fostered or not fostered.
These lower nature thrills are not real. However there is a bliss that is our
real nature.
As you may know, man is a composite. The 4 souls cited in this verse
refer to the 4 lower principles of man. The smiling soul = prana; the singing
soul = physical body; the weeping soul = etheric or astral and the struggling
soul = kama-manas or desire-mind. All are of the earth, earthy. The "budding
soul" of the next verse is the higher mind. Since it is still only a
delicate "bud" and not a fully flowering selfless Adept, this young soul
ususually will reject altruistic motives for itself. We all are "shy turtles"
early on. When we finally get some confidence that the world around us is
illusory and our nature within is divine -- even then Self-centeredness rules.
Whether a fondness for astral exploration sidetracks us, or we think our
personality is as vast as space and god-like -- we are still "caught in the
webs of delusion." HPB's note 7 mentions a technical term used in Buddhism
for personality-belief. It is the first fetter on the path to enlightenment.

> Also, to truely form a Brotherhood, must we not lend an ear to her
> turmoil? How can we understand the nature of others, if we do not hear her
> joys and sorrows? We should not get pulled in. Shouldn't an aspirant learn
> of whom one day he hopes to help?

Before we can understand the nature of others we must look from an
impersonal vantage point. We must "discern the ONE," "forsake the region of
the false" and attain "the Harmony within." Only then can we -- the Soul --
begin to see ourselves and others clearly.

Fare Thee Well,

Nicholas