Theos-Talk Archives (October 2004 Message tt00397)

Oct 25 2004





Dear L and Friends:





May offer these ideas?





NON-VIOLENCE, LOVE, AHIMSA, 

Generosity, Charity, Mercy, Empathy





Ahimsa or non-violence is a basic approach to theosophical psychology
applied as brotherhood. This may be expressed as love, sympathy, empathy,
charity, mercy, the impulse to share and to give to others, protection to
the weak and all victims of tyranny, etc., to make this reasonable and
apparent we need to go to the "origins" of our present living conditions.
How did we, our world and universe start? What keeps the going? Where are
they proceeding to?



It may be necessary to be able to say why Brotherhood is "a fact in nature,"
and therefore, the individual practise of peace, tolerance and non-violence
is essential. 



The question is whether we can determine for ourselves if non-violence is
based on a universal fact or not. Is that an "essential unity," and, is
there a pre-existing condition which may be called the IMMORTALITY OF THE
SPIRIT / SOUL that is innate to each human as well as to all other beings,
starting, as Science does with the ever-moving "atom." In THEOSOPHY this
essential basis for all life and every living thing enveloped in substance,
matter, is held to be a "ray" or a "spark" of the ONE UNIVERSAL
ABSOLUTENESS. This provides each being or entity (at whatever level) with
its own personal intelligence, its own sense of "I am I." 



If we go back in thought to the metaphysical concept that all physical
manifestation has its origins in the antecedent condition of a period of
NON-MANIFESTATION, we can see that we are, taken all together, ONE WHOLE. 



Then we may say that in MANIFESTATION we (as Individual "sparks," "rays,"
or Monads) become apparently "separate" on the substantial, material and
physical plane (while remaining ALWAYS totally UNITED on the SPIRITUAL
--Atmic -- PLANE). It is on this plane that brotherhood and non-violence
take their base. 



If the condition of seeming isolation for any unit of life is analysed, we
will find that it is our "desire principle" (Kama) that produces this (Maya)
illusion. If the Kamic principle was able on its own to visualize its range
of potential future conditions and positions, it would see that it is never
totally separate from Nature. It is the Universe (of which it is an
indissoluble part) that supplies it (as a gift) with the necessities of
life: air, water, food, shelter, companionship, etc.



We have to remember that WE -- the REAL HUMAN INTELLIGENCE -- are

an Immortal, and we are continually working with all Monads "of lesser
experience" that assemble around us, under Karma, to assist them to
individually rise to the level we have already achieved. [ You will find
this hinted at in SECRET DOCTRINE Vol. I pp. 570-575 157-8, II 167, 596]

This is the source of the IDEAL CONCEPT OF UNIVERSAL BROTHERHOOD.



It should be apparent that killing or torturing the body presently used by
any one of these MONADS is a very evil thing. 



Wars, murders, torture, tyranny inducing fear, etc., are utter perversions
of the universal LAW of NATURE which is that all beings all MONADS deserve
to aggregate fearlessly together to achieve jointly a complete knowledge of
the UNIVERSE in as short a time as possible. Anything that delays or
distorts this is a terrible generator of "bad karma." 



The Great Buddha said:



"Cease from evil. Do good. This is the law eternal."



"Follow the Noble eight-fold PATH. This leads to Sorrow's
ceasing."



Jesus said:



"Turn the other cheek. Give to him who steals."





Because of residual Karma (from choices we made in our many embodiments) in
an earlier life or MANVANTARA ( a period of evolution) we have outstanding
debts (of good and evil causes) to settle. These residual karmic links are
from the partial work that was done then, with those "Monads of lesser
experience." The "balancing" is essentially: to restore them to the
harmony they deserve, where we have been the disturbing factors.



The work of bringing the Monads we are entrusted with, up to the "stature,
nature and power of conscious God-hood" remains to be done in this life and
succeeding ones, and this may extend to succeeding Manvantaras.



Hence in this new manifestation that we are all presently involved in,
(which is analogous to our "After-Death-States" ) is the result of the
total of all individual Karma. Taken as a whole this makes the KARMA of a
world or a Universe.



This is because each distinct intelligence or MONAD has to achieve through
its own experience and free-choice, the wisdom of seeing that we are all,
brothers, and have no business (or responsibility) to dictate, or attempt to
impose our views on any other MONAD / INTELLIGENCE.



Teaching consists in exposing ideas to others, but we have to leave them the
freedom to adopt them and use them without any coercion whatsoever. 



Coercion is violence. The "elder" and the "Wiser" has no good reason to
impose their disciplines and views on others. But they need to be presented
with sound and logical reasons - ideas - and, brought to a point where they
can perceive the logic of using them independently. 



The LAW can be "preached" and "illustrated." The use and application of the
LAW has to be left in the hands of the pupils. They have to voluntarily
adopt disciplines to be applied to their "lower nature " (Kama), so as to
spiritualize, transform, and regenerate it.



In our present incarnation we are educated at an early age as thinking of
ourselves as members of distinct races or cultures, with a personalized
religion that pretends to tell us what is real or unreal, true or false.
But we ought to inquire into the impersonal reality -- the Laws - that make
anything universally true or false. We are rarely encouraged (but
Theosophy does) to investigate and prove these teachings to be right or
wrong. Yet this individual proof is essential to our real progress.
THEOSOPHY is in the world to declare the Path to the freedom of mind and
thought for all. It is therefore impersonal, impartial and universal. 



When we look at our lives and those of others impartially, we see these
similarities and differences. We have to learn to discriminate between the
TRUE and the FALSE. This is our present responsibility as minds and humans.
The touchstone to use is an impartial and impersonal knowledge of the LAWS
of LIFE and EVOLUTION. Only our own devotion leads us to this task. It is
always self-imposed.



If we look back in history for evidences of this, we encounter Jesus'
teachings (as given in the SERMON ON THE MOUNT) -- and then, being
impartially curious, we wonder how it happens that the world-wide Christian
faiths do not practice what Jesus taught, but often quite the opposite.
Jesus is said to have studied under Buddhist monks established for many
years on the shores of the Dead Sea, and from Egyptian Initiates when he
escaped persecution in his own country. 



We consider Gandhi and his creed and practice of non-violence in India as an
outstanding modern example of a practical personal example of living such a
life of non-violence. The murdering bullet of a Hindu fanatic terminated
that glorious "experiment with truth."



But there is so much that we can say to ourselves about this, and these few
words are only some ideas I have culled from Theosophical sources.



Best wishes, 





Dallas





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-----Original Message-----
From: 
Sent: Monday, October 25, 2004 2:23 AM
To: Subject: [bn-study] RE: re mind/brain, karma







Love, Compassion, Empathy, Mercy. These words and a few others, are the
VIRTUES, probably synonymous, which describe the characteristics of an
enlightened soul. To the extent that we equivocate, or rationalize these
ideals, through our behavior, we define our own enlightenment, or lack
thereof. You are correct when you say that a compassionate soul, could not
choose inaction. A fully enlightened soul, driven by duty, or service to
ones fellow human, must always be prepared to select sacrifice, as one of
the many choices available for a given action. 



We witness murder every day throughout the world. The media has made it
inescapable. The question is, what is the collective karma for humankind,
which being formed, by our inaction's?? What do the generations to come,
inherit as their legacy of indifference unfolds? 



Best,



Louis





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