Theos-Talk Archives (December 2006 Message tt00689)

ASSOCIATION WITH A PURPOSE

It is sometimes true that where a few may fail, the many will 
succeed. Where efforts are no longer selfish, work done in the 
company of the like-minded is bound to achieve its results in time. 
Centres of the United Lodge of Theosophists were established to draw 
aspiring hearts together, to canalize their efforts along the right 
lines of endeavour and to bring home to the many the soothing 
message of the Wisdom-Religion. Theirs is a call to serve, to suffer 
and to sacrifice. Personal gains have to be discounted in favour of 
shared by all pure souls equally. Autonomous in its working, each 
such centre of the one Lodge is meant to serve as an oasis in the 
arid deserts of a sense-intoxicated world.

What does an Association calling itself the United Lodge of 
Theosophists seek to achieve? The answer is contained in 
the "Declaration" which is adopted by all U.L.T. centres the world 
over. In that document, which is in fact the charter of the Lodge, 
the work to be done by the associates who have joined together in a 
common endeavour is thus set forth:

That work and that end is the dissemination of the Fundamental 
Principles of the Philosophy of Theosophy, and the exemplification 
in practice of those principles, through a truer realization of the 
SELF, a profounder conviction of Universal Brotherhood.

When a Brotherhood of this kind is aimed at, what is it that is 
implied? Of exactly what relationship between man and man are we to 
become profoundly convinced? No doubt, the juxtaposition of the two 
ideas—the one of a truer realization of the Self, the other of a 
conviction of Universal Brotherhood—provides the clue. But before 
the intimate connection of both these ideas can be seen, it becomes 
necessary that we ascertain where even at comparatively lower levels 
true brotherhood can be seen and practised. What is aimed at is no 
mere sentimental unity of an hour nor a mere joining together in a 
brotherhood of convenience. Correct friendship—satsang—would be 
meaningless if vice can claim brotherhood with virtue. Light and 
darkness cannot be made to merge on any plane though they have their 
appointed tasks and each exists for the experience of the Soul. But 
they must be recognized for what they are—as two extreme poles of 
the same magnet. However, when they are pitted the one against the 
other, their needs must remain separate and opposing poles. The 
student dare not equate the shades of darkness with the active forms 
of day.

In an Association like U.L.T., where each associate is thrown on his 
own responsibility under the Declaration and the Pledge of 
association, it is well to consider the limiting and sometimes 
conflicting atmosphere that each aspirant is likely to bring and 
which in larger or smaller measure may militate against the knitting 
of the Lodge into a homogeneous and cohesive whole. All depends on 
the contribution each one brings as his own offering to the Lodge. 
This offering may outwardly look specific. In reality, the associate 
is offering up his own conglomerate self, that strange mixture of 
good and bad which for the time being constitutes his own 
diversified make-up. Each aspiring soul longs to be assured that its 
weaknesses can be kept away and immunized so that they do not weaken 
the brotherhood nor taint the image of the Lodge. Vain hopes these; 
but the Lodge exists to take these weaknesses in its stride. With 
the help of the united many, the failing brother can be lifted out 
of his personal rut of misery. In the measure that this is achieved 
or abandoned, is the measure of the innate strength of any Lodge.

It is important that each associate realize that he and his co-
associates bring into the group the impact of their personalities. 
Desires in all their variegated shades will be there—those that are 
patent as well as those that are unexpressed or supressed. All these 
have the potency to spread their magnetic influence within the 
group. Anger will be there; bottled up most of the time yet bursting 
at the seams in moments of unrestrained passion, and sought to be 
excused by that term which has all too often become the opiate of 
the Soul—"righteous anger." Greed will be there too, ready to pounce 
on somebody's territory, jealous of its own possessions, gloating 
over its ill-gotten gains. Only the sentimental and the foolish will 
refuse to see these forces working away among brothers and 
associates, corroding friendships and undermining unity. It is the 
presence or absence of these forces which makes the image of the 
Lodge dark and foreboding and sterile, or light and beneficent and 
potent.

When an associate comes across a blemish in another associate, he 
rarely brings to mind the parable of the mote in the eye. His first 
reaction is often one of revulsion. "How can I call such an one my 
brother or affirm before the world my close association with him!" 
To each brother comes a time when he poses this question to himself. 
He is of course unmindful of the fact that the insidious force of 
his own latent qualities may have been the influence—unseen, 
impalpable—which may have pushed his brother over the brink! Then, 
there is always the human frailty of magnifying another's fault and 
turning the blind eye to one's own divagations. Leaving 
considerations of self-righteousness out of the reckoning, the 
opportunities afforded by such circumstances are unique. 
Transplanting the same experience to another sphere, we might ask: 
What should be the attitude of a brother to another who has 
succumbed to a contagion? Should he disown the relationship? Should 
he isolate himself and refuse to be near his brother till the latter 
has regained his health? Is he not entitled to treat him as a leper, 
a being to be avoided, his company shunned till he comes back to 
normal health? It is under circumstances such as these which try 
one's soul that lessons in ethics are imbibed. The same 
circumstances also present invaluable opportunities for the failing 
brother. Will he, for instance, get dejected when, instead of 
sympathy and the helping hand which he expected, he gets the glassy 
eye and the perfunctory hullo? Will he be quick to acknowledge his 
fault and make atonement? Will he seek the appropriate remedy in the 
Scriptures? Will he be humble enough to receive proffered help and 
sympathy, or will he stand in proud isolation amid the turmoil of 
his griefs?

The guideline for testing the existence of brotherhood was given by 
a Master of Wisdom when he wrote that what hurts one must hurt the 
other, and that which gladdens the heart of 'A' must fill with 
pleasure 'B'. What is one to do when a brother looks on the downfall 
of another with smug satisfaction the usual "I told you so"? What 
when a brother covets the job of another and schemes to oust him 
from it? Does love triumph, or will recrimination and bitterness 
cast their sickly hue on the whole group? Is there going to be an 
unseemly scramble for the seats of power; the jockeying for 
positions; the recourse to courts of law; the washing of dirty 
linen? The history of the first 50 years of the Movement saw all 
these questions put squarely to the members of the then Theosophical 
Society. In the scramble for positions, unity went by the board. But 
such circumstances must always arise where personality clashes with 
personality and the larger issues are forgotten. The froth must come 
to the surface whenever the heat is applied; but then, if you want 
gold, smelting of the ore becomes a necessity. It is those only who 
can take the rough with the smooth, who understand that brotherhood 
stems from something deeper than the personality, deeper than either 
mind or soul, it is these alone who will be able to carry on through 
good and evil report and keep the lines unbroken.

The Declaration aims at the dawning of a deep "conviction" in the 
associates of a sense of Universal Brotherhood. Does the Declaration 
also give a basis on which such a conviction can be founded and 
fostered? Says the Declaration: "It holds that the unassailable 
Basis for Union among Theosophists, wherever and however situated, 
is 'similarly of aim, purpose and teaching.'" It is only on this 
basis that the firm conviction can be founded. If there is anythig 
that goes counter to the "aim," it has to be eschewed. If there is 
any action that is likely to go counter to the "purpose," it has to 
be examined, judged upon and put aside if found unworthy. If there 
is a "teaching" that is not in conformity with the teachings of 
Madame Blavatsky and her Masters, it has to be noted and laid aside 
in the same manner as the student lays aside the teachings of 
orthodox creeds and fanatic sects. If in the world there were only a 
few who adhered strictly to the triple unity of "aim, purpose and 
teaching," a cohering force whould be generated which could permeate 
and protect the whole. Each unit of the group has to understand that 
he alone does not have the cause of the Movement at heart. He must 
realize that others, too, feel for the cause as he does, and perhaps 
more strongly. What is important is that each brother salute in the 
other his selfless desire for service and sacrifice. Brotherhood 
when it is actively pursued will therefore imply the observance of 
the triple unity in oneself, the unstinted appreciation of work done 
along the same lines by others and the reaching out of a willing and 
anxious hand to those who are in need of support in their own work 
towards the furtherance of that unity. Even a little of this 
practice if diligently pursued with a firm position taken and with 
the end in view will strengthen the inner resistance to forces of 
disunity.

The conviction of Universal Brotherhood must, however, remain 
partial—a conviction by degrees—so long as the individuals or for 
the matter of that the group, has not realized the Self, and this is 
a work of ages. The consciousness having been located in the higher 
mind, the aspiring Soul must reach out and beyond towards that which 
is superior to that higher mind. That which chains the human 
consciousness to lowly things is the entanglement of the mind with 
matters, issues and considerations which are by their very nature 
impermanent. The body and its adornments, the desires and their 
trappings, the aspirations and their self-centring attachments are 
so many dragging weights that clip the wings of the higher mind and 
prevent it from soaring towards the empyrean blue.

An association such as is envisaged by the Declaration of the U.L.T. 
becomes the training-ground for any aspiring soul that chooses the 
special path chalked out by the Masters of Wisdom. Here, the student 
meets with problems and circumstances where he can exercise his new 
skill at eschewing the personal and the selfish. Years and lives 
must necessarily pass in endeavours when from little acts of service 
the associates rises to a total surrender of that portion of time, 
money and effort which is his to command. There must come descending 
cycles also of gloom and uncertainty when the wavering soul wonders 
whether the "cause" is worth it all, and whether he should not 
divert some of his possessions to family, friends and household. 
Some associates have thus fallen by the wayside and have given to 
individuals that which was dedicated to mankind. They pass on, their 
past efforts not wholly lost, leaving the aroma or their previous 
aspirations. There is hope for them still. A few more incarnations 
in humble settings, and the lesson would have been learnt. But this 
is important to note: No human judgements, no criticisms and raising 
of the shoulders is permissible even in the case of outright 
failures. They who have invoked their Self in the work to be done in 
the company of other associates are individuals apart whose only 
judge, saviour, refuge, resting-place and friend is that Self. Bow 
down to that Self, and steadily, as you watch and worship, its light 
will grow stronger. There is a time to work and also a time to watch 
and to wait.

(Published at "The Theosophical Movement", a monthly magazine in 
Mumbai, India, in June 2003)

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