theos-talk.com

[MASTER INDEX] [DATE INDEX] [THREAD INDEX] [SUBJECT INDEX] [AUTHOR INDEX]

[Date Prev] [Date Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next]

LARGER TIDES

Dec 26, 2006 12:43 PM
by carlosaveline


Dear Friends,  
 
This is on the mystery of tides, or cycles  of human events. 
 
Upon studying William Judge’s Forum  Answers (Theosophy Company, p. 06), once can see a key quotation  from a  Mahatma Letter.  It’s on the cycles of historical evolution.   
 
The Master says, in order to avoid certain “theosophical misconceptions”:   
 
“... We never pretended to be able to draw nations in the mass to this or  that crisis in spite of the general drift of the world’s cosmic relations. The cycles must run their rounds. . . .  The major and minor yugas must be accomplished according  to the established order of things.  And we, borne along with the mighty tide, can only modify and direct some of its minor currents (.....).  ”  
 
 The importance of those lines can’t be overstated. These words were first published in the book The Occult World, by A.P. Sinnett.  Later one, they were included in  the chronological edition of the  Mahatma Letters.  In this crucial paragraph, the process of the “mighty tide of Karma cycles” is described  from the viewpoint of the Adepts. (1)  
 
On the other hand, there is a celebrated poem by Longfellow, whose title is Santa Filomena –  which describes the same “mighty tide” but now from the point of view of average human beings and students of the divine wisdom.  
 
The poem  might be said to complement the Master’s  statement –  from the student’s  perspective. The really significant verses are in the first part of  the poem.  Some four lines of it have been actually used by Sylvia Cranston  in the opening of her extraordinary book “HPB” – the best biography available of the main founder of the modern theosophical movement.   
 
It is worthwhile to read and meditate on the first 12 lines of Longfellow’s poem, which really show the same fact described by the Mahatma – the common tide of human karma –  yet from quite another perspective.  It says:   
 
Whene’er a noble deed is wrought, 
Whene’er  is spoken a noble thought,
Our hearts, in  glad surprise, 
To higher levels rise. 
 
The tidal wave  of deeper souls 
Into our inmost being rolls, 
And lifts us unawares, 
Out of all meaner cares. 
 
Honor to those whose words or deeds 
Thus help us in our daily needs, 
And by their overflow
Raise us from what is low! (2) 
 
Indeed, the common efforts of the Sages help lift the whole of humanity along the immense sea of time.  The fact that many human beings are completely unconscious of it does not make a difference.  Those who know about that, though,  can share a vision of great things – and thus better understand the work of  the ‘elder brothers’ of  our present humanity. 
 
Regards, Carlos.  
   
NOTES: 
 
(1) The whole letter from which WQJ made his quotation  is of extreme importance. It has not been  published  in the T.U.P. (Pasadena)  edition of the Mahatma Letters,  but it is in the Combined Chronology of the ‘Mahatma Letters’ & The ‘Letters of H.P. Blavatsky to A.P.S.’, by Margaret Conger, T.U.P., pp. 28-38;  and also in the Chronological edition of the Mahatma Letters to A.P.Sinnett (TPH, Philippines, 1993, pp. 469-476). 
 
(2) Favorite Poems, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Dover-Thrift-Editions, Dover Publications, Inc., New York, Copyright 1992,  85 pp., see p. 65. 
 
 
 
 
 


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]




[Back to Top]


Theosophy World: Dedicated to the Theosophical Philosophy and its Practical Application