Theos-Talk Archives (March 2007 Message tt00126)

Altruism means putting the welfare of others above your own personal 
welfare and benefit. Karma is the law of balance, adjusting 
constantly the imbalances caused by humanity choosing to ignore the 
law of nature that determines everything. If you wish to point to one 
or another individual and make them wrong or to blame for what you 
perceive is wrong, I submit that you are moving in the direction that 
eventually produced the Inquisition in the Christian church. This is 
not what theosophy is about. Quite the opposite. We need not concern 
ourselves with the iniquities of others. We have quite enough 
learning to control our own iniquitous behavior. HPB was a high 
adept, under the direct guidance of the Masters. Comparing our 
behavior to hers, or  justifying ours by saying that this is what she 
did, shows a lack of understanding of the message she was trying to 
get across. What would she say about one of her students saying that 
it's ok to trash one of the early theosophists because that is what 
HPB would have done? Ridiculous. Theosophical history is full of her 
turning the other cheek in her personal life. She had work to do and 
we may as well try to follow what she taught. It would save a lot of 
time and energy.

Adelasie

On 6 Mar 2007 at 14:57, Cass Silva wrote:

> Good point Adelasie, and one which I believe should have been directed at Annie Besant and Charles Leadbeater.
> Altruism is selfless concern for the welfare of others.
>   Isn't Karma itself living life in ignorance, repeating or repairing past judgements? 
>   HPB had no concern for the welfare of the Roman Catholic Papacy and others she considered to be a blight on human development.
>   I believe that before we can be altruistic to others we need to understand what true altruism is.  Besant created far more karma for the theosophical society by introducing an altruistic approach to christianity.  No?
>   Cass
>    
>    
>   adelasie <adelasie@sbcglobal.net> wrote:
>           Where I live we say "Creeds disappear, Hearts remain." This or that 
> creed is only the limited attempt to materialize the eternally 
> immaterial, which always results in some sort of distortion. But it 
> would seem that karma decrees that humanity continue to make creeds 
> out of eternal truth until we learn that spirituality cannot be 
> reduced to cant. Or, until we realize that our work in the world is 
> altruism, rather than self-aggrandizement.
> 
> Adelasie
>