Esoteric Philosophy and Wisdom in Daily Life
The Theosophical Movement
“Men cannot all be Occultists, but they can all be
Theosophists. Many who have never heard of the
Society are Theosophists without knowing it
themselves; for the essence of Theosophy is the
perfect harmonizing of the divine with the human
in man, the adjustment of his godlike qualities and
aspirations, and their sway over the terrestrial or
animal passions in him. Kindness, absence of every
ill feeling or selfishness, charity, good-will to all beings,
and perfect justice to others as to one's self, are its chief
features. He who teaches Theosophy preaches the gospel
of good-will; and the converse of this is true also — he
who preaches the gospel of good-will teaches Theosophy.”
Theosophists. Many who have never heard of the
Society are Theosophists without knowing it
themselves; for the essence of Theosophy is the
perfect harmonizing of the divine with the human
in man, the adjustment of his godlike qualities and
aspirations, and their sway over the terrestrial or
animal passions in him. Kindness, absence of every
ill feeling or selfishness, charity, good-will to all beings,
and perfect justice to others as to one's self, are its chief
features. He who teaches Theosophy preaches the gospel
of good-will; and the converse of this is true also — he
who preaches the gospel of good-will teaches Theosophy.”
H. P. Blavatsky
There is great confusion and misunderstanding in the public mind about the beneficent influence of Theosophy. It would be wrong to judge and condemn the great philosophy because of the limitations and weaknesses of its students and votaries. To belittle the teachings of the Buddha because professing Buddhists are not living according to the Panchasila would be an injustice to the Teacher and his pure teachings. Similarly, professing theosophists, being human, often do fail to live up to the very high ideals, the lofty principles and noble precepts of Theosophy; and further, they do err in numerous ways; but that should not deter a justice-loving mind from examining and accepting Theosophy on its own merits.
If one wants to ascertain what the pure and genuine doctrines of Jesus are, one must go, not to the priests and prelates of any church, but to the Sermon on the Mount and his other authentic sayings. Similarly, if anyone desires to find out what Theosophy actually is, he should not just read and listen to those who call themselves theosophists, but must read what the Teacher of Theosophy taught. Let a truth-seeking enquirer or a justice-loving doubter go direct to the writings of H. P. Blavatsky; let him read the simple, straightforward presentation given by her in “The Key to Theosophy”, for instance.
In her very first book, “Isis Unveiled” (Theosophy Co., vol. II, p. 124), Madame Blavatsky gave three propositions which constitute the basis and foundation of Theosophic living:
(1) Everything existing, exists from natural causes.
(2) Virtue brings its own reward, and vice and sin their own punishment.
(3) The state of man in this world is probationary.
Anyone desirous of living the life of the Soul will find in these three propositions all that is necessary. No doubt he will require further knowledge to grasp their implications, but as a starting point, and as a stable foundation for day-to-day living, any person will find these propositions of great practical value. As Madame Blavatsky herself wrote:
“We might add that on these three principles rested the universal foundation of every religious creed: God, and individual immortality for every man—if he could but win it. However puzzling the subsequent theological tenets; however seemingly incomprehensible the metaphysical abstractions which have convulsed the theology of every one of the great religions of mankind as soon as it was placed on a sure footing, the above is found to be the essence of every religious philosophy, with the exception of later Christianity. It was that of Zoroaster, of Pythagoras, of Plato, of Jesus, and even of Moses, albeit the teachings of the Jewish lawgiver have been so piously tampered with.”
These three propositions may be examined briefly:
(1) Everything existing, exists from natural causes.
This is not at all difficult for anyone to accept in this era when modern science is so greatly worshipped, for it only extends the scientific axiom that law governs the whole universe. Modern science asserts that law and order prevail everywhere in visible nature—in the dust below our feet and in the stars above our head. Theosophy or ancient science accepts this teaching, but extends it to the invisible universe. Moral and mental conditions also are governed by Law, and there is the rhythm, harmony and order of Justice in the realm of human thought, will and feeling. In other words, there is no miracle and everything that happens is the result of Law—eternal, immutable, ever active. So-called miracles are but the results of the operation of natural laws not yet known to the world of ordinary knowledge; but such laws were and are known and their working can be theoretically understood and practically used in human service, just as the modern scientist utilizes the law of gravity, etc.
From the recognition of the entire universe as manifesting and existing under Law, men and women have to admit that their own love and labour, their own thoughts and feelings, their own relationship to others, are also governed by that Law. There is, therefore, the second proposition:
(2) Virtue brings its own reward, and vice and sin their own punishment.
Our greatest puzzle when we ourselves experience misery or face the sufferings of others consists in explaining the reasons. The religious explanation that vices, weaknesses, diseases and evils of all sorts are created by God is a most unreasonable, depressing and blasphemous doctrine. How absurd is the notion of an all-powerful God creating weaknesses, an all-wise God creating ignorance, an all-loving God creating hatred, an ever-living immortal God creating disease and death! Even man-made law does not without a trial condemn a person for crimes committed, but an all-just God visits agony upon the bodies of infants who have not had even an opportunity to commit wrong! Many sophistries are advanced as possible explanations, but none will satisfy our intelligent minds if we persist in our enquiry, and none will bring relief to our hearts troubled by afflictions of a hundred kind. There is one and only one explanation and that is to be found in the Law of Karma or of Ethical Causation, which is embodied in our second proposition—'Virtue brings its own reward, and vice and sin their own punishment.' This Law teaches that each one of us must pay his own debts; that the hands which smite us are our own hands; and that we reap whatever we have sown.
It knows no wrath nor pardon; utter true
Its measures mete, its faultless balance weighs;
Times are as nought, tomorrow it will judge,
Or after many days.
Its measures mete, its faultless balance weighs;
Times are as nought, tomorrow it will judge,
Or after many days.
By this the slayer's knife did stab himself;
The unjust judge hath lost his own defender;
The false tongue dooms its lie; the creeping thief
And spoiler rob, to render.
The unjust judge hath lost his own defender;
The false tongue dooms its lie; the creeping thief
And spoiler rob, to render.
But even then, in the final analysis, it is not yet clear to us why we are here and what the purpose of life is. The puzzle and the riddle of life is solved when to the Law of Karma or Justice we add the truth of the third of our propositions:
(3) The state of man in this world is probationary.
All repeat that this world is a school and that each one of us is here to learn the lessons of life, to know himself as he really is, joined to this universe in which good and evil, light and darkness, continuously alternate. Shall it be ever and ever so? Shall we wake up but to go to sleep and then wake up again—for ever and for ever? Shall we go through the round of pleasure and pain for ever and for ever? The answer of Theosophy is simple and self-evidently true: 'When the lesson is learnt, the necessity ceases.' When we have perceived and realized life's objective, when all the lessons of life are learnt, Liberty and Enlightenment of Soul become ours. Life in this world is probationary—we are on trial; pleasures tempt and pains test us; when the temptations are resisted and overcome and when the tests are faced and passed, the Soul enjoys the Bliss-Ananda of its own divinity and its own immortality.
Liberty of Soul springs from the enlightenment of the Soul; we therefore need knowledge of how to free ourselves from every kind of slavery, limitation and weakness. Theosophy is the science which enables us to achieve this illumination and to realize this liberty by making us stand on our own feet, breathe the air of freedom, and accept the responsibility for our own deeds.
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First published in the international monthly magazine “The Theosophical Movement”, published in Mumbai, India, February 2006 edition, pp. 131-134. A partial collection of the magazine can be found at www.teosofia.com/TTM.html .
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