The
Writings of C
The Result of
Theosophical
Study
From
A Textbook of
Theosophy
By
C
“Members of the Theosophical Society study
these truths and Theosophists endeavor to live them”. What manner of men then
is the true Theosophist in consequence of his knowledge? What is the result in
his daily life of all this study?
Finding
that there is a Supreme Power who is directing the course of evolution, and
that He is all-wise and all-loving, the Theosophist sees that everything which
exists within this scheme must be intended to further its progress. He realizes
that the scripture which tells us that all things are working together for
good, is not indulging in a flight of poetic fancy or voicing a pious hope, but
stating a scientific fact. The final attainment of unspeakable glory is an
absolute certainty for every son of man, whatever may be his present condition;
but that is by no means all. Here and at this present moment he is on his way
toward the glory; and all the circumstances surrounding him are intended to
help and not to hinder him, if only they are rightly understood. It is sadly
true that in the world there is much of evil and of sorrow and of suffering;
yet from the higher point of view the Theosophist sees that, terrible though
this be, it is only temporary and superficial, and is all being utilized as a
factor in the progress.
When
in the days of his ignorance he looked at it from its own level it was almost
impossible to see this; while he looked from beneath at the under side of life,
with his eyes fixed all the time upon some apparent evil, he could never gain a
true grasp of its meaning. Now he raises himself above it to the higher levels
of thought and consciousness, and looks down upon it with the eye of the spirit
and understands it in its entirety, so he can see that in very truth all is
well – not that all will be well at some remote period, but that even now at
this moment, in the midst of incessant striving and apparent evil, the mighty
current of evolution is still flowing, and so all is well because all is moving
on in perfect order toward the final goal.
Raising
his consciousness thus above the storm and stress of worldly life, he
recognizes what used to seem to be evil, and notes how it is apparently
pressing backwards against the great stream of progress; but he also sees that
the onward sweep of the divine law of evolution bears the same relation to this
superficial
evil
as does the tremendous torrent of
Theosophy
is a perfect serenity – even more than that, a
perpetual
cheerfulness and joy.
For
him there is an utter absence of worry, because in truth there is nothing left
to worry about, since he knows that all must be well. His higher Science makes
him a confirmed optimist, for it shows him that whatever of evil there may be
in any person or in any movement, it is of necessity temporary, because it is
opposed to the resistless stream of evolution; whereas whatever is good in any
person or in any movement must necessarily be persistent and useful, because it
has behind it the omnipotence of that current, and therefore it must abide and
it must prevail.
Yet
it must not for a moment be supposed that because he is so fully assured of the
final triumph of good he remains careless or unmoved by the evils which exist
in the world around him. He knows that it is his duty to combat these to the
utmost of his power, because in doing this he is working upon the side of
the
great evolutionary force, and is bringing nearer the time of its ultimate
victory. None will be more active than he in labouring for the good, even
though he is absolutely free from the feeling of helplessness and hopelessness
which so often oppresses those who are striving to help their fellowmen.
Another
most valuable result of his theosophical study is the absence of fear. Many
people are constantly anxious or worried about something or other; they are
fearing lest this or that should happen to them, lest this or that combination
may fail, and so all the while they are in a condition of unrest; and most
serious of all for many is the fear of death. For the Theosophist the whole of
this feeling is entirely swept away. He realizes that great truth of
reincarnation. He knows that he has often before laid aside physical bodies,
and so he sees that death is no more than sleep – that just as sleep comes in
between our days of work and gives us rest and refreshment, so between these
days of labor here on earth, which we call lives, there comes a long night of
astral and heavenly life to give us rest and refreshment and to help us on our
way.
To
the Theosophist death is simply the laying aside for a time of this robe of
flesh. He knows that it is his duty to preserve the bodily vesture as long as
possible, and gain through it all the experience he can; but when the time comes
for him to lay it down he will do so thankfully, because he knows that the next
stage
will be a much pleasanter one than this. Thus he will have no fear of death,
although he realizes that he must live his life to the appointed end, because
he is here for the purpose of progress, and that progress is the one truly
momentous matter. His whole conception of life is different; the object is not
to earn so much money, not to obtain such and such a position; the one
important thing is to carry out the Divine Plan. He knows that for this he is
here, and that everything else must give way to it.
Utterly
free also is he from any religious fears or worries or troubles. All such
things are swept aside for him, because he sees clearly that progress toward
the highest is the Divine Will for us, that we cannot escape from that
progress, and that whatever comes in our way and whatever happens to us is
meant to help us along that line; that we ourselves are absolutely the only
people who can delay our advance. No longer does he trouble and fear about
himself. He simply goes on and does the duty which comes nearest in the best
way that he can, confident that if he does this all will be well for him
without his perpetual worrying. He is satisfied quietly to do his work and to
try to help his fellows in the race, knowing that the great divine Power behind
will press him onward slowly and steadily, and do for him all that can be done,
so long as his face is set steadfastly in the right direction, so long as he
does all he reasonably can.
Since
he knows that we are all part of one great evolution and all literally the
children of one father, he sees that the universal brotherhood of humanity is
no mere poetical conception, but a definite fact; not a dream of something
which is to be in the dim distance of Utopia, but a condition existing here and
now. The
certainty
of this all-embracing fraternity gives him a wider outlook upon life and a
broad impersonal point of view from which to regard everything. He realizes
that the true interests of all are in fact identical, and that no man can ever
make real gain for himself at the cost of loss or suffering to some one else.
This is not to him an article of religious belief, but a scientific fact proved
to him by his study. He sees that since humanity is literally a whole, nothing
which injures one man can ever be really for the good of any other, for the
harm done influences not only the doer but also those who are about him.
He
knows that the only true advantage for him is that benefit which he shares with
all. He sees that any advance which he is able to make in the way of spiritual
progress or development is something secured not for himself alone but for
others. If he gains knowledge or self-control, he assuredly acquires much
for
himself, yet he takes nothing away from any one else, but on the contrary he
helps and strengthen others. Cognizant as he is of the absolute spiritual unity
of humanity, he knows that, even in this lower world, no true profit can be
made by one man which is not made in the name of and for the sake of humanity;
that one man’s progress must be a lifting of the burden of all others; that one
man’s advance in spiritual things means a very slight yet not imperceptible
advance to humanity as a whole; that every one who bears suffering and sorrow
nobly in his struggle toward the light is lifting a little of the heavy load of
the sorrow and suffering of his brothers as well.
Because
he recognizes this brotherhood not merely as a hope cherished by despairing
men, but as a definite fact following in scientific series from all other
facts; because he sees this as an absolute certainty, his attitude towards all
those around him changes radically. It becomes a posture ever of helpfulness,
ever of the deepest sympathy, for he sees that nothing which clashes with their
higher interests can be the right thing for him to do, or can be good for him
in any way.
It
naturally follows that he becomes filled with the widest possible tolerance and
charity. He cannot but be always tolerant, because his philosophy shows him
that it matters little what man believes, so long as he is a good man and true.
Charitable also he must be, because his wider knowledge enables him to make
allowances for many things which the ordinary man does not understand.
The
standard of the Theosophist as to right and wrong is always higher than that of
the less instructed man, yet he is far gentler than the latter in his feeling
towards the sinner, because he comprehends more of human nature. He realizes
how the sin appeared to the sinner at the moment of its commission, and so he
makes more allowance than is ever made by the man who is ignorant of all this.
He
goes further than tolerance, charity, sympathy; he feels positive love towards
mankind, and that leads him to adopt a position
of watchful helpfulness. He feels that every contact with others is for
him an opportunity, and the additional knowledge which his study has brought to
him enables him to give advice or help in almost any case which comes before
him. Not that he is perpetually thrusting his opinions upon other people. On
the contrary, he observes that to do this is one of the commonest mistakes made
by the uninstructed. He knows that argument is foolish waste of energy, and
therefore he declines to argue. If anyone desires from him explanation or
advice he is more than willing to give it, yet he has no sort of wish to
convert anyone else to his own way of thinking.
In
every relation of life this idea of helpfulness comes into play, not only with
regard to his fellowmen but also in connection with the vast animal kingdom
which surrounds him. Units of this kingdom are often brought into close
relation with man, and this is for him an opportunity of doing something for
them. The Theosophist recognizes that these are also his brothers, even though
they may be younger brothers, and that he owes a fraternal duty to them also –
so to act and so to think that his relation with them shall be always for their
good and never for their harm.
Pre-eminently
and above all, this Theosophy is to him a doctrine of common sense. It puts
before him, as far as he can at present know them, the facts about God and man
and the relations between them; then he proceeds to take these facts into
account and to act in relation to them with ordinary reason and
common
sense. He regulates his life according to the laws of evolution which it has
taught him, and this gives him a totally different standpoint, and a touchstone
by which to try everything – his own thoughts and feelings, and his own actions
first of all, and then those things which come before him in the world outside
himself.
Always
he applies this criterion: Is the thing right or wrong, does it help evolution
or does it hinder it? If a thought or a feeling arises within himself, he sees
at once by this test whether it is one he ought to encourage. If it be for the
greatest good of the greatest number then all is well; if it may hinder or
cause harm to any being in its progress, then it is evil and to be avoided.
Exactly
the same reason holds good if he is called upon to decide with regard to
anything outside himself. If from that point of view a thing be a good thing,
then he can consciously support it; if not, then it is not for him.
For
him the question of personal interest does not come into the case at all. He
thinks simply of the good of evolution as a whole. This gives him a definite
foothold and clear criterion, and removes from him altogether the pain of
indecision and hesitation. The Will of the Deity is man’s evolution; whatever
therefore
helps on that evolution must be good; whatever stands in the way of it and
delays it, that thing must be wrong, even though it may have on its side all
the weight of public opinion and immemorial tradition.
Knowing
that the true man is the ego and not the body, he sees that it is the life of
the ego only which is really of moment, and that everything connected with the
body must unhesitatingly be subordinated to those higher interests. He
recognizes that this earth life is given to him for the purpose of progress,
and
that
that progress is the one important thing. The real purpose of his life is the
unfoldment of his powers as an ego, the development of his character. He knows that
there must be evolvement not only of the physical body but also of
the
mental nature, of the mind, and of the spiritual perceptions.
He
sees that nothing short of absolute perfection is expected of him in connection
with this development; that all power with regard to it is in his own hands;
that he has everlasting time before him in which to attain this perfection, but
the sooner it is gained the happier and more useful will he be.
He
recognizes his life as nothing but a day at school, and his physical body as a
temporary vesture assumed for the purpose of learning through it. He knows at
once that this purpose of learning lessons is the only one of any real
importance, and that the man who allows himself to be diverted from that
purpose by any consideration whatever is acting with inconceivable stupidity.
To him the life devoted exclusively to physical objects, to the acquisition of
wealth or fame, appears the merest child’s play – a senseless sacrifice of all
that is really worth having for the sake of a few moment’s gratification of the
lower part of his nature. He “sets his affection on things above and not on
things of the earth”, not only because he sees this to be the right course of
action, but because he realizes so clearly the valuelessness of these things of
earth. He always tries to take the higher point of view, for he knows that the
lower is utterly unreliable – that the lower desires and feelings gather round
him like a dense fog, and make it impossible for him to see anything clearly from
that level.
Whenever
he finds a struggle going on within him he remembers that he himself is the
higher, and that this which is the lower is not the real self, but merely an
uncontrolled part of one of its vehicles. He knows that though he may fall a thousand
times on the way toward his goal, his reason for trying to reach it
remains
just as strong after the thousandth fall as it was in the beginning, so that it
would not only be useless but unwise and wrong to give way to despondency and
hopelessness.
He
begins his journey upon the road of progress at once – not only because he
knows that it is far easier for him now than it will be if he leaves the effort
until later, but chiefly because if he makes the endeavor now and succeeds in
achieving some progress, if he rises thereby to some higher level, he is in a
position
to hold out a helping hand to those who have not yet reached even that step on
the ladder which he has gained. In that way he takes part, however humble it
may be, in the great divine work of evolution.
He
knows that he has arrived at his present position only by a slow process of
growth, and so he does not expect instantaneous attainments of perfection. He
sees how inevitable is the great law of cause and effect, and that when he once
grasps the working of that law he can use it intelligently, in regard to mental
and moral development, just as in the physical world we can employ for our own
assistance those laws of nature the action of which we have learnt to
understand.
Understanding
what death is, he knows that there can be no need to fear it or to mourn over
it, whether it comes to himself or to those whom he loves. It has come to them
all often before, so there is nothing unfamiliar about it. He sees death simply
as a promotion from a life which is more than half physical to one
which
is wholly superior, so for himself he unfeignedly welcomes it; and even when it
comes to those whom he loves, he recognizes at once the advantage for them,
even though he cannot but feel a pang of regret that he should be temporarily
separated from them so far as the physical world is concerned. But he knows
that the so-called dead are near him still, and that he has only to cast off
for a time his physical body in sleep in order to stand side by side with them
as before.
He
sees clearly that the world is one, and that the same divine laws rule the
whole of it, whether it be visible or invisible to physical sight. So he has no
feeling of nervousness or strangeness in passing from one part of it to another,
and no feeling of uncertainty as to what he will find on the other side of the
veil. He knows that in that higher life there opens before him a splendid vista
of opportunities both for acquiring fresh knowledge and for doing useful work;
that life away from this dense body has a vividness and a brilliancy to which
all earthly enjoyment is as nothing; and so through his clear knowledge and
calm confidence the power of the endless life shines out upon all those around
him.
Doubt
as to his future is for him impossible, for just as by looking back on the
savage he realizes that which he was in the past, so by looking to the greatest
and wisest of mankind he knows what he will be in the future. He sees an
unbroken chain of development, a ladder of perfection rising steadily before
him,
yet with human beings upon every step of it, so that he knows that those steps
are possible for him to climb. It is just because of the unchangeableness of
the great law of cause and effect that he finds himself able to climb that
ladder, because, since the law works always in the same way, he can depend upon
it and he can use it, just as he uses the laws of Nature in the physical
worlds.
His
knowledge of this law brings to him a sense of perspective, and shows him that
if something comes to him, it comes because he has deserved it as a consequence
of action which he has committed, of words which he has spoken, of thought to
which he has given harbor in previous days or in earlier lives. He comprehends
that all affliction is of the nature of the payment of a debt, and therefore
when he has to meet with the troubles of life he takes them and uses them as a
lesson, because he understands why they have come and is glad of the
opportunity which they give him to pay off something of his obligations.
Again,
and yet another way, does he take them as an opportunity, for he sees that
there is another side to them if he meets them in the right way. He spends no
time in bearing prospective burdens. When trouble comes to him he does not
aggravate
it by foolish repining but sets himself to endure so much of it as is
inevitable, with patience and fortitude. Not that he submits himself to it as a
fatalist might, for he takes adverse circumstances as an incentive to such
development as may enable him to transcend them, and thus out of long-past evil
he brings forth a seed of future growth. For in the very act of paying the
outstanding debt he develops qualities of courage and resolution that will
stand him in good stead through all the ages that are to come.
He
is distinguishable from the rest of the world by his perennial cheerfulness,
his undaunted courage under difficulties, and his ready sympathy and
helpfulness; yet he is at the same time emphatically a man who takes life seriously,
who recognizes that there is much for everyone to do in the world, and that
there is no time to waste. He knows with utter certainty that he not only makes
his own destiny but also gravely affects that of others around him, and thus he
perceives how weighty a responsibility attends the use of his power.
He
knows that thoughts are things and that it is easily possible to do great harm
or great good by their means. He knows that no man liveth to himself, for his
every thought acts upon others as well; that the vibrations which he sends
forth from his mind and from his mental nature are reproducing themselves in
the
minds
and the mental natures of other men, so that he is a source either of mental
health or of mental ill to all with whom he comes in contact.
This
at once imposes upon him a far higher code of social ethics than that which is
known to the outer world, for he knows that he must control not only his acts
and his words, but also his thoughts, since they may produce effects more
serious and more far-reaching than their outward expression in the physical
world.
He knows that even when a man is not in the least thinking of others, he yet
inevitably affects them for good or evil. In addition to this unconscious
action of his thought upon others he also employs it consciously for good. He
sets currents in motion to carry mental help and comfort to many a friend, and
in this way he finds a whole new world of usefulness opening before him.
He
ranges himself ever on the side of the higher rather than the lower thought,
the nobler rather than the baser. He deliberately takes the optimistic rather
than the pessimistic view of everything, the helpful rather than the cynical,
because he knows that to be fundamentally the true view. By looking continually
for the good in everything that he may endeavour to strengthen it, by striving
always to help and never to hinder, he becomes ever of greater use to his
fellow-men, and is thus in his small way a co-worker with the splendid scheme
of evolution. He forgets himself utterly and lives but for the sake of others,
realizing himself as a part of that scheme; he also realizes the God within
him, and learns to become ever a truer expression of Him, and thus in
fulfilling God’s will he is not only blessed himself, but becomes a blessing to
all.
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Tekels Park to be Sold to a
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Concerns are
raised about the fate of the wildlife as
The Spiritual
Retreat, Tekels Park in Camberley,
Surrey, England is to be sold to a developer
Tekels Park is a
50 acre woodland park, purchased
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Deer
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Confusion as the
Theoversity moves out of
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Future of Tekels Park Badgers
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Tekels Park & the Loch
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What the men in
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Classic Introductory Theosophy Text
A Text Book of Theosophy
By C
What Theosophy Is From the Absolute to Man
The Formation of a Solar System The Evolution of Life
The Constitution of Man After Death Reincarnation
The Purpose of Life The Planetary Chains
The Result of Theosophical Study
An Outstanding
Introduction to Theosophy
By a student of
Katherine Tingley
Elementary Theosophy Who is the Man? Body and Soul
Body, Soul and Spirit Reincarnation Karma
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