THEOSOPHY
DOWNUNDER
Newsletter of the Theosophical Society (
No: 100 April 2010
Sand dunes in the Simpson desert,
CONTENTS
Everything Else is Just
Commentary.
Australian News.
International News.
Report on the World Parliament of
Religions, December 2009: Melbourne – Nivard Vas.
Who was Mabel Collins? – compiled
by Jennifer Pignataro.
Book Reviews: Autobiography of a
Yogi – Paramahansa Yogananda.
The Compassionate Mother: The oldest biography of Sri Sarada Devi
-
Brahmachari
Akshaychaitanya.
Sri Ramakrishna in
Today’s Violent World
- Ramakrishna Math.
The Presence of the ‘Spiritual’ –
Andrew Rooke.
Life Never Ends – Roza Riaikkenen.
Obituary: Tom Van Erp.
Two Wolves.
EVERYTHING ELSE IS JUST
COMMENTARY
Universal Brotherhood is the major
teaching of all the worlds’ great religions. In fact, one of them, Judaism,
says it is the most important religious doctrine and all the other complex
teachings of any religion are just ‘commentary’ on the principle of Brotherhood!
The way the Jewish sacred book, the Talmud, puts it is: "What is
hateful to you, do not to your fellow man. This is the law: all the rest
is commentary." (Talmud: Shabbat 31a)
Perhaps more familiar to us is the ‘Golden Rule’ of
Christianity which says: "All things whatsoever ye would that
men would do to you, do ye even so to them" – Matthew
But how about other less familiar faiths which have exactly
the same teaching stated in many different ways? For example:
Buddhism -
Hinduism -
Islam –
Jainism -
American Indians –
Baha'I -
Sikhism -
Confucianism -
Zoroastrianism -
Why is it that all the world’s great
religions agree that Brotherhood is the basis of their beliefs? Because the
principle of Brotherhood recognizes the reality that we all have our basis in
the one Source, and from this Source comes our identity with all other people
and all Life. As the Hindu Upanishads says, ‘Tat Vam Asi’, meaning ‘That
Art Thou’ – we are part of everything else and vice versa.
‘But this goes against ‘common-sense’
and besides, I feel different from everyone else’ you say, so how can we
literally be our brothers? All great mystics throughout the world agree that at
a higher level of self-realization than is available to the ordinary man, it
becomes apparent that we are merely aspects of one life energy, ‘dew drops in a
shining sea’ of life energy. Therefore the great spiritual teachers who founded
the world’s religions say what they know from their own direct experience - we
are One. For example, the Buddha was once asked why we should love all people
equally. Referring to people as reincarnating entities he said: “Because, in
the very numerous and varied life-spans of each man (and woman), every other
being has at one time or another been dear to him.” Thus, the founders of the
world’s great religions encourage us in their sacred books to treat each other
as we would treat ourselves because ‘others’ are aspects of ‘ourselves’
literally.
From a scientific point of view, we
know that this is true as all matter in the universe is a form of energy (as
Einstein famously expressed it, E=mc2) which expresses itself in a myriad of
forms, including each one of us! If we were to examine the smallest structures
making up the atoms that compose our bodies, we would see that they are made up
of universal energy expressed in different combinations which look strikingly
like what we would see if we went far enough out into space to see the planets,
stars and galaxies as an amalgam of energies in the blackness of space. Look at the film ‘Powers of 10’ on the
internet at http://www.powersof10.com/
and you’ll see what I mean! As this film graphically shows, eventually everything
connects. So brotherhood is literally built into the fabric of Nature and not
just a nice religious ideal.
‘But if other people are giving me a
hard time how can I feel brotherly towards them?’ - you might object. The
secret lies in simply thinking of our own family life. We don’t always see ‘eye
to eye’, or admire every aspect of the behaviour of our own brothers at home,
but we still accept them, love them, and work with them where we can knowing
one day they might be better than they are now! In the greater human family we
can do the same in still realistically recognizing the existing shortcomings of
our brothers and ourselves, and working with their potential for the finer
aspects of human behaviour. The practical way forward towards this ideal is to
simply treat others as we would wish to be treated ourselves. This is a kind of
enlightened ‘self interest’ if you will, presenting us with a simple ‘rule of
thumb’ for everyday life situation which recognizes the reality of Universal
Brotherhood. If we sincerely try to live the Brotherhood ideal in our daily
lives, eventually we will naturally connect consciously with our universal
source and see Universal Brotherhood as a fact in Nature for ourselves, and all
the other complicated stuff of religious teaching and philosophy will be just -
commentary.
As
another Jewish Rabbi once said:
"Thou shalt love thy neighbour
as thyself." Why? Because every human being has a root in the
Unity, and to reject the minutest particle of the Unity is to reject it all.”
– Rabbi Israel Baal Shem-Tov.
AUSTRALIAN NEWS
Meetings in Melbourne - April
through August: All meetings are held at the
Theosophical Society (
Sat.
April 10th,
Sat.
May 1st,
Sat.
June 5th,
Sat.
July 3rd,
Sat.
August 7th,
New in the Library: new
items in our Melbourne library include the following DVDs: Tibetan Book of the
Dead – narrated by Leonard Cohen; Fractal Creations – the Mandelbot Set;
Knowing – science fiction about the end of the world starring Nicholas Cage;
Yesterday’s Children – science fiction about one person’s experience of
reincarnation memories starring Jane Seymour; The Adept Tradition in Europe:
Rosicrucian, Cathar, and Contemporary Adeptic Currents by Stephan Hoeller.
New on Theosophy Downunder
website: our website is at: www.theosophydownunder.org
where you will find a wide range of lectures, books, artworks, and many other
items of interest on theosophy and related subjects. An important new service
available on our website is a link to the Encyclopedic Theosophic
Glossary by G de Purucker which contains a wealth of information
on theosophy and esoteric philosophy arranged by subject in easy-to-use
alphabetic format. This should be a tremendous boon to students of our
University of the Third Age course, and to theosophical students generally.
New lectures added to the ‘Theosophy
Downunder Library’ on the site include: ‘The Divine Twins: Gemini, Dioscuri,
and Kabiri by Amanda Rooke; ‘The Three Truths in Mabel Collins ‘Idyll of the
White Lotus’ by Jennifer Pignataro.
100 issues of our Newsletter: with
this issue we celebrate the 100th issue of our Australian newsletter
which has been in continuous publication since April 1983. Thanks to all those
who have contributed articles over the years and to you our loyal readers. We
look forward to the next 100 issues!
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Volume 2 of Echoes of the Orient
now available: Volume II of the second edition
of the Echoes of the Orient: The Writings of William Q. Judge is
now available. This 2nd and Revised Edition is 600 pages and available in
cloth (hardcover). Work on Volume III will begin shortly, and we expect its
publication later next year (2010). As in Volume I, editorial changes have been
minimal in this new edition: punctuation, spelling, and foreign terms have been
modernized, further references are given where they could be identified, and
the type has been reset in a larger size, for which a pagination key has been
provided. In addition, the “Faces of Friends” section has been expanded to
include all individuals featured under this title in The Path.
Introductory Notes on The Secret Doctrine: new on our Headquarters website is a set of comprehensive
notes on the classic work of theosophy by HP Blavatsky, The Secret Doctrine.
Currently notes are available for the Preface and the Introduction to this
master-work of HPB’s. Simply move the cursor on your computer over the
underlined word or phrase in the text, and a comprehensive note of explanation
will appear on the screen. It should make the Secret Doctrine a lot easier to
read and understand when this project is complete in the years ahead. Why not
have a look at the sections available so far at: http://www.theosociety.org/pasadena/sdnotes/sdnotes-hp.htm
Making Theosophy a living power - International Theosophical
Conference 2010- The
Hague: The International
Theosophical Conference (ITC) of 2010 will take place from the 12th to the 15th
of August in The Hague
Blavatsky Studies in
The
meeting is going to be held on Saturday, May 29 and
Belief in
A New
Theosophical Magazine Now Online: International Theosophy Magazine is a new online
theosophical magazine from International Theosophy Conferences, Inc. Check it
out by going to: www.theosconf.org
and then click on "International Theosophy Magazine," or click on:
“Sow a Thought, Reap an Act;
Sow an Act, Reap a Habit;
Sow a Habit, Reap a Character;
Sow a Character, Reap a Destiny.”
-Upanishads
REPORT ON THE PARLIAMENT OF THE
WORLD’S RELIGIONS
3-9 DECEMBER 2009
Nivard
Here is a short
history of the Parliament of the World’s Religions. The first Parliament was
held in
The Parliament of the World’s Religions
is the world’s largest global interreligious event. For a week long the people
of the host country, invite the international community to participate in
inter-faith dialogue. The theme for
This was the first time for me to
attend the Parliament of the World’s religions. It was a long flight coming
from
There were a wide range of choices to
be made. From the major sub-themes,
·
Healing the earth
with care and concern,
·
Plight of the
Indigenous people,
·
Overcoming poverty,
·
Food and water for
all people,
·
Building peace
through justice,
·
Strengthening our
social bonds,
·
Sharing wisdom
through developing inner peace.
The program clusters were of a diverse
nature.
·
Interreligious
Movements from global to local,
·
Islam in a global
context
·
Women in leadership,
(this immediately attracted my attention
because women, in my experience, are more knowledgeable in certain fields of
life than men! They should take their rightful place in the leadership of human
affairs along side their male partners.)
·
Youth
·
Family
·
Media and Religion
·
Interreligious
education
·
Human Rights
·
Peace building Nuclear
Non-proliferation
·
Disaster relief.
As you can imagine I was overwhelmed by
the choice of information to absorb. I had to make a choice of seminars that
were of interest to me and so I let my intuition guide me. The world as we know
it goes from one crisis to the next without solutions for a sustainable future.
Wars are being fought without thought of peace by negotiation, environmental
issues cannot be agreed upon, and greedy economics have run out of control.
Religion as we know it today does not seem to be capable of evolving, just like
everything else does under the Sun. It has crystallized and appears incapable
of growing or modifying to the surrounding conditions. Science has strayed into
a technological labyrinth of things 
conditional and
relative. My choice of seminars or workshops to attend went to the problems of
the present, taking the responsibility of ‘hearing each other’ and becoming
active in ‘making a difference’ for the future.
The organizers were
expecting 10,000 people. But
The next day, 4th December,
the daily programs started of at
The afternoon session really woke me
up; Breaking
through Patriarchy: New visions for women of Faith. Here it became
clear to me that in the 21st century women will be fighting and
gaining their rightful place in leadership positions. Historically, women have
gained voting rights in Western countries for only about 200 years. At present
out of the more than 1.6 billion people living in poverty in the world, more
than 60% are women. Conspicuous at this session was the lack of men taking
part, but the hall was full, there were people sitting on the floor as well.
The panel was comprised of highly qualified women. At the end of the session
the women got a little too happy, and were congratulating themselves a little
hastily in my view. The struggle for women sharing leadership positions has
still to come. Men will not step aside without a struggle, especially in
communities where they are the dominating factor. Looking at myself as a man, I
have no problem with a woman doing the housekeeping for me! I regretfully
thought about my video camera still lying in my hotel room. From this session I
gathered enough information to ponder upon for the coming days.
Fortunately there were films with
discussions to break the tension. I attended a few interesting ones. The next
day, Saturday 5th December, I had unfortunately enough to miss a day
at the Parliament. I had an appointment outside the Parliament of the World’s
Religions. The Australasian Section of the Theosophical
Society (
Sunday the 6th December, I
attended the Charter for Compassion panel discussion that I mentioned
earlier. The hall was crowded; people were sitting on the floor. First there
was a video introduction by Karen Armstrong, the famous British author on
comparative religion and initiator of the Charter. The Charter calls upon the
Jews, Christians and Muslims to draw up a “Charter of Compassion”, to apply
shared moral priorities and foster greater global understanding. On the 19th
November 2009 it was signed by His Holiness the XIV Dalai Lama, Archbishop Tutu
and former UN Human Rights Commissioner Mary Robinson. The Charter calls for
the establishment of alliance of individuals, organizations and communities to
advocate global change and to address the critical issues of the day facing the
global community. I was happy to see a large number of young people involved
with the movement and the enthusiasm of all present to make a better world.
I attended a few other interesting
discussion groups that afternoon, such as; Has Economics Triumphed over Ethics?
A round table panel discussion on what values are needed for a just, peaceful
and sustainable future. Next on my list was, The Garden of Forgiveness, which turned out
to be the story of a very difficult struggle of a woman, Alexandra Asseily,
in the male-dominated society of the civil war-torn
Forgiveness Song
words & music by Michael Stillwater
I forgive myself
And I let love be
The power and the way for me
I will live my life
So my eyes can see
I came to be a blessing
1st verse:
I was running from life
I was running from love
I was running through the night
I was running from God
I was running out of faith
I was running out of time
I was running out of reasons
2nd verse:
Now I'm living my life
Now I'm living my love
Now I'm living in the light that I am made of
Now I know I've got faith
Now I know I've got time
I've got a reason
The little I was able to attend from
one of the major sub themes of the Parliament; Plight of the Indigenous People,
was well worth it to me. The African Religions of Brazil
informed us that not only the former slaves of
A seminar given by a Zimbabwean shaman,
Mandaza Augustine Kandemwa; Observance on Zimbabwe Shona/Ndebele
Spirituality. We were in the presence of an interesting and
understanding man here. He discussed the widespread corruption in his country,
and how the political leaders are usually singled out as the ones to blame. He
wisely pointed out that the economic and political system currently existing in
I attended a film called “Kanyini”
with discussion by the Australian aboriginal elder, ‘Uncle’ Bob Randall. He
lives by the greatest monolith in the world, ‘Uluru’ (Ayer’s Rock) in
On reflection, and in my opinion, we
have to ask the aboriginal elders that have the most responsibility, “what are
you doing to stop the suffering of your own young people?” It is my observation
that, following the Australian federal government’s intervention in aboriginal
settlements in the
Islam and the West
was an interesting panel discussion. Dialogue on the possibilities for creating
a harmonious accord between Islam and the West is always a constructive
endeavour. There are many Muslims living and working in Western countries. They
too contribute to the successes of the West. The violence of only a few
religious extremists produces the fear in the West. An attempt is being made
from many quarters inside and outside of Islam to create better relations
between Islam and the West.
The most impressive workshop for me was
Stop
the Traffic, People are not for
The last day of the Conference was one
of the most interesting and instructive. Firstly, after days of free movement
through the various conference halls, we were now subject to screening for
bombs or weapons. This was due to the presence of the Dali Lama. I attended the
last few workshops before the closing plenary. The one that stands out most in
my mind was the Poverty Symposium. Poverty and hunger in the
The Closing Plenary had
an attendance of about 3000 people, the largest crowd during the whole
conference which no doubt would have been due to the presence of the Dalai
Lama. We were not allowed to take flash photographs, but when His Holiness the
XIV Dalai Lama made an appearance on stage, there was no stopping the crowd
from madly rushing forward to flash photograph him regardless of the rules.
Typical of civil disobedience! His message was that greed, ignorance and short
sightedness are the root causes of the world’s social, economic and
environmental problems. He pointed out that there is a need for a shift in
human consciousness to love, compassion and forgiveness. He called on us to,
“pay more attention in implementing the ideas of the Conference. That all
religions have an important role to play in dealing with today’s moral
crisis.”
As you see, the Parliament of the
World’s Religions in
I close with the following words taken
from the Hua Hu Ching, from the teachings of the Taoist teacher, Lao Tzu;
Most
of the world’s religions serve only to strengthen
attachments
to false concepts such as self and other,
life
and death, heaven and earth, and so on.
Those
who become entangled in these false ideas are
prevented
from perceiving the Integral Oneness.
The
highest virtue one can exercise is to accept the
responsibility
of discovering and transmitting the whole truth.
Some
help others in order to receive blessings and admiration.
This
is simply meaningless.
Some
cultivate themselves in part to serve others, in part to
serve
their own pride.
They
will understand, at best, half the truth.
But
those who improve themselves for the sake of the world― to these,
the
whole truth of the universe will be revealed.
So
seek this whole truth, practice it in your daily life,
and
humbly share it with others.
You
will enter the realm of the divine.
Source
references:
- Parliament of the World’s Religions program book, Council for the Parliament.
- The search within,
C. Humphreys.
- Outlines of Mahayana Buddhism, D. T.
Suzuki.
- The Unknown Teachings of Lao Tzu Hua Hu Ching, Brian Walker
- The book of Equanimity,
G. S. Wick.
WHO WAS MABEL COLLINS?
Compiled by Jennifer Pignataro
Most students
of theosophy will be familiar with the theosophical classics by Mabel Collins: Light
on the Path, Through the Gales of Gold and The Idyll of the White Lotus.
However, unlike other famous theosophical writers like HP Blavatsky, William
Quan Judge, and G de Purucker, nothing much is known generally about her.
Perhaps the following which, I compiled from sources on the Internet, will help
provide a little further information on this important writer and fascinating
character from the history of the theosophical movement:
Mabel Collins (1851 – 1922):
“An important but
shadowy figure in the Theosophical Society during the latter part of the
nineteenth century. Although her influential book Light
on the Path
(first published anonymously in 1885) is a classic work in the Theosophical
movement, Collins has received only scant biographical notice.
A
daughter of Mortimer Collins, she became a prolific author of novels and other
works, including: Prince
Clarice: A Story of 1871 (2 vols., 1872), Blacksmith
and Scholar (3
vols.,1875), An Innocent Sinner (3 vols.; 1877), In
the World (2
vol., 1878) Our Bohemia (3 vols., 1879), Too
Red a Dawn (3
vols., 1881) Cobwebs (3 vols., 1882), The
Story of Helen Modjeska (1883), In
the Flower of her Youth (3 vols., 1883), Violet
Fanshawe (2
vols., 1884), The Prettiest Woman
in Warsaw (3
vols., 1885), and Lord
Vanecourt’s Daughter (3 vols., 1885).Her later books, The
Idyll of the White Lotus (1885), Through
the Gates of Gold (1887), and The ... Blossom and
the Fruit: The True Story of Black Magician (1888), strongly manifested her growing interest in
metaphysics and the occult. ...Collin’s husband,
Dr Keningale Cook, was also a writer, author of The
Fathers of Jesus: A Study of the Lineage of the Christian Doctrine and
Traditions (2 vols.,
1886).
Collins became
an active worker in the movement for the women’s suffrage in
Source: (www.answers.com/topic/mabel-collins)
“Mabel Collins
is remembered today, when at all, as being the author of the spiritual work Light
on the Path. Few people
realise that she was a prolific author, penning at least 46 books. She wrote a
number of articles, some of which were to form the basis for her books and was
also a fashion correspondent for The
World, writing a regular
column. Most of Mabel’s novels are romantic sensation fiction. In later years
her experiences in the occult and theosophy were used as a basis for her
fiction writing.
Mabel’s name
pops up again and again in theosophical histories. Yet no one knew much about
her – in fact I have seen it written that her life was a complete mystery.
Like many of these mysteries the information is there as soon as you begin to
look. Mabel Collins was an instrumental figure in early theosophy but owing to
the disputes she was involved in she has more or less disappeared from the
history books. She was an author, a medium, a theosophist, [rumoured] lover of
Jack the Ripper, a fashion writer, an anti vivisection campaigner… the list is
a lot longer than that of most people’s achievements”.
Source: The
Many Lives of Mabel Collins by Kim Farnell The Theosophical History Conference 2003.
For more
information on Mabel Collins and particularly her classic, The
Idyll of the White Lotus, please see Jennifer’s article: The
Three Truths: based on Mabel Collins’, The Idyll of the White Lotus, on Theosophy Downunder website at:
http://theosophydownunder.org/ifensterl.php?./library/
BOOK REVIEWS
Autobiography of a Yogi by
Swami Paramahansa Yogananda published by
Self-Realization Fellowship 1946 and numerous editions thereafter.
This book
caused a sensation in 1946 when it was originally published as it was the first
comprehensive and accessible treatment of yoga and meditation presented in the
West. Today it still stands as essential reading for anyone interested in
esoteric philosophy and yoga in the sense of union with the higher self and not
just a series of tortuous exercises! The book is a unique way of explaining the
often difficult and abstruse topics associated with Indian religion by simply
telling the story of Yogananda’s life and search for the truth. Unlike most
philosophy books which can be rather dry and disconnected from daily life
experience, this book graphically illustrates the progress of a seeker on the
Path of spiritual understanding giving real-life examples of the disciplines
and challenges along the pathway of understanding. Paramahansa Yogananda
(1893-1952) describes his search for a guru, and his encounters with leading
spiritual figures of his day such as, the German Christian mystic Therese
Neumann, the Hindu saint Sri Anandamoyi Ma, politician Mahatma Gandhi, poet
Rabindrinath Tagore, Nobel prize-winning scientist Sir C.V.Raman, and noted
American plant scientist, Luther Burbank, to whom this book is dedicated.
Amazing true stories of spiritual masters still working openly in India are
blended with priceless teaching on super-physical states of consciousness and
the rigorous requirements of these seeking first-hand experience of such
exalted planes of spiritual reality. Often such teaching is hidden away in the
extensive footnotes throughout the book that really repay the reader’s close
attention as we can often overlook them with the fascinating content of the text.
Swami Yogananda himself frequently speaks extensively of the important
relationship between spiritual teacher and student often referring to his own
spiritual Masters Sri Yukteswar, Lahiri Mahasaya, and the ‘deathless-guru’
Babaji, who all helped to bring the techniques of Kriya Yoga to the world and
to the West through the work of the Self-Realization Fellowship in
“The characteristic features of Indian
culture have long been a search for ultimate verities and the concomitant disciple-guru
relationship. My own path led me to a Christlike sage whose beautiful life was
chiselled for the ages. He was one of the great masters who are
Autobiography
of a Yogi has been
translated into 25 languages and has sold well over one million copies
worldwide. In 1999 the book was voted one of the 100 most important spiritual
books of the 20th century by a panel of theologians and spiritual
luminaries from around the world. It endlessly repays all students of the
ancient wisdom reading this warm, compassionate, first-hand account of the
spiritual journey we all walk in our own way. – reviewed
by Andrew Rooke.
The Compassionate Mother: The oldest biography of Sri Sarada
Devi by Brahmachari Akshaychaitanya
(2002) Advaita Ashrama 5 Dehi Entally
Road Kolkata 700014 West Bengal, India.
This book was first publish back in
1937 and was written in Bengali. The present book, now suitable for an
English-speaking audience, is a real gem to have been able to read.
Sri Sarada Devi (1853-1920), the wife
of Sri Ramakrishna, is affectionately referred to as The Holy Mother for, though she did not bear a child, the world’s
people became her children. As such, she
taught her children how to view the world as one in which all are related and
each has a responsibility to one another. Her teachings are so very beautiful
that this small review cannot do them justice, nor her life story that I
believe needs to be told. The book is
extremely interesting and well-written and captures the reader’s attention as
Sarada Devi’s life unfolds. Throughout
the pages we are given a glimpse into this remarkable woman by those who live
with or came in contact with her.
A brief paragraph from the book will
show the workings of the Mother’s mind – “The Mother used to say that each
person was given what was due to him.
She would not dispose of the peelings and give it to the cattle. No
beggar used to be turned out empty handed from her door...The Mother would
often repeat the following saying of [Sri Ramakrishna]: Let he who has, give;
and let he who does not have, repeat the name of God....” To this, I feel it appropriate to add
Mother’s own poignant insight elucidating that of Sri Ramakrishna’s – “But one thing I tell you – if you want
peace, my daughter [or son] don’t find fault with others, but find fault rather
with yourself. Learn to make the world your own. Nobody is a stranger, my dear,
the world is yours.” We have our
example in Sri Sarada Devi making the world her own, and all people her
children. - reviewed by Heathclyff St.James Deville.
Sri Ramakrishna in today’s violent world (2009) Ramakrishna Math, Sri Ramakrishna Math, 31, Ramakrishna Math Road, Mylapore,
Chennai 600 004, India.
This book is comprised of articles
originally published in the December 2004 “Special Issue” of the Vedanta Kesari magazine.
Ramakrishna had so much to offer to his
devotees when he lived in mid-nineteenth century
Each Paper addresses different topics
yet convey the same message. Indeed, as you read through the book, you find
that the arrangement takes you from one level to another. There is much to be
found within the covers - practical lessons on: Anger and Hatred, Violence
among Youth, Teachers’ Role in Imparting Education for Love.
Famous Indian
spiritual teacher Swami Vivekananda’s words sum up the beauty of Sri
Ramakrishna’s message to the modern world:
“Do not care
for the doctrines, do not care for the dogmas, or sects, or churches or
temples; they count for little compared with the essence of existence in each
man, which is spirituality; and more that is developed in a man, the more
powerful is he for good. Earn that first, acquire that, and criticise no one,
for all doctrines and creeds have some good in them. Show by your lives that
religion does not mean words, or names, or sects, but that it means spiritual
realisation. Only those can understand who have felt. Only those that have
attained to spirituality can communicate it to others, can be teachers of
mankind. They alone are the power of light.” –
reviewed by Heathclyff St.James Deville.
THE PRESENCE OF THE ‘SPIRITUAL’
Andrew Rooke
Images of the ‘spiritual’ usually give
the impression that the influence of spiritual beings and states is far away.
In church we are taught that heaven is a remote goal for our life’s endeavours,
and similarly, some Eastern traditions present a picture of ‘The Other Shore’
somewhere far across the horizon. I would like to suggest that the presence of
the spiritual is close at hand and with us always.
Theosophy teaches that the spiritual
worlds underlie and interblend with the physical. One would therefore expect
the evidence of the spiritual in everything familiar if we have the ‘eyes to
see and the ears to hear.’
Look carefully at
home. Do we see only the semi-chaos of family life, or a glorious history and
future for ‘old friends’ working out their destinies together? Look into the
night sky. Do we see the stars as dull beacons shining through the city
pollution, or the glorious raiments of the solar divinities? It is a matter of
perspective which usually becomes more keenly aware to us with the extremes of
life. The very young and the very old are more aware of the imminence of the
spiritual in everyday circumstances. Look into the eyes of a newborn baby and
you can begin to understand what the poet meant when he said that we all come
into this world “…trailing clouds of glory…” from our other home in the heaven
world. Take time out to talk with the very old who often can see beauty shining
through the most mundane situation. Consider those unfortunate people who in
this life suffer from congenital mental retardation and one can appreciate the
constant presence of the Higher Self in what we call a ‘normal’ person.
Our job is to flow with the gentle
influence of the Higher Nature and to act as a clearer channel for the
spiritual energies sustaining our world in whatever situation we find
ourselves. Essentially all that this requires is a change of attitude to
recognize the presence of the spiritual amid the demands of our worldly
situation, difficult as this so often is with our hectic modern lifestyle.
Our former Leader, Katherine Tingley,
wrote of these matters in her book The Gods Await. She encourages us to
live theosophy and apply its principles in family life and social reform. On
the constant presence of spiritual forces guiding and encouraging us to a
better life she says:
“…It is only our minds which are so
confused that they do not feel it: they do not hear its song that permeates the
silences: they do not see that which is before them to be seen; and so we sit
in the shadows and add ourselves to the aggregations of despair; we drop into
inertia, finding nothing for ourselves nor seeking anything for others; we
build ourselves worlds of suffering, each in his own selfish way. It is
reliance on the brain-mind and purely mental part that holds us away from our
greatness. We have fettered and bound our consciousness; we have shut ourselves
in and built our dwelling among the shadows, whereas we might have used the
large vision of the Gods, and be generous expressions of Universal Life…” –
from Katherine Tingley’s, The Gods Await.
LIFE
NEVER ENDS
Roza
Riaikkenen
The
wind is hot,
And
roses die.
But
death is not
The
winner. Why?
Because
the bush
Will
bloom again.
With
water's push
Life
comes to reign.
In
a new turn
The
bud will sprout.
And
we return -
The
baby's out!
Eternal
life
Will
ever grow,
Just
make your eye
To
see and know.
To
feel the wind,
To
hear the gong,
To
spread the wing,
To
sing your song.
OBITUARY: TOM VAN ERP
Our dear friend and fellow member of
many years, Tom Van Erp, passed to greater light in November 2009. Tom joined
our Society in 1949 and was our
Theosophy Downunder is issued three times per year in
April, August, and November and is edited by Andrew Rooke. We can be contacted
at the Theosophical Society (
Our
International Leader is Randell C. Grubb
TWO
WOLVES
One evening an old Cherokee told his
grandson about a battle that goes on inside people. He said, “My son, the
battle is between two ‘wolves’ inside us all.
One is Evil.
It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, resentment,
inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority and ego.
The other is Good. It
is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy,
generosity, truth, compassion and faith.
The grandson thought about it for a
minute and then asked his grandfather:
“Which wolf wins?”
The old Cherokee simply replied, “The
one you feed”.
