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The following is a series of articles from ‘Theosophy Downunder’ Newsletter: 

1. COPING IN A STRESSFUL WORLD:  Stress permeates life in the 21st century. Job restructuring and employment insecurity, heavy workloads, rapid change, noise, pollution, balancing home and work commitments, new technology, high divorce rates, are the ingredients for ill health for many people. Worldwide stress claims against employers are increasing by 20% each year. In Australia, even with its small population of 21 million people, stress claims cost companies $50 million plus, a year! In the USA, job stress now represents 15% of all occupational disease claims. In Britain it is estimated that stress costs 3.5% of GNP. What are we going to do about it? Not all stress is bad. We need stress to survive. It is the body’s “alert” signal when the brain tells us we are threatened and need to defend ourselves. The trouble comes when we have too much stress over too long a period and eventually it can make us very sick indeed. This situation seems to be an inevitable part of life in our present cycle, called by our theosophical teachers the “Kali Yuga” or “Black Age”. Following the Hindu tradition, theosophy teaches us that we are at the beginning of a long period (we are 5,000 years into a cycle of 432,000 years) of severe testing for humanity where the forces of materialism have great strength. Experiences crowd in on us rapidly, life is short compared to other cycles, the moral and ethical standards expressed by many people in everyday affairs are fairly low.Should we despair in this situation? No! – our teachers tell us that this is the cycle in which we have the greatest opposition to spiritual values and therefore we, as students of the ancient mystery tradition, can learn the most – if we approach life stresses with a positive attitude. How to do this? Dr. Shayne Yates and Patricia Cameron-Hill, two of

Get fit: there’s no doubt we can handle stress better, enjoy life and have a more positive attitude if we feel physically fit. This may involve a walk with the dog, playing with the kids, or a formal fitness programme for 20 minutes three times per week. Physical fitness also promotes good sleep, another essential aspect of stress management. Good humour, positive attitudes, and thinking about others – it all makes sense. Stress and burnout don’t seem to exist for people who have these attitudes towards their work and relationships whereas others, who don’t share this outlook, feel crushed by similar levels of stress.Stress can be seen positively as a means to growth, or as one friend put it – “A clay pot sitting in the sun will always be a clay pot. It has to go through the white heat of the furnace to become porcelain…Our former Leader, Katherine Tingley, tells the story of her meeting with a Master of Wisdom (HP Blavatsky’s teacher) in Darjeeling, India, which has a lot to teach us about coping with the stresses of life. As they spoke together on a hillside overlooking a farmer’s field, one of the Master’s students (or a “chela” as such a student is known in India) was ploughing the field with a team of oxen. The Master used the example of his student to illustrate his ideas about coping with the stresses of life on the Path of understanding – especially for aspirants to spiritual achievement. He suggested the following: Purity of Thought: surround oneself with the purity of contemplation on spiritual matters even when our hands are busy with everyday tasks. The master said that the student/ploughman’s team of unruly oxen were always calm for him because they were immersed in the atmosphere of the chela’s concentration and contemplations. Further, one should not live in dread of life’s experiences, but go cheerfully on our way coping with the tasks at hand rather than being overwhelmed by distant goals. He said that a joy in the spiritual life could actually make the very atoms of our body lighter!

Try not to let worries weigh you down: we should fight the tendency to let the worries and anxieties of our everyday consciousness weigh us down. The Master said that hopelessness and anxiety can bring our body’s atoms…”half way to death; but they can be quickened to a kind of immortality by the fire of the divine life, and attuned to universal harmony. Men everywhere could get rid of all that burden of un-necessities, and carry themselves like that young chela does, if they had the mental balance.”

Live in the Now: think of the immediate moments and seconds of which the Path of our lives is composed. Don’t exhaust the energy of our higher selves by worrying about what might be our destination somewhere far off on the Path of spiritual development…” [We] should let the Beaming Thought pour itself into each arriving moment, and be indifferent to the morrow. One can find in every instant of time, if one had the desire, the door into worlds of golden opportunity, the gateway to a glorious path stretching out into the limitless Eternal…”

Prepare for the Day: in the early and sacred morning hours, one should take a little time to connect with the Higher self through prayer, holding a beautiful thought in our minds, remind ourselves of our mission to help others, ponder on the overcoming of our most difficult challenges ahead for the day.Bask in the sunlight of the Soul, find strength there, and then move on to the challenges of the day. In particular, the first three hours of sunlight provide a valuable opportunity in this regard, as he who is ready to step out with the sunrise and work with the sun…” has the cooperation of a force he knows little of-the vibrant blue light behind the sun.”

Spend some time in Natural surroundings: Nature is a great healer when the stresses and distractions of daily life crowd in. Walk in silence in the forest listening to the symphony of the wind in the leaves, gaze in wonder at the stars, listen to the music of the birds, walk by the rhythmic wash of the seashore…”[free yourself] there from old trying memories and all anticipations of trouble, let [us] make [ourselves] at one with the Light in Nature.”At a physical, emotional and spiritual level, these thoughts give us realistic means of handling the stresses of daily living in the modern world and the eternal challenges of the spiritual life.   [The story of the Master and his ploughman/chela is recounted in Katherine Tingley’s The Gods Await. Dr. Yates and Patricia Cameron-Hill have made a series of videos on various stress management subjects including Coping with Change, and Staying Positive. They conduct seminars on “Stress, Humour and Health” around Australia and New Zealand.] 

 2. LIGHT A SINGLE CANDLE: Depression and anxiety are the most common mental illnesses of our society. We all feel sad and “on edge” sometimes, but for many people these feelings can be overwhelming and return periodically to cloud their lives. Unfortunately, depression is particularly common amongst many young people in Australia. Our prosperous and peaceful country is strangely afflicted with one of the highest rates of teenage suicide on earth as many youngsters try to opt out of what they perceive to be a harshly competitive and indifferent world. Some Melbourne schools are introducing courses for secondary students in positive thinking and stress reduction to counter these pressures and everywhere good people are working in their own way to alleviate the sense of hopelessness that seems to overwhelm so many when they look to the future. What practical suggestions can Theosophists offer those suffering from depression?

First and foremost, to encourage people to look to the positive side of all experience. We live in a dualistic universe. Wherever there are negatives, there must always be a positive aspect. Let’s encourage people wherever we can to flow with the positive and work harmoniously with the evolutionary forces of nature. Sometimes this might simply be encouraging someone to make a positive start rather than being overwhelmed with darkness of the moment – as the old saying goes… “It is better to light a single candle than to curse the darkness”.

Remember what our teachers have taught – that our Higher Nature when it sends us forth on life’s journey, never projects us into situations which are beyond our capacity to handle. Therefore a few kind words at the right moment, encouraging a suffering person to search for inner strength in the face of life’s challenges, can be immensely helpful. Beyond this, we can gain tremendous satisfaction in facing the travails of the world to know that Humanity has passed the midpoint of its evolutionary journey on this Earth. We are now well on our way on the “luminous arc” of our evolutionary experience towards unfolding the finer spiritual aspects of our constitution. The majesty and wonder of this thought, can be communicated in appropriate ways to people who have lost confidence in Mankind’s future. 

The Buddhist tradition speaks of the value of positive thought to neutralize negative energy. If we adopt the habit of thinking beautiful thoughts when negative, depressing or evil thoughts creep into our minds, such thoughts will be to some extent altered for the better when they inevitably return to us. One of the founders of the Theosophical Society, William Quan Judge, called this process the “cyclic impression and return of thought”. He once wrote offering advice to a friend who suffered from recurrent bouts of unexplained depression. His friend asked: “What am I to do?” and Mr. Judge replied with some good advice for all of us:            “Do what the old theosophists taught us; that is, we can only have these good results by producing opposite impressions to the bad ones. So, take this occasion of despondency. What he should have done was, that being the return of an old impression, to have compelled himself to feel joyous, even against his will, and if he could not have done that, then to have tried to feel the joy of others. By doing that, he would have implanted in himself another impression, that is of joy, so that when this thing returned once more, instead of being of the same quality and extension, it would have been changed by the impression of joy of elation and the two things coming together would have counteracted each other, just as two billiard balls coming together tend to counteract each other’s movements… You cannot run it out if it has been coming, but when it comes start up something else, start up cheerfulness, be good to someone else, then try to relieve some other person who is despondent, and you will have started another impression, which will return at the same time. It does not make any difference if you wait a day or two to do this. The next day, or a few days later will do, for when the old cyclic impression returns, it will have dragged up the new one, because it is related to it by association.” (From Judge Articles, 1, p.170p.) 

3. COPING WITH GRIEF:

The unprecedented outpouring of public grief following the tragic death of Princess Diana in 1997 shows the power of grief and fear of death as basic human emotions. We all have to face death and loss in our own families at some stage so how can we help ourselves and others through this difficult time?            We are fortunate in the 21st century to have wonderful people who have dedicated their lives and careers to helping people cope with these experiences. The pioneering work of Dr. Elizabeth Kubler Ross in helping terminally ill people has been taken up by doctors and nurses operating Hospices and Palliative Care centres to allow people to have a dignified death with minimal pain. More recently, centres for Grief Education had been established in many parts of the world to help research and counsel people in the problems of grief and loss.           

 In 1996, The Centre for Grief Education was established at the Monash Medical Centre in Melbourne and since that time they have helped thousands of people work their way through this difficult time. They recommend the following practical advice for those bereaved or helping in this situation: First recognize that a grieving person is undergoing a real experience of suffering and, in some cases at least, that it is not just a matter of telling them to “pull themselves together”.            

An immediately bereaved person has the vulnerability of an 8-15 year old and the extreme stress at this time can release chemicals in the body that can cause lack of sleep, loss of appetite and strangely, outbursts of energy at inappropriate times. If the grieving process is unresolved for long enough, bereaved people are at a higher risk of stress induced diseases such as heart disease and cancer.  

The process of working through grief can be summarised by the acronym T.E.A.R.:

To accept the reality of the loss: initially we feel a sense of disbelief that the deceased person has gone, but over time we accept that the deceased has passed on and will not be with us physically in this life.

Experience the pain of the loss: we feel sadness, anger, guilt, anxiety, and sometimes feelings of responsibility associated with the loss.

Adjust to the new situation without the deceased person. Relocate the person who has passed on within one’s life and maintain a continuing internalised relationship with the person in some way suitable to each person. Easy to say but hard to do!We can help by recognising people have to work through grief in their own way and that this in itself is a form of medicine.

Recognise the importance of the funeral service and the time for rebuilding after it is over. Be a trusted friend and be available for the aggrieved person to talk with about their lost one. Family life and working commitments go on and these can rescue a person in a time of grief by giving them something outside themselves to live for.  Voluntary work, or some method of devoting oneself to the service of others and reinventing a role for oneself can help too. Practical comfort at the time of loss is what’s most needed by most people. Beyond this, when the time is right for such discussions, Theosophy offers hope and consolation for the aggrieved. Theosophy teaches that death is not to be feared. When it comes at the natural time it is a change to a better state and there is no need to fret after the fate of those who are gone.           

Do we fear to sleep at night – No! We long for the sweep repose and invigoration sleep offers our waking hours and so it is with the greater sleep of death. But you may say, I long for contact with the one I loved – is this possible? Many people have the experience of feeling the presence of their loved ones in sounds or apparitions around the family home or familiar surroundings of the deceased, or maybe have vivid dreams and other experiences which impress their continuing relationship with us. Sometimes these are not so pleasant and may relate to the lower emotional energies of the person who has passed away which are slowly dissipating in the more ethereal realms. Many people from desperation or curiosity, seek the assistance of psychics or mediums to contact their deceased loved ones. Our theosophical Masters strongly condemn this practice as being harmful to the living and the dead. Our teachers tell us that true and impersonal love maintains the link with our deceased loved ones whilst recognising their right to rest and recuperation away from the stresses of this world. As one of our teachers has said: “The very meaning, the very essence, of the heaven-world state, or “devachan”, is bliss and love, because bliss and spiritual yearnings have as their main motive-power that abstract impersonal function or energy of the human spirit which men call love.            The devachan signifies all that is beautiful and good and sweet and holy and true and clean and pure. Love is immortal; it continues always; and mark you, the more one loves, of course impersonally, the nobler he becomes… I mean that inexpressibly sweet, divine flame which fills live with beauty, which instils thoughts of self-sacrifice for others. Love of that kind, impersonal love, is the very heart of the Universe. Therefore, I say, the one who is loved and who died, loves still, for it is of the fabric of his soul.”             [G de Purucker: Studies in Occult Philosophy p.619-620] 

4. EMOTIONS AND SPIRITUALITY by Stefan Carey: 

Imagine you are on a safari. A safari of emotions. Safe in the air-conditioned comfort of our “Range-Rover” of our Inner Spiritual Self, we watch the wildlife of our emotional Lower Self come and go. A black rhino of anger charges the car! A lion of laziness slumbers in the shade of a thorny tree. A giraffe of purposeful grace strides by. The hyenas of hysteria break the stillness with the incoherent cackling. An eagle of watchfulness drifts above riding the gentle breezes. Our emotions are like these animals. Some are harmless and a joy, giving us a real sense of connectedness with the Infinite. Others need to be kept firm only on a lead or even locked up! It is essential that we don’t end up inside rattling the cage in a fury with our worst emotions. This is what happens if we give way to them too much. We become their prisoners instead of the other way around!            In our spiritual searching we are often tempted to concentrate on our role as the jailers and suppressors of emotion. However, I want to say that there may be more to emotions than this narrow view. They are vital to our functioning as healthy vibrant human beings if we can establish the right balance in our emotional and spiritual lives. Emotions permeate right through our constitution affecting our mental and physical health. They even travel through the air. We ignore emotions at our peril!           

We have to work with and through emotions, conquer them sometimes, and certainly transform them when we are able as we transform ourselves, experience life, and unfold our divine aspects. Like good farmers, we need to gently but persistently cultivate our better emotions. If we put too little energy into self-control, we’ll get a paddock grown green with the weeds of unwanted emotion, and not the crop we thought we had sown, not the person we had hoped we would see in the mirror.           

The image of St. George an the dragon is useful in this context. Remember the pictures of St. George sitting astride the dragon of our lower nature lance in hand, the lance’s point poised next to the terrified eye of the dragon – the dragon under control as a useful servant.           

While we tend the paddock and control the dragon in us, there is another aspect to our journey we might want to consider. That we can slowly but surely remove the veils of self-induced illusion we wear around us, by unselfish motive and action. As the Chinese I-Ching or Book of Changes says: “But only a man who is himself free of all selfish ulterior considerations, and who perseveres in justice and steadfastness, is capable of so dissolving the hardness of egotism”. Elsewhere a theosophical writer says that “unselfish motive is essential for the soul to come into its own.”           

I can see a duality here – self development through inner reflection and control, and the helping of others through unselfishness. To me, this sounds like a good balance, and this for me is the challenge of being fully human, fully awake. At least to try when we are able to act compassionately, intelligently, positively, kindly. Inwardly and Outwardly.           

How rapidly can we progress to this state of inner balance between emotion and spirituality? Remembering to be human we should realise that there are limits to what we can do – we do not become Gods overnight – just as a strong tree takes many years for its roots to spread to full size so its crown can grow to its full potential. Mencius the Chinese philosopher, when talking about spiritual growth said we cannot pull young shoots of grass to make it grow faster. We must have patience. We cannot overly force our good emotions, and we cannot destroy overnight or totally suppress the lesser. It takes time. Accept who you are and work from there.           

A theosophical writer summed it up pretty well when she said: “We need to be human. Not less. If we are less, our animal nature is in control. More than human, and we make it too hard for ourselves to let our thoughts and feelings be able to faithfully reflect the divinity within.” This even handed way of treating ourselves can make it easier for us to really get along the noble path that is our real journey to our inner divinity, to find that “nobility that we are in our highest aspect.”           

Emotions are not isolated singular events. We also have a responsibility to others for our emotions. They travel. As our former Leader, Grace Knoche, said: “Thoughts and emotions of whatever kind circulate swiftly through the inner atmospheres of the Earth, to return in kind to the individuals, and upon nations and races, that sent them forth, degrading or uplifting untold numbers of other people who are responsive to the same wavelength.” This is a pervasive consideration for the interlinking of us all in inner ways – through cells, memory and emotion and outwardly – to neighbours, families and nations. If we extend this idea, then all of nature can be seen as interconnected with the circulations of vital forces and vibrations of all nature – some of which are emotional energies. This interconnectedness carries a responsibility in our emotional life as Grace points out: “By our thoughts and feelings, we are creators or destroyers, inevitably so, for inner health is dependent upon the proper balance between the impulse to dispose of that which is outgrown, and the impulse to regenerate, to renew that which is essential to progress – in private associations and our associations with others. When we cannot forgive and harbour ill will and resentment, by so much, we are death dealing, retarding the transformation of negative elements into life building energies. When we can empty our natures of that which is mean and limiting, we are creators, lifegivers – to ourselves and our fellow men, for there is no life unto ourselves alone.”            Emotions are important. Support the positive things you know you have inside you and are outside you. Be human, perhaps even the best human being, only you know how to be! Use your emotional energy in positive ways. Be a renewer and not a destroyer. As Grace says: “Dare to be yourself! Your Greater Self! Dare to leap forward!           

Our emotions can poison us or help us in making this a better, kinder world for others. We are the zookeepers! 

                     5. WASHING DIRTY SOCKS: 

Why is it that people trying their utmost to live a good life seem to suffer more than those who have little sense of brotherhood? Spiritual teachers tell us that when a person seriously commences their spiritual journey it throws outward many of our inner tendencies that otherwise would remain hidden for many lifetimes. This gives us the opportunity to deal with our bad habits built up over several lives in a comparatively short time – though often at the price of outward suffering. Thus such a person can be better fitted in a shorter time to serve humanity by being purified of these habits and having a better understanding of the suffering of others. In 1993 the Buddhist monk Gogyal Rimpoche spoke of these matters when he said:           

“Sometimes when you enter the spiritual path, when it really touches deeply, it stirs up a lot of things. That’s why I always tell my students that it’s very important to remember this process is a mere purification, and not to give up. I sometimes use the example of when you are taking a shower. When you scrub the dirt out of yourself, it becomes more messy than before. But if you stop in the middle, it becomes worse! That’s why, when I wash dirty socks, I really love it when the dirt comes up, because I know it’s being purified. In the sense that all the suffering is seen, because we see life not just related to this life but always connected with the life before, whatever we’ve committed in the past, in that karma, or in this life, sometimes the truly powerful teachings stir it up and bring it to the surface. If you are really able to face and work with that in a meaningful way, actually you can finish with a lot of negative karma which you might otherwise be suffering or experiencing for many lifetimes. We can finish them. We see suffering as an ending of a particular pattern.” From Parabola Vol. 18(1) Spring 1993, p.95.           

Lest we think that the spiritual life is an inherently unhappy one, remember what our teachers have told us. An honest appeal to our inner divinity certainly stirs up negative aspects of ourselves but it also calls upon the positive forces within to help us through these challenges. Channels are opened by which the joyous influences of the higher planes of our being can flow into everyday life and new strength rewards each new effort, new courage comes from each new step forward. Let’s not forget that as well as the crimes of our past, we have a legacy of good deeds from other lives to call upon in our dark moments. Theosophical teacher William Quan Judge wisely advises us: “So take courage, disciple, and hold on your way through the discouragements and the successes that beset your earliest steps on the path of probation. Do not stop to mourn over your faults; recognize them and seek to learn from each its lesson. Do not become vain of your success. So shall you gradually attain self-knowledge, and self-knowledge shall develop self-mastery.” – from a circular issued in 1890.           

More detailed information on this subject can be found in “Pledge-fever and the spiritual will” in G. de Purucker’s Fountain Source of Occultism pages 20-26.

6.  TAKING CHARGE: 

a friend working as a volunteer lawyer at a legal aid service in one of Melbourne’s poorer suburbs recently shared some impressions of the experience with me. Amongst the tawdry parade of minor criminal offences and neighbourly disputes walking through the door of his law office, he found certain patterns in common. Firstly, he described people pressured by the circumstances of their lives into difficult situations which they were unwilling or unable to control. Secondly, his clients exhibited a habit of blaming other people, the government, or society in general for problems affecting them, and looking to others to bail them out of the results of their own actions. Finally, they were living continually in reaction to situations as they arose rather than taking charge of their lives, difficult though this may have been for many of the poor people involved.The thought struck home how each of these circumstances affects us all in less dramatic and more refined ways. Isn’t it true that many people’s lives are dominated by the reactions to their karmic circumstances perhaps set in action lifetimes ago, rather than any conscious endeavour to shape their efforts in such a way as to avoid repeating the same mistakes in the future? How tempting it is to fall into the habit of blaming everyone else for our troubles rather than trying to understand and have faith in, the workings of karma in our lives. Whole religious systems are based on the habit of looking to God or superior beings to practice divine intervention and bail us out of the problems we have created, knowingly or otherwise. Theosophical teachers stress the importance of building the habit of self reliance in the lesser circumstances of daily life, with the ultimate goal of self-directed evolution for the Inner Man. Though the weight of past karma rests heavily on humanity, particularly in this Black Age or Kali Yuga, our high responsibility as humans is to take charge of our lives and actively seek Self realization on the sure basis of Universal Brotherhood by recognising the Self in all. 

7.  ACID TESTS: 

 Are invitations into higher states of consciousness only for advanced students of life’s mysteries? Is initiation a complex ritual for the few in wild and isolated corners of the world? Yes and no. We know from the Great Teachers who have undertaken these journeys to the Self that a direct approach to the Inner Divinity is for the worthy few under special circumstances. We also know that this journey starts with faltering footsteps in the crowded moments of everyday life. The acid tests of our soul leaning are here and now in the regular routines punctuated by dramatic moments which characterize most people’ lives.           

Out on the streets and behind suburban fences, ordinary people build habits by dealing with seemingly small matters which cumulate into character which determines destiny and eventually our worthiness for greater challenges in the quest for self consciousness. Who can estimate the inner value of the lessons of family life in teaching tolerance and selflessness to millions of people? How can we compare the inner learning experience of a mother’s constant self-sacrifice with the sometimes destructive qualities of many people the world holds to be admired amongst the rich and famous? The quiet process of character building finds opportunity for expression when we are challenged by the unexpected and sometimes spectacular challenges of life. Such everyday “initiations” seem to revolve around the awakening sights of illness, disease and death. For example, a friend told me the story of her father, a fine sensitive man projected into the madness of the final days of Hitler’s

8. RUNNING FASTER…TREADING WATER:

Not long ago it used to be fashionable to speak of “future shock” – the inability most people suffer in coping with the rapid changes of our time. Freedom of travel, the explosion of knowledge, technological developments, changing family, social and political structures have deprived many people of a sense of permanence and accepted standards. Most of us in the West are running faster in a hectic race to achieve or maintain higher material living standards and we have less and less time to stand back and set the whole process in perspective.           

In a high pressure world we all need a little time out to hearken to the “Voice of the Silence” awaiting patiently beyond the clambering confusion of everyday thoughts. Ancient and modern teachers have recommended the practice of taking even a few minutes each day to try and place ourselves into sympathy with the compassionate forces which sent each one of us forth into the adventure of daily life. Spiritual teachers have taught a variety of avenues to the Inner Man suitable for different temperaments and cultures. In the theosophic tradition our teachers have suggested, following the Pythagorean tradition of ancient

9. STRIVE TO BE HAPPY:

 How important is it to strive for happiness? Everybody has their own ideas of what it constitutes to be happy and most people direct their life-long efforts towards that end. In

“Let us open up our minds to the fact that life is joy: that is, the real spiritual life, and that the disarrangements, the failures, the discouragements, the heavy, tearing, heart-shadows we must face in life are our own to adjust. We have an opportunity, even in the ordinary lines of daily activity, to think a little more, to let our souls break through into something better, and to find ourselves out under the great blue sky in our aspirations, in touch with nature’s wonderful lessons and its silent and marvellous beauty.”