The title of this
talk is highlighted time and time again in Brother Sri Ram’s writings -
especially in ‘On the Watch Tower’, ‘A Theosophist looks at the World’ and ‘The
Way of Wisdom’. So I hope you will allow me to quote from his works from time
to time, for to paraphrase his words would be to lose their meaning or the
meaning he wished to convey.
First of all we
might ask: What is Theosophy? Where is it defined in our Objects? Any
definition would limit it. We can perhaps say that it is Divine Wisdom,
Perennial Wisdom Truth. So immediately, I quote from Bro. Sri Ram who said:
‘Some time ago I
came across a book called ‘Theosophy of the Upanishads’ written some decades
before the Theosophical Society came into existence, which shows that Theosophy
is a certain wisdom, not just a name by which a group of people are divided
from the rest of humanity. The same Theosophy was chosen, I believe, in order
to identify it with a wisdom which existed in the past not only at one
particular time, but at different periods and to indicate its profoundly
philosophical and transcendent character. That which is spiritual is ageless,
it is only the forms that can be dated. When we use the word Theosophy, we
refer to a Universal Wisdom which has been studied in all ages, exists in the
present and operates in nature all the time’.
So, as he said,
it has been presented to the world over the centuries time and time again - in
the Ancient Mysteries, in the various different religions. Then again in 1875
it was presented by Madame Blavatsky to halt the tide of materialism. H.P.B.
chose the name ‘Theosophy’ as ‘not falling exclusively within these now
somewhat limited definitions of Truths to which so far the seal of popular
approval has been given’.
Theosophy’s Changing Face
However, the ‘face’
has changed each time. Some particular aspect has been highlighted and yet the
same truths, the same fundamental laws, the same principles have been given to
humanity. When Brother Sri Ram became President in 1953, it was a very
different world from HPB’s. It was after the 2nd World War - the
war that was to end all wars! There was more scientific knowledge, a different
attitude to the Universe, a different relationship among people and therefore
different problems. It was also the time of the Baby Boomers and then the
Flower People, followed by a plethora of New Age Movements, the TS being the
original one!
With the rapid
development of technology, that materialism as seen at the end of the 19th
century was intensified and although we were closer together than ever before -
in one aspect, that is, physically - we were more divided than ever before in
spiritual and ethical values and so there was increased separateness,
antagonism and conflict - (and this still applies). People then, and today,
from every corner of the globe can meet and contact each other almost
immediately and so come face to face with all the differences. More on that
later.
In one sense the
world has shrunk with the swiftness of communication and travel. On the other
hand, the world has expanded - there is more materialism, more stimulation of
the senses, more excess in every direction.
Most people’s
minds are dominated by desires and as there is more leisure it is often used
for more stimulation. Pleasure seeking is heightened, competition is greater.
With freedom has come anarchy and conflict. There is less orthodoxy but also
less faith in any ideals. HPB in her time described the world ‘as a time of
mental increase and spiritual decrease’. That was over a hundred years ago -
and it applies even more so today.
A Wisdom Which is Fresh
In 1995, while
speaking at a Summer School in Germany, Brother Sri Ram said, ‘The world needs
a wisdom which it does not possess, it cannot continue in the same old pattern
which does not conduce to our welfare or happiness. The whole world and not
only any one people needs fresh thinking on the basis of fundamentals and it is
these fundamentals upon which Theosophy sheds its benign light.’ (T in A, when?)
He might well have said that in 2004. Perhaps that fresh thinking and
presentation on the basis of fundamentals is one of the facets of the changing
face of Theosophy.
After HPB, we had
many great leaders who interpreted the fundamental teachings of Theosophy. These
became the accepted beliefs, so to speak, although Dr. Besant warned us way
back in 1930 that there was a danger of such a body of ours becoming
crystallised in its thought and modes of functioning. ‘That’ she said ‘is a
danger we can avoid only if Theosophy is to us a vital and continuous
experience’. (‘A Theosophist looks at the World’, p.46)
Brother Sri Ram
collaborates that when he says: ‘Our Theosophy must grow along with ourselves,
the truth we seek is a truth to be found within ourselves, such words as
Brotherhood, Truth, Happiness are terms which we have to understand from a new,
wider and deeper angle.’
We need fresh thinking
based on fundamentals. That fundamental principle which is crying out to be
presented to the world is Brotherhood – central to the first object of our
Society. We need to give to that word its true and deeper meaning (which is not
related to whether it is gender sensitive!) - that deeper meaning propounded by
HPB, that is, the truth of the Reality from which everything has sprung.
That oneness,
that expression of unity which pervades all life at every level, embraces all
the kingdom of nature, not just human beings. A recognition of this Oneness, I
suggest, is essential to bringing any harmony into our world.
The Individual Value of Theosophy
However, again,
as Brother Sri Ram wisely tells us, ‘Unless we show that Theosophy (and its
fundamental Principle) has a value for the individual, that individual is not
likely to respond to its message. It must not be a mere theory to be studied like
books under the guidance of learned professors but must be a message which,
however profound, is yet simple enough to be grasped by the average individual
and put to direct uses in the details of his life’. (A Theosophist Looks at
the World, p.52)
Further, ‘Our
motto might well be: Wisdom in Action - not only the study of the Wisdom in
books but also the translation of that Wisdom into life.’ Perhaps this is one
of the ‘changing faces’ of Theosophy that we need to present to the world -
that the guidelines which are given to us in the Wisdom Teaching over and over
again, one
example being ‘At
the Feet of the Master’. This is very simply put (perhaps too simply for the
intellectual!) and can be translated into our daily life whether it be in the
workplace, the home or The Theosophical Society.
Understanding Oneness
But first we need
to accept and understand the concept of Oneness – not just intellectually. We
are aware that most of us are in a state of isolation because we put walls
around ourselves - psychological, material, economic, political, national. We
are insecure because we feel separated by our differences and so we feel safe
within these walls. Then we try to establish a brotherly relationship with
others while still keeping the barriers there.
But let us
realise that Brotherhood implies simultaneous affirmation, both of unity and
diversity. This, I believe, is an important aspect to be grasped. Differences
have their place. They are inevitable and necessary, but they need to be
understood. We have built up our own separate unique individualities through
countless ages. We have needed to do this and we still do.
For each fragment
of life that is specialised, unique, has its own note to strike and is
necessary for the whole tapestry of life. These differences, and the oneness,
together make up the whole and this needs to be recognised. That very unity
underlying all the diversity makes us sharers in one another’s destiny, for we
all share the same one consciousness.
As Einstein put
it: ‘A human being is part of the whole called by us the Universe. A part
limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thought and feelings as
something separate form the rest, a kind of optical delusion of his
consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our
personal desires and to affection for a few persons around us.’
We can recall the
words of HPB: ‘No man can rise superior to his individual feelings without
lifting, be it ever so little, the whole body of humanity of which he is an
integral part.’ In the same way no one can sin nor suffer the effects of sin,
alone. In reality there is no such thing as ‘separateness’.
We may well ask:
What is it in our make up that keeps us at a distance, keeps us from seeing the
reality of the One Life? One reason may be thought, which is a separative
principle. We think we are separate! We see that we are separate! We make
images of all the people we meet - and ourselves - according to our concept of
them. We rarely see the real person. ‘In our ignorance we create around
ourselves a mental world of shadows where we see dividing lines which really do
not exist.’
We are all
familiar with the well-known saying, ‘The mind is the slayer of the real’. That
mind being, in its broadest sense, that which includes the emotions as well as
the faculty of spiritual intuition, is dual in character. It is like a sphere
which on one side is exposed to the light of the Spirit - and is subjective -
while on the other it is covered with the darkness of its own shadow.
It is the
activity of that dual mind - the mind which on the one hand is open to the
Spirit and on the other is influenced and dominated by our passions and desires
- that is the battle ground for humanity today. That is glaringly evident. So
addressing the issue of separateness, in every aspect, is perhaps the number
one priority in our presentation of the Wisdom Teachings today.
Presenting the Teachings of Karma and Reincarnation Today
Another
fundamental principle that perhaps needs to be re-presented is the doctrine of karma
plus, of course, that of reincarnation. As HPB said, ‘It exists from and in
eternity, truly for it is eternity itself.’
As we know, the
word ‘karma’ is bandied about today and probably most people who use it lightly
do not realise its significance. I should like to quote form W.Q. Judge from ‘The
Synthesis of Occult Science’. He says: ‘Even members of the Theosophical
Society have often wondered why H.P. Blavatsky and others well-known in the
Society lay so much stress on doctrines like Karma and Reincarnation. It is
not alone because these doctrines are easily apprehended and beneficent to
individuals, not only because they furnish as they necessarily do, a solid
foundation for ethics, or all human conduct but because they are the very
key-notes of the higher evolution of man. Without Karma and Reincarnation,
evolution is but a fragment: a process whose beginnings are unknown and whose
outcome cannot be discerned: a glimpse of what might be: a hope of what should
be. But in the light of Karma and Reincarnation evolution becomes the logic of
what MUST be. The links in the chain of being are all filled in and the
circles of reason and of life are complete. Karma gives the eternal law of
action and Reincarnation furnishes the boundless field for its display. Thousands
of persons can understand these two principle, apply them as a basis of conduct
and weave them into the fabric of their lives, who may not be able to grasp the
complete synthesis of that endless evolution of which these doctrines form so
important a part’.
I pick out that
one statement: ‘Thousands of persons can understand these two principles, apply
them as a basis of conduct and weave them into the fabric of their lives’.
If we can help
people to weave those two fundamental laws into the fabric of their lives, as
well as weaving it into our own, wouldn’t we have helped the whole evolution of
humanity?
In conclusion let
me give you H.P.B’s words from her ‘Collected Writings’ (Vol X1)
‘It is a
fundamental doctrine of Theosophy that the separateness which we feel between
ourselves and the world of living beings around us is an illusion not a
reality. In very deed and truth, all men are one, not in a feeling of
sentimental gush and hysterical enthusiasm, but in earnest.
As all Eastern
Philosophy teaches, there is but One Self in all the infinite Universe and what
we men call "self" is but the illusory reflection of the One Self in
the heaving waters of the Earth. True occultism is the destruction of the false
idea of self, and therefore, true spiritual perfection and knowledge are
nothing else but the complete identification of our finite selves with the
Great All’.
REFERENCES:
Blavatsky, H.P.,
Collected Writings, Vol. XI, Theosophical Publishing House, Wheaton, 1973.
Sri Ram, N., ‘A
Theosophist Looks at the World’, Theosophical Publishing House, Adyar, 1950.
Sri Ram, N., ‘On
the Watch-Tower’, Theosophical Publishing House, Adyar, 1966.
Sri Ram, N., ‘The
Way of Wisdom’, Theosophical Publishing House, Adyar, 1993..
The Theosophical Society in Australia