NOVEMBER 2006

  Adapted from an interlodge symposium on “Universal Brotherhood and the Synthesis of Science, Religion and Philosophy”  held on June 10, 2006:
 

Part Four
THE LIVING POWER OF IDEAS

    We have been exploring the fundamental principles of Theosophy:  universal unity and causation, the universal process of evolution - ideas which are at the core of every great religion, philosophy and science.

    So now the question comes up, are these ideas practical; can they be put into application in our daily lives?  And, if so, how?  Are they practical?  That depends somewhat on what we want out of life.  If what we want is to manipulate others to do our will, to mold life to our personal satisfaction, to escape the consequences of our actions, then these ideas are not practical at all; they are actually a hindrance.

  But if our goal is to know the true meaning of life, to learn how to live in harmony with the laws of life and how to help others with skill and knowledge, then these ideas are absolutely practical; they are essential because it is really by studying these ideas and learning how to apply them that these goals can be attained.

   So, let’s look at some examples.  Take the first and foremost idea - universal unity and causation:  the idea that behind all the apparent differences of life, all these different shapes and forms and people and ideas and colors, there is one seamless, limitless spiritual reality.  It is the core of all life and it is what we really are.  And it is the same in all of us, identical, making us all bound together, connected, united, one brotherhood, truly brothers.

   Brotherhood is a fact in nature; it already exists.  The more we realize this truth, the more we recognize that if we hurt another person, we are hurting ourselves because we are that other person.  We realize that if we benefit another person, we benefit ourselves because we are that other person.  The clear and obvious application of this truth, of this principle, is to live the life of brotherhood.

   What does that mean?  Well, it doesn’t mean memorizing and trying to put in action a lot of rules and regulations.  That approach, which is tried by many, has a tendency to lead to dogmatism and rigidity.  It does not allow for the relativity of finite existence, the fact that there are so many nuances in any moment, that every situation in life is unique.  We can say it is a goal to be truthful but there are occasions, say, for instance, in order to save a life, that it may be necessary to lie.  What we need is an all-encompassing guideline that we can take with us into each and every situation.

   And so we have the admonition in Theosophy to act for and as the Self of  all.  And by that Self, we mean that One underlying spiritual reality which is our true being and the true being of all creatures.  It is usually written in capital letters as opposed to the self written in small letters, our personal self, the little self, the self that thinks it is different from everybody else, that wants attention, that wants its desires to be fulfilled.  To act for and as that larger Self and that is the admonition thar we can apply in each and every situation in life.

   It means, first of all, trying to realize that Self, that we are that Self and so is everybody else, trying to actually experience that and perceive that; moment by moment, to see the luminous, shining Self in all.  Then, in each situation, to ask yourself how can I best serve the whole.  It doesn’t mean eliminating ourselves from that whole because we are part of the whole, but it does often mean subjugating our own personal opinions and desires and feelings, in order that the good of the whole be accomplished.  The more we do this, the more we will gain a realization of that Self of all, the more skilled we will become in acting for and as the Self of all. That would be a practical approach to applying the first fundamental idea, the universal unity of life.

   Let’s go on to the second, the universality of law, the idea of karma, of cause and effect.  Or, as it is put in the Bible, “As ye sew, so shall ye reap.”  This law means that everything that we experience in life, our entire context, we ourselves have created.  Everything that we are experiencing is the effect of causes we have set in motion, either earlier in this lifetime or in prior lifetimes.  Nothing happens by chance; there are no accidents; all occurs by law. 

   Our economic situation, our social situation, our parents, our children, our friends, our enemies, all this we have done ourselves. An application of this law is to take responsibility for that, to accept the truth of that and not, as we often do, to blame others.  When something happens to us in life that we don’t like, that hurts us, disappoints us, very often our response is to find fault elsewhere, blame the government, blame our family, blame something.

   We have a tendency to blame others when things happen to us rather than to look to ourselves as the cause and rectify the problem where the cause began, which is ourselves.  So this means setting up new streams of causation.  

   ( The conclusion of this symposium presentation on The Living Power of Ideas  will be in the December, 2006

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