Theosophical Independence January 2008             

    A PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR

This is the time of year to formulate high resolutions and generate strong aspirations to fit ourselves to be the better able to help and teach others.

So, we begin this issue with a riddle: What is that precious and excellent wealth that is inexhaustible and no matter how much of it you dispense to others, it always restores itself in your account?  This is really a trick question, because there is more than one answer.  There are seven inexhaustible riches: the wealth of faith, the wealth of morality, the wealth of charity, the wealth of learning, the wealth of conscience, the wealth of humility, and the wealth of insight.  These are the riches we should seek this year and for years to come.

The Faith to be sought is not faith in externalities, whether it is faith in other human beings or systems of thought.  The faith that never fails is faith in the innermost Higher Self. It is faith in the spiritual identity and oneness of all beings and in the law of our spiritual being which manifests as the law of karma.

The Morality to be sought is not any outward show of virtue that can be measured against any established code of ethics.  The morality that is true to the mark in any circumstance, at any time, and among any group of human beings, is the motive to act for and as the Self of all.  Then, having so acted, to renounce all personal interest in any benefit from the result of our action.

The Charity to be sought is not any outward donation of money or gifts delivered to another from a source outside oneself.  The charity that is sweet in every season, like the fragrance of the evergreen tree, is that which is offered directly to another with no expectation of acknowledgment or reward.  It comes from within the giver and enables the recipients to help themselves.  It inspires them with gratitude and the desire to help others in turn.

The Learning that is to be sought is not that which can be read in any book or can be transmitted from one to another.  The learning that we seek is the soul wisdom impacted in the spiritual nature of our being and all beings.  It endures even if every outer record of its existence is destroyed.

The Conscience to be sought does not result from the expressed approval of any external authority.  It is the conviction of certainty welling up from within the depths of our being.  It is the light of our inner ruler that illumines our every thought, word and deed.  It is not the feeling that something should not be done, rather it is the inner spiritual discernment why  something should not be done.

The Humility to be sought is not an outward show of poverty or simplicity in word, deed, or lifestyle.  It is an attitude that results from inner conviction that our soul, like countless other souls, is a spark of the Universal Oversoul, itself a periodic reflection of the one reality - the unknowable, indefinable, Absolute Deity.

The Insight to be sought is not the meaning and value of any one object, person, or experience.  It is the insight that understands the fitness of all objects, beings and experiences, their interrelationship with each other, and to the whole of life.

These seven inexhaustible riches are not what any person says they are.  As we continually aspire to seek them, they take on ever widening and deepening levels of meaning and application.  However, one thing is always true about spiritual wealth:  It can only be found within oneself.

QUOTES 

All that was great, generous, heroic, was, in days of old, not only talked about and preached from pulpits as in our own time, but acted upon sometimes by whole nations.  - H. P. Blavatsky
The Key to Theosophy

... the essence of Theosophy is the perfect harmonizing of the divine with the human in man, the adjustment of his god-like qualities and aspirations and their sway over the animal passions in him.

The function of Theosophists is to open men’s hearts and understanding to charity, justice and generosity, attributes which belong specifically to the human kingdom and are natural to man when he has developed the qualities of a human being.

The life of altruism is not so much a high ideal as a matter of practice.... There, then, is part of your work: to lift high the torch of Liberty of the Soul of Truth that all may see it and benefit by its light.  Therefore it is that the Ethics of Theosophy are even more necessary to mankind than the scientific aspects of the psychic facts of nature and man.  - H.P. Blavatsky  - “Five Messages to the American Theosophists”

Expect nothing; work without thought or desire for reward; share your happiness with others; be upright in your dealings with your fellow labourer on life’s highway; work for the good of humanity; speak ill of no one; judge the act and not the actor; and last, but not least, strive for consistency as a Theosophist.  Then will be realized the basic idea of Practical Theosophy and  
Universal Brotherhood.  - W.Q. Judge  

When you come to the end of everything you know

And are faced with the darkness of the unknown,

Faith is knowing one of two things will happen.

Either there will be something solid for you to stand on,

Or you will be taught how to fly.     
  - Barbara J. Winter

Never look down on anybody unless you're helping him up.   Jesse Jackson

The virtues are not poured into us, they are natural to us. Seek them and you will find them; neglect them and you will lose them.
  - Mencius

It is more important to understand the ground of your own behavior than to understand the motives of another.        
- Dag Hammarskjold

A man’s true wealth is the good he does in this world.    - Mohammed

I am still learning.  - Michelangelo

Keep me away from the wisdom which does not cry, the philosophy which does not laugh and the greatness which does not bow before children.    -    Kahlil Gibran

Once the game is over, the king and the pawn go back in the same box. 
- Italian proverb

It wasn't until quite late in life that I discovered how easy it is to say, 'I don't know'.   - Somerset Maughm

I will study and get ready and someday my chance will come.   - Abraham Lincoln

The farther a man knows himself to be from perfection, the nearer he is to it. 
  - Gerard Groote

It is cynicism and fear that freezes life; it is faith that thaws it out, releases it, sets it free.    - Harry Emerson Fosdick

“Theosophical Independence”  is produced monthly by Associates of The United Lodge of Theosophists in Philadelphia.  Comments, questions and contributions for publication may be sent to The United Lodge of Theosophists, 1917 Walnut Street,  Philadelphia, PA  19103.

       The contents of this newsletter are provided freely and anonymously.  It may be reproduced without permission.