Fundamental Guide to Living   
Hope for Hopelessness

  ‘Tis the season to be hopeful.  The Winter Solstice is the time of the year when the direct rays of the sun fall upon the southernmost latitude of the annual cycle. From December 21st to June 21st, the direct rays of the sun fall upon progressively more northern latitudes and daylight hours increase in the northern hemisphere.  The Sun Gods of the ancient civilizations, symbolic of the spiritual principle in Nature and Man, were said to have been born on December 21st.  The potentiality for spiritual knowledge and life is present even in the darkest time of one’s existence.

  For many people, this time of year is not a season of hope.  It may be a time when their pervasive sense of hopelessness is amplified.  They have no expectation of good, success, or happiness in the coming year or for the rest of their lives.  For others, hopelessness is only the dark and cold winter of their emotional life that temporarily freezes their aspirations.  There is hope for those who feel hopeless, but it requires self-examination of fundamental beliefs and attitudes in the light of three fundamental propositions of Theosophy and sincere effort to change.

  What are the characteristics of hopeful people?  They feel connected to others, and believe they have a certain degree of control and power over the course of their lives.  They have faith in their ability to endure and overcome any obstacle or difficulty.

  What are the characteristics and conditions of people who feel hopeless?  They feel alienated from others and fundamentally different from others.  They believe they are not worthy of the love and care of others.  Consequently, they may isolate themselves physically from others.  They feel powerless and incapable of reaching their goals.  They have an overwhelming sense of doom and failure.

  To paraphrase Krishna in The Bhagavad-Gita, even the most hopeless person can cross over to hopefulness with the aid of spiritual knowledge.  The three fundamental propositions of Theosophy are gateways in the mind to spiritual knowledge, if they are understood to have universal application and incorporated as a basis for all our thoughts, words, and deeds.  Spiritual
knowledge is of loving deeds the child, and Theosophy is altruism.

  For example, even though the first fundamental proposition addresses the absolute oneness, omnipresence, infinitude and eternal nature of the unknowable Deity, it has immediate application to that which most human beings have experienced at one time or another - hopelessness.  The Absolute Deity is the one reality that is the basis of the fundamental unity and interdependence of all beings.  It accounts for the spiritual identity and Divine potentiality of all beings.  That which we intuitively know to be the Self, the root of consciousness, being and existence is the identical Self in all beings.  That Self, one and identical in essence with Deity, is the foundation of immortal spiritual life and the fountainhead of Divine compassion for all.

Hope and optimism are spiritual intuitions springing up in the mind from the Divine root of being.  Hopeful people directly know this spiritual truth.  From this realization, they sense their interconnectedness, power, endurance. They love themselves and others, take responsibility for themselves and others, and are patient with themselves and others.

  Even those who feel hopeless, isolated, powerless and doomed are able to know that that which observes all temporary feelings and conditions is the enduring real Self.  They can dwell on this idea whenever the feeling of hopelessness presents itself - the mind becomes that upon which it continuously dwells.          

HOPE QUOTES

from The Voice of the Silence:

Yet, if the "Doctrine of the Heart" is too high-winged for thee. If thou need'st help thyself and fearest to offer help to others, — then, thou of timid heart, be warned in time: remain content with the "Eye Doctrine" of the Law. Hope still. For if the "Secret Path" is unattainable this "day," it is within thy reach "to-morrow." Learn that no efforts, not the smallest — whether in right or wrong direction — can vanish from the world of causes. E'en wasted smoke remains not traceless.                         

Armed with the key of Charity, of love and tender mercy, thou art secure before the gate of Dana, the gate that standeth at the entrance of the PATH.

Behold, O happy Pilgrim! The portal that faceth thee is high and wide, seems easy of access. The road that leads there through is straight and smooth and green. 'Tis like a sunny glade in the dark forest depths, a spot on earth mirrored from Amitabha's paradise. There, nightingales of hope and birds of radiant plumage sing perched in green bowers, chanting success to fearless Pilgrims.

from The Friendly Philosopher:

The Founders of the world religions, however, did not present merely “the cheerless side.” They one and all enunciated the doctrines of hope, for almost without exception their teachings cannot be understood except on the basis of reincarnation — in fact, many of them directly taught it — and reincarnation is the “doctrine of hope.”

The two  teachings that the West is most urgently in need of are those of Karma and Reincarnation, the doctrines of hope and responsibility — Karma, the doctrine of responsibility means that whatever a man sows he shall also reap — Reincarnation, the doctrine of hope, means that — whatever he is reaping — there never will be a time when he may not sow better seed. The very fact of suffering is a blessing. Karma and Reincarnation show us that suffering is brought about by wrong thought and action; through our suffering we may be brought to a realization that a wrong course has been pursued. We learn through our suffering. Life is one grand school of Being, and we have come to that stage where it is time for us to learn to understand the purpose of existence; to grasp our whole nature firmly; to use every means in our power in every direction — waking, dreaming, sleeping, or in any other state — to bring the whole of our nature into accord, so that our lower instrument may be “in line” and thus more and more fully reflect our divine inner nature.

   “Theosophical Independence”  is produced monthly by Associates of The United Lodge of Theosophists in Philadelphia located at 1917 Walnut Street,   Philadelphia, PA  19103.   The contents of this newsletter are provided freely and anonymously.  It may be reproduced without permission.