Printed in the Spring 2023 issue of Quest magazine.
Citation: Hebert, Barbara, "Love Conquers All" Quest 111:2, pg 10-11
By Barbara Hebert
National President
This issue of Quest magazine discusses belief in a personal god versus an impersonal god. So much has been written on this topic that it is daunting to address it in just a couple of pages.
Throughout the millennia, human beings have debated the existence of a personal god versus an impersonal one. Many of these arguments have resulted in divisiveness, including factions, quarrels, disputes, and even war. Here we are in 2023, once again discussing (although not quarreling over) these differing perspectives on God. Wanting to know the unknowable, we are grappling with it, as have humans throughout the years.
The Theosophical teachings focus on the existence of immutable laws that govern the universe as opposed to an anthropomorphic deity who has a personality and responds to personal requests. From my perspective, both views have a role to play in our spiritual journey.
If we believe that all beings are rooted in the One—that is, if we believe that all beings emanate from the universal consciousness—then the experiences of each individual enter the domain of the One and therefore become the experiences of all. From the Theosophical perspective, we are all on a spiritual journey, which will ultimately transform us. The experiences of those who believe in a more anthropomorphic deity and those who focus their attention on the existence of the immutable laws of the universe may combine to expand the consciousness of all humanity, transforming each of us. This statement is somewhat radical, and may or not be accurate. However, it seems worth considering.
Belief in a personal deity may bring feelings of acceptance and understanding to an individual. It can manifest as a very heart-focused or inspirational feeling. This feeling may provide a sense of security: a perception that one might have some control over a seemingly chaotic world through a personal relationship with the deity. It can also facilitate an understanding of some very important moral and ethical ways of living. For some individuals, this belief can bring a sense of love and devotion that transcends the personal.
On the other hand, a belief that deity exists in the immutable laws of the universe requires an individual to have a strong sense of self-responsibility. There is no expiation of poor behaviors or choices by another; rather, one must accept that one is responsible for all of one’s thoughts, words, feelings, and actions.
Pondering the immutable laws of the universe in this way can facilitate the expansion of the mental body. This belief system is very head-focused or deeply cognitive. For some individuals, deep cognitive introspection and contemplation can push them beyond the mental into the buddhic or intuitional realm of consciousness.
If we intend to move forward on the spiritual path, we need to incorporate both heart-focused and head-focused perspectives in order to be balanced. One might look to the words at the end of At the Feet of the Master, which say:
Of all the Qualifications, Love is the most important, for if it is strong enough in a [person], it forces [one] to acquire all the rest, and all the rest without it would never be sufficient. Often it is translated as an intense desire for liberation from the round of births and deaths, and for union with God. But to put it in that way sounds selfish, and gives only part of the meaning. It is not so much desire as will, resolve, determination. To produce its result, this resolve must fill your whole nature, so as to leave no room for any other feeling. It is indeed the will to be one with God, not in order that you may escape from weariness and suffering, but in order that because of your deep love for Him you may act with Him and as He does. Because He is Love, you, if you would become one with Him, must be filled with perfect unselfishness and love also. (Krishnamurti, 57‒58)
The words in At the Feet of the Master are phrased in a way that was more pertinent in the previous century, yet the meaning beneath those words remains apropos. Throughout our lives (and here again in this quote), we hear the words “God is love.” This statement doesn’t fit too comfortably into the perspective that the universe is based on immutable laws. As human beings, we may perceive that laws are cold, rigid, inflexible: the exact opposite of our conception of love. Yet it may be that love is the basic law on which all of the other laws of the universe rest.
We are not discussing personal love here; rather, we are talking about the selfless, impersonal love of agape. Agape love transcends the personal. It incorporates total acceptance and understanding of all others. It is altruistic in the highest sense of the word. It has been described as unconditional and sacrificial. This description fits fully into the meaning of love that is described in At the Feet of the Master.
As Theosophists, we walk the path of altruistic love, or agape. We walk the path of unconditional and sacrificial love. H.P. Blavatsky makes several statements about this path. She writes:
He who does not practice altruism; he who is not prepared to share his last morsel with a weaker or poorer than himself; he who neglects to help his brother man, of whatever race, nation, or creed, whenever and wherever he meets suffering, and who turns a deaf ear to the cry of human misery; he who hears an innocent person slandered, whether a brother Theosophist or not, and does not undertake his defense as he would undertake his own––is no Theosophist. (Blavatsky, Collected Writings, 508)
Every true Theosophist is morally bound to sacrifice the personal to the impersonal, his own present good to the future benefit of other people. (Blavatsky, Key to Theosophy, 282)
These statements are supported by the words of the Mahatma K.H. when he says, “The first object of the Society is philanthropy. The true theosophist is the Philanthropist who—‘not for himself, but for the world he lives’” (Jinarajadasa, 125).
As seekers for the Ageless Wisdom, we have no reason to quarrel over the concepts of a personal versus an impersonal deity. Words simply keep us rooted in the physical realm of consciousness and slow our forward progression on the spiritual path.
As long as we love impersonally and altruistically, it doesn’t matter whether we believe in a personal or an impersonal god. It doesn’t matter whether we believe in any god at all. Agape love provides us with what is needed to walk the spiritual path, reminding us of the adage, love conquers all.
Sources
Emphasis in quotes is from the original.
Blavatsky, H.P. Collected Writings, vol. 12. Wheaton: Theosophical Publishing House, 1980.
———. The Key to Theosophy. London: Theosophical Publishing House [1987].
Jinarajadasa, Curuppumullage. Letters from the Masters of the Wisdom, Second Series. Adyar: Theosophical Publishing House, 1977.
Krishnamurti, J. At the Feet of the Master. Chicago: Rajput Press, 1910.