Printed in the Winter 2022 issue of Quest magazine.
Citation: Hebert, Barbara, "Viewpoint: Unifying the Rainbow" Quest 110:1, pg 12-13
By Barbara Hebert
National President
A community is composed of a group of people brought together by something they have in common—living in the same city; attending the same place of worship; allegiance to a particular school or university. There are communities that are online as well as ones that are in person. There are communities of people who love to create quilts, who belong to a book club, or who are committed to ecological conservation. There are bird-watching communities. The number of communities that are formed from varied circumstances may give us pause. How many do you belong to?
Many consider themselves part of the community of the Theosophical Society in America. If an individual is part of a local lodge or study center, that may form another Theosophical community to which the person belongs. Friends of the Theosophical Society feel closely aligned with its teachings and thus may consider themselves part of the Theosophical community in that way. People around the world share the Society’s ideals as stated in the Three Objects and are members of the Theosophical Society in their own countries. Therefore we also come together as a global Theosophical community.
Being a member of a community is important for human beings, most of whom have lived this way since the beginning of recorded history. Through our communities, we feel belonging and purpose; we are affiliated with others who care about the same things as we do. We learn from, support, and encourage one another, giving us a sense of connection and helping us to feel safer and more accepted. All of this gives comfort in a world that is rarely comfortable.
The First Object of the Theosophical Society is frequently interpreted as advocating for the creation of a nucleus of humanity without any separateness. The concept of community seems to fall into wonderful alignment with this object, since, as we have seen, communities are composed of individuals who are bound together by a common interest. However, there may be other ways of considering this alignment of community and the creation of a nucleus of humanity without separation.
Like many aspects of the Ageless Wisdom, this seems to present a paradox. Communities can encourage division. We tend to see our own as somehow better or more important than others. For example, if I belong to the local university community, then I have no allegiance to the university in another city or state. Being from Louisiana, I think about the tremendous local support for and loyalty to Louisiana State University and its football team. Yet the competition among football teams in the Southeastern Conference, such as between the University of Alabama and Louisiana State University, hardly fosters unity between these communities. Some years ago, the rivalry between Auburn University and the University of Alabama was so intense that a member of the Auburn community poisoned trees on the University of Alabama campus.
Some may say that this rivalry (apart from harmful acts) is just for fun; it doesn’t really mean anything. But according to the Ageless Wisdom, it does mean something. The esoteric philosophy tells us that everything that we think, say, feel, and do has an impact on the world around us.
We can look at other areas in which communities may cause division, both today and through the years. It is not difficult to think about the divisions caused by allegiance to various religious communities through the ages. Intolerance, exacerbated to the point of persecution, is rife in history and continues to the current day. While one may assume that being of a particular religion does not necessarily engender intolerance or persecution, the perspective of “our tradition” versus “their tradition” is at the basis of such divisions.
We can look further, to racial and cultural intolerance and persecution, and so on. How often do we need to see this repeated before we put a stop to it?
Any time we think in terms of “my,” we are creating division: my town, my school, my place of worship, my organization. Communities, by their very nature, encourage an internal cohesiveness that separates them from others.
Please don’t misunderstand me. I’m not saying that communities are wrong or bad. They provide us with a great deal, but we must look deeper and go further. As students who are ever inquiring, we must question anything that potentially causes division, no matter how slight.
Think of a bright white light shining through a prism. The light is dispersed in an array of rainbow colors, ostensibly dividing it into seven separate rays. However, these rainbow colors intrinsically remain the white light. The online Encyclopedia Britannica states: “White light entering a prism is bent, or refracted, and the light separates into its constituent wavelengths. Each wavelength of light has a different color and bends at a different angle.” The constituent colors, at their essence, are the white light. They are only perceived differently, seen as different colors, because of their specific wavelengths as they are refracted through the prism.
This same law holds true for us as well, according to the esoteric teachings, which say we are manifestations of the One Source (or God, Parabrahm, Allah, or whatever one may choose to name it). Because of various “wavelengths,” we appear to be different and unique, yet our essence remains that of the One Source. We are intrinsically the various aspects of the One Source; therefore, we are not separate in any way, regardless of appearances.
This teaching goes far deeper. Unify, according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, means “to make into a unit, a coherent whole.” This implies that whatever we are trying to unify has not been a unit or a whole previously. When we unify something, we are bringing what has previously been separate together in some way.
Continuing with our example of white light and rainbows, if we try to unify the colors of the rainbow, we will not create white light. If one uses crayons to draw a rainbow, then overlays it with all of the rainbow colors in an effort to unify them, the result is a muddy brown. In order to get white light, the colors must return the way they came. The rainbow colors must be radiated through another prism, which will show the white light from which they originally came. Unifying the colors will not bring about the desired result simply because they have never truly been separate from the white light; rather, they just appeared to be different.
We cannot unify ourselves because we have never truly been separate; we have only appeared to be. Unifying the various communities that exist in our world will not bring about the depth of oneness that the Ageless Wisdom teaches. This concept requires more than simply looking within: it requires meditation and contemplation, the opportunity to hear the voice within in order to recognize the innate oneness that binds all of life together. This needs to be our focus, far beyond and much deeper than any community with which we may align ourselves.
Recognizing and living the truth of this inherent oneness is part of our spiritual journey. Our real community is our essential oneness with all living beings.