Quest Magazine

By Pedro Oliveira

Originally printed in the MARCH-APRIL 2008 issue of Quest magazine. 
Citation: Oliveira, Pedro. "Explorations: Theosophy and Orthodoxy" Quest  96.2 (MARCH-APRIL 2008): 68-69.

HENRY S. OLCOTT, president and cofounder of the Theosophical Society, whose death centenary was commemorated on February 17, 2007, may have sounded the essential keynote of the work before the fledgling Theosophical Society when he said in his Inaugural Address at the Mott Memorial Hall in New York, November 17, 1875:

We are of our age, and yet some strides ahead of it, albeit some journals and pamphleteers more glib than truthful, have already charged us with being reactionists who turn from modern light (!) to mediaeval and ancient darkness! We seek, inquire, reject nothing without cause, accept nothing without proof: we are
students, not teachers.

In "The New Cycle," Collected Writings, vol. XI, his colleague and coworker, Helena P. Blavatsky, may have gone a step further in declaring one of the central aspects of the Society's work: "In its capacity of an abstract body, the Society does not believe in anything, does not accept anything, and does not teach anything."

The above statements, by two principal cofounders of the TS, clearly delineate the fact that though deriving its name from the Greek word theosophia (divine wisdom); the Theosophical Society does not make of Theosophy an orthodoxy nor an ideology. In other words, the position of "official" Theosophical teacher has been declared vacant from the very inception of the Society! It encourages its members to inquire, to investigate, and to study for themselves the vast breadth and depth of the Wisdom Tradition and to come to their own realization of its eternal truths.

Alas, the energetic vision of the founders did not prevent some members over the decades from erecting pedestals to "authorities" in the Theosophical philosophy, going so far as to say who was right and who was wrong. But the Theosophical Society, as an organic body, has always refused to buy into the authority game and has remained faithful to its three Objects which point to a non-sectarian and non-dogmatic direction for its life and work.

At the very core of the great spiritual traditions of the world there is a compelling call: one must see with one's own eyes. When religion, philosophy, or even science become an ideology, that is, a set, irreversible, exclusivist worldview, the beauty and transformative power of direct seeing is absent and the forces of separation and suspicion grow stronger, thus making the world a darker place. When we see for ourselves any intrinsic truth, like suffering, it leads to a new understanding as well as to compassionate action, for it represents the awakening of a deeply integrated perception within ourselves called buddhi in the Theosophical tradition. In such a perception, seeing and acting are one.

As long as the Theosophical Society remains true to the spirit that animated its foundation it will remain relevant in a turbulent world. The words of Madame Blavatsky, in her message to the American Convention of 1888, deserve reflection and consideration:

Orthodoxy in Theosophy is a thing neither possible nor desirable. It is diversity of opinion, within certain limits, that keeps the Theosophical Society a living and a healthy body, its many other ugly features notwithstanding. Were it not, also, for the existence of a large amount of uncertainty in the minds of students of Theosophy, such healthy divergencies would be impossible, and the Society would degenerate into a sect, in which a narrow and stereotyped creed would take the place of the living and breathing spirit of Truth and an ever growing Knowledge.

Pedro Oliveira joined the Brazilian Section of the Theosophical Society in 1978 and worked in several capacities. He served as international secretary at Adyar between 1992 and 1996. In 2001, he was elected president of the Indo-Pacific Federation of the TS, and re-elected in 2004. Pedro works as education coordinator of the TS in Australia and has lectured extensively in Australia, the Indo-Pacific region, and other countries as well. This article is adapted from the Campbell Library Newsletter, March 2007.

By Mona Sides-Smith

Originally printed in the MARCH-APRIL 2008 issue of Quest magazine. 
Citation: Sides-Smith, Mona. "A Practical Path to Theosophy: AA's Twelve Steps." Quest  96.2 (MARCH-APRIL 2008): 47-51.

IN HER "VIEWPOINT" from the January-February 2003 Quest magazine, President Betty Bland included a quote found in HPB's Collected Works, vol. XIII, which reads:

There is a road steep and thorny, beset with perils of every kind, but yet a road, and it leads to the very heart of the Universe: I can tell you how to find those who will show you the secret gateway that opens inward only, and closes fast behind the neophyte forevermore. There is no danger that dauntless courage cannot conquer; there is no trial that spotless purity cannot pass through; there is no difficulty that strong intellect cannot surmount. For those who win onwards there is reward past all telling—the power to bless and save humanity.

The power to bless and save humanity is quite the reward. Betty concluded with, "As we move along; let us hone our skills for the service of others. Let us make this a year of true initiation." Both service and initiation are important principals in the Twelve Step program as well as Theosophy.

I have been involved with Twelve Step programs for almost forty years now and with the Theosophical Society even longer. Over the years, the two have enhanced each other. Theosophy made my Twelve Step path better and the Twelve Step's practical path to learning gave me a step-by-step way to get to the spiritual concepts of Theosophy and eventually incorporate them into my work as a therapist.

I discovered Theosophy by accident. During the early 1960s, I lived in Aurora, Illinois and worked at a printing company that published the American Theosophist. At that time, I worked in quality control reading press proofs for the print shop. There was a new kind of typesetting being developed called "cold" (as opposed to the "hot" poured lead type in use), and the company sent me to school to learn how to work with it. In between reading proofs, I also set type for the -. (As a matter a fact, it was one of the first publications to be published on cold type.) When the page proofs were ready, I would bring them to Wheaton where Virginia Hanson would read the galleys, and then I would take them back. I started noticing the events that were planned at Olcott and timed my proof reading visits with Virginia to coincide with when programs were taking place.

To set the type in those days you had to read the material at least three times. I was reading these theosophical articles three times and did not understand most of them any better the third time around than I did the first. I had trouble correctly pronouncing the Sanskrit words and peoples' names. Pronouncing "Krishnamurti" takes practice. It was very interesting for me and I continued, off and on through the years, to absorb the lifestyle of Theosophy into my lifestyle of the Twelve Step program. Even now I get the two mixed up and stirred together because they are so similar. My daughter Elaine explains how she separates the two by thinking of Theosophy like a "sky road" while the Twelve Steps are like an "earth road." The Steps give one a more practical or down to earth way to walk through life, while Theosophy is an elevated search. You can travel back and forth between the two as long as you balance the lofty abstractions with some down-to-earth practicality.

Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) is not as old as the Theosophical Society (TS). The Program has its foundation in the old Oxford Group, a non-denominational Christian Evangelical association which was the source of AA concepts such as meetings and sharing for witness, finding a higher power, making restitution, and rigorous honesty. Alcoholics Anonymous has some interesting statistics. The book, Alcoholics Anonymous, referred to as the "Big Book," is the number two all time best-selling book in the world, running second only to the Bible. The Twelve Step programs are also the largest users of hotel facilities in the United States. It is an interesting statistic that always gets laughs when mentioned, but with conventions, conferences, and retreats taking place somewhere almost every weekend, there are many, many hotels around the country that are regularly utilized by Twelve Step programs.

AA began in 1935 in Akron, Ohio when word started getting around that there was a doctor who could fix drunks. Loving relatives, and not so loving relatives, began dropping off their loved ones. From those small first meetings of four individuals, AA has grown to millions of people worldwide. The international convention held in Minneapolis in 2000 drew over 50,000 people and hosted the largest AA meeting in its history.

Annie Besant, the second international president of the Theosophical Society is a hero of mine. In her lecture on "Purification" found in her book From the Outer Court to the Inner Sanctum, Annie Besant speaks about the mountain as a metaphor for spiritual growth. She asks that we visualize ourselves up in space, looking down on a large beautiful mountain and on this mountain we can see the history of our behavior. Not just of how we are now, but how we have trudged and bumbled along, and sometimes excelled. As we look down at the mountain and see the roads that circle and wind around (anyone who has ever driven in the mountains knows that the roads do not go straight up the side of the mountain), we also see there are cut backs which are very steep. Some of us try to climb straight up the mountain and end up falling down backwards. Along the way, we may get lost, try short cuts, or get distracted, as Annie Besant says "hither and thither" along the way, and we fall off the side of the mountain.

There are also stations along the way where we stop and stay awhile, reaching a plateau and resting. Sometimes, there are towers, offering a better view and as we climb up, it feels like progress, but in reality, we are just going up and down in the same place and not really moving along. We are repeating the same action and expecting different results. We climb and expect growth, but we just mark time in the same place. We do that in both our spiritual and practical life, but the road ends at the summit on this mountain.

Besant continues in her lecture describing a temple at the top of this mountain. The temple is the goal. We can look at it with closed eyes and it can be so beautiful. It is radiant. It has peace, serenity, and love. When we look with our hearts, we see these as symbols of the pure soul. The people who are at the top of this mountain have finished their course, at least for this mountain. Although their journey is finished, they remain there to help others climb up. This temple is built as the holiest of holy places. This is in the center; it is the heart, the spirit within us, God, the Higher Power, a Higher Authority. Besant mentions that there are gardens around the holy place at the top. The garden has only one gate, and as we proceed from below, climbing up the mountain to the mountain top, we eventually must go through this gate. This garden surrounds the outer court of the temple and within it is an inner court or inner sanctum.

The outer court around the temple is large and open and also has one gate. In this outer court are groups of people, Theosophical lodges, study groups, AA groups, and Al-Anon family groups. There are far more people in the outer court than in the inner sanctum. The long climb up the mountain has been accomplished and here is where the serious study begins. The goal here is to serve in order to learn how to go on.

Sometimes, when we look at the masses of people around us who are struggling, we wonder how they go on. Years pass and they go on so slowly. We are often distracted, as Besant says, by butterflies and blossoms—which we can symbolize as in-laws, outlaws, marriages, divorces, and illnesses—but we keep climbing. We are still on the mountain. We are not back at the bottom.

The Twelve Steps are very functional on this climb to the top of the mountain. The first three steps are what I call the "armchair steps." We are asked to admit our powerlessness, believe that there is an accommodating Source for a solution, and become willing to learn to access that Source. We can do all of this sitting down.

The next six middle steps are the "working steps." They are about taking a tedious inventory, talking with God and another person about strengths and weaknesses we uncover, making a list of the people we need to make amends to, and making those amends whenever possible. Character defects are not things we do on purpose. It is hard work learning to redo things and recognizing character defects helps us see what we are missing within ourselves. This is the challenge in the outer court. Success here brings us closer to finding the gate to the Inner Sanctum.

The last three maintenance steps are about prayer, meditation, and service. They are about continuing to take inventory of ourselves and righting our wrongs, and continually seeking conscious contact with our Higher Power. The Twelfth Step is about carrying the message and our own spirituality. After spiritually awakening, we carry the message to others. We are performing a service as we practice these principles in all our affairs.

Some people who are not alcoholics practice the Twelve Steps. You do not have to be a member to practice the Twelve Step program. In fact, this program has been successfully adapted by many different groups. I recommend reading Bill W.'s book, The Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, which is a collection of essays about the Twelve Steps.

The people in the outer court are well-defined. They have climbed this path and have found themselves. The soul is growing within these people. This Definiteness—a term Annie Besant uses—is earned. It has been earned a step at a time, a day at a time. It is not an accident. Personal strength and other personal qualities are achieved. Have you ever noticed that when a person starts growing, it is visible to others? They have a sight beyond physical matter. People who have "got it" look different or shine from within. Initiations of life, the trials and tribulations, experiences of life, are our lessons. They come daily and by these initiations, we grow so that we can help others.

Some of the truths we learn are from the ancient wisdom that Mable Collins talks about in her book Light on the Path. Much of what I read today, Bill W. and Dr. Bob also read. Both Bill W. and Dr. Bob knew Dora Kunz and were familiar with Theosophical teachings. At meetings, they read ancient wisdom texts as well as the Bible. People experimented with what would help or work in their lives because they knew there was more to recovery than just not drinking.

There are four rules or truths from Light on the Path that have helped me (and confused me) over the years. As I do Serenity Retreats for the Twelve Step program, I use theosophical teachings along with the Twelve Step material without telling people that it is Theosophy. I have incorporated Theosophical references into my retreat talks without people knowing; however when there are Theosophists in the audience, they will approach me later to comment on recognizing the material.

The first truth "Before the eyes can see, they must be incapable of tears" can be translated in the Twelve Step vernacular as someone saying "Stop whining about it and get on with your life." When I am working through something confusing to me, I often bounce concepts off my friend Ruby. We might be driving along and I will throw an idea out to her, and she might respond with, "needs work," or "you are getting closer." I just hang in there. What I understand Mabel Collins saying is that it is okay to feel sorry for oneself for a while, but then you must get over whatever it is and move along. The Soul must pass from sensation to knowledge. The windows of the soul are blurred by moisture. The tears blur the work of the soul, much like when it is raining, and we cannot see out the window.

This does not mean that big girls and boys are not allowed to cry. It means that when we are crying, just go ahead and cry, but do not try to see through it and give advice or make decisions. When we are done crying, we will see more clearly. Crying is not the resolution, but it is okay to feel sorry for yourself, then get over it. Tears are symbols of violent pain and pleasure. Tears pass and the light of knowledge will eventually shine through.

The second truth reads "Before the ear can hear, it must have lost its sensitiveness." Again, in the Program we would say, "Don't take it personally." The soul must reach a place of silence in order to hear the voice from the other side. The voice of the higher power, God, whatever you have sought and found, is always soft and sweet. Outer life sounds interfere with our hearing. We must get to a place of silence where we can bring meditation into our lives. Mantras and chanting "Om" can take us to that place of silence. Silence often feels like a pall or darkness. It initially feels scary, but after the silence is when a voice sounds from the other side. It is what Bill W. referred to as his "White Light" experience. Gradually we see the gleam of the temple, catch a glimpse of God, and hear the still small voice.

People reach an emotional bottom when they have no plan. But that is when we become teachable and the Voice may be heard. It comes in many ways. It may be a feeling or a color, but it will speak in a language of its own. It may not be English, but we will understand it. Once we hear it, we know it. No earth sound can ever dull it once we have heard it. We can hear it through anything once we know what we are listening for. Mabel Collins says that these eye and ear truths must be experienced first. We have to learn not to take things personally and to stop whining.

The third truth Collins shares with us is, "Before the voice can speak in the presence of the Masters, it must have lost the power to wound" or for Twelve Steppers, "lost the desire to control." In Twelve Steps, we might suggest that someone "lighten up." This is where we share our strength, hope, and experience. We learn that the purpose of our being is to appeal to the Source. In prayer and meditation the appeal goes up, echoes back down, and goes out to the world. There is great power in prayer and meditation. What we appeal for is knowledge of how to speak without wounding. The Eleventh Step reads, "We pray for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out." Perhaps Bill W. got the idea for this step from Mable Collins. The answer we get when we pray for knowledge is what we need—the power to speak the knowledge received. We intuitively "know" things. The condition that allows us to do this speaking is that the pilgrim becomes a link between the Higher Power and the earth.

We become a servant to deliver this message and that is what we are looking for. Not servitude, but service. We have to share it for humankind. The one gate to the inner court is labeled "Service to Mankind" and we no longer seek for self alone, but for the good of humanity. In serving humankind, we include ourselves, not just others.

The fourth truth, "Before the soul can stand in the presence of the Masters, its feet must be washed in the blood of the heart" has come to mean to me: You have to give it away to keep it.

Blood is the symbol of life. Without it humans are nowhere, gone. Empty the blood from our bodies and there is no life. You can take away an appendix, a kidney, or assorted other body parts. You can even replace them with store-bought body parts, but take away the blood and there is no life. Tears are the moisture of life and blood is life itself. We have to have the willingness to pour out this blood, this life. We must give our most precious life by being willing to serve. Bill W. used to say that we become "born" again before the term was commonly used. Our lives are our energy, our thoughts, and service. We must give this life to stand with the others who give their lives, whether it be for Theosophy or Twelve Steps.

Service can become a way of life. We can live in an attitude of service, but this can be very hard to do. I can go to the grocery store with an attitude of service, or because my family ate all the food in the house. If I serve my community because no one else wants do it and feel I have to, I will feel tired and resentful. However, if I serve with an attitude of replenishing my community, my outlook changes. When we live with an attitude of service, we stand beneath the point where all knowledge is received. According to Mabel Collins, we plug in to the cosmos. We know things we did not know before. We are able to handle situations that used to baffle us and realize there is always more to learn, more to gain. Like the onion layers that we peel off, there is always more knowledge to discover. We become the wounded healer, sharing the strength and knowledge gained through our experiences. Knowledge turned into service becomes our strength, nurtures our hope, and guides our lives.

Mona Sides-Smith is president of the Serenity Retreat League, Inc., a non-profit corporation in Memphis, Tennessee, that offers Twelve Step related retreats and workshops in the U.S., Mexico, Canada, and on cruise ships. She is the daughter-in-law of Dr. Bob Smith, cofounder of Alcoholics Anonymous. A retired addictions and family therapist, Mona organizes and facilitates retreats, counselor training workshops, and community leadership programs. Mona is a member of the Theosophical Society and active in the Memphis Lodge. (And if you are ever in Memphis, ask her about the Three Kings Tour.)

By Winifred Wylie

Originally printed in the MARCH-APRIL 2008 issue of Quest magazine. 
Citation: Wylie, Winifred . "Montessori and the Theosophical Society." Quest  96.2 (MARCH-APRIL 2008): 53-55.

MARIA MONTESSORI had her first acquaintance with Theosophy, early in the twentieth century, when she went to hear Annie Besant speak in London in 1907 after Montessori had established her first Casa dei Bambini (i.e., Children's House). Annie Besant spoke in praise of Montessori's work in education which pleased Montessori, and thus sealed their friendship.

There are many parallels between the lives of Montessori and Besant: both broke through barriers against women; both were interested in modern exact science and mysticism; and both were charismatic speakers who lectured throughout the world. But perhaps the most important parallel was their common vision of the evolution and the oneness of life.

Maria Montessori was born on August 31, 1870 in Chiaravalle, Italy, and died on May 6, 1952, just before her eighty-second birthday. By the time of her death, her schools were established all over the world. Her innovative ideas of having furniture designed to fit the size of children and providing climbing apparatus for them to exercise on, are both common in schools of today. Other teaching initiatives introduced by Montessori came after careful scientific observation of children and include the recognition that there are sensitive periods when children are ready to learn things, such as language, more easily than at other times in their development; the provision of mixed age classrooms where children help each other to learn; and also, a learning environment where children have the freedom to select their own materials to work with.

As a woman living in the Italy of 1870, Montessori was expected to marry and have children. But, over her father's objections, she insisted on going to technical school and then being trained as a doctor even though this was unheard of for a woman at that time. Maria Montessori would be surprised and encouraged to see how the role of women has expanded since her time, but unfortunately, she would also find the need for a new education that promotes world peace just as necessary today as when she wrote Education for a New World.

Montessori specialized in work with mentally challenged children, using ideas and apparatus inspired by early educators Itard, Seguin, and Froebel. She then designed new materials of her own to help the children learn. She was so successful in teaching these mentally challenged children that they passed the exam for normal children of their own age. Montessori felt that if these children could do so well, then normal children should be able to do much better, and she wanted the opportunity to work with them.

When the officials of Rome did a tenement clearance project in a very poor area called San Lorenzo, they were afraid that the children age five and under would mark up the walls because they were often left home alone. The officials invited Montessori to start a school for them. She agreed, and after careful observation of public school classrooms, she redesigned the San Lorenzo classroom with furniture made for the size of the children and also cabinets proportioned to their height to hold materials for them. She used the same materials she had used with the mentally challenged children and also designed new materials as the children learned quickly and needed them. The environment of the first Montessori classroom transformed the behavior of the children. They became independent, confident, orderly, and loving three, four, and five year-olds. This attracted the world's attention and began Montessori's life work of training new teachers and establishing new schools.

Montessori was sixty-nine years old when she first went to India. She was invited to give a Montessori Training Course at Adyar by the then international president of the Theosophical Society, George Arundale. He had made the invitation to Montessori while he and his wife, Rukmini Devi, were visiting her in Holland. It was fortunate that Montessori accepted the invitation and left Europe at that time. Later that year the Second World War broke out. All of the centers where Montessori had worked—Spain, Italy, and Holland—had become very dangerous places.

The Arundales went to the airport in Madras to meet Maria and her son, Mario. Despite her age, Maria was full of energy and eager to plan her training course. She felt very much at home at Adyar. It was a place where her mysticism was understood and could be shared with others. Theosophical workers arranged palm leaf huts and a palm leaf lecture hall at Olcott Gardens. Three hundred teachers and student teachers came from all over India to attend the training course. This was a much larger group than had been expected! They were eager to hear Montessori and put her ideas into action. Maria spoke in Italian, and Mario translated into English.

When World War II began in the fall of 1939, Italy entered the war on the side of the Germans and England interned all Italians in the British territories. Mario was interned in a camp for civilians in Amednagar and Maria was confined to the compound at Adyar. (She was allowed to spend the hot summer months at the hill stations of Ooty and Kodaikanal.) But Maria was very unhappy that she and her son were being treated like prisoners. After all, Montessori had already left Italy in protest of Mussolini's treatment of her schools. Many of Montessori's supporters protested to the authorities.

Finally, on August 31, 1940, she received a telegram from the Viceroy of India that read,"We have long thought what to give you for your seventieth birthday. We thought that the best present we could give you was to send you back your son." Mario and Maria spent the remainder of the war years working together in India and the Theosophical Society sponsored it.

My own acquaintance with Montessori began through the Theosophical Society and reading her writings. In 1940, when I was seven years old, my family moved to a farm northeast of Ann Arbor, Michigan. My father's dream was to make it a Theosophical community and, for a while, it was. In 1956 my former sister-in-law, Barbara Bailey, and I started the first Montessori school in Michigan. In 1970, I took the Montessori Elementary training course for teachers in Bergamo, Italy and while there learned that some of the Montessori Elementary educational materials had been designed while Montessori was in India.

Many features designed for the elementary children reflect Montessori's deep thought and mystical perceptions about the work of humans and the environment of planet Earth. The elementary curriculum, called"Cosmic Education" was designed around the history of the earth. Everything that was taught was traced back to when it had been discovered in history: the roots of history, language, mathematics, and geometry were all traced back. Montessori felt it was very important to have the children know and have great respect for all the humans from the past who had contributed to making their life easier.

When Montessori looked at children, she saw what others did not. People had preconceived ideas of what children were like and they often saw what they expected instead of what was truly there. Montessori told her teachers to look for the hidden child and that it would reveal itself through creative work. The job of the teacher, she taught, was to find the right work for each child and when he or she was quiet and deeply absorbed in the work to walk on tiptoe, not to disturb this magical stage of the child finding him or herself. She said creative work by one child created an atmosphere that attracted other children to make their own search for creative work, and eventually, the whole classroom would become quiet as if in a state of meditation.

Montessori's formal training had been in the field of medicine and science and these influences were important in the development of the Montessori Curriculum. For example, the Curriculum included time lines of human history paralleling the time line of planet Earth, showing four and one half billion years of development from the Pre-Cambrian to the modern era. Everything on the earth contributes to the whole as well as to its own interests. During the training course I took, Seeora Honegar told a story about one child in the Montessori classroom who said that he did not want to contribute to the whole so he was just going to sit and do nothing. Another child said to him that even if he just sat there he was still part of the oxygen cycle. Then the child said he would die. The other child replied that even if he died his body would become part of the earth and would be used by the plants that would then be eaten by the animals.

Montessori said that evolution is not marked so much by the power of tooth and claw, but by the development of the power of love. The earliest creatures, such as the spawning fish, gave birth to their young and did not recognize them. But evolutionary time went on and birds developed. They kept their babies warm and fed them, and even would give up their lives to defend their chicks. Then there are mammals who carry their young safely inside the mother. Humans have the longest childhood of any of the mammals. They go through wonderful sensitive periods when they learn the unique qualities which make them human, such as the ability to speak the language of their parents; which they learn to do perfectly, beginning at the remarkably early age of about two. They learn so perfectly because there is a sensitivity to what they hear which is unique to them, and, for the rest of their lives, this is called their mother tongue.

Among the elementary materials, there is a chart showing water evaporating off the ocean like children climbing a high hill, and then, the children are blown over the land, sliding down again as water droplets, as if in an endless joyous game. Likewise, the rivers of earth are compared to the rivers of blood in our bodies, carrying nutrients everywhere and cleaning the planet. These images make one think of earth as a giant being, just as some scientists have come to the concept of Gaia.

Our modern world is poised between what can be observed by our five senses, that is, the realm of science, and that which we sense by intuition and our heart, the realm of mysticism. Maria Montessori and Annie Besant were both pioneers in the exploration of the areas where these two realms intersect. Their work combined the vision of exact measurement and comparison with the deep empathy of intuition. It is no wonder they became good friends. They left a legacy of awareness and understanding of the wholeness of life, which the world is sorely in need of today.

Winifred Wylie is a second generation Theosophist with a very rich history. She first visited the Olcott campus at the age of five where she met George Arundale and Rukmini Devi. She was also fortunate to hear L. W. Rogers speak on being a Theosophical lecturer. As a young woman, she was president of the Young Theosophists when Jim Perkins supervised the organizing of the youth circle at Olcott. After earning degrees in Classical Studies (she was interested in archeology) and Education, she received her Montessori Elementary Diploma in Bergamo, Italy and started the first Montessori school in the state of Michigan. Winnie is actively involved in the Ann Arbor Lodge in Michigan.

James L. Bull

Originally printed in the MARCH-APRIL 2007 issue of Quest magazine. 
Citation: Bull, James L. "Saving Nature: In Praise of Frugality." Quest  95.2 (MARCH-APRIL 2007): 74-76.

I have noticed that frugality is sometimes associated with scarcity. Since I grew up during the Great Depression, people have sometimes suggested that my frugality is scarcity-driven. The threat of not having enough, or scarcity anxiety may be a powerful force that makes frugality necessary. But according to Wendell Berry, frugality may be appropriately paired with abundance. This notion may strike us as odd, in today's commercial world—frugality and abundance? Properly considered, frugality is simply the sensible management of limited resources. It is through frugality that we can achieve sustainable abundance. All freedoms exist within boundaries, and sensible abundance takes into account the natural limits of resources.

Of course the commercial world wants no part of frugality. An important distinction here has to do with needs and wants. Frugality has to do with filling our legitimate needs; the commercial world would have us not only indulge our wants as well as needs, but expand our wants and buy even more. The purpose of advertising, after all, is largely to persuade us to want things we do not need. This constant and unlimited expansion of wants (and purchases) is the driving force of modern capitalism. There is no acceptance of limits in this way of thinking.

Because the earth itself offers limited resources, our prudent use of them is necessary. The use of land by small farmers, as compared with industrial agriculture, is an example. According to Wendell Berry, industrial agriculture regards small scale family farming with contempt and insults. Peasants who save a part of their crop as seed are similarly regarded as standing in the way of progress—and profits, since they do not need to purchase new seed every season. In the eyes of industrial agriculture, many who protect the earth are obstacles to "progress."

Another casualty of global commercial development has been small-scale craftsmanship. Satish Kumar has pointed out that local craftspeople produce objects that are beautiful, useful, and durable, reflecting local styles and history. Such products become more beautiful with age and are often repairable when damaged, although in the world of commerce such items are regarded as old-fashioned. They have been replaced by mass-produced products which are often disposable. So much, these days, is disposable. (When was the last time you darned your socks?) We have come to regard our own possessions with the same disdain with which we view the original resources.

Global capitalism is built on the twin assumptions that growth (to be pursued without limit or question) equals progress, and the planet we live on is available for our exploitation. Taken together, these assumptions form an arrogant and chauvinistic mind set that saturates commerce and the media. Those who object are thought to be old- fashioned, obstructionist, or simply out of step, yet what we need is for many others also to be out of step.

To realize how much the idea of progress has become an unconscious part of our thinking, consider the fact that all economic thinking is growth-oriented. When was the last time you heard anyone promoting steady-state economics? Regarding the exploitation of the planet, consider, for example, the common assumption that all petroleum reserves should be extracted for our use. While it is true that the ethics of consumerism are being questioned and that many individuals and groups are consciously working to change our direction, it would be naive not to recognize the power and momentum of the global juggernaut now gathering speed, especially when driven by the combined force of government and corporate power. Countless native cultures are being undermined. The sweatshops of the working poor have been exported to distant lands, far from our worried glances.

In contrast to the commercial ethic, consider the statement by Gandhi that we should "Live simply so that others may simply live" and the Native American idea that "The earth does not belong to us, we belong to the earth." The two opposing ethics, the global commercial ethic and that of frugality, locality, and voluntary simplicity create what may become the defining polarity of this new century. The survival of countless cultures and languages, in addition to whatever wilderness which has not been destroyed already, is at stake.

The current national policy of relentless use of limited resources puts us on a collision course with some very significant economic consequences. There are warning signs already evident which should alert us, should we choose to heed them. First, there is global warming; second, the end of oil. We can think of these as messengers who have come to tell us that we must change our way of living on this planet. (How fortunate that oil reserves are limited! How disastrous the outcome if they were not!) Both of these developments call to our attention the necessity of frugality. These warning signs may be blessings, as sometimes blessings come wrapped in very strange packages. And although it may take a while to recognize the blessing for what it is, we should bless—not shoot—the messenger.

Today commerce rules. However, if we are to live in harmony with this planet that hosts our existence, commerce, although necessary, must no longer rule. We have been graced to live on this exquisite and rich planet, but we have developed an economic system that treats this sacred ground with disdain, greed, and exclusivity. Fortunately, the earth has its limitations, and we may be about to receive a lesson.

Consider the consequences of continued and unlimited development (i.e., destruction). Are we to allow the exhaustion of all wilderness areas—except a few token islands? Are native animals in their own territories to be extinct—only to be found in zoos? (What if all humans were reduced to living in prisons?) Does a lion in captivity continue to be a lion? What about the soul of the lion?

Americans have a love affair with technology, and it is easy to think that new technologies will solve our problems. I realize that there are technologies out there that may assist us in being less wasteful such as wind generators, solar panels, and straw bale houses, but technology alone will not save us. Only a shift in consciousness, in attitude, will change our way of life. Otherwise, we will simply have found more sustainable methods to carry out the same addiction to consumption and our appetite for speed, greed, and growth will continue unchecked. We would resemble the alcoholic who runs out of money but finds other ways to go on drinking. And consumerism has become very addictive indeed.

After all, the problem was not technological in the first place. The issues of global warming and the end of oil themselves are not the problem; they are indicators of the problem. Corrective technologies, therefore, will fix the symptoms, but not the cause. Just as endangered species are a symptom of encroaching development and the destruction of habitat, so global warming is the canary in the mine. Let us not just change the bird.

Thomas Berry has described our chauvinism extremely well:

The deepest cause of the present devastation is found in a mode of consciousness that has established a radical discontinuity between the human and other modes of being and the bestowal of all rights on humans. The other-than-human modes of being are seen as having no rights. They have reality and value only through their use by the human. In this context the other-than-human becomes totally vulnerable to exploitation by the human, an attitude that is shared by all four of the fundamental establishments that control the human realm: governments, corporations, universities and religions.

It would appear that there are two kinds of questions to be raised here. One is the macro, or economic question: how can the economic system reverse itself to become a steady-state, sustainable system, allowing for population growth only until zero population growth is achieved. The second is the micro or individual question, which I believe is primary: how can each of us separate ourselves from the false values and the addictions of the marketplace?

With regard to the first question, I suggest it is very unlikely that the leaders of global capitalism will just change their minds and decide to stop growing and developing new international markets, stop advertising unneeded products and promoting false values. Only the collapse of global capitalism seems to have the possibility of triggering a basic reevaluation of values necessary to bring about systemic change.

The second question is important: how can we as individuals slow down and become attentive to the small, the local, the particular, and the here and now? How can we calm our inner urgency and become quieter and less needy? Only then can we generate a cultural shift which forces economic change and find a way to live collectively in harmony with the planet.

The solution may be found in the contemplation of Nature. It is fitting that the counter-balance to our frantic lives is found in the opposite conditions of silence, the blessing of natural sounds alone, and solitude. Here we encounter the source of all life and the opportunity to heal ourselves.

Alone with nature, I am closest to my soul. Indeed, solitude is necessary to the appreciation of nature. When we encounter nature on a soul level with open arms and a quiet spirit, we may, from the source of all healing, heal ourselves.

As I write this, I sit on a cottonwood log and watch the autumn seed pods spiral to earth. A wisp of smoke from my campfire drifts upward. Birds sing; a hawk screeches. It is, of course, necessary to stop writing in order to be attentive and really present to what surrounds me. There is, after all, only one primary blessing, to which all others are secondary and derivative. It is that I am blessed to be here, in this place, in the natural space of this planet.