Quest Magazine

C. Jinarajadasa

By Surendra Narayan

Originally printed in the NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2005 issue of Quest magazine. 
Citation: Narayan, Surendra. "C. Jinarajadasa." Quest  93.6 (NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2005):228-229.

C. Jinarajadasa (C. J.) was the fourth international president of the Theosophical Society from 1945 to 1953. He was born and raised in Sri Lanka until he came into contact with his brother from a past life (said by some to be Bishop C. W. Leadbeater), who took him away from Sri Lanka to guide and help him to grow spiritually and become a dedicated worker for the Theosophical Society. As many know, the TS was founded by Colonel H. S. Olcott and H. P. Blavatsky, but the inner founders were two Masters of the Wisdom, with one of whom, as C. Jinarajadasa mentions, he had bonds of love and gratitude that extended from past lives and whom he regarded as an incarnation of love and power.

Since my parents were members of the Theosophical Society, I invariably accompanied them as a child and later in my college years to the annual conventions of the Theosophical Society at Adyar and Varanasi. There I used to observe and respectfully admire C. J. as a charming leader of the Society. He once came to north India on a lecture tour and wanted a young theosophist who knew Hindi (the language of that area) to accompany him. My eldest brother volunteered and, to his great delight, was chosen by C. J. for that glorious job. Thereafter, when C. J. visited our hometown, he readily accepted my father's invitation to come to our home for lunch. I felt thrilled to be so near him, for he was to me an embodiment of grace and goodwill. He seemed to radiate uplifting currents of bliss and benediction.

C. J. was a messenger of love and beauty and carried that message all his life through his writings and lecture tours around the world. He was a rich linguist and, through his fluency in Spanish and Portuguese, greatly expanded theosophical work in South and Central America. It is deeply touching to see a beautiful Theosophical Retreat Center in the countryside of Brazil named after C. J. (or Raja, as he was affectionately called).

In an attractive little booklet that he wrote for children in 1908 titled Christ and Buddha, C. Jinarajadasa mentions that "Thirty five years ago, Little Flower, two Great ones, the Right Hand and the Left Hand of Lord Maitreya, founded this, our Society. Then did the Lord Buddha give that glorious promise, that so long as three should remain in the Society loyal to its work, His Blessings would rest upon it." He then touchingly adds, "If it should ever come to three only to remain loyal, may you and I be two of them, Little Flower."

C. J. loved all life in all forms. He was always eager to help where help was needed. In this same little booklet C. J. mentions noticing a cat on a cold winter morning in London, starving and evidently left to fend for herself by some family that had moved away. At that time he was living in a room shared with another person, but seeing her miserable situation, he took her in and "she became the third member of our little manage." How much care and love he poured on her can be perceived in his account

Sometimes we would stay in our own grounds and there play. She would rush up to me and stop some ten feet off, with flashing eyes and swishing tail, and I would rush to catch her and just before I got to her she would give me a slip and dodge to one side. She would scramble up a tree and when I went under it she would jump on my shoulders and run off again in great glee . . .When I was out late, which happened to be often, whatever time I came in, I would find her waiting sphinx like, on a corner of the table, facing the door; then she would stand up against me, purring so loud.

After living with him for ten years, the cat died as a result of an operation for a tumor, and C. J. adds: "When she died, I felt that I had performed a task given to me, well and truly . . . I felt and feel that if in all other ways this life should be written down a failure by the Lords of Karma, in one thing I have succeeded—I have loyally and lovingly served one little soul."

C. J.'s love for all life was reflected in other ways too—teaching, guiding, and inspiring other people, particularly the young, to grow into better human beings—beings who are not selfish and self centered but who try to understand their own deeper spiritual nature and live by it. One can discover this connection in his booklet I Promise. Written for young disciples, it asks them to make four promises every day: to show bright looks, to speak brave words, to think joyous thoughts, and to do knightly deeds. "You must be like a window through which the light of the sun shines," is how he refers to bright looks. And "brave words are kind, and they are beautiful, and they are true." Joyous thoughts have, according to C. J., three qualities: purity, peace, and power. Referring back to the days of King Arthur and his knights of the Round Table of sixth-century England, he describes knightly deeds as "deeds of protection, deeds which help people to abolish in themselves and in others laziness, cowardice, cruelty and ugliness." The booklet ends with the following inspiring "Song of the Sword and Shield":

I am the Sword, I defend the weak. In my Master's hand I shall not break, I am the Shield. To each in the strife Who behind me fights, I breathe new life. I am the Heart. I give asylum and understanding to all who come. I am the Soul. Mine the Sword and Shield. For men my brothers ever to wield.

In his approach to life, which C. J. said should be an expression of the pine spark within, love and beauty went together. Immensity of heart and perception of the pine principle that permeates all life reflect both love and beauty. And that beauty, he pointed out, was impressed upon even the physical forms of nature. In his book First Principles of Theosophy, one finds a chapter entitled "Nature's Message of Beauty" in which he mentions that "as the Logos builds, He builds in beauty, and all nature is His handiwork" and then adds "while the essential attribute of nature is beauty, yet that beauty has a framework of geometry. The old maxim of the Stoics 'God geometrizes' is full of truth as science delves into nature's mysteries."

Another source of inspiration is his book entitled The New Humanity of Intuition. Tracing evolution at the nonphysical level, C. J. begins with passion or emotion, proceeds to the mind which is still dualistic—you and me, or me and mine—and then to the next stage of consciousness, which begins to reflect itself in some as intuition. Intuition, he says, perceives unity and not divisiveness and proclaims the joy of loving and serving all without any distinction. The best definition of intuition, according to him, is the Christ principle. A human being with intuition "sees a unity of all that lives, a totality which is throbbing with life . . . always revealing new tenderness and new beauty." C. J. states that it is well known that women are more intuitive than men and lightheartedly refers to the age old wisdom in a Spanish proverb: "woman's advice is senseless as a rule; dare to reject it and be a great fool."

Yet C. J. gives a glimpse of a future in which all human beings would be more intuitive, in a later booklet entitled The War and After:

The demarcations which separate mankind into man and woman; into white or brown or yellow or black; into upper classes or lower classes; into Christians or Hindus or Buddhists, into Hebrews or Arabs . . . all these lines of pision are as the ridges which children build on the sands of the sea shore in their play; when the tide comes in, they vanish.

During one of C. J.'s lecture tours in America in 1953, he was taken ill. He passed over after a brief spell and was cremated near the campus of the Theosophical Society in America at Wheaton. The hallowed spot where his ashes are scattered can be found on the grounds of Wheaton.

In addition to being a linguist, an international lecturer, and a beacon for the TS and many young people, C. J. was also a poet. So I would like to end with one of his beautiful poems, which truly delineates his outlook on life:

Word that is true and voice that is kind, 

Thought that is just from a selfless mind; 

Help that is swift and hurt that is spared, 

Grief that is hid and joy that is shared. 

These be the flowers that I cull this day, 

Smiling at eve in thy hands to lay.

 

Surendra Narayan was the international vice-president of the Theosophical Society from 1980 to 1995. A popular theosophical lecturer throughout the world, Mr. Narayan is also author of various writings, including Life is for Living published by the Theosophical Publishing House, Adyar in 2001.

Memories of L. W. Rogers

Originally printed in the November - December 2004 issue of Quest magazine. 
Citation: Bonnell, Robert and Leatice. "Memories of L. W. Rogers." Quest  92.6 (NOVEMBER - DECEMBER 2004):224-226

As related to us by his granddaughter, Virginia Roach, of Fallbrook, California and his son, Grayson Rogers of Ojai, California.

By Robert Bonnell and Leatrice Kreeger-Bonnella

On December 5, 2003, we motored down to Fallbrook, California, to interview Virginia Roach, granddaughter of L. W. Rogers—one of the first and most influential American theosophists. He was president of the TSA from 1920 to 1927. Fallbrook is a small community some fifty miles north of San Diego, famous as the avocado capital of the state, if not the entire nation. After driving aimlessly along the many byways and back roads of rural Fallbrook looking for the Roach residence, we finally had to call the Roaches for help. Virginia and her husband, Davis, a retired attorney, graciously drove out to rescue us, and we proceeded to their stately home, which they share with four dogs, one cat, and a panoramic view of the Temecula Valley. The home also includes a delightful swimming pool, which Virginia uses regularly despite her advancing years.

She began by informing us that her memories of her grandfather were not only sketchy but few. The time she spent with him was limited largely due to his ongoing speaking engagements the world over, which resulted in long absences from the family scene. Her recollections of her grandfather were as follows.

L. W. Rogers became a leader in the railway labor disputes of the early part of the twentieth century, favoring the worker's cause against railroad management. In this struggle, he became closely aligned with Eugene Debs, the famous Socialist and labor enthusiast. In fact, their efforts on behalf of the infamous labor strike to establish unions at that time landed them in jail for six months. The imprisoned group also included the soon-to-be, well known unionist John Murray, who was Debs's maternal grandfather. This arduous trial failed to discourage L. W. in any way, because of his dedication to the basic rights of human beings. He carried this deeply held humanistic belief into his subsequent theosophical work.

As the story unfolded, Debs gave L. W. a book on esoteric lore, to which he apparently had an intuitive response that culminated in his joining the Theosophical Society in 1903. This incident was followed by a lifelong commitment to the promulgation of theosophy, by the spoken and written word, throughout the world.

Virginia Roach vividly recalled L. W.'s relationship with Manly Hall, a world-renowned philosopher and esoteric. She pointed out that they were the closest of friends and spent many evenings exchanging views of lecturing locations pointed out on a world map spread before them. She also recalled the many Hall lectures, which L. W. enthusiastically attended. It was Manly Hall who officiated at her marriage to Davis in Los Angeles.

She remembers L. W. actively participating in the building of his house in the Echo Park area of Los Angeles, and then later moving to Ojai. How he was supported through a life of travel and family responsibility is somewhat unclear, but she recalls a generous benefactor (a great man, she remarks) who always looked after him. However, she could not recall his name.

Others with memories of L.W. Rogers include Manly Hall, who said, "L. W. gave the greatest of all contributions by freeing thousands of people from the bondage of illusion." Sidney Perkins said, "He was the personage who had most to do with it (theosophy) . . . truly, the great old man of American theosophy." And Annie Besant, said "L. W. Rogers interested more people in theosophy than any other person in the entire world."

Virginia recalls other incidents in her life that, although not directly connected to L.W., would be of interest to theosophists, such as placing a garland around the neck of Annie Besant and Krishnamurti when they arrived at the train station in Los Angeles. She was nine years old at the time.

She lived at Old Krotona in her early life and can recall another residence in Hollywood where Charlie Chaplin was her next-door neighbor.

On April 13, 2004, we drove to Ojai to deliver a lecture and visit with Grayson Rogers, son of L. W. His home, amid the fruit groves of rural Ojai, also required considerable searching before we located it. Here again, we were disappointed by his limited recall of a father who traveled all over the world and was seldom at home.

Grayson's early life was as colorful as his father's. He worked as an actor and an assistant director in western movies and on the vaudeville circuit, in the course of which he lost a hand.

He remembers that in 1918 his father took the family to Australia. They stayed at the Leadbeater Quarters while L. W. was engaged in lecture tours throughout the country. In 1925, the fiftieth anniversary of the Society, L. W. took him to India, where they stayed for two years. He recalls attending one of his father's lectures without a chair. A tap came on his shoulder and it was Annie Besant offering him a seat. He recalls his father as a dynamic speaker whose whole life was theosophy. L. W. recognized it as his true calling, despite his early involvement with political and social causes.

L. W. Rogers spent his later life in Ojai, nearby to his son Grayson's home. Grayson recalls going to his father's house one day and finding him on the floor unable to assist himself. He placed his father in a nursing home in Santa Barbara, where he remained until his death at age ninety-four.

In closing, Grayson said that his father was a very serious sort of personality, probably because he had had a difficult life, especially during the Depression era. He added that he never talked theosophy to his family, as he felt that they were born into it and needed no further instructions. Grayson's brother, Percy, observed that L. W. was a master of the practical application of universal brotherhood which must extend beyond what is between the covers of books. His humanism was shown by his passionate love of justice and his desire to change the world, thought by peaceful rather than violent means.

In recognition of the greatness of L. W. Rogers and as an addendum to the observations of Virginia Roach and Grayson Rogers, we point to some of the many progressive actions of the Theosophical Society in America that he initiated:

  • Moving Krotona from Hollywood to Ojai
  • Increasing membership from 3,000 to over 8,000 members
  • Increasing the number of lodges from 100 to 209
  • Establishing the American Section on a firm national basis
  • Being instrumental in founding the Theosophical Society headquarters at Wheaton, Illinois
  • Arranging the mass distribution of theosophical books
  • Founding the Book Gift Institute
  • Revising the national by-laws to a more democratic platform
  • Founding the Messenger newsletter

With such inspiring achievements, it is clearly appropriate that the main building at the headquarters of the Theosophical Society in America, in Wheaton, Illinois, should be named the L. W. Rogers Building in his honor.

Finally, we observed that the two members of the L. W. Rogers family with whom we spoke were individuals with vital and optimistic attitudes and strength of character, who are true representatives of the legacy of the theosophical perspective as embodied by their patriarch, L. W. Rogers.

What is Our Priority?

Originally printed in the November - December 2004 issue of Quest magazine. 
Citation: Burnier, Radha. "What is Our Priority?." Quest  92.6 (NOVEMBER - DECEMBER 2004):228-229

By Radha Burnier

Theosophical Society - Radha Burnier was the president of the international Theosophical Society from 1980 till her death in 2013. The daughter of N. Sri Ram, who was president of the international Theosophical Society from 1953 to 1973, she was an associate of the great spiritual teacher J. KrishnamurtiHis Holiness the Dalai Lama has clearly stated that it is essential for everyone to learn to live the right kind of life rather than attempt to reach nirvana. Without learning to have relationships of compassion, integrity, unselfishness, friendliness, and care for others, mentally projected "spiritual" aims lead nowhere. The Dalai Lama points out:

There are many different philosophies, but what is of basic importance is compassion, love for others, concern for others' suffering, and reduction of selfishness. I feel that compassionate thought is the most precious thing there is. It is something that only we human beings can develop. And if we have a good heart, a warm heart, warm feelings, we will be happy and satisfied ourselves, and our friends will experience a friendly and peaceful atmosphere as well. This can be experienced nation to nation, country to country, continent to continent . . .

The important thing is that in your daily life you practice the essential things, and on that level there is hardly any difference between Buddhism, Christianity, or any other religion. All religions emphasize betterment, improving human beings, a sense of brotherhood and sisterhood, love—these things are common. Thus, if you consider the essence of religion, there is not much difference.

I myself feel and also tell other Buddhists that the question of nirvana will come later. There is not much hurry. But, if in day-to-day life you lead a good life, honestly, with love, with compassion, with less selfishness, then automatically it will lead to nirvana.

The world will change only when virtue is a recognized part of people's lives, but people in general refuse to see this. They are concentrated on their own personal and selfish objectives, or they seek solace from their problems through spiritual achievement, whether it is named moksha, nirvana, or salvation. Few are ready to believe that how we live and behave is important, and that if the right kind of life is lived, in due time, true understanding will dawn about proceeding on the spiritual Path; moksha or nirvana will come nearer by itself.

We must see that the mind which is used to enjoying material benefits in this world continues to think only in terms of benefits that it can obtain in a spiritual world—benefits such as a sense of security, peace of mind, and true happiness. These are not valued because they are good in themselves, but as means to personal satisfaction. There are also skeptics who do not believe that a righteous life will bring peace or joy. They want proof that this will happen, and only if it is available they may make an effort to be righteous; nothing of the sort can of course be proved. To such people, the fruits of selfish action are obvious and near at hand, whilst those of unselfishness are rarely visible.

Krishnamurti declared categorically that without righteousness there can be no meditation. In order to erect a fine structure, a proper foundation must be laid. The foundation by itself will not be sufficient to make the temple, but without it the temple cannot be built. Therefore, righteousness has been stressed in many traditions as the true basis for living. Although it is not easy to know what is right in the complex situations of daily living, we need not despair. If we are deeply grounded in the aspiration to live rightly and determined to discover the nature of virtue, we may make mistakes, but we will progressively develop understanding. An absolutely sincere desire to find the right way to be related to everything in the world is like a touch of magic that takes one towards wisdom.

In the early years of the Theosophical Society, the Mahatmas who guided its formation emphasized that what they wanted was to see people practicing universal brotherhood, without prejudices and mental barriers of any kind. Universality of spirit which seeks nothing other than the good—physical, moral, and spiritual—of all beings has the power to solve many knotty situations in life. This demands that we should examine unequivocally all our motivations and attitudes.

Annie Besant mentions in an autobiographical passage that she made a great blunder in publishing and selling the Knowlton Pamphlet on birth control. "It was about as wrong headed a thing as anybody could have done, looked at from the standpoint of the world." It meant social disgrace and ruin for a woman. But her motive was an ardent desire to lessen the great sufferings of the poor which she had studied at close quarters. Madame Blavatsky told her that this compassion, which made her throw aside all other considerations, had brought her to the Portal of Initiation.

According to Greek philosophers, our higher nature, the immortal soul nature, expresses itself as virtue. Virtue cannot be equated with an idea. If an act of kindness is only an idea in the mind, it does not amount to virtue. But if kindness wells up from within and is spontaneous and wholehearted, it results in right action, being a manifestation of our deeper, spiritual nature. Therefore it has been said "Love—and do what you will." The compassion that the Dalai Lama speaks about may be thought of as the light of the soul which finds its way through the veils of matter and drives away the dark clouds of self interest, at least for the time being. Then the brain mind, which has been conditioned through many incarnations to promote its own interest, yields place to the omnipresent Self deep within, which is never separate from anything else in the cosmos.

C. W. Leadbeater, while speaking to the European Congress in 1930, also pointed out that although the members of the TS agree upon the values of its declared Objects, it is possible for them to argue about their interpretation and practice.

No one is likely to dispute that the idea of trying in every way to promote the Brotherhood of Humanity is a good thing, and that to form a nucleus of that Brotherhood is a step towards greatly increasing its influence. But how the thing is best to be done is of course a question on which there may be quite legitimately many opinions, and there is not the faintest objection to there being many opinions. It is that which keeps the Society alive and which we hope may prevent crystallization . . .

But being good has very little to do with the form of our belief. It has to do a good deal with putting it fully into practice . . . Let brotherly love guide you. You may differ as much as you like in opinions, but you must not let it lead to any sort of ill feeling or any sort of conceit in your superior discernment in being able to see what to you is the right path . . . Let us stand together in Brotherhood and carry on our work, whatever work that may be. There is plenty of time later on to argue what this means and what that means.

Everything that pides is contrary to the law of compassion and universal brotherhood. Left to their own understanding, people will come to the truth about everything in due time; nobody can be truly converted or changed by force. Only the light within each person can illumine the path.

Thus, compassion cannot be reserved for those we think are good people. It must be universal, not a matter of choice. When priority is given to universal brotherhood and understanding others, we may witness real progress on this earth. Towards this end, we study, listen to discourses and meditate. Otherwise, what is the purpose of such activities?

Radha Burnier is President of the international Theosophical Society, the international head of the Theosophical Order of Service, and author of several books, including, Human Regeneration. This article is adapted from The Theosophist 124 (July 2003):363

Seven Ways to Nourish the Soul

Originally printed in the November - December 2004 issue of Quest magazine. 
Citation:Champion, Beverley. "Seven Ways to Nourish the Soul." Quest  92.6 (NOVEMBER - DECEMBER 2004):204-207

By Beverley Champion

Theosophical Society - Beverley ChampionWhat is the soul? We all feel we have one, but because we cannot see it, the concept seems a bit vague. We can still explore ways to learn more about the soul's needs and how to provide for those needs in our everyday lives. At the soul level we are fully alive, we aspire to understand our divine potential, and the experiences of our lives are sifted. But in this twenty-first century are we so bogged down with "achieving" that we are missing all the magic around us? Are we actually enjoying this incarnation?

Taking time on the human journey to discover our divine potential can be life's most exciting and fulfilling experience. Taking time to discover who we are and to consciously seek and experience our true essence can be one of the most incredible journeys we ever take, because our life and the way we live it is our contribution to the universe.

In exploring ways to nourish the soul, we can discover the vast difference between the experience of joy and what we call pleasure. Joy arrives unbidden, bubbling up from the center of our being, and is a moment of grace. Pleasure, although there is nothing wrong with it, has to be pursued again and again in order to be experienced. Pleasure stems from desire and carries with it the potential to disappoint when the desire is not met.

What we call happiness can be illusory and also elusive. We say that happiness is our birthright. In the language of the human personality, happiness is usually the word we use to express the fulfillment of our desire to have our circumstances just as we want them to be. Yet our personal desires cause separation from the whole—they separate us from our oneness with the whole of life—and we become "unhappy" when our personal desires are not met. At the soul level, the word happiness is probably best replaced by deep contentment, meaning contentment with what is.

In an article entitled "Our Character: Ownership in Full," author Vonda Urban writes:

All sentient life is a scintillating burst of color that dances throughout the Cosmic Spheres while singing a Song Celestial. Each individual center of consciousness is a prismatic sparkling somewhere within the vast spectrum of infinitude; each one a luminous "Pillar of Light" streaming outward from the innermost center of its own Spiritual heart in that resplendent brilliance becomes increasingly stained with color, as it shines downward through heavier and thicker veils of matter. Thus, all unfoldment evolves through a fantasy of color and sound, the inner light of selfhood expanding forever through endless cycles of work and rest, day and night, life and death, manavantara and pralaya.

Somewhere along the way, we learn at last that living is an art, and each of us an artist eternally mixing, matching, and changing the tones and colorings of the fire and music in our soul, fashioning it into character.

During our lifetimes, we can choose to become the skilled craftsman, inspired to use our palette of skandas in creating a masterpiece of radiant light; or we may carelessly mar our work, blotching it with harsh and muddied pigments. (p. 21)


This is a beautifully descriptive picture of the soul on its human journey. How do we nourish this marvelous and important vehicle?

Music

Music is one way to nourish the soul. Music has been described as "love drawn from a higher plane and distilled for human ears." It is vital to make time in our busy lives to listen to the kind of music to which our own souls respond. It is different for every one of us and changes from day to day. But when we feel we need some particular sort of music, it is the soul asking us to play it, because it is nourishment for the soul.

Creativity

Creative expression of any sort is another way to nourish the soul. Drawing, writing, painting, indeed crafting in any way can become a meditation. It allows our intuition to influence and guide the physical hand. Those who do create, whether by painting, drawing, or playing music, are familiar with a "switching over" as they change over from clock time to soul time. There shift in consciousness.

Listening to Others

Surprisingly, another way to nourish the soul is through listening. Truly listening to what another person is saying to us is said to be a "soul exercise." It is not easy to simply listen without wanting to interrupt. We are conditioned to wait for the other person's mouth to stop moving so that we can hop in and say what we need to say. We are expected to give some sort of intelligent response and therefore have this urge to speak. True listening is one of the greatest gifts we can give to another human being.

Appreciating Nature

Still another way of nourishing the soul is by communing with nature, taking the time to appreciate and also acknowledge the beauty all around us. It is not just about stopping to look at a wonderful view, but opening ourselves to absorb that view, to become one with the view. It is to examine with complete attention the tiniest plant, the arc of the moon, or the play of light on a pool of water. Consciously setting aside time to commune with nature is to take delight in discovering the first green leaf as a tree wakes up after its winter sleep. To commune with nature to such a degree is nourishment for the soul.

Sense of Humor

Cultivating a sense of humor is a good soul exercise. When we laugh, all the tension we feel dissipates. There is a bodily change. I use the following example to illustrate how to maintain humor in the most frustrating circumstances. As annoying as it is to get voice mail every time we call someone, we have learned to live with it. Have you ever wondered what it would be like if God decided to install voice mail? Imagine praying and hearing, "Thank you for calling heaven. For English, press one. For Spanish, press two. For all other languages, press three." After making your language selection, imagine hearing, "For requests, press one. For thanksgiving, press two. For complaints, press three. For all others, press four. I am sorry, all of our angels and saints are busy helping other sinners. However, your prayer is important to us and we will answer it in the order in which it was received. Please stay on the line."

It is important to laugh at something every day, especially in today's troubled world when it is very easy to forget to laugh. If we cannot find anything amusing to laugh at, we can always laugh at ourselves: Is it our circumstances that produce our pomposities or vice-versa?

Meditation and Prayer

Meditation and prayer are of course two of the most accepted ways of going within to nourish the soul. In his essay "Cleaning Out the Clutter" that appears in Handbook for the Soul, Sydney Banks, says our soul thrives on three things: quiet, gratitude, and inner peace. When the channel to our soul is open—uncluttered by the negativity and the rush with which we surround ourselves—then we understand that such a "soul state" involves no effort on our part; we have nothing to do. We are human "being" instead of human "doing."

To say we do not have to do anything sounds paradoxical, but when the soul is open and the mind is quiet, we live in a harmonious reality, simply going about our everyday business of living, but with our actions stemming from compassion, love, and wisdom. We do not react to circumstances. This is not an easy task, but it is a place of true freedom.

Gratitude

Gratitude is what we call counting our blessings. In other words, we are learning to cultivate our awareness of the present, the now. It sounds simple, but it's not so easy to put into practice all day, every day. We can start, however, at this present moment, as it is the only moment we can be sure of. If we can learn to live in the present, undistracted by what is past or what is yet to come, we can make this moment special and beautiful and be thankful for it. If we can do this every moment of every day, at the end of the day we can add up all those special moments and gauge how much nourishment our soul has received that day.

The following lovely passage is from H. K. Challoner's book The Path of Healing:

We each have a unique part to play, and we should try to discover what our contribution is meant to be. We should try to discover what specific color we should be painting into the shining multi-colored picture represented by all humanity. We should try to discover what type of thread we are being called upon to weave into the tapestry of humanity. We should try to discover what note we should be sounding and finding our own place in the movement of the dancers upon the floor of life.

What note are we sounding? Our speech and actions are the poetry of our soul. If the human soul is on a pilgrimage and its journey is from the limited perspective of the personal to the universal, doesn't this mean that our task is to become more conscious of life, the one life operating in all, whatever the form? By living a life that is caring, we take responsibility for our own thoughts words, we are assisting in the evolution of all life. When we take responsibility for our thoughts, words, and actions, we perform a healing and nurturing act. By giving and receiving love, we are nourishing our souls and serving all life.

References

Banks, Sydney. "Cleaning Out the Clutter." In Handbook for the Soul. Edited by Richard Carlson. Boston: Little, Brown, 1995.

Challoner, H. K. The Path of Healing. London: Theosophical Publishing House, Printers Chaucer Press, 1972.

Urban, Vonda. "Our Character: Ownership in Full." Eclectic Theosophist, Special Issue, Winter 1995: 21.

  1. In the Work
  2. Transformative Qualities of Theosophy
  3. Theosophy: Changeless Yet Always Changing
  4. Discord is the Harmony of the Universe

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