Theosophical Notes No. 6 Winter 2018-19
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Volume 2, Issue 2 (6) 17th February 2019 Winter 2018-19 Newsletter 17th February 2019 1 Theosophical Notes No. 6, Winter 2018-19 A home for commentaries & research on the Theosophical Movement There is one thing that should be remembered in the midst of all difficulties, and it is this—“When the lesson is learned, the necessity ceases.” Robert Crosbie, pupil of William Q Judge, ex-President of the Boston Theosophical Society, founder of the United Lodge of Theosophists Please circulate to friends and colleagues who may be interested Quarterly Newsletter from the ULT in London, UK and New York, USA. Winter 2018-19 Newsletter 17th February 2019 2 Editor’s note The aim of these Notes is to give the timeless Perennial Wisdom just as it was when released from its centuries of obscuration, and to show it can help in all departments of life, viz. science, philosophy & religion, or rather psychology. In times of change and difficulty it is natural to seek principles in which we can have confidence; so what can reliably guide us to live wisely and intelligently? Is it to feel a duty to our suffering neighbour? To free ourselves of hypocrisy and injustice? Relieving others of it by example? Reasonable and tolerant debates? A free judiciary and press? Are these not the deep-running strands of social fabric that hold society together on which we ultimately depend? But the inner Path shows these many civil ‘goods’ are consequences of just a few virtues, the paramitas of “The Voice of the Silence.” With them comes the willingness to bravely enter new spaces and deeper ideals, to actively fight for and cultivate balance, patience, and charity and begin a mental renewal. Page 17 looks at such principles, ones which Robert Crosbie applied in formulating an approach to Theosophy that has wide appeal and is faithful to the esoteric tradition. The ULT exists today due to his clarity of thought and love of TRUTH, the higher reaches of which are a universal panacea which soon diminish—if not immediately bridge—life’s chasms and hurdles. HPB’s dialogue with Abbe Roca shows how she built such bridges, and in Le Lotus she published all reasonable articles whether coming from “deists or materialists” if they were well thought-out and sincere. It is a great unity based on TRUTH, one forgetful of too personal feelings. (p. 15 Notes Summer 2018) She said editors and readers ignoring this rule barred themselves from all ideas of truth and justice! “Monitus es”—we are warned so we listen. Good reading! The Editors [email protected] Winter 2018-19 Newsletter 17th February 2019 3 Contents Editor’s note ..................................................................................... 2 Contents ........................................................................................... 3 The Newsletter ................................................................................. 3 Karma and “Acts of Omission and Commission” ............................... 4 “Spiritual But Not Religious” ............................................................. 9 Theosophical Prophecies: Ancient Flying Machines ......................... 10 Consciousness without Mind on the Plane of the Ah-hi ..................... 12 Book Review: The Divine Plan by Geoffrey Barborka ...................... 13 A Love for Clarity of Thought and Unity of Being ............................ 17 A Thousand Years Ago by Charles Leland ....................................... 18 Climate Change and an old Prediction about Trees ........................... 19 Feeling a Direction for the First Time ............................................... 20 Why Original Theosophy Matters to Researchers .......................... 21 Correspondence on Prophecies (Autumn 2018 p 10) ............................ 23 Medical Research on the Dangers of Mediumship ............................... 26 The Voice of the Silence and Other Books in Arabic ............................ 27 "Theosophy is for those who can think, or for those who can drive themselves to think, not mental sluggards!" H. P. Blavatsky The Newsletter A free magazine for those who have an interest in Theosophy and wish to understand its beneficent and educational place in the contemporary world. All material can be used freely under the ‘BY’ Creative Commons licence, which asks you to credit the source, link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. The Theosophy Company is not responsible for the individual opinions expressed in the Newsletter. Back numbers are available on www.theosophy- ult.org.uk/news For a free subscription by post, email the Editors [email protected] CC BY 4.0 ~ Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence Winter 2018-19 Newsletter 17th February 2019 4 Karma and “Acts of Omission and Commission” KARMA is the law of action and reaction; cause and effect. The law of Karma adjusts every effect to its cause and restores the disturbed equilibrium in the physical world and broken harmony in the moral world. For each of our actions, at the level of thought, word and deed, we receive the consequences. All our actions, good or bad, are acts of commission. We are fairly familiar with this aspect of Karma. But there are also acts of omission. To “omit” means to “leave out,” or to “leave undone.” An act of omission is an action that is left undone, something which one ought to do. It may be one’s duty. Many a times we do not know the importance of performing tasks with care, which to us appear to be insignificant. Every little part in the machine is important for its smooth functioning, so also with human life. An incident in history shows that when a battle was lost, an inquiry was set up to find out the cause. The inquiry revealed that the battle was lost because the soldiers were discouraged, as the horse slipped, killing the General of the Army.1 And that because the horseshoe came off and that in turn was because the blacksmith had omitted to put in a nail. So, the saying goes that “the battle was lost for the want of a horseshoe nail.” A small act of omission brought disastrous result. No duty is insignificant, and at times we are unable to see instantly the effect of our efforts. Hence a Master of Wisdom writes “Ah! if your eyes were opened, you might see such a vista of potential blessings to yourselves and mankind lying in the germ of the present hour’s effort, as would fire with joy and zeal your souls!” So, let us watch for the small things in life. Let us not leave undone what should be done, nor do what should not be done; and more than anything, let us not do what is not necessary, for by doing the unnecessary we set in motion a new action which will not be harmonious. How often do we emphasize impersonality and forget H. P. Blavatsky’s injunction “to rather sin through exaggerated praise than through too little appreciation of one’s neighbour’s efforts.” (The Key to Theosophy, p. 250) 1 Over the centuries several variations of the “For Want of a Nail” tale have arisen due to its ever-popular and living truths. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/For_Want_of_a_Nail Winter 2018-19 Newsletter 17th February 2019 5 Many a budding writer or speaker has been put off from making further effort by the stony silence of others after his efforts, whereas genuine sympathy and encouragement might have been the very things he needed. Omitting to resist evil, could well prove to be an act of omission. A few years back a group of militants entered a school in a certain country and mercilessly gunned down about 150 students and teachers. In an article that appeared in The Speaking Tree, Sunday Times of India, an Islamic teacher, pointed out that according to a verse in the Quran, the killing of an innocent human being is like killing the entire human kind. He observed that militancy has been going on in that country for many years, but people of that country remained indifferent to it because they thought that the militants were targeting others. But in such matters one cannot remain indifferent. According to a Hadith2 when God commanded his angels to demolish a town in which people were engaged in evil acts, the angels reported that there was a person in the town who worshipped God daily, and God’s command was to demolish the town along with that person, “as he did not try to stop his people from doing evil deeds.” Indifference means indirect involvement, which in God’s eyes is as bad as direct involvement. “Inaction in a deed of mercy becomes an action in a deadly sin,” teaches the Voice of the Silence. We are held responsible for our acts, both of commission and omission. When we omit doing a merciful action, it becomes a “sin” of omission. We are told here a very profound truth regarding what constitutes unwholesome karma. Under the law of Karma, a morally wrong action is regarded as a sin that will bring bad results. But we incur sin also when we abstain from performing a morally right action. An act of omission in moral matters or when it comes to helping another is as punishable as an act of commission. But can we say that whenever we commit a deed of omission, we commit an act of sin? It is not true that an act of omission always becomes a sinful act. Even while helping another we are advised to exercise discrimination, and use wisdom. H.P.B. says that it takes a very wise man to do good without causing incalculable harm. A wise man knows whom to remove and whom to keep in the mire and pain, which is the best teacher for 2 Ḥadīth (Traditions) are taken as the records of the prophet Muhammad; as a source of religious law and moral guidance it ranks second only to Qur'an, the word of Allah. Hadith, Wikipedia Winter 2018-19 Newsletter 17th February 2019 6 that particular person.