Theos-Talk Archives (August 1997 Message tl00670)

Dear Dallas:

Thanks again for your detailed response and appreciate it.

While Theosophy expounded by HPB, Judge, Olcott and others presents, in my
humble opinion the most comprehensive explanation of how man and the
universe and everything else is related - whence we all came from and where
we are all going. While much study and work goes on relating to the
philosophical aspects, without belittleing the importance of this aspect of
Theosophy, it is my concern that the practical side needs to be paid a lot
more attention than has been done in the recent decades.

If we go back to the early days of modern Theosophy, the Founders have
repeatedly tried to impress on everyone that Their objective is to form a
real brotherhood/sisterhood of human beings so that the Theosophical
doctrines will eventually make a change of heart of the human beings and
thus ameliorate the conditions of the "Orphan Humanity".

We see a lot of efforts being put by modern day exponents/workers trying to
impress on the public by their formal academic achievements/scholarships by
showing off their Ph.Ds or M.D.s by hoping some how or the other that people
will pay attention to what they are trying to say because they have the
impressive formal academic degrees. While all of us are glad that these fine
men and women who have achieved academic distinction in their fields -
whether they be in biology, geography, arts, sciences - and they are trying
to make the public pay attention to the gems of Theosophical
ideas/doctrines, more practical work needs to be done.

If we just review the early days of TS, we see HPB founding the first
Sanskrit School in Madras and with Olcott founding the first School for
Untouchables and many other activities which touch the daily lives of
people. I have not seen much of activities in the recent days where
Theosophical Organizations trying to  "do" something to really help people.
Such direct activities make a real change in everyone touched by them. I
have been trying in my own little way what I can do in getting involved in
local activities which touch the needy and down trodden people.

Any amount of high sounding lectures, discussions, Internet e-mail
discussions etc are of not much use unless we are able to connect them with
practical activities. TS organizations are generally too busy in lecturing
and publishing activities that they don't seem to see that unless all our
efforts produce physical level effects, all will end up as entities doing
the mechanical job of printing and publishing.

There may be other views which may be contrary to what I have stated.

Let us all discuss.

M K Ramadoss

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At 05:43 AM 8/30/97 +0530, Dallas TenBroeck wrote:
>Aug 30th 1997
>
>Dallas TenBroeck wrote
>
>Dear Ramadoss:
>
>	Thanks for yours of the Aug 30th.  What you say is noted.  
>
>	Theosophy is simply a logical applications of common-sense (much as the
>logic implied in computers -- as to the following of an exact program to
>get a desired result).
>
>	It may sound difficult at first approach, because it tries to show people
>who come to it from various backgrounds the reasonableness, the
>common-sense that is inherent in it.
>
>	So from one point of view you could say that theosophy is the way everyone
>lives their lives as compared to an ideal pattern (just as the entries one
>might make under " .doc " are individual files, while in the background the
>innumerable files of the OPERATIONAL SYSTEM adjust to the input and make
>sure that no rules are violated.
>
>I	f you wish to study technical Theosophy, so as to draw others' attention
>to the underlying patterns and rules of living (as ideal), then you have to
>learn the philosophical, metaphysical, and historical approaches.  That is
>only to the extent that it gives us access to others' education and
>cultures, so that we can show how our minds and theirs coincide in so many
>ways, although they may seem to be different.  And the vocabularies needed
>to make statements in those systems are complex and vast, also they can be
>very precise, (as the technical langage between computer experts is very
>exact.)  Any of the Sciences, or philosophies develops among its "experts"
>a vocabulary which has great precision, but which also may isolate that
>discipline from the easy understanding of others -- who have to learn
>something of that to proceed.
>
>	Also, many people mistake Theosophy for "a religion."  It is not that at
>all,. Any more than the rules pertaining to MS-WORD or MS-DOS, or MAC, or
>WINDOWS 95 are a "religion."  They simply exsist as an underlying pattern
>which hold the whole structure of a computer together, and to the extent
>hat it is possible for the operator of any computer to reach out to others
>(as in Internet) so the disiplines of any one computer can be made
>understood (even if it is between MS-DOS and a MAC) by the appropriate
>program which draws on both and unites them. 
>
>	If, for instance, we had to talk to a computer user who only knew French,
>or Russian, or Chinese, we would have to find a translator (or a program)
>that would put what we deisred to say to his computer, IN HIS LANGUAGE. 
>The ideas may be the same that we exchange, but the idiom, or means of
>recording/reading happens to be different.  Even so, such translation
>programs have to be very sophisticated, as human languages also carry
>idiomatic inflections, and casual metaphors which defy mechanical
>translation and require the oversightof a human who knows both languages as
>they are currently spoken -- and so on.  But I am sure you know this well.
>
>	One could say briefly that Theosophy exposes to us the imperishable source
>from which all Life comes.  It indicates that the intelligence resident at
>the core of our being is of that same imperishable essence.  It therefore
>states briefly that man in Mind/Soul and SPIRIT is an immoral.  [ The
>mind/soul in Sanskrit is termed MANAS, and the SPIRIT is ATMA-BUDDHI to use
>technical terms. ]
>
>	It then indicates that all beings in manifestation are of that sme ONE
>SOURCE/CAUSE.  But that each is like a pupil in a vast School of Life, and
>lives, works, and learns at the stage and in the condition appropriate to
>its advance and experience.  Not all the pupils are at the same stage --
>just as we find in our educational institutions.
>
>	Since Life is one, and emanates from the ONE SOURCE, the laws of evolution
>are unbendable, rigid, and the include the whole structure of living, and
>of individual progress to an impersonal and fair basis.  Each gets what
>they work for and deserve.  There are no favourites, and--No one can by
>prayer or hope or special promises CAUSE THAT ONE LAW TO DEVIATE from its
>fixed condition -- (or else there would be, as in a computer a "crash" and
>the "hard disc" would fail.  From such a failure using the laws of computer
>science, some of the records and programs there might be recovered, but if
>there has been the introduction of a "disease," such as a "virus" the whole
>system for that particular computer becomes "corrupted" and it goes awry as
>compared to the IDEAL PROGRAM)  And perhaps nothing can be recovered except
>from an uncorrupted "backup" system which has been kept carefully up to
>date.  It is said that our whole Universe and every being in it forms a
>part of a stupendous "backup system" using a component of "invisible
>nature" called in Sanskrit AKASA, and by modern New Age spiritualists "the
>astral light."
>
>	This comparison may not appeal to many who read this, because if we are
>honest, and sincere, and look into our own minds, and motives we find that
>we have already deviated from the ideal, but, we still retain the power to
>go back to the contemplation of the IDEAL and, also, to exert our "will" to
>discipline ourselves and return to the true program of right living.  It is
>amazing how the parallels between Theosophy and the operation of a computer
>and computers (as on Internet) exist.
>
>	Theosophy observes that all beings are intelligent and that the stage we
>call "human" is one where the mind can discuss matters and ideas, with
>itself.  The power of self-reflection is somewhat similar to the hope that
>some computer developers have of securing from the highly complex computer
>some glimmer of independent and creative SElf-hood, of independent thought.
> But that is another story.
>
>	In human beings the studies and efforts of a whole life can be summed up
>at the death of the body into two groups:  1.  the "good" done during life,
>and 2  the "bad" or evil done.  Nature, being both intelligent and lawful,
>gathers the memory of both of these into respective but interrelated
>groups, appropriate to each human, and stores them, [in the Akasa or Astral
>Light]  so that they can be retrieved when the human Soul/Mind
>REINCARNATES.  At each such return of the Intelligence into a new baby body
>the educational process resumes and together with that return of the
>Mind/Soul is the "cache" of "good," and "bad/evil" habits, character,
>mental and moral capacity, power of thinking, etc... which taken as a
>whole, make for the Person (you and me and everyone else) as we now are. 
>It is as if each "computer"--if it had such an individuality, and could
>reincarnate into a fresh machine with increased capabilities, brought with
>it the "memory" of all the files it had generated in the past, and was
>accordingly, even in such a new and enhanced environment, influenced
>heavily by those past memories.  But, is thi s not the exact process that
>we follow when we secure a computer with enhanced capacities as compared to
>the old one what we were useing ?
>
>	I am thus, trying to show that the main ideas of Theosophy parallel the
>computer age we now live in, remarkably closely.  We have a single source
>for all Life, we have individual independence and trainability, by the
>exertion of free will when the man-stage is reached, we all pilot and
>define our own increasing education, we have as an impartial and
>undeviating background the impersonal and undeviating laws of evolution,
>and we have the progressive reimbodiment of actual experience and learning
>that is our own, in new equipment, largely made up from parts and memories
>that are "recycled" from our own past.  This is called the operation of
>Karma (the Law) and of Reincarnation (the proces of individualprogress). 
>Outof this whole one senses that Human Solidarity and one-ness is a
>reflection of the UNIVERSAL ONE LIFE WORKING AS IT DOES CONSTANTLY TO
>EQUALLY EDUCATE AND RAISE ALL ITS MANY COMPONENT TO THE LEVEL OF ITS OWN
>WISDOM AND NOWLEDGE.	  In this we see an expresion of the ultimate goal of
>existence, the achievement of Universal Wisdom, and the sharing of that
>with those who are struggling to rise to the same level.  so you have the
>universal concept of cooperation and of tutelage -- whereby the wiser
>constantly instruct the less wise.
>
>	Theosophy, thus considers that humanity (you and me, etc...) is only a
>stage between the ignorance and innocense of childhood on one side, and the
>wisdom and true impersonal and compassionate governing on the other.  On
>one side we have the "life-atoms," and on the other we have those same
>"life-atoms" which hve trained themselves over milliards of years into
>becoming WISE and knowing most if not all of the laws of the Universe.  In
>ancient India such wise men were called the Rishis and the Mahatmas, and
>their methods of training have been handed down for generations to their
>descendents as a treasure house of wisdom for the ages and humanitiws of
>the present, and of those to come.
>
>	And, in a nut-shell that is what theosophy is all about !
>
>	Personally I have found the learning process endlessly stimulating and
>fascinating, as something I could grow on, and share with others.
>
>			I hope this proves to be of some help,
>
>								Dallas