Universal Wisdom Destroys
The Old Beliefs in Tribal Gods
Carlos Cardoso Aveline
Carlos Cardoso Aveline
Human consciousness is increasingly planetary in the 21st century, and it
tends to reexamine the world of religions from the point of view of common
sense. This is the right time, therefore, to confront an uncomfortable
question: is it possible that the idea of a monotheistic God constitutes one of
the main sources of the ever-renewed conflicts we see in the Middle East, since
the time of the Crusades?
The right answer seems to
be in the affirmative.
The idea of a personal and nationalistic God is present in the
Jewish Torah, in the Christian Old Testament (taken from the Jewish tradition) and
in the Qur’an of the Muslims. The three religions have tribal origins. Many institutional
structures of their religiosity are dogmatic and legitimize war and violence. True,
Judaism and the Jewish people have suffered an incomparable amount of
persecution and injustice since the Middle Ages. It is only recently that the
Jewish people formed its own Nation State and obtained the ability to defend
itself by military means against anti-Semitism. As to the spiritual depth and
richness present in the Jewish tradition, it is no doubt unique and universal. But
the essential question is:
“What is the relation between the concept of God
and the worldwide threat presently caused by terrorism and other forms of
religious fanaticism?”
Esoteric philosophy teaches
that there are many different kinds of divine intelligence in the Cosmos, and
that the spiritual path is non-violent, pluralistic and diversified. However,
the vast majority of theologians in the monotheistic religions imagine a
sectarian, jealous, authoritarian and individualized god who is situated outside
the cosmos; a personal god politically controlled by this or that institution
which claims to represent him.
It is believed that such a
god decided one day for unknown reasons to create the universe and place the
Earth in a motionless position at its centre. The same god has been promoting
and blessing wars, violence and injustice for millennia. These theological
ideas are absurd. It is easy to see that such a god was created by priests who
were limited by a narrow and tribal view of the world and the universe.
Monotheism is much more
recent than religiosity. In ancient Greece, Rome and Egypt, there was a
plurality of gods. The same occurred in the religious traditions of ancient
American nations. In Hinduism, gods are plural. Identical fact takes place in
esoteric Judaism: the word “Elohim” indicates plural, as H. P. Blavatsky writes.
Even in Christianity, “god” refers to himself as “us” (Genesis, I, 26) and there are “celestial hosts”. The Holy Trinity
is a divine plurality.
Buddhism and Taoism have no
need to use the misleading concept of “God”. The idea of a monotheistic God was
imposed to mankind during the Middle Ages, so that an absolute emperor in the
sky could serve as the model and source of legitimacy for the totalitarian
power of the Pope and other kings supposedly divine.
Contrary to devotional
systems based on blind belief, esoteric philosophy teaches that true
religiosity never separates from Reason.
One of the sages who
inspire the modern esoteric movement wrote:
“The God of the
Theologians is simply an imaginary power (…), a power which has never yet
manifested itself. Our chief aim is to deliver humanity of this nightmare, to
teach man virtue for its own sake, and to walk in life relying on himself
instead of leaning on a theological crutch, that for countless ages was the
direct cause of nearly all human misery.” [1]
These words
are clear and help us understand the roots of the present conflicts in the
Middle East. The Eastern sage added:
“It is belief in God and Gods that makes two-thirds of
humanity the slaves of a handful of those who deceive them under the false
pretence of saving them. Is not man ever ready to commit any kind of evil if
told that his God or Gods demand the crime? (….) For two thousand years India
groaned under the weight of caste, Brahmins alone feeding on the fat of the
land, and to-day the followers of Christ and those of Mahomet are cutting each
other’s throats in the names of and for the greater glory of their respective
myths. Remember the sum of human misery will never be diminished unto that day
when the better portion of humanity destroys in the name of Truth, morality,
and universal charity, the altars of their false gods.” [2]
In saying this, the Eastern Yogi is in harmony with
ancient Western philosophy and the modern scientific viewpoint.
Buddhism is among the religions which did not promote wars.
In spite of its limitations and shortcomings, it is a philosophical religion
and remains free from the concept of a singular “God”.
Monotheistic beliefs externalize sacredness, ignoring
the fact that divine energies are mainly within the consciousness of
each individual. And every time “god” becomes something external,
professional priests and “religious castes” emerge and multiply, while wars,
blind belief and systematic hatred are promoted in order to kill and oppress nations
in the name of “the only god”.
On the religions now present in
the Middle East, one should remember these words by Helena Blavatsky:
“Verily, the fiendish spirits of
fanaticism, of early and mediaeval Christianity and of Islam, have from the
first loved to dwell in darkness and ignorance; and both have made ‘- the sun like blood, the earth a tomb, / The
tomb a hell, and hell itself a murkier gloom!’ Both creeds have won their
proselytes at the point of the sword; both have built their churches on heaven-kissing hecatombs of human victims.”
[3]
Truth is often uncomfortable and politically incorrect.
The need to transcend dogmatic
religions was taught by the Masters of the Wisdom and Helena Blavatsky. This
aspect of their teaching, however, is so strong and challenging that it has
been piously ignored since the 1890s in influential circles of the main
theosophical associations. Sincere theosophists cannot be proud of that.
In order to fulfil its mission,
the esoteric movement must place truth above political calculations and
directly examine the causes leading to human suffering. Given the Karma of
mankind since the 19th century, it is also necessary to vigorously denounce
anti-Semitism and study the inner wisdom of Judaism, which H. P. Blavatsky
wrote about in “Isis Unveiled” and other writings.
The plurality of gods and
religious viewpoints is at the roots of the universal brotherhood which will
guide the civilization of the future. No religion is the owner of truth. All of
them have important mistakes to correct through dialogue and humble research. An
eternal wisdom includes the higher ethics and teachings of every true religion or
philosophy.
NOTES:
[1] “The Mahatma
Letters”, transcribed by A.T. Barker, TUP edition, Pasadena, California, Letter
10, p. 53.
[2] “The Mahatma Letters”, TUP,
p. 58.
[3] “The Secret Doctrine”, H. P.
Blavatsky, Theosophy Co., Los Angeles, Volume I, Introductory, p. xli.
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The
above article was also published in our blog at “The Times of Israel”.
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See
the article “Theosophy and the Middle
East”, by C. C. Aveline, which is available at our associated
websites.
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In September 2016, after a careful analysis of the state of the
esoteric movement worldwide, a group of students decided to form the Independent Lodge of Theosophists,
whose priorities include the building of a better future in the different
dimensions of life.
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