Esoteric
Philosophy Invites Us To
Give Up
Addiction to Complaining
Carlos Cardoso
Aveline
Each time the
wish comes to you to complain about life, decide to be thankful, instead.
Mental complaints are self-defeating. Don’t pay too
much attention to problems which do not depend on you. Instead of having
negative thoughts about anyone or anything, ask forgiveness to your own
conscience for the mistakes you have made in life, and take practical measures
to correct and compensate them.
You are in time to become fully self-responsible. See the
countless small positive opportunities surrounding you right now. Perform creative
actions to expand and multiply them.
Accepting life as it is constitutes an essential axiom
to students of theosophy. It is also the first step to improve life in what it
depends on us. By feeling gratitude, the pilgrim makes himself available to more
events for which he will be thankful in the future.
Detachment brings about freedom. Voluntary simplicity
is a way of life. It is not just a key idea in economics and sustainable
development, but a septenary attitude. It is like saying thanks to life and to the Law on the various levels of
consciousness.
A Pleasant Renunciation
In order to be peaceful, the pilgrim’s existence needs
to be physically simple. This can only endure on the basis of emotional simplicity, which means an absence
of blind or intemperate desires.
Emotional peace is also inseparable from intellectual
simplicity: mental noise is a major obstacle to having discernment. A simplicity of mind allows one to think
deeply, to see things in silence, and to correctly consider the decisive factors
in any situation. Living with simplicity means renouncing that which is of
secondary importance. Detachment leads to concentration, as concentration expands
detachment.
Keeping life simple provides a direct relation between
theory and practice, intention and action.
A pleasant renunciation occurs as one’s heart gets
sick and tired of small events, and looks for that which is immense and eternal.
There are different kinds of bird, and levels of mind.
A hen seeks for insects on the soil, while an eagle examines the mountains from
the sky. If the point of view from which one looks at life is elevated, one’s horizon
will be wide and the vision, wise. Thus the dedication of one’s whole life to a
noble ideal becomes a way to joy, a road to contentment.
000
An initial version of the above article was published on pp. 12-13 of the
July 2014 edition of “The Aquarian Theosophist”. It had no indication as to the
name of the author.
000
On 14 September 2016, after examining the state of the
esoteric movement worldwide, a group of students decided to found the Independent Lodge of Theosophists. Two
of the priorities adopted by the ILT
are learning from the past and building a better future.
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