Or the Ability to
Give Up
The Sources of
One’s Suffering
Carlos Cardoso Aveline
Repentance implies being able to change
the direction of one’s actions
It is not too often
that one can find a text on, or a reference to, the practical usefulness of
repenting. [1]
The act of
repentance could be defined as the ability to identify, acknowledge, observe,
learn from and abandon - sometimes in disgust - one’s own mistakes. This is an important
function in theosophy. It also demands a degree of courage.
A quick rejection
of one’s own mistakes must take place as soon as they are identified, in order
to be able to learn and to make progress.
Repentance has
nothing to do with self-punishment or negative feelings about oneself. It is their
opposite in fact. It requires a healthy and reasonable amount of
self-confidence and confidence in life to be able to look at the sources of one’s
suffering - and give them up.
The process of
repenting belongs to the world of action: it includes the ability to change for
the better the direction of one’s existence and actively compensate one’s
mistakes. Human beings are ever surrounded by opportunities to learn and to renew
their lives, and that includes the occult path. An Eastern Master of the Wisdom
wrote:
“Any Fellow [of the theosophical movement] who truly
and sincerely repents ought to be taken back.”[2]
The practice of giving
up one’s errors can be developed on a daily basis. Both the Pythagorean tradition
and theosophical teachings invite their students to make a daily examination of
their actions, during which they make a decision to abandon the wrong actions while
expanding and persevering in the right ones.
NOTES:
[1] See for instance the article “Learning From the Feeling of Remorse”, which can be found at our
associated websites.
[2] “The Mahatma Letters to A.P. Sinnett”, T.U.P.,
Pasadena, 494 pp., see Letter CVIII (108), at p. 444.
000
An initial version of the above article was published at the May 2012
edition of “The Aquarian Theosophist”, p. 9.
000
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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