Where Your Treasure
Is,
There Your Heart
Will Be Also
Carlos Cardoso
Aveline
Different people
value different things, of course.
Even when they do value the same things, they most
often see contrasting values in that which they seem to cherish in common.
Why do you value a forest: is it because of the high
price of the wood?
Perhaps you value the trees because of some other
economic potentialities, which are more correct from the ecological point of
view.
Is the forest valuable for you because it plays a
central role in preserving life as we know it in the present civilization?
Or perhaps the forest itself is valuable to you,
regardless of the many practical uses it has for mankind and the other living
species? We also know that all the levels of value possessed by an object
coexist: one needs to determine the emphasis and the relative importance of
each sort of appreciation.
Besides the real value of a forest, other examples are
possible, and they deserve being examined. The
various forms of value are seen from different levels of consciousness. The
physical importance of something may be far away from its emotional,
intellectual, or spiritual importance.
The depth and sincerity of one’s respect
for other beings depends on the point of view from which life is being looked
at. Do you measure your own value by the number of apparent friends you have,
or by the firmness of the approval you get from your own soul and conscience?
Is your self-esteem in any way dependent
on the purchasing power of your credit card, or the amount of praise and
applause you receive every month? There
are more intelligent approaches to life.
The science of ethics speaks of two main
levels of value.
At the instrumental level your life is
important because you help people, because you are useful to society, you do
good to your community and country.
Your wife makes you happy in many ways;
therefore, she is most valuable. Your
children are part of your happiness. Your friends, colleagues, your nation and
a thousand other factors in life contribute to your contentment; therefore they
are most valuable to you. And so are the warm beams of the Sun in winter, the
beauty of a flying bird and the shadow of a tree in the summer.
At this level of perception, value is
instrumental. If you are unable to go beyond such a dimension of value you are
still fundamentally blind to the beauty of life.
Your wife has an intrinsic value: her
importance cannot be measured by the amount of joy she makes you experience.
The same is true of your children and your nation. It is scarcely intelligent
to have respect for people only because, or as long as, they agree with you.
The purpose of other beings in your existence is not to indulge you. Through
them Life teaches you various ways to improve yourself.
Once we see the intrinsic value of a
forest, of a nation, of sunrise, of friendship or humbleness, we recognize the
higher and nobler dimensions of instrumental value.
The two things are inseparable.
It is a privilege to be useful to the
inner growth of others. Our duties are both material and moral. There is a
blessing in having deep respect for one’s fellow-citizens, and for the forests,
forest-dwellers and all beings.
In this process, we become conscious
brothers of Those who are far more advanced than our present mankind and yet
keep in subtle contact with human beings, in order to make sure they tread the
path to universal ethics.
Theosophy
According to Jesus
In every time and nation, independent
thinkers have always pointed out the path to the evolution of the soul. Since
the 19th century, many have questioned the system of values in a society whose
actual god - the center of people’s existence - is money.
When material values are seen as the
decisive factor in life, moral and religious values constitute a matter of mere
appearance, a disguise to personal ambition, a tool at the service of
selfishness.
Erich Fromm showed the need to choose
between “having” and “being”. It is evident that in theosophy, such things as political leadership, money, institutional power and material
possessions have no significance in themselves. They provide no true
happiness or contentment. Theosophical values produce bliss because they belong
to immortal souls. In the Gospel according to Matthew, Jesus teaches the theory of value adopted in classical
theosophy. That Jewish master never intended to establish a church, let alone a
church that is attached to material power and possessions.
He taught, instead:
“The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure
hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy
went and sold all he had and bought that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is
like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he
went away and sold everything he had and bought it.” (Matthew 13:44-46)
Jesus added:
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures
on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.
But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not
destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure
is, there your heart will be also.” (Matthew 6: 19-21)
The same teaching is found in the
Dhammapada and other scriptures.
By renouncing attachment to visible
possessions (money, applause, power), one can attain the heavenly and invisible
treasure - the permanent one -, and also the eternal pearl of universal wisdom.
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