Each Step Ahead Changes
Something in the Whole Walk
Carlos Cardoso Aveline
An ideological approach to
esoteric philosophy denies actual
theosophy while providing people
with the illusion of verbal wisdom.
* The most sacred teachings can but point to that kind of
informed silence within which Truth
flows unlimited, and the seeds of sacred sounds are contained.
* Before being able to make correct short term
decisions, the pilgrim must know what he wants to attain, in his long-term
journey.
* The best counsellor of every truth-seeker is the
silence that enlightens the center of peace in his consciousness. In this non-spatial place there is an axis of
symmetry: it connects him with the law and the bliss of universal justice.
* Those who are afraid of looking at ugly truths,
individual or collective, are actually afraid of Life and of Happiness.
* It is by honestly confronting defeat that the
pilgrim can win. By looking at mistakes, he corrects them. By understanding
suffering, he eliminates its causes. When the pilgrim fully accepts his circumstances,
he is able to transcend and improve them.
* There is no need for a wayfarer to get too worried
if he sees a preposterous paroxysm of selfishness in the most prosperous
societies of his day. Nothing is eternal, except the Law of Equilibrium.
Everything is cyclic in human evolution, and even the most violent outbursts of
moral blindness cannot last long.
* The road to wisdom is simple in the pilgrim’s heart
and complex at the mind level. And he needs both mind and heart: no doubt about
that. He must combine simplicity and complexity, and use both sides of the
brain: one of them is especially in harmony with the heart.
* Each step ahead changes something in the whole walk
and widens the way the pilgrim sees his previous steps. With each new effort,
he leaves aside some attachments, and becomes able to see facts heretofore
invisible.
* There is no room for happiness within the limits of
the lower-self. From the narrow prison of a “personal” existence, the wayfarer must
learn the way out, into the wide horizons of selflessness.
* Unconditional contentment is the first step and the initial
indication that one’s will is stronger than desire. This is the good path, for
thoughtlessness and desire provoke pain, while right thought and right will make
it possible to have inner freedom.
* The pilgrim who obtains a glimpse of larger cycles
of time sees no problem in the idea of studying theosophy for five decades,
with modest results. He knows first-hand that the learning of the soul is
invisible. It would be disastrous to get enthusiastic about his own progress.
He is also acquainted with the fact that each minute counts, and every new
thought makes a difference.
* There may be a sense of “order” that corresponds to
mere routine and attachment to form. This is of no interest in theosophy.
Wisdom brings about another kind of order. The perception of the unity of all
things reveals a natural harmony among different factors in life.
* When the traveller has One main Goal in life, all his
activities tend to become mutually consistent. Then order becomes part of his method,
planning turns out to be possible, a stable rhythm is established, and the
pilgrim becomes predictable to himself, while open to sudden change in any
situation.
* The various kinds of difficulties now challenging
our civilization are part of its karmic adjustment. Individually and
collectively, the right thing to do is to deal with each obstacle in honest
ways. Flexibility is as important as firmness. Positive thinking and creativity
are of the essence.
* There is a reason why more than one collective structure
and institution now implodes: spiritual blindness is self-destructive. A generalized
lack of ethics and good will is associated to materialism, hedonism and
selfishness. Ignorance paves the way to wisdom through the law of dynamic equilibrium.
* As recommended in the Yoga Sutras, Book II, 33-34, the
systematic replacement of wrong actions by right ones, and of wrong thoughts by
their opposite, can quickly change Karma for the better in anyone’s life, and any society.
* The word “simple” does not mean “easy”. An outwardly
simple task may involve inner complexity, requiring an iron will. The simplest
action is often the deepest. It sometimes turns out to be the most difficult,
and decisive.
* One needs generous hearts in order to build a
civilization that deserves to live. This has been the universal teaching present
in Judaism, Hinduism, Taoism, Baha’i, Confucianism and modern Theosophy, to
name a few examples among many.
* The wording of theosophical teachings is of great
value, as long as its living power is preserved. When classical words of wisdom
are read from a correct perspective, they lead the student to a deep
understanding of himself, and a profound reconciliation with all life.
* Words of wisdom point to the universal principles
governing the Book of Life.
* The best way to teach and to express oneself is
through actions. Self-improvement must come from daily practices that
strengthen one’s will.
* A student of philosophy should speak little and
focus on deeds. However, sometimes the words themselves are action. Given some
conditions, the magnetic energy of words may contain a spark that ignites the
fire of higher consciousness, in those whose souls can hear.
* Every nation has a collective connection to the
higher realm of spirit.
* The silent avenue leading to the world above
operates through the philosophers, poets, mystics, writers, leaders and thinkers
of every country, people who lived once or live nowadays mainly in their spiritual
souls, even while having a physical body. When a researcher in esoteric philosophy
understands that the writings of such thinkers are in fact a living part of the
Theosophical Literature, he sees that he can have an essential dialogue with
thinkers of various nations in the most distant centuries.
* Documenting the works of great thinkers, making them
known and studied, is part of the theosophical project. Many valuable texts and
books of previous times have been largely forgotten, or distorted. Yet persevering
researchers can study at a distance
with Teachers and Researchers of Altruism who lived in different nations, any
time. By doing so, a citizen expands his contact with his own higher self.
* An effective way to keep as much as possible free
from materialistic illusions is to follow Lucius Seneca’s advice and “talk to”
and “listen to” the greatest thinkers of all ages.
* The works by Helena Blavatsky and the Mahatma
Letters provide us with a key to open the doors of Time and correctly
understand Epictetus, Cicero, Marcus Aurelius, Plutarch, Musonius Rufus,
Leibniz, Spinoza, Francis Hutcheson, Baron Holbach, Immanuel Kant, Ivan Il’in,
the Talmud, the Dhammapada, the Vedas or the ancient mythology of all nations -
to name but a few examples. Such study will also help us better work for a
healthy future.
* Brazilian philosopher Farias Brito wrote: “Our own end is to free
ourselves from slavery to matter - which means to break the chain of death and
to return from nothing to being, from unconsciousness to consciousness. (...)
But in order for this liberation to occur, or rather, for this rebirth or
regeneration to take place, there is only one means; knowledge, which is the
very process of regeneration of a fallen being, or his elevation from nothing
to reality, from unconsciousness to consciousness.” [1]
* An “ideology” is a simplified view of reality that allows one to have
an immediate answer to every possible question. It helps people make believe they
know it all about life.
* Political or religious ideologies are used as substitutes to the
search for truth. They are instruments at the service of institutions whose
interest is to seek for power over people.
* An ideological approach to esoteric philosophy denies actual theosophy
while providing people with the illusion of verbal wisdom. In each field of
knowledge, ideology is the easy discourse that makes direct research look like
unnecessary, and tries to eliminate truth-seekers, while forming opinionators instead.
* As long as one’s views of reality depend on a personal attachment to
words, one cannot really search for truth in a deeper sense.
* If our view of life obeys to fixed opinions or is not open to direct
research and independent observation of facts, we remain limited to the
comfortable dynamics of self-delusion.
* In order to understand life, all second-hand guidance has to be seen
as a tool of secondary importance, subject to our own research and approval.[2]
* The writings of original theosophy are no Bible to memorize and
repeat. They teach us principles and a knowledge to be checked, tested,
confirmed and verified with independence on various levels of consciousness,
some of which are above mere reasoning. The process is slow and gradual. It
takes more than one lifetime, but mutual help makes things easier.
NOTES:
[1] “Inéditos e Dispersos”, by Farias Brito, Editorial
Grijalbo, São Paulo, Brazil, 1966, 550 pp., see p. 432.
[2] This is what classical theosophy says, and the
theosophical movement should not become a church or congregation of obedient
believers.
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The above article was published as an
independent text on 12 January 2019. An initial version of it, with no indication as to the name of the author,
is included in the August 2016 edition of “The Aquarian Theosophist”.
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