One Ought to
Compare Words
And Deeds, in
Oneself and Others
Carlos Cardoso
Aveline
* A calm attention shows us the secret unity of all life.
* Deep silence includes the implicit perception of
every aspect of reality. It provides us with an accurate view of the past which
includes lessons for the present and the future. The true teacher, our highest
soul, Atma-Buddhi, only speaks from inner silence.
* Every sentence said or written is surrounded by a
silence, which can be physical, emotional or mental, or may sometimes combine the
three levels. It is only in silence that the meaning of things said will be
perceived, in the various layers of facts and life.
* Each of the seven main levels of human consciousness
has at least seven sublevels. One can say that Silence is septenary, and that
means that a silent perception of reality potentially comprehends 49 sublevels
of observation. The deeper the silence one is capable of, the more perceptive one’s
view of reality. Right view results from renouncing externalities and dwelling
in the essence of things.
* The Law of Karma is the Law of Symmetry. One can
only make progress towards truth into the extent that one rejects untruth. It
is never correct, therefore, to remain associated with errors and illusions
which one recognizes as such.
* In order to be effective, the search for wisdom must
be a balanced effort. Different factors have to be combined with a sort of
creativity in which there is no hurry. The ability to see moral beauty and
moral ugliness is part of the process.
* To each form of happiness something painful or a
certain form of austerity corresponds. There is a symmetry connecting inner and
outer gestures and actions, so that everything gross and subtle is inter-related
in some way or another.
* Boring, challenging and unattractive tasks are among
the most useful in theosophy. By carefully performing them the pilgrim develops
his power of concentration, strengthens his unconditional contentment, and
becomes better able to observe the active movements of laziness, pride and
other forms of resistance to wisdom, in his own lower self.
* The true sense of wonder happens within. Real
greatness belongs to the soul and derives from the degree of selflessness with which
the pilgrim fulfils his daily duty on the various levels of consciousness.
* Being able to adapt ourselves to the ever-changing
circumstances is as necessary as remaining connected to our highest and central
goal. We must make progress towards it through our chosen method of action. The
law of the universe is the principle of Dynamic Perfection. By strengthening
our affinity with it, we get in harmony with the Sacred currents in the Ocean
of Karma and Time.
* Many comment on the current situation of their
nation and have strong personal opinions, often rigid ones. They defend their
descriptions of reality as one who expects his football team to win a
championship at any price. Such a point of view is irrelevant. The number
should increase of citizens who think with independence, who look at their
nation from the point of view of its sacred potentiality, who are ethical and
non-sectarian. Only the truth remains: distortions are fortunately short-lived.
* The sort of harmony a theosophist or truth seeker
can obtain is not based on the denial of tests, mistakes, probation or
suffering. The peace he attains in due time consists in the dynamic
harmonization of all aspects of life, pleasant and unpleasant. This takes place
as he learns to reduce his mistakes, to do good, and to help others awaken.
* An axiom belonging to Eastern tradition states that
each time ethics is forgotten and decay spreads in human affairs, the Law of
Wisdom and Justice manifests itself again and restores the equilibrium. At
times the way this pendulumlike motion takes place can be surprising, but is
never entirely sudden.
* Since the French Revolution of 1789, it has been
fashionable to believe that a radical change in the structure of a society and
its government can give people total happiness, limitless social justice,
enduring ethics - and prosperity. History has shown, however, that such outward
changes use to create catastrophic disasters which totally defeat their noble
intentions - examples starting with the French Revolution itself.
* Real change in society comes from within. The
individual citizen must become wiser in the first place, and then society as a
whole will heal its wounds. Social struggle should be limited to the goal of
avoiding major mistakes. It is too early to aggressively demand perfection from
others. On the other hand, a slow process of self-perfectioning can be
experienced and stimulated any time.
* The pilgrim who wishes the best for his country must
not worry too much about the opinion of the majority regarding short term
issues. It often is artificially fabricated. Most things of real importance are
invisible to a superficial mind. However, there are in every country a certain
number of persons with a correct view of the unity of life. These individuals
acquired knowledge by their own merit.
* The ethical and elevated energy produced by the
small number of deeply ethical citizens flows through the various sections of
society. It permeates all of the culture and karma of the community. When the
number of those Few individuals gets to a certain minimal “quota”, the
collective karma as a whole gets to be “subconsciously” guided by the feeling
of good will. More than struggling for the visible dominance of any “political
opinion”, therefore, whoever aims at the good of a community must give the
silent, invisible example of a citizen who lives in altruism and looks for
eternal knowledge.
* Self-respect and courage are necessary for anyone to
think of a better future and work for it. One must at least love himself, love
his children and respect mankind, before making an effort for the improvement
of human condition.
* It is of course easy to adopt the attitude of a
know-it-all and say: “I have reasons to be a skeptical regarding any idea that
is noble, or altruistic”. And then one may call himself a “post-modern thinker”.
In fact, “post-modern” individuals are lazy minds who got “disappointed” with
all things human, because of their disappointment with themselves, and believe
this form of self-delusion to be smart and sophisticated, if not leftist and
fashionable. It is not too hard to find such an attitude within the
theosophical movement.
* Those who respect themselves also respect human
future and make the necessary efforts to build lives based on ethics and
truthfulness. They dispel and defeat the clouds of negative emotions and
thoughts, heavily stimulated by commercial TV, fake journalism and other
mechanisms of mass-hypnotism. The world exists for the learning of the soul. Organized
ignorance exists so that the human Spirit can grow by defeating it. And
post-modernism was created for those who work for mankind to grow in wisdom by
unmasking its falsity.
* One’s approach to universal wisdom is made easier by
comparing words and deeds, in oneself, in the first place, and then others.
* In the process of observing the many varieties of
truthfulness and falsehood around us, an impersonal point of view is needed. As
one looks at theosophical groups, esoteric circles and churches, a careful
reading of Freud’s essay “Group Psychology and the Analysis of the Ego” will be
useful.
* What kind of distance is there between professed
intention and actual practice, in the individual and in groups? Is there a
continuous attempt to reduce the distance between ideal and action? Or does the
noble view of the world which people promulgate constitute a sort of cover-up
operation serving egotistic purposes? One should make no mistake: both factors
are present in the esoteric and theosophical groups. It is up to each student
to decide for himself which of them is the easier to find in life nowadays, and
how one can expand truthfulness.
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The above article was published as an
independent text on 06 February 2019. An initial version of it, with no indication as to the name of the author,
is included in “The Aquarian Theosophist”, September 2016, pp. 17-19. Various
short notes in the edition were also included in it.
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