Lessons from a Mudded Planetary Transition
Carlos Cardoso Aveline
a role in the world of George Orwell’s nightmare
In more than one aspect of life, a multidimensional collapse is taking place
in Western civilization.
On the
chessboard of world power, the United States of America - seen for seven
decades as the leader of the free world - is now openly challenged by China
while other countries have nothing to say. China is ready to occupy the vacuum
of leadership in the West.[1]
The pandemic challenge to public health is the tip of the iceberg.
According
to esoteric philosophy, the outward circumstances of a civilization are but a
consequence of the moral strength possessed by its population, and especially
its religious and philosophical movements.
In
other words, it is the plurality of systems of spiritual teaching and moral
elevation that sustains a society and keeps it together.
Common
values and shared spiritual goals preserve the inner life of communities. There
is no civilization in the absence of ethics. Those who have common sense
stimulate higher levels of perception, on which moral values are recognized as
central to life. Students of philosophy must be aware of their direct
responsibility in the long run.[2]
During
the 1880s there was a crisis in the esoteric movement due to a fraudulent attack
against it, made by Christian Churches. An Eastern Mahatma then wrote to the
British theosophists regarding the inner side of the movement’s mission. The
teacher clarified that the task of truth-seekers includes fighting fraud and
falsehood. One of the priorities must be promoting the practice of truthfulness
through personal example and sacrifice.
The
master said:
“I
regret deeply my inability to satisfy the honest, sincere aspirations of a few
chosen ones among your group - not at least, for the present. Could but your [London Lodge] understand, or so much as
suspect, that the present crisis that is shaking [the Theosophical Movement] to
its foundations is a question of perdition or salvation to thousands; a
question of the progress of the human race or its retrogression, of its glory
or dishonour, and for the majority of this [human]
race - of being or not being, of annihilation, in fact - perchance many of
you would look into the very root of evil, and instead of being guided by false
appearances and scientific decisions, you would set to work and save the
situation by disclosing the dishonourable doings of your missionary [Christian Clergy] world.”[3]
A
question of being or not being, of
annihilation, according to the Eastern teacher.
The moral defeats of mystical movements help
provoke the sociological failures of
civilizations, for these movements act on the plane of Causes.
Thought
precedes action. Ideas inspire constructive (or destructive) practices. The
condition of the mind and soul inspires the practice of mutual help or the
politics of hate. And this determines the fate of a society.
In
terms of the Jewish tradition, one would repeat the classical saying, “by three things does the world endure: by truth,
justice, and peace”.[4]
The
implication is that a few just men
can invisibly preserve society by the power of their integrity, as Genesis,
chapters eighteen and nineteen, explains.
Yet these Few must be wise and strong in rejecting falsehood. In other
words, when truthfulness and justice lose strength, moral decay spreads, and
the communities tend to disintegrate.
Helena
Blavatsky also refers to the Few as making the difference in the spiritual
evolution of mankind. Every country must have its own reservoir of moral strength
in order to confront and remove the obstacles to life in times of trouble. The
same rule applies to the global community, to families and individuals. In the
present planetary transition, all areas of human existence interact among them.
Every
nation deserves respect. Each community lives by preserving loyalty to its own
highest sources of guidance and inspiration. In strategic thinking, classic
Chinese author Sun Tzu makes it clear that an army can only face a battle if it
has moral strength enough, and as long as its leaders are fully respected. A
brave soldier, an honest citizen, good parents and efficient political leaders
all depend on their moral strength, which needs to be built and valued.
Welcome to Marxist China
What
is then the spiritual meaning of the new worldwide dominance of China, a
country presently inspired by a materialistic philosophy which denies the
existence of spiritual souls? Chinese leaders have no known ethical system
based on universal principles. They study no metaphysical literature and ignore
the ancient wisdom of their own country, paying little attention to Taoism, Confucianism
and Chan Buddhism.
It is
worthwhile examining Marxist China’s quiet expansion throughout the world and
its commercial and cultural (asymmetrical)
war against the West. In 2020, a remarkable feeling of imperial optimism
emerged in some Chinese circles of political thought.
In
October, the distinguished Chinese Sociologist Dr. Li Yi made revealing assertions. According to him, the USA as
we know it would cease to exist by 2027, and China was in 2020 “ahead of
schedule” in defeating North America.[5]
This
should not worry mystics and philosophers too much. Theosophists are scarcely
concerned with outward politics as long as there is liberty of thought and
human rights are respected. “If human beings improve themselves”, wise men have
said in every nation and century, “society will soon get better”.
If a
Chinese representative in Hong Kong should be appointed by Beijing to serve as the
next president of the United States, or to become the prime minister of
Australia, what does a student of Eastern philosophy need to say about that? If
a city-councillor of Shanghai or any other Chinese city should be put in charge
of the European Central Bank or the presidency of France, what does a mystic have
to do with such a fact? George Orwell’s nightmare, described in the novel
“1984”, might become true - but wouldn’t last long.
The
esoteric movement rarely has anything to say about short-term social and
political facts, except for their moral causes and their moral consequences. But
the masters of Oriental wisdom teach the same universal principle stated in
Genesis eighteen and nineteen. Theosophy says that there is a fundamental
causal link between the state of the mystical movements and the destiny of
civilizations.
Joseph
Buchanan wrote in a book on moral education:
“That the ethical power is the
essential element of eternal life is absolutely certain, and that in proportion
as that element declines the debasement tends toward extinction or death is
clear to all comprehensive thinkers. It is a natural and truthful inference
that the ethical is the true vitalizing and antiseptic element (...).” [6]
Everything
is interconnected. A teacher of the Eastern esoteric wisdom wrote about the one
law of impersonal justice that applies to both the elites and common citizens:
“…In
our sight an honest boot-black [is] as good as an honest king, and an immoral sweeper far higher and more
excusable than an immoral Emperor.” [7]
What
about the future of societies that ignore ethics?
Civilizations
exist for the growth and the learning of the soul. Whenever they become
disloyal to the elevated world of ideals, they cease to exist. There is
therefore a direct relation between the present crisis in the Western World and
the moral collapse of truthfulness and ethics in most of its religious
movements, which has contaminated social and political life and even family
relations.
The
material challenges and dilemmas now facing the Western world are but vehicles
of ethical lessons that need to be learned again.
Soulless political projects have no future. The blind worship of financial
money leads nowhere, and so does materialistic socialism. The future of mankind is luminous, but ritualistic
religiosity based on mere blind obedience has become devoid of meaning. The
ancient wisdom is very much alive. In the East as in the West, ignorance is a
passing phenomenon that comes and goes, while divine knowledge is eternal.
NOTES:
[1] See an inspiring report made
by Tucker Carlson at Fox News. Similar facts occur
in other parts of the world.
[2] Read the last paragraphs of
the book “The Key to Theosophy”, by Helena Blavatsky, pp. 306-307.
[3] “The Mahatma Letters”, Letter
LXV (65), page 365.
[4] “Ethics from Sinai”, an
eclectic, wide-ranging commentary on Pirke Avoth, by Irving M. Bunim, 3-volume
edition, Philipp Feldheim, Inc., New
York, copyright 1964, see volume I, Perek I, Mishnah 18, p. 106.
[5] Take a look here at the
website “Law Enforcement Today”. And see
the same news in another place.
[7] The sentence is part of Letter
XXIX (29) in “The Mahatma Letters”, see the
upper half of page 223.
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The above text is available at
the associated websites since 22 February 2021. It was first published on 13
December 2020 at the theosophical blog in “The Times of Israel”.
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Click to read the 2016 text “If There Is a Problem With Our Civilization”.
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Regarding the path to
happiness, one should remember this phrase by Helena Blavatsky (photo): “Deserve, then desire”.
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