Present State of the World
Carlos Cardoso Aveline
* To a large extent, the present-day objective facts are the practical harvest of a Karma that was sown in the past. More important than the harvest is the new Karma we are planting with today’s actions.
* Therefore, the seeker of truth must renounce the role of a passive observer of external facts. Free from the hypnosis of the material world, the pilgrim focuses his energy on that which depends on him, and thus begins to learn important lessons.
* A true theosophist is the great reformer of his own world, thus peacefully sowing honesty and goodwill around him.
* The sensible pilgrim makes things happen. He seeks to act in a practical and constructive way, rather than just watching the often regrettable spectacle presented by commercial media under the guise of “journalistic information”. A decisive task consists in listening to the voice of one’s own soul, and remaining at peace with one’s conscience.
The Law of Sacrifice
* French physician and author Paul Carton (1875-1948) was a wholehearted disciple of Hippocrates and a student of Pythagoras and Seneca.
* In his essay on the Law of Sacrifice, Carton speaks of two main kinds of sacrifice. The first kind expresses generosity and consists of selfless renunciation. But there is also a sacrifice that expresses selfishness. It occurs when someone sacrifices others to obtain his own personal gain, or uses them as scapegoats.
* Altruism is a secret factor necessary to obtain peace and harmony in communities. According to Carton, the practice of self-sacrifice for the good of others plays a key role in keeping nations alive and sane. On the other hand, indulgence in selfish behaviour destroys both culture and civilizations. Each time the practice of generous self-sacrifice fails, a moral rebirth is necessary, and war and other calamities emerge as a result of ethical blindness. Carton writes:
* “Wars themselves are in reality blood sacrifices and are only launched as purifying and redemptive punishments. If men knew how to impose on themselves the individual sacrifices of a just, simple and natural life, of a pure diet, of correct hygiene, they would no longer experience these frenzies of unreasonable material enjoyment which never cease to stir up hatred and hostilities between the peoples. The material sacrifice of blood, which is the consequence and expiation of human faults, would then be replaced by the sacrifice of the base instincts of lust and gluttony and the faults of selfishness and pride, which are the great causes of disorder in humanity. They are the ones that lead to collective sacrifices for recovery (epidemics, wars, revolutions, earthquakes), which are more the results of human actions than inevitable fatalities.” [1]
* Decades before Carton, H. P. Blavatsky says something similar in “The Secret Doctrine”. She states that the pilgrim must sacrifice only his own bad habits and sinful inclinations. And the task must be done in the subtle Temple of his inner conscience:
* “The ever unknowable and uncognizable Karana alone, the Causeless Cause of all causes, should have its shrine and altar on the holy and ever untrodden ground of our heart – invisible, intangible, unmentioned, save through ‘the still small voice’ of our spiritual consciousness. Those who worship before it, ought to do so in the silence and the sanctified solitude of their Souls; making their spirit the sole mediator between them and the Universal Spirit, their good actions the only priests, and their sinful intentions the only visible and objective sacrificial victims to the Presence.” [2]
* The above-mentioned statement by Paul Carton that earthquakes have moral causes also belongs to some of the main religions – among them Judaism, Christianity, and Taoism – and to theosophy. The fact is examined in the 19th-century article “Human Ethics and Earthquakes” [3], by Blavatsky’s disciple and assistant Damodar K. Mavalankar.
NOTES:
[1] “Enseignements et Traitements Naturistes Pratiques”, Dr. Paul Carton, Deuxième Série, Maloine, Éditeur, Paris, 1928, 394 pp., see p. 358. The essay “Le Sacrifice” starts on page 346 and ends on page 370.
[2] “The Secret Doctrine, Volume I”, p. 280.
[3] “Human Ethics and Earthquakes”. See also “The Battle of Truth”.
The article “Thoughts Along the Road – 100” was published on the websites of the Independent Lodge of Theosophists on 22 September 2026. An initial version of it is part of the November 2023 edition of “The Aquarian Theosophist”, pp. 20-22.
Explore the full collection of articles: “Thoughts Along the Road”.
Read more:
* Immortal Sages Humbly Obey the Law.
* Are There Conditions Under Which Karma Does Not Exist?
* Visit the channel of The Aquarian Theosophist on YouTube.
Helena Blavatsky (photo) wrote these words: “Deserve, then desire”.
