O Lord!
If I worship you from fear of hell, cast me into hell.
If I worship you from desire for paradise, deny me paradise. [Rabia]
A happy new year to all my readers. May 2004 bring wisdom,
insight and the ability to act wisely.
This issue
of Lucifer7 goes on in the theme of enlightenment with various short
quotes and some good different opinions, I think. Once again I have to
stress that just because something is published here, doesn't mean I
agree with it. It just means I think the reader has a right to read
information from various sides. I like to keep you all informed. This
has the added
advantage of looking at a subject from various (if not all) sides. This
is also true for another controversial subject that gets raised in this
issue: Money. Searching for money and spirituality on the internet, one
finds
a lot of opinions. Most seem to feel that the two can and should be
mixed
to some extent. I've selected a few quotes that I think each add their
own
perspective and are also representative of the lot. The traditional
religious
stance is represented by H.P. Blavatsky who quotes the Bible, Buddhist
scriptures and a Hindu tract.
This issue we have
a story by W.Q. Judge who was a famous, if at the
end of his life somewhat controversial, figure in the Theosophical
Movement. His writings are often very inspiring.
Once again I want to remind my readers that they can submit material
to this e-zine. If it doesn't fit the e-zine it may very well fit my
web
site.
Echoes of the
ways of the Mystery Schools are to be found numerously in popular
customs, one of the most obvious is of course the initiation systems of
the various secret societies. There is another equally interesting echo
in certain academic methods.
In a previous issue
we mentioned the difficulty that collegiate instructors have in
bringing home to students the fact that the borderlines of knowledge
are uncertain, without discouraging them entirely. In this connection,
we mentioned our acquaintance with various members of the professorial
fraternity. Since then we had a few hours conversation with two of them
on a train trip, in which we were immensely interested in the "weeding
out" process employed in their institution for candidates to take
postgraduate
work leading to advanced degrees.
[The rest of this article from Theosophical Notes]
There can be no
question but that one can receive the impression from
much of Mahayanistic literature that the labour toward the salvation of
all
creatures is a perennial task, rather than a passing crisis.
On the
other hand, Theosophical literature does emphasize certain critical
junctures
such as the present which is said to be the cycle of transition between
the
first 5000 years of Kali Yuga and a subsequent period. But
this hardly
involves any contradiction since logically both standpoints could be
valid.
A perennial condition could, quite conceivably, have critical
phases. But this matter becomes considerably less simple when
it is borne in mind that Theosophical teaching does give the impression
of accentuation of
the activistic factor while both Buddhism and Hinduism strike one as
more
oriented to quietism. In its deeper ramifications the
ultimate question
becomes: Does Enlightenment imply the permanent transcendence of the
activistic
or evolutionary process, or does it have some interconnection with this
process?
In its exoteric form, both the Vedanta
and Buddhism give the impression that the whole meaning of Liberation
or Enlightenment is the correction of error. The correction of the
error leads to transcendence of the World-field and all dualistic
consciousness in essentially the same way that a dream is destroyed by
awaking. Thus to the awakened consciousness there is no more activity
in the sense of an evolutionary process. In contrast, Theosophy views
the active phase as fundamental as the inactive or unmanifested
phase. Enlightenment has the value of New Birth before which
lie both active and passive possibilities. To be Enlightened is to be
an Adept and no one is an Adept in the Theosophical sense who is not
Enlightened. There are seven degrees of Enlightenment and the
full Buddha is one who has culminated all these seven steps. A full
Adept is the same thing as a full Buddha,
and the Tathagata is the same thing as a Dhyan Chohan, a guiding
Intelligence in Nature.
It is easy to see that
Theosophy implies an Enlightenment such that the resultant
consciousness is a sort of fusion of the Unmanifested with the
Manifested aspects, or of nondualistic into dualistic consciousness. In
this state the error or delusion is destroyed, but action, including
evolution, and quietude both remain. The refusal to accept
the private enjoyment of the Bliss of Nirvana, while including the
meaning of continued effort in
the direction of redemption of all creatures, as well as other and even
more
fundamental values; values which would still remain although all
creatures were finally redeemed.
The writer does
not mean to suggest that the inner meaning of both the Vedanta and
Buddhism is at variance with Theosophy in the above respect. There may
be inner agreement and, indeed, this seems very likely. But the other
impression does exist and there is literature which at least seems to
confirm it. It is with respect to this latter impression that
a contradiction exists.
As a matter of strict
logic neither action not inaction can be predicated of a non-dual
Reality, and it is thus as close to the active phase as to the inactive.
There can be no doubt that the appeal of the active or
inactive phases appeals differently to individuals and races of
different temperaments.
One may prefer inactive contemplation while the other prefers activity.
But such preference has no force as a determinant of the nature of
ultimate
Reality. Western man is, on the whole, activistic while Eastern man is
more
largely quietistic but neither is therefore more right or righteous
than
the other.
... All three, Theosophy, Vedanta and
Buddhism, agree in saying that
the ultimately true Dharma or Theosophia transcends all name and form,
all possibility of definition in any way. For this, to
relative consciousness,
appears exclusively as Absolute Negation, or That of which nothing
whatsoever
can be predicated in the private sense. Before THIS, all
beings whatsoever, high or low, must stand SILENT in the face of utter
MYSTERY.
There
are many paths to enlightenment. Be sure to take one with a heart.
-Lao Tzu
Before I was enlightened, I chopped wood
and carried water. After I became enlightened I chopped wood and
carried water.
-Zen teaching
Nirvana or
lasting enlightenment or true spiritual growth can be achieved only
through persistent exercise of real love.
-M. Scott Peck, M.D.
Enlightenment must come little by little, otherwise it would
overwhelm...
-Idries Shah
Liberation is
nothing new that is acquired.
-Sri Sankaracharya
He, knowing all, becomes the All.
-Prasna Upanishad iv. 10
When thou art rid of self, then art thou self-controlled,
and self-controlled art self possessed, and self-possessed possessed of
God and all that he
has ever made.
-Meister Eckhart
Do not
mistake understanding for realization, and do not mistake realization
for liberation.
-Famous Tibetan saying (Sogyal Rinpoche, p.
130)
Within the
cultural paradigm of which I come, that of the indigenous North
Americans, the thought of 'paying' for a Ceremonial never comes up
because the thought of NOT paying is never considered, so there is
never the need to put a 'price tag' on anything of a spiritual nature.
We Spirit People who provide a spiritual service, at home in a tribal
culture, may wake up to find a sack of corn, a haunch of venison, an
envelope of cash or some other
valuable gift upon our doorstep. A person who receives help from us
Spirit
Peoples will continue to provide gifts for years to come.
http://www.shamanic.net/articles/spiritmoney.html
Money
causes most people more emotional problems than almost any other life
issue. How many times have you heard that "Money doesn't grow on
trees", that "The love of money is the root of all Evil" or that anyone
who is rich must, by definition, be either a crook or extremely hard
and tough? Most people have extremely negative associations about
Wealth and Money that were gained subconsciously whilst growing up.
Money
creates its own culture. In so far as this money-culture influences our
self-esteem, our scale of values, our motivations, our ideas of God, it
can be said to produce a kind of spirituality. In so far as money has
become
the main instrument of exploitation and oppression, the spirituality of
the
money-culture which we have today must be denounced as a false
spirituality, and a principal task of the Christian faith is to unmask
the deceptions and especially the self-deceptions with which the
money-culture conceals itself.
We have
encountered a curious corollary to this theme; the idea that
anyone who manages to make a living for himself in mundane pursuits and
give
any noticeable amount to Theosophy besides, thereby disqualifies
himself
from being able to understand the higher reaches of the
philosophy; and is in duty bound to defer humbly to the
scholar who has no such crude and spiritually crippling commercial
capacity and must perforce rely upon the bounty of said humble
Vaishya; whose duty it is to give it very
deferentially. Indeed this could be an excellent Western
beginning for a sacerdotal caste system in Theosophy!
Curiously enough, our undoubtedly prejudiced viewpoint leans in the
opposite direction; we think that no man is likely to know
either himself or Theosophy without learning by practical experience
how to apply it - and how difficult it is to apply it - in the sordid
occupation of making a living among mankind. One may not
emerge from such experience knowing how to conjugate Sanskrit, but he
may know something about the hearts of men.
[I can mail the full article by Victor Endersby to those interested in it]
WALKING
within the garden of his heart, the pupil suddenly came upon the
Master, and was glad, for he had but just finished a task in His
service which he hastened to lay at His feet.
"See, Master," said he, "this is done: now give me other
teaching to do."
The Master looked upon him sadly
yet indulgently, as one might upon a
child which can not understand.
"There are
already many to teach intellectual conceptions of the Truth," he
replied, "Thinkest thou to serve best by adding thyself to their
number?"
The pupil was perplexed.
"Ought we not to proclaim the Truth from the very housetops, until the
whole world shall have heard?" he asked.
"And
then - "
"Then the whole world will surely accept
it."
"Nay," replied the Master, "the Truth is not
of the intellect, but of
the heart. See!"
The pupil looked, and saw the
Truth as though it were a White Light, flooding the whole
earth; yet none reaching the green and living plants which so
sorely needed its rays, because of dense layers of clouds intervening.
"The clouds are the human intellect," said the Master. "Look
again."
Intently gazing, the pupil saw here and
there faint rifts in the clouds, through which the Light struggled in
broken, feeble beams. Each rift was caused by a little vortex of
vibrations, and looking down through the openings thus made the pupil
perceived that each vortex had its origin in a human heart.
"Only by adding to and enlarging the rifts will the Light ever reach
the earth," said the Master. "Is it best, then, to pour out more Light
upon the clouds, or to establish a vortex of heart force? The latter
thou must accomplish unseen and unnoticed and even unthanked. The
former will bring thee praise and notice among men. Both are necessary:
both are Our work ; but - the
rifts are so few! Art [thou] strong enough to forego the
praise and
make of thyself a heart centre of pure impersonal force?"
The pupil sighed, for it was a sore question.
The two
largest protestant organizations [the "Nederlands Hervormde Kerk and
the Gereformeerde Kerk ] in The Netherlands, together with a
smaller [organization the Lutheraanse Kerk] merged on Friday
the 12th of December last. This development has everybody who cares
anything for religion buzzing with excitement. Explanations and
historical parallels are many. The most important explanation is that
on a local level the 'Samen Op Weg'-beweging [Together on the
Path-movement] was gaining strength significantly. This means that on a
local scale church groups merged, in order to be able to afford
paying the minister and keeping the churches in good repair. The
necessity of this local cooperation is the fact that most of these
churches were and are loosing membership. In the Netherlands only about
40% of the people belong to any church at all. The merger leaves each
individual church free to run their church as they see fit. No
doctrinal requirements are added at all.
Looking into the
historical ramifications one can conclude that this merger is not as
rare an occasion as it seems. At the end of the 19th century a similar
merge took place in the Dutch protestant churches. The general pattern
seems to be to have a movement, with splitoffs every once in a while
and then
at some point a merge, which in its turn is followed by splits, making
the
cycle complete. Local churches of radical persuasion are reportedly
already thinking of dropping out of this new organisation.
Unfortunately for them this may well mean for many of them that they
will have to start looking for
a new church to have their services in. So far no split offs have been
reported.
For my Dutch readers I have a few links
to useful articles on this subject:
On a totally different note, there is a web site which gives information on religious freedom being challenged. A good web site, as far as I can tell: http://www.forum18.org/