THE KARACHI THEOSOPHICAL SOCIETY

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2 THE KARACHI THEOSOPHICAL SOCIETY Motto: There is no religion higher than Truth The Theosophical Society was formed at New York, on November 17, The Karachi Theosophical Society, which is a branch of the Theosophical Society, was formed on December 21, The three declared objects of the Theosophical Society are: To form a nucleus of the Universal Brotherhood of Humanity, without distinction of race, creed, sex, caste or colour. To encourage the study of Comparative Religion, Philosophy and Science. To investigate unexplained laws of Nature and the power latent in man. FREEDOM OF THOUGHT As The Theosophical Society has spread far and wide over the world, and as members of all religions have become members of it without surrendering the special dogmas, teachings and beliefs of their respective faiths, it is thought desirable to emphasize the fact that there is no doctrine, no opinion, by whomsoever taught or held, that is in any way binding on any member of the Society, none which any member is not free to accept or reject. Approval of its three Objects is the sole condition of membership. No teacher or writer, from H. P. Blavatsky onwards, has any authority to impose his or her teachings or opinions on members. Every member has an equal right to follow any school of thought, but has no right to force the choice on any other. Neither a candidate for any office nor any voter can be rendered ineligible to stand or to vote, because of any opinion held, or because of membership in any school of thought. Opinions or beliefs neither bestow privileges nor inflict penalties. The Members of the General Council earnestly request every member of the Theosophical Society to maintain, defend and act upon these fundamental principles of the Society, and also fearlessly to exercise the right of liberty of thought and of expression thereof, within the limits of courtesy and consideration for others. (Text of Resolution passed by the General Council of the Theosophical Society) The Karachi Theosophical Society is not responsible for any statement in the journal unless made in an official document. 2

3 November / December 2006 THE KARACHI THEOSOPHIST The Journal of The Karachi Theosophical Society PROGRAMMES FOR THE MONTHS OF NOVEMBER AND DECEMBER 2006 THEOSOPHICAL STUDY CLASS Every Wednesday at 6:00 P.M. MEDITATION CLASS Facilitator: Mr. Ahmad Rasul Learn meditation and participate in a group meditation on First and Third Sunday of Every Month at 6:00 P.M. The practice of meditation promotes a focused and peaceful mind, harmonized emotions and freedom from tension and stress. YOGA CLASS Three days a week. Please contact librarian for details. The Karachi Theosophical Society Library The public are invited to use the library which contains an extensive collection of books on religion, mysticism, philosophy and comparative religion, as well as books on various other subjects. Terms for borrowing books may be ascertained by inquiry from the librarian. Library Timings: Weekdays: 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Sundays: 9:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Closed on notified public holidays This issue of THE KARACHI THEOSOPHIST has been printed and distributed under a grant from THE MAHTANI FOUNDATION The Karachi Theosophical Society Jamshed Memorial Hall (opp. Radio Pakistan) M.A. Jinnah Road Karachi 3

4 KARAMA GIVES RISE TO WISDOM Walter Ballesteros (Mr. Ballesteros was a veteran worker and lecturer of the Colombian section of the T.S) H.P.BLAVATSKY says in The Key to Theosophy that karma is the basic law of the universe, the fountain and origin of all the other laws, infallibly adjusting the effects to the cause in a wise, intelligent and appropriate way, so that we receive exactly the consequences of what we do. And in The Secret Doctrine she says that the eternal and immutable design of the Law of Karma is absolute harmony in the world of matter as well as in the world of spirit, and that therefore it is not karma which rewards or punishes us, but we ourselves, depending on whether we abide by or violate Nature s laws. Thus, it is quite reasonable to say that karma gives rise to wisdom. Our consciousness would continue unregenerate no matter how many times we reincarnate, if we do not receive the exact consequences of our actions; we would begin each life at the same zero point. We would obviously have no idea at all of what is justice, equity, kindness, truth, beauty and so many other virtues that thanks to this Law are beautifying and ennobling our lives. Unfortunately, karma is frequently misunderstood. Let us try to discuss some of the more serious misunderstandings. One of them arises from the fact that the consequences of our errors do not come immediately but much later. People argue that, for example, a pawnbroker piles up money in spite of his miserly behavior; they do not understand that he may be receiving the favorable fruits of some of his previous lives. Our circumstances do not permit us to learn at once all that we have to learn, but gradually we do. We should try to live rightly always, not out of fear or ambition, but because we want to fulfill our task in the Divine Plan. Karma is always offering us opportunities in accordance with our maturity. Some of us are quick to grasp the opportunities, others 4

5 not. Many persons are still unaware of the fact that their emotions and thoughts engender sadness or happiness in others as well as in themselves, depending on their quality. So, we might ask ourselves if we are studying Theosophy just to enjoy the placid contemplation of what we learn, or because we want to prepare ourselves to better fulfill our dharma. Why did we find Theosophy? Perhaps it was because we earnestly desired to help others even if we ourselves are still so much in need of being helped. We are receiving what we deserve. Karma prompts us to perfect ourselves by our own efforts, instead of depending on others. We should always be willing to help others as we have been helped by others. Another common misunderstanding consists in taking karma as rigid determinism. Karma can be modified. Never are we predetermined. The direction that our life is taking depends on our behaviour, past or present. When we have learnt something that we have to learn, it will not be necessary for the same lesson to be repeated. Therefore, let us not despair; let us open our eyes well in order to see what is being taught to us. We can be absolutely sure that the Divine will is that everything will become perfect. Among those who take karma as predestination are those who abstain from helping others saying that it is their karma. How do we know that the sufferer has not learned his lessons? It may be well within his karma that we help him. If we do not help, we lose an opportunity, we incur a new karmic debt, and no other chances will come to us of helping others; besides, our heart becomes harder, and the channel of communication with our soul becomes more obstructed. He who does not take every opportunity of service shows lack of love and excessive idleness. Karma will have to correct these two faults. Another wrong idea about karma is that it is sometimes good and sometimes bad. Karma is always beneficent. When suffering comes to us, what we have to find out is what lessons karma is trying to teach in order that we do not continue doing harm to humanity. For this is another great lesson that karma is trying to teach us: the UNITY of all. We are all members of one humanity; 5

6 we are humanity. To pay our karmic debts it is not necessary that we meet again the person we have harmed; our harm was to humanity, and our debt is to humanity and not to a particular person. Those who harm us are also part of humanity. We cannot help them if we feel a grudge. They too have contracted a dept to humanity as a whole. We should pity them and help them live in unity. Why is it that we find it so difficult to feel and live in unity? Simply because we are overcome by the heresy of separateness. To live in unity is the highest prize that life can give us. It will make us aware of the degree to which we are affecting others for good or for bad. It is not our personal perfection which we should be trying to obtain, but the perfection of humanity as a whole. That is the most dynamic aspect of the Law of Karma. Christians say that we should not put our confidence in the Law of Karma, but ask God to pardon our sins. Of course, God is a good and wise father who always pardons us. But part of his wisdom is to make us face the consequences of our sins so that we learn to sin no more. And that is what the Law of Karma does: it awakens our intuition and discrimination. They, the Christians, add that the light that is needed comes as a special Grace, and that is how it has come to all their saints. However, Theosophy explains that Divine Grace came to them, and will continue to come to all human beings when they deserve it. In other words Divine Grace is a karmic fruit. It will come gradually in accordance with what we do to purify our minds and hearts. Karma is giving us the incentive we need to clean our minds and hearts. Hence karma means action. No action, no karma, no wisdom. Flashes of Light or Grace will come to us in the measure we deserve them. May be Grace is what HPB calls an unveiled spiritual perception in her Golden Stairs. Grace or Intuition may be one of those latent powers to which the Third Object of the TS refers. It is like a seed that will grow in proportion to the efforts we make to cultivate it, not for its own good but for the good of 6

7 humanity. Divine Grace does not function whimsically but karmically. We do not need to invoke it. Let us feel it not only in our moment of meditation but always and everywhere. Let us remember always that truth which says that the soul of man is immortal and every man is the maker of his own destiny. Perhaps with a little change, we may say: Every man is the maker of the destiny of humanity, the dispenser of glory or gloom to humanity. Let us try to be worthy of the karma of loving action, which is the karma that engenders Wisdom. THE MYSTIC UNIFICATION OF MIND AND ACTION Einar Adalsteinsson (Mr. Adalsteinsson is the General Secretary of the TS in Iceland) A short address at the European Congress, Boson, Sweden, 1995 UNIFICATION of mind and action - what does it imply? Does it mean that we should be mindful in our actions, careful, cautious and thoughtful? Or does it perhaps imply spontaneity, action from the heart, action free from thought? Unification means that there is no distance, no separation, no afterthought, no preconception, no reaction, and no resistance. How is it possible to act in such directness? It all begins with a bit of insight, a moment of profound liberating understanding, bringing with it a fragrance of joyous feeling. You don t really know how and whence it came. It may go, it may stay for a while, it may melt slowly away, or it may take over your whole being in a profound state of equanimity, tranquility, harmony, silence - and unity complete all-empowering oneness of All-Being. And there is a path to it! That path is based on the very law of unity, and to enter that path one has to have perceived at least some fragrance of the universal experience of mystical consciousness. He, who knows the universal unity as fact, will never go astray, never leave the path. He knows that there is a universal meaning to all life and he strives unwaveringly to tune the purpose of his own life to that one meaning. He knows the art of giving, giving from the bottom of the 7

8 heart, and the art of receiving, which again is a gift. He knows that forgiveness is not a merciful deed to the un-forgiven, but a necessity for peace of mind and a peaceful world. He knows the real meaning of seeing, of understanding profoundly, of pure insight, of unconditional universal love. And he knows that they always go together. He perceives the world as a stream of events, unified beyond time and space, and he knows himself as both a single drop as well as the wholeness of that universal stream. Behind that stream he can feel the living presence of All Being, the gentle but powerful, living presence of her invisible majesty. He takes on himself the difficult and time-consuming task, to make straight his life, his relationships, putting straight the myriads of entanglements, his dependencies, his conditionings, habits and subconscious reactions. In the meditative quiet mind he discovers that will, which is the softest and quietest of all conscious states but also the most powerful one. Slowly but surely there emerges a sprout of something entirely new within, a flower of beauty never seen, a tree of life eternal. There is now a profound holiness in his life. The feeling of the Godhead never leaves his consciousness. Every single day he wakes up to its quiet powerful silence. It becomes his light throughout the day, bringing with it the wisdom of absolute fullness and a security beyond insecurity. Being nothing he owns the entire world. He walks on, casting no shadows, leaving no footprints, a light without a source, mild and soothing for the suffering that he is for ever one with. For every minute you are angry with someone, you lose 60 seconds of happiness that you can never get back. 8

9 THE WAY TO WISDOM Silvia Blajer [Ms. Blajer is the General Secretary of the Argentine Section, TS.] The word Path brings up the image of a road, because we all walk by a road everyday to move from one place to another. There is a place where one starts walking and another where one arrives. So the idea of a Path is always related with the idea of fulfilling an aim. On the way of wisdom, the starting point is nowisdom and along a road that leads to wisdom. We have with us valuable literature about the conditions required to attain Wisdom. There are marvelous teachings in The Voice of the Silence, Light on the Path, in Buddhist doctrine and in The Mahatma Letters to A.P Sinnett. Through HPB we received the instructions known as the Golden Stairs. The Golden Stairs start with Behold the Truth before you and then it lists twelve steps, which can be grouped in three stages referring to three different aspects necessary to achieve the goal. The first five steps are: a clean life, an open mind, a pure heart, an eager intellect, an unveiled spiritual perception. We see here the work that the aspirant must do on his own nature. Each one of these steps deserves deep study. But we shall refer only to some of them. A pure life refers both to the things we must not do and to those we must do; eliminate alcohol and cigarette consumption, put aside unsuitable foods, replacing them by others which may keep our body healthy. Purity does not refer only to physical cleanliness, but to our whole way of living - how we earn our money, how we speak and many other things. In the philosophy of yoga these steps are referred to as Yama and Niyama. There is a wonderful teaching about this line in the book The Little Prince by A. de Saint Exupery. On the little Prince s planet there is danger from the gigantic trees called Baobabs. The Prince points 9

10 out that on his and on all planets, there are good and bad plants as a result of good and bad seeds. They are asleep in the secrecy of the earth until one of them decides to become awake. If a Baobab is not cut off in time, it invades the whole planet; its roots make holes in the earth. Therefore, as a matter of discipline, after freshening himself up every morning, the little Prince had to do a careful cleaning of the planet. Regular attention must indeed be given to cut off the Baobabs as soon as one notes the difference between them and the rose plant, because at the stage of saplings, they look very much alike. It is a boring task, but an easy one. The story points out clearly the danger that lack of attention and discipline presents. One may easily be confused between defects and virtues, and even become proud of some weaknesses, considering them as something nice in our character. Often, we hear phrases such as I do not like order, I love eating, I am such and such and cannot change. And these little defects keep growing until we are unable to eliminate them. The second stage has four steps: a brotherliness for all, a readiness to give and receive advice and instruction, a loyal sense of duty to the Teacher, a willing obedience to the behests of Truth, once we have placed our confidence in, and believe that Teacher to be in possession of it. The first refers to our fellow seekers on the way. Affection is easy when disagreement does not exist, but on this path we must be in harmony with all those with whom we have to work. Lack of harmony in a group means lack of progress for the whole. Advice and instruction can be given and received rightly only if there is harmony, because we cannot keep somebody waiting who can tell us what we have to do with our lives, nor go on advising those who do not ask for advice. We must be alert to learn when there is an opportunity, to be willing to advise if someone asks for it, or if we see that it is beneficial. Even thought we might not be wise, if we are sincere, we can be of help. As The Voice of the 10

11 Silence says, if we cannot be big suns, we can become humble planets; and as the evening star casts light on the road for those who follow it in the midst of darkness, there is always somebody in greater darkness whom our weak light can illuminate. Then comes the third stage with three steps: Courageous endurance of personal injustice, a brave declaration of principles, and a valiant defense of those who are unjustly attacked. These steps have their origin in the attacks which HPB suffered. Many of her colleagues did not dare to make a brave declaration of principles and defend HBP from the unjust attacks she was facing. But these words have not lost their relevance since then, and we must take them into consideration. The Golden Stairs go on to say a constant eye to the ideal of human progression and perfection which the Secret Science depicts, which points to the meaning and motivation of the former steps. It means never putting aside the object of human progress and perfection, as the only safeguard against going astray from the road. It is only by the development of spiritual qualities that we can wisely help the great orphan humanity. As the Master KH pointed out, we must help to modify public opinion, inculcating noble and high concepts of public and private duties which are the basis of all spiritual progress. This road, as he points out, is for him who has a loving heart for humanity, who is capable of feeling deeply the idea of a practical and regenerative brotherhood. Only by laboriously climbing these steps, the aspirant may reach the temple of Divine Wisdom Theosophy- a synonym for Eternal Truth. HPB said: These rules indicate the direction which must be taken by those who wish to work for the divine Task. These rules are not of my making, nor yours; they are eternal because they are expressions of the laws of Nature. Our cause is the cause of Universal Brotherhood and the uplifting of the race. 11

12 THE BEAUTY OF MATHS 1 x 8+1= 9 12 x 8+2= x 8+3= x 8+4= x 8+5= x 8+6= x 8+7= x 8+8= x 8+9= x 9+2= x 9+3= x 9+4= x 9+5= x 9+6= x 9+7= x 9+8= x 9+9= x 9=10= x 9+7=88 98 x 9+6= x 9+5= x 9+4= x 9+3= x 9+2= x 9+3= x 9+0= x 1= 1 11 x 11= x 111= x 1111= x 11111= x = x = x = x =

13 The Way of Meditation He who does not find The way of meditation cannot reach Emancipation and enlightenment. But thou wilt find the way of Holy Thought; With mind made calm and steadfast, thou wilt see The Permanent amid the mutable, The Truth eternal in the things that change: Thou wilt behold the Perfect Law: Cosmos From Chaos rises when the conquered self Lies underneath man s heel: Love be thy strength! Look on the passion tortured multitudes And have compassion on them; know their pain By thy long sorrow ended. Thou wilt come To perfect peace, and so wilt bless the world, Leading unto the High and Holy Way The feet of them that seek. --- And now I go To my Abode; go thou unto thy work. -James Allen 13

16 (Theosophical Study Class) 6:00 (Meditation Class) 6:00 " " (Yoga Class) : 12:30 9:30 : 7:00 10:00 : : 16

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The Theosophical Society in England. DIPLOMA in THEOSOPHY PROSPECTUS 2019

The Theosophical Society in England DIPLOMA in THEOSOPHY PROSPECTUS 2019 Inaugurated July 2010 If you need a larger print version of the Prospectus, Application Form or Course Material, please telephone: