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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