Observing the Sacredness of Daily Life
Carlos Cardoso Aveline
* One’s will is strengthened by facing obstacles.
* Detachment makes it possible to attain stability.
* Goodwill, discernment and persistence are three factors in the formula for victory.
* One for all, and all for one. And the law of reciprocity must be lived in the territory of a profound ethics and sincerity.
* Love is the perception of a dynamic and creative unity, among whose practical results inner peace is central.
* The secrets of life and death are the same, and one needs to learn how to die, in order to know how to live. [1]
* Short term effectiveness is less important than the long-term one. True efficiency is often invisible because of one basic factor: it is not superficial.
* Freedom from personal expectations is essential to the art of Right Action. Expectations are a key factor in distorting reality and destroying the balance in human relationships.
* One cannot make progress towards truth by protecting error and falsehood. Illusions must be fought, and the fight against them is often an ugly thing to see, outwardly, for its beauty is hidden.
* The life of a student of theosophy makes it necessary to develop a degree of impersonality. He must concentrate his consciousness on its noblest possible point – situated in the heart – and act from this point. [2]
* Every single thought generates karma, and its consequences may be conducive to happiness or otherwise. Therefore the practice of right thinking is necessary for the student of theosophy to attain liberation from the causes of pain.
* The only true temple exists in the mind and the heart of each individual. It is correct therefore to develop the will necessary to strengthen our relation to this inner sanctuary along the 24 hours of every day.
* No one can avoid the law of karma by using the self-deluding trick of not thinking about it, or by the use of elegant words. Whether one likes it or not, the way to happiness includes a conscious self-responsibility in every situation of life, both short-term and long-term.
* A calm concentration of mind must be obtained while one fulfils his duties in daily life. Everything manifested is subject to the tidal waves of karma. Outer oscillation adds extra strength to inner one-pointedness.
* The authentic learning is an autonomous process, along which we must abandon our pet-illusions in order to obtain new and better points of view. And even these wider views of truth will be partial, and will have to be constantly re-examined in the future. [3]
* Total flexibility, and absolute firmness; unlimited renunciation, and a decision to victoriously defend that which must be defended; deep silence within, and the power to make the right mantra sound; these are a few qualities necessary to the Pilgrim along the road.
* The first step to freedom is understanding. Before one can get rid of any form of ignorance, it is necessary to comprehend how it works and observe with detachment the cyclic, recurrent ways it expresses itself in daily life.
* If one lives in a society whose citizens are constantly misled by anxiety, it may be a good idea to keep calm on one’s own merit, to listen to one’s heart and avoid automatic forms of behavior. Self-responsibility and an ability to make proper decisions in life are necessary in order to be better able to learn.
* A kind attitude to all beings is essential to Chinese philosophy and to theosophy as well. It does not include hypocrisy, as Confucius taught in ancient times and Lin Yutang clarified in the 20th century. A severe and kind frankness preserves respect; it helps prepare and maintain peace. Hypocrisy, on the other hand, tends to destroy mutual respect and tolerance and constitutes a central factor in the preparation of open conflict, whether physical or not.
* One has to know oneself in order to forget oneself. And one must forget oneself, in order to make progress in the search for eternal truth. “To forget oneself” means to be able to practice self-observation with the eyes of an impersonal love for truth. Once this takes place, one easily concentrates mind and soul on the study of universal laws.
* When the students of esoteric philosophy think they are suffering in an intense way, they must observe what level or sector of their consciousness feels pain. Is their pain situated on a noble level of perception, as in the uncomfortable feeling of having done something wrong? Or of having caused pain to one who did not deserve it? Or of not being able to do something sacred which one should have done? From such a pain good lessons emerge. Egotistic forms of suffering, on the other hand, should not make the student feel too much self-pity. Emotional selfishness is not included in the teachings of theosophy. Compassion is the law of the universe.
NOTES:
[1] Based on a statement made by a Master: see “The Mahatma Letters”, Letter LXV, p. 365.
[2] Translated from the article “A Chave do Discernimento” (“The Key to Discernment”).
[3] From the article “David Bohm, o Brasil e Krishnamurti”, by Carlos Cardoso Aveline.
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An initial version of the above collection of thoughts was anonymously published in the December 2014 edition of “The Aquarian Theosophist”.
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An initial version of the above collection of thoughts was anonymously published in the December 2014 edition of “The Aquarian Theosophist”.
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On the role of the esoteric movement in the ethical awakening of mankind during the 21st century, see the book “The Fire and Light of Theosophical Literature”, by Carlos Cardoso Aveline.
Published in 2013 by The Aquarian Theosophist, the volume has 255 pages and can be obtained through Amazon Books.
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