Is there a way of Life?
Is there a way of life that we can adopt?
Regulating one’s own life is what we do when we understand things in a right perspective. Knowledge and updating one’s understanding each day, changing one’s attitudes and opinions, based on experience obtained, is also known to us. Sometimes we may think that there is nothing in our nature that needs a change. Scriptural knowledge comes to our aid in our understanding. It is not necessary to take it as an ‘authority’, but consideration as to its utility and its contextual examination is necessary.
A preliminary understanding of human nature, its processes, relationship with others, as well as Nature, is the basic need. Non-personal observation and non-judgmental attitude in daily living is helpful. These days, terms such as Yoga and Meditation have gained much currency and are advocated for practice. Words do not mean the same thing to all, cannot even describe the total meaning of the term. Much is left to imagination, reflection and deeper consideration.
Yoga and Meditation are normally associated with religion and philosophy. Now, science is also giving currency to the practices of yoga and meditation. Life is enjoyed in layers and levels. Mind plays a conspicuous role in life. Our life is lived in many planes of nature, not just at the physical level. We consciously or unconsciously live in three worlds, physical, emotional and intellectual. There is need to obtain coordination among these three levels. There can be higher laws of life and they ought to be adopted if the life is to become Total and Blissful. We see competition and comparison playing vital role. We often say, the world is full of competition and unless we acquire skill to be on the top we cannot survive. These views require a close analysis. No knowledge could be a proprietary theme of a particular group.
Friendliness is a quality natural to us. But we come across many enemies, named and unnamed, known and unknown. There can be no external enemy; our internal nature may breed certain traits that are inimical to the basic nature. Not knowing about them, it is possible we wage wars against life, its situation and events. We may build a life that is not compatible with the Compassion we ought to contain and carry with us.
Realizing that there is much gross/crude nature associated with us and cultivating subtler aspects of culture and enlightenment would make our life well congenial and comfortable. There has to be Reverence to Life and we have to assume responsibility for life. We must be prepared to share our life, our knowledge with others. No one’s life is solitary. We are part of a net work of relationships and/or a web of Life. We are tiny constituents of One Globe.
Developing humaneness and moving up the level of Divinity is natural sequence of our life. We have the potential for such orientation. Initially, it may need some practice coupled by conviction. As the adage is, it is only ‘constant practice’ that makes us ‘perfect’. Perfection is a mark of divinity. Humanity, essentially a constituent of divinity, can flower in the Divine Garden. We are designed for that, may be growing in the direction unconsciously; yet we can do that consciously and help the Nature.
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Comment
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Comment by Bill Keidan on May 29, 2012 at 5:32pm
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MK, Light of The Sanctuary - The Occult Diary of Geoffrey Hodson was initially made available by The Theosophical Publishers in The Philippines at a very reasonable and affordable price, it is not their fault that the second-hand book market seems to have inflated the value of this important document. As a matter of fact The Theosophical Society generally has been very indulgent in not issuing take-down notices or prosecuting people who have infringed their copyright precisely because of the spiritual component that you refer to, but it costs money to put a published book out to the world and the law therefore reasonably protects people's intellectual property rights in order to recover that expense and also make a profit - that much seems reasonable to me. If I find that .pdf link I will post it here and individuals can decide for themself whether they would like to download it instead of buying the book. Whatever the outcome I suggest that for certain types of spiritual aspirants some books cannot be missed - this I think being one of them.
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Moderator Comment by M K Ramadoss on May 29, 2012 at 11:22am -
I am great believer in the axiom that all good things in life are free. This applies to all spiritual material. In Kali Yuga, money seems to come first even when we all work on spiritual matters. The movers and shakers in spiritual publishing like theosophical are blind to this as evidenced by many publications which are too pricey that only fat cats can afford. In especially third world countries there are many eager souls hungry for knowledge and cannot afford Western prices. Today with Internet and digital medium materials can be distributed for pennies. Alas, movers and shakers seem to be totally blind to this stark fact. I have been crying for all material to be made available as pdf files for downloading; after all there is minuscule number of men and women who are interested in these topics and I think it is the duty of every one to do what we can. When copyright issues comes, these movers and shakers show up their real nature as I have seen first hand. It is Kali Yuga!!!
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Anyone who understood the implications inherent in Light of the Sanctuary - the Occult Diary of Geoffrey Hodson and authored by his wife Sanda Hodson, relating to the pinnacle of human training and achievement known as The Path Ideal, would probably willingly pay US$600 for a copy of this book if they couldn't get it anywhere else. But to be quite honest about the situation this book could be easily picked up at a much lesser cost by scouring Theosophical bookstores or liaising with theosophical friends. As I say there used to be a download on the web where a pdf copy was available. There is a saying, "A word to the wise is sufficient" - if someone really is intent on wisdom and they have reason to believe that vital information is contained in a book such as this - they will find a way to get hold of it.
And it is true to say that "The Path" is not for everyone, that is because not everyone is at the stage where they can embrace it, or to put it more accurately, cannot give up their personal attachments for the impersonal service of the world. Yet, it is my belief that all genuine paths lead to The Path, and in the fullness of time all human beings will eventually enter The Path, apart from those few who decide that they want to go in the other direction - the direction that leads to extinction - a rather horrible thought that one would ever want to pursue an activity that will eventually lead to having to start the evolutionary journey all over again!Those people who are reading this entry must in my opinion be at least within range of The Path, otherwise they would have their attention focussed at some other level. Fortunate indeed are they if they can read the Masters' detailed revelations to their most recent theosophical agent, Geoffrey Hodson, in these very valuable extracts from his Occult Diary.
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Moderator Comment by M K Ramadoss on May 28, 2012 at 10:12pm -
Just checked and found Amazon has used copies of Hodson's book for $100 - $235. Still the price is too high for an average enthusiast to buy it. The movers and shakers in spiritual (theosophical) publishing seem to be more driven by business than making publications easily available as pdf files on internet. Copyright is a handy excuse to prevent pdf files getting circulated.
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Moderator Comment by M K Ramadoss on May 28, 2012 at 2:14pm -
last time I inquired, the book was sold for as high as US$600 and with no sign of reprinting. When such is the case it does not surprise that a determined poor theosophist will find a copy in today's scanner world. Not making the book available for the poor theosophist is a dog in the manger policy. Hopefully the copyright holders will see the light and put theosophical principles above profit. If the copyright holder needs help in converting the book to pdf, I can help, of course for free! More later.
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Service and sacrifice bring people to the jumping off point in the spiritual life, culminating in eventually forcing their adept teacher to accept them as pupils - the point being that they have already rendered themselves teachable by that time. Even something as apparently unrelated as kindness (on a vast scale) gives karmic opportunities either in this or future lives for greater opportunities of co-operation with the Great Plan of spiritual evolution. The real cause and effect of these matters is hidden from view, but there have been a few interesting studies suggestive that this is the case (e.g. Heirs to Eternity by Clarice Toyne). Actually there is or was a pdf version of Mr. Hodson's Occult Diary online, probably a pirated version. The subject of intellectual property rights is an issue for our time, I don't think you can expect copyright holders to automatically make their works available freely, but I would agree that with a book of such importance as this, it would be helpful to the world to allow it to be done or not worry too much about it if someone else did it.
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Moderator Comment by M K Ramadoss on May 28, 2012 at 12:51pm -
Agreed.
I try to make life of everyone I meet every day a little better. Sometimes you succeed and other time you do not see the success. There is a joy in seeing others happy and smiling. One has to try and see for ourself. Happiness is contagious.
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Comment by Ludo Van Dun on May 28, 2012 at 12:47pm
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I think time, nature and evolution will force men into a way of life. Right now, the strongest, most powerfull men dictate the way of life, supported by economy and media. But once there wil be a time that only the most humble and tolerant people that can live as one brotherhood together with nature will survive. This is my personal meaning. If you work on yourselve that will automatcly have an influence on people that are close to you. So if many people can give a good example it wil infleunce everyone. I just wich it was so easy as it sounds.
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Moderator Comment by M K Ramadoss on May 28, 2012 at 10:26am -
I am familiar with Hodson’s book (I have a copy) which is out of print and have always wondered why a pdf version is not available for the theosophists and others.
Our work is here and now. I would act immediately with the best information and understanding available since I cannot afford to lose time. The Adepts who are always willing to help anyone & can find us easily and may already be helping us unknown to us. Unless we try to work for peace and happiness everywhere, I think we cannot move forward in our own personal quest of spirituality. In my opinion, few basic guidelines is all that is needed.
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MK two interesting themes here: 1) It is indeed hard to be embodied in the physical world without actually acting upon one's own understanding and judgement, even if one at times gets it wrong. What I was hinting at without spending a lot of time going into it, were factors relevant to those who would essay the higher reaches of the planetary educational system. Not everyone understands that entry to this funnel depends far more upon kindness, compassion and selflessness than intellectual activity or even disciplines of meditation or spiritual exercises, which may be helpful if one's motives and attitudes in the aforesaid areas are solid, but may not work very well if they are not in place. To know what we need and when we need it is something arguably which many aspirants cannot know with the limited faculties that they curently possess, but is always known to their Master who sees them coming from afar, and often puts growth opportunities in their way in order to see how they respond. I would point out for thoughtful people two interesting quotations - one from The Lord Gautama Buddha, who told us that at a certain stage in the aspirant's development it was necessary to meet the "kalyanamitra" a senior in the spiritual life who befriends one; and a very revealing passage in Geoffrey Hodson's Occult Diary in which his adept guru the Master Polidorus, gives him this piece of vital information, which many of us suspected but had not been confirmed until now: "When a student and practitioner of yoga reaches the required state of advancement, he always comes under the direction of a Guru .... Every yogi who has attained a certain degree of renunciation, self-purification, and at least the beginnings of Causal consciousness, comes under a Guru.... In this Fifth Race period no one can break through from the rupa into the arupa worlds without help." pp 269 - 70. In my opinion anyone who is at all serious about reaching their maximum potential in the spiritual life, especially as part of embracing the Bodhisattva Ideal, ought to read this passage in full - it will point them in the right direction and save them a lot of unnecessary suffering. And we should also remember that even The Great Ones can but point the way - some see it sooner rather than later and within a few lives of most intense effort and service achieve the destiny of the human kingdom.
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