Lucifer7, July 2008
Contents
Short Quotes
New on Katinka Hesselink Net
New spirituality on squidoo
Theosophical Elections: Radha Burnier for another 7 years
What is the Self?
Zen Story
Correspondence
Short Quotes
Talbot Mundy, Queen Cleopatra
The wise will ever modify a plan, and only fools are
obstinate. But
what the gods have disapproved they wipe out utterly.
H.P. Blavatsky, Voice of the Silence, 17.
Saith the Great Law: "In order to become the knower
of
ALL-SELF, thou hast first of Self to be the knower.
N. Sri Ram, Thoughts For Aspirants, Second Series
Self-knowledge, even in its beginnings, gives rise to wisdom.
Paul Brunton, The Inner Reality, Chapter V
The kingdom of heaven is nothing more or less than a condition
of
inward
freedom.
Marie Beljan
Real kindness requires realism.
I made giant squid! This means an editorial team decided my 65 pages on squidoo were of excellent quality (or at least fifty were).
Theosophical Elections: Radha Burnier for another 7 years
I
confess myself disappointed: the results of the elections are in, and
Radha Burnier won again. I guess this means John Algeo
will remain vice president. It's to be hoped that come next election
some younger candidates (say in their fifties or something) will be
nominated. I hope we aren't heading for a situation where it's
tradition for the president to die before a new one gets instated.
What is the Self?
H. T. Edge, Theosophical Forum, February, 1941
"A self is not something you are endowed with at
birth. It
is something you are continually creating as you live your day-to-day
life."
The above was found in The Reader's Digest, and is given as
being
adapted from a book called The Self You Have to Live With, by Winfred
Rhoades. As we do not know what else the author may have said, we
cannot presume to
comment on his views; but the quotation serves as a convenient text for
remarks
on the problem of what constitutes a Self.
There are those who argue that the Self is simply the
sum-total of
out mental states, built up bit by bit in the way described. In this
case however the Self would be a mere abstraction, a noun of multitude
as the grammarians might say. Or at best it would be a machine, made by
assembling parts, instead of being an organism with parts built around
a vital germ. No organism can be created by the mere assemblage of
parts. We need to know who or what
it is that brings all these various elements together and unites them
into
a whole. The mental states, habits, ideas, emotions, memories, etc., do
not constitute the Self, they display it. They are the garments in
which the Self clothes itself. When dissolution takes place, it is
certain that the phantasmagoria which we have been calling ourself will
dissolve; but this
does not mean that nothing will be left. It means a change similar to
what
we undergo during life, but of a greater degree. Myself of today is the
same,
and yet not the same, as myself of forty years ago. No doubt the
ultimate
Self, the Atman, is a universal principle; but we know that in each man
this
Self gathers to itself skandhas or attributes or vehicles (one is
obliged
to use vague words), which give to each human being his own distinct
individuality.
When the attributes peculiar to physical life are dispersed, there
still
remain attributes proper to other planes. Our attempts to imagine this
Self,
as it will be after physical death, will remain deceptive and futile
until
we have lifted some veils of initiation; and even then it will not be
possible to put what we see into ideas understandable to the ordinary
intellect.
What we learn in books is like a map of the country which we shall
enter;
it points the way but does not reveal the details.
Zen Story
Source unknown, from D.P., Protogonos 33, September 1998
There once lived a great warrior. Though quite old, he still
was
able
to defeat any challenger. His reputation extended far and wide
throughout
the land and many students gathered to study under him.
One day an infamous young warrior arrived at the village. He
was
determined to be the first man to defeat the great master. Along with
his strength, he had an uncanny ability to spot and exploit any
weakness in an opponent. He would wait for his opponent to make the
first move, thus revealing a
weakness, and then would strike with merciless force and lightning
speed.
No one had ever lasted with him in a match beyond the first move,
Much against the advice of his concerned students, the old
master
gladly accepted the young warrior's challenge. As the two squared off
for battle, the young warrior began to hurl insults at the old master.
He threw dirt and spit in his face. For hours he verbally assaulted him
with every curse and insult known to mankind. But the old warrior
merely stood there motionless and calm. Finally, the young warrior
exhausted himself. Knowing he was
defeated, he left feeling shamed.
Somewhat disappointed that he did not fight the insolent
youth, the
students gathered around the old master and questioned him. "How could
you endure such an indignity? How did you drive him away?"
"If someone comes to give you a gift and you do not receive
it," the
master replied, "to whom does the gift belong?"
Correspondence
Just a note to say hello and thank you for all the effort you
have put into this site. real generosity, greatly appreciated. have you
read R.D. Liang's book The Politics of Experience? Could not a
different path of conditioning our children bring about a world
attitude in time that could be the very essence of what people like
Krishnamurti comment about. Knowing who we are, what we are doing and
why we are doing it? Is the quote below valid to you. Think Liang is
correct here in what he says:
"In order to rationalize our industrial-military complex, we
have to destroy our capacity to see clearly any more what is in front
of, and to imagine what is beyond, our noses. Long before a
thermonuclear war can come about, we have had to lay waste to our own
sanity. We begin with the children. It is imperative to catch them in
time. Without the most thorough and rapid brainwashing
their minds would see through our dirty tricks. Children are
not yet fools, but we shall turn them into imbeciles like ourselves,
with high I.Q.'s, if possible.
From the moment of birth, when the Stone Age baby confronts
the twentieth-century mother, the baby is subjected to those forces of
violence, called love, as its mother and father, and their parents and
their parents before them, have been. These forces are mainly concerned
with destroying most of its potentialities, and on the whole this
enterprise is successful. By the time the new human being is fifteen or
so, we are left with a being like ourselves, a half-crazed creature
more or less adjusted to a mad world. This is normality in our present
age.
Love and violence, properly speaking, are polar opposites.
Love lets the other be, but with affection and concern. Violence
attempts to constrain the other's freedom, to force him to act in the
way we desire, but with ultimate lack of concern, with indifference to
the other's own existence or destiny.
We are effectively destroying ourselves by violence
masquerading as love."
So much we do is done without any reflection at all. Reaction.
So many aspects of life are just overlooked. We use words to
communicate, give them meaning which, in many cases, is not accurate.
So many examples. Take the word Justice. In America with its Christian
roots that word means to be right, to be fair. That is how a dictionary
would define justice. So here in the USA, when the state executes a
condemned man, they say "Justice has been done." Where is the rightness
and fairness in killing a living being? How do those that loved the
condemned man get justice from his death? How do those that loved the
victim realize justice by the state killing someone? So, in the USA we
use the word justice when in fact we mean punishment, extracting a
pound of flesh for a perceived wrong, retribution, vengeance, etc. As
H. I. Khan said "justice is knowing when to say I must not do. this."
Is that alone not fair and right? If we are going to take the path of
conditioning folks let us at least do it so that at least some of the
skills to live a life full of love and understanding have been placed
into our childrens minds?
Thanks again for the lovely site. me ke aloha pumehana,
michael evans
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