Living Theosophy - Anton Rozman

Anton Rozman – Slovenia

Our title seems to imply that, if we are able actually to live Theosophy, we are on the way to make it a living force in our world. So, what kind of living is living Theosophy? Whether we understand Theosophy as a world view that gives meaning and purpose to life, as an Ageless or Ancient Wisdom about life, or as a way of life, we are dealing with life itself.

In her article "The Science of Life" (Collected Writings 8:243-9), HPB translates the following words of Count Leo Tolstoy: "The question inseparable from the idea of life is not whence life, but how one should live that life . . .  . But how do I cognize life in myself? . . . And when I speak of life, know that the idea of it is indissolubly connected in my conceptions with that of conscious life. No other life is known to me except conscious life, nor can it be known to anyone else." Further, "Our life, ever since we became conscious of it, is a pendulum-like motion between two limits. One limit is an absolute unconcern for the life of the infinite Universe, an energy directed only toward the gratification of one's own personality. The other limit is a complete renunciation of that personality, the greatest concern with the life of the infinite universe, in full accord with it, the transfer of all our desires and good will from one’s self, to that infinite universe and all the creatures outside of us.  The nearer to the first limit, the less life and bliss, the closer to the second, the more life and bliss. Therefore, man is ever moving from one end to the other . . . . THIS MOTION IS LIFE ITSELF. . . . A man who conceives life such as he finds it in his consciousness, knows neither misery, nor death: for all the good in life for him is in the subjection of his animal to the law of reason, to do which is not only in his power, but takes place unavoidably in him . . . . we know naught about the death of conscious mind, nor can we know anything of it, just because that conscious mind is the very life itself . . . . The life of man is an aspiration to bliss, and that which he aspires to is given to him. The light lit in the soul of man is bliss and life."

HPB concludes that these words sound "like the echo of the finest teachings of the universal ethics of true Theosophy . . . . To fail to solve the problem contained in it was to be doomed to sure death, as . . . . [h]e who lives for Self, and only for Self, will surely die." In this sense, living Theosophy is therefore an ever renewing commitment that one will aspire to "seek truth for its own sake and to crave knowledge in order to benefit others" and to achieve recognition of the fundamental unity of life as "a spontaneous response of the heart" that will lead one to "build more creative relationships with all people" and to develop a greater "sense of social responsibility and empathy with all forms of life" (from the Canadian Theosophical Association’s pamphlets "What Is Theosophy?" and "We Are Closer Than You Think!").

Every student of Theosophy is by necessity a solitary traveller upon the path that leads toward awakening one’s higher potentials of understanding, intuition, love, compassion, and creativity. It is therefore up to each of us to discover individual ways for expressing these potentials and to learn how to blend with others into a symphony of collaboration. Learning this art of collaboration is the most important ability that we, as individual students and as members of Theosophical organizations, need to acquire.

Students of Theosophy often treat knowledge about the principles of human relationships as too profane for serious consideration, but at the same time we exhibit a serious inability to overcome our different points of view when we should come to some conclusion on how to promote Theosophy or even on what Theosophy actually is. Without a capacity for collaboration, all our individual efforts are almost worthless and conceal a selfishness that prevents us from asserting brotherhood as a living reality.

 

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