Thomas Martinovich – Hungary

“Don’t worry – you can’t fall out of the Universe!” (by an unknown sage)

The main teaching of (modern) Theosophy is that the whole world – including us, as parts of it – is one: a complete unity, without any separated parts. But to experience it as a reality is quite difficult. Why?

Our languages are good mirrors showing our way of thinking: “me and the others,” “me and the world,” “me and God,” – or “my holdings and the others’,” that is, the separation ourselves from the rest of the world.

But how funny this can be, is shown by the following. Imagine an ocean fish that says: “this (part of the) water is mine” or “me and the ocean.” – Is it really possible to separate the fish from the water in which it is living? Or is it only an illusion of the fish?

In the world of many and of the differences, on the surface of life, it is relative easy to see some direct causes of events, but it is more difficult to recognize any similarities between them. We have to remember and need some kind of inner wondering to look deeper, under the surface. Doing so, we can see behind the many cases not only the similarities, but the analogies – and behind them some correlations as well. Being curious enough we can recognize that behind the correlations there are some common causes, which are the shells of some laws. But what is behind the whole of laws? Nature, the world, God – or whatever you call it.

During the history of humanity – according to the various human temperaments – different methods were developed to help getting this experience. They can be classified in three main groups: into the way of knowledge (or jnana yoga), into the way of faith (or bhakti yoga), and into the way of activity (or karma yoga) – but all three of them are leading to the same end, to the wisdom (or raja yoga).

These ways are the following:

First, to go step by step along the way of the chain mentioned above (cause  phenomenon  direct cause  similarity  analogy  correlation  common cause  law  whole of the laws  nature, world, God) is a quite long procedure. It is the way of knowledge, as in modern sciences, and needs a lot of endurance. Nowadays this is the only “officially accepted” method, mostly between so-called erudite people – except the last two steps, which are taken only by a few.

The second main way is the way of faith – the way of the various religions – which is trying the direct way, eliminating all the first steps and looking only at the very last one. Nowadays – as in earlier centuries – few people have the firm and changeless faith needed for this way.

The third and most common way nowadays is the way of activity – living and working without any “fancy” thoughts and behavior. But it has also an interesting side-road: to see and enjoy the beauty of the nature without any special thoughts, as these lines by an unknown poet versicle suggest:

Take time for the little things,

The common pleasures each day brings,

The glory of the springtime flowers,

The beauty of the morning hours,

The wealth of nature's bright array,

The quiet time that ends each day.

Yes, take time for the little things

And for the pleasure each one brings,

And in these little things you'll see

How wonderful each day can be.

Trying to follow that advice and recognize the beauty and the harmony in the nature has a very special effect: the “me and the outer world” dissolves and what remains is an entire experience of unity! The more consciously we can enjoy the beauty and harmony around us, the deeper will be this experience. Practising it leads to the recognition, that our inner peace and harmony grows also. It is worth to try it!

Although the beginnings all of these ways seem quite different, by collecting more and more experiences we recognize that some methods of the other two are also needed: the way of knowledge needs some faith and a lot of activity, the way of faith needs some knowledge and a lot of activity, and the way of activity needs also some faith and some knowledge. All three show the same procedure: the route is going from the many to the one, from the differences to the unity.

Closing these subjective reflections, let us go as deep as possible into this little invocation by Annie Besant:

O Hidden Life, vibrant in every atom,

O Hidden Light, shining in every creature,

O Hidden Love, embracing all in oneness,

May each who feels himself as one with Thee,

Know he is therefore one with every other.