Tim Boyd – India, USA
Recently, while visiting with members of the Theosophical Society (TS) in Italy, I was asked for an interview. A film about the TS in Italy’s history was being made and the director thought a few questions with the International President might be useful. The questions were few in number, maybe five or six. Most were historical or related to the teachings of Theosophy, but the final question was different. It was: If you were to write a message in a bottle and entrust it to the sea, what would you write?
As someone who frequently speaks to groups of people, I recognize a need to be aware of the audience for whom the message is intended. In my case, most often it is either members of the TS, or spiritually inclined people. The point of such awareness is to identify areas of interest or involvement that connect us. A message in a bottle does not permit such analysis. Anyone, anywhere, at any time could be the recipient. As I understand it, the oldest such message was found 101 years after it was dropped in the water. The longest distance was a bottle that travelled from England to Perth, Australia — 14,500 km.
The author. Read more about Tim Boyd by clicking on the photo
The message that I proposed was as compact and easily understood as possible and hopefully invited a depth of thought beyond the words. It was five words: “Trust. Be open. Do something.” For me these are big ideas that can resonate with anyone — ideas which we all understand at some level, but which can reveal ever-expanding levels of meaning according to our own unfoldment and engagement. Having answered the film director’s question I felt satisfied that our interview had come to an end; the cameras would stop rolling and the microphones would be removed. Nothing more needed to be said. The message spoke for itself. Of course, the director then asked me to elaborate. Here is the gist of what I shared.
Trust
In our normal lives, whether it is between husband and wife, parents and children, teachers and students, communities of all descriptions, businesses, or nations, the sense that one can rely upon the character, ability, strength, and honesty of one’s partner is a requirement for all healthy relationships. Wherever that trust is missing, dysfunctional relationships arise. Uncertainty can lead to doubt; doubt to distrust; distrust to a range of isolating and separative reactions — suspicion, fear, anger, even hatred. Where there is distrust the capacity for true harmony and connection dissolve. Faced with someone we distrust we become hyper-vigilant, examining perceived motives, distancing ourselves for self-protection, and removing ourselves from the possibility of being fully present. Our fear of somehow being harmed removes us from the present moment to a parallel world of distrustful thought.
It Is true that even a habitual liar wants to be trusted. Ie teaches us that there are people, businesses, governments that have not earned our trust, or have violated it. We live in a world of wounded people. Women, children, the aged, the handicapped, animals and so on, are abused. Our hearts are “broken” in our attempts to create loving relationships. Children are trained not to trust by the examples of unkind, self-centered parents and relatives. Even in the churches and temples of the world, where people entrust the care of their very souls, human frailty and distorted development take their toll. Wars, famine, natural disasters, disease, deaths can lead some to believe that even the Universe, or God, cannot be trusted. The effects can be lifelong, such that a lifetime can be spent withholding oneself from the experience of love and connection for fear that, once again, one’s trust will be violated, or because the wounds we carry make us believe ourselves unworthy. Once broken, reestablishing genuine trust can be challenging.
All of this is part of living, and navigating our course in the world. H. P. Blavatsky, one of the main founders of the Theosophical Society, is reported to have said that “the world is man living in his personal nature”, with all of its imperfections and limitations. This is the case for our personal lives. But for many, a point comes when the pull of a deeper dimension of themselves, beyond the merely personal, becomes important — the outline of a dawning potential for a “spiritual” life begins to be seen. With this shift in perspective, how does one approach the issue, “Trust”?
From the Ageless Wisdom’s point of view, a human being functions on multiple levels. The levels with which we are most familiar comprise the personality — the physical, energetic, emotional, and materially focused thought components which continuously interact in producing our sense of “I”, or self. Closely associated with the personality is the Soul, the vehicle of the undying Higher Self, composed of the impersonal levels of thought, the intuitive, or genuinely spiritual dimension, and Spirit itself — in the parlance of Theosophy, âtma (spirit), buddhi (intuitive), and manas (specifically the impersonal, higher reaches of mind). Spirit, or âtma, is described as universal and not a principle in the human being. It requires a vehicle (padhi) that becomes enlivened by reflecting the “light” of âtma. In many ways the function of âtma/Spirit is analogous to the way light functions.
Take the example of outer space. Although we can see stars, moons, and other lighted bodies in all directions, all else appears dark, yet space is filled with light. It only becomes apparent when there is something to reflect it. The astronaut holds out his hand into the darkened space and it becomes brightened by the essentially invisible light that is present everywhere. In the case of Spirit, the reflective body is buddhi, or the plane of intuitive consciousness.
For the spiritually oriented person the work one does is directed towards elevating the mind so that its habitual “center” moves nearer to the light. The reflecting light becomes increasingly clear as we approach the realm of Spirit and its vehicle, buddhi. In Light on the Path, Mabel Collins makes the statement: “You will enter the light, but you will never touch the flame.” Our sincere practice moves us ever closer to the source of the light. In that process we are changed, in the sense that our perception of things is different. In the spiritual practice of India there is a term for the effects of this elevation process. The Sanskrit term is manas taijasi — the Illumined Mind — a mind that so nearly approaches the realm of Spirit that it takes on its qualities. It becomes radiant, shining, not with its own light, but just like the brightened full moon reflects the sun, it becomes a mind capable of dispelling darkness.
The path leading to this Illumination and heightened service Is completely dependent on trust. In Shankaracharya’s Crest Jewel of Wisdom he lists what are described as the shatsampatti — Six Jewels. These same six points were expressed in a contemporary form in J. Krishnamurti’s first book, At the Feet of the Master, under the section titled “Good Conduct”. What is written as shraddha (faith, trust, reliance) in the Crest Jewel is termed “Confidence” in Krishnamurti’s book. There he makes the statement: “Unless there is perfect trust, there cannot be the perfect flow of love and power.” But trust in what?
“You must trust your Master; you must trust yourself.” For many both of these demands pose difficulties. To most of those who are even aware of the idea of spiritual evolution the Masters are an ideal, an object of belief. Their confidence is based on historical reports, the experience of others, the profound teachings attributed to them, and the logical necessity that the process of spiritual evolution must lead the expansive states of being that we identify with the Masters. But, as yet, the direct experience is lacking.
In our spiritual practice we are encouraged to elevate the mind through proper study and to experiment with quiet and its ever-deepening potentials. In this process what we find is that we do have experiences of light, blessing, and grace — sudden, perhaps brief, moments of intuitive insight that confirm the presence of a deeper reality whose dimensions and qualities become clearer as our practice deepens. Within that deeper reality we become aware of the outline of that consciousness we describe as the Master. In At the Feet of the Master it says: “If you have seen the Master, you will trust him to the uttermost.” Intuitive “seeing” confirms, in a way far beyond the physical sense of sight, the reality of the “Master”, not as a personality, but as an active principle. This is the trust that invites a response.
Most of us feel that we have a pretty good idea of who we are, but probably we do not. Ask anyone who they are and the most likely response is about what they do. “I am a lawyer/laborer/merchant. I have a family. I am a member of a political party, church, neighborhood. I feel strongly about . . . I believe in . . . I am a weak/strong person”, and so on. The list can be short or long, but it only describes the personality — the desires, attachments, struggles of the body, senses, emotions, and mind. The fact that there is a higher Self inhabiting the personality is lost on many. What is described as “the still, small voice” of that Higher Self tends to be drowned out by the noise of needs and wants, calm and storm, fears, angers, and so forth. Too many people find themselves overwhelmed by the insistent demands of finding food, shelter, and safety to hear a small voice. The big voices of threat and need are simply too loud.
It does happen that even in crisis the Higher Self is “heard”. The undeniable presence of an exalted inner self, beyond the limits of the personality, makes itself known. It can be a crucial experience in one’s life, reorienting one’s focus and understanding. As with everything else we do, with increasing attention to the soul’s presence comes increasing awareness. Our deepening involvement deepens our familiarity and connection. It becomes a virtuous cycle whose result is trust in the abiding presence of what Rumi and other mystics call “the Friend”. Others call it the “Higher Self” or “soul”. With time, patience, and intelligent effort our center of awareness that impels our activity in the world becomes closely linked to the soul. It is from this perspective that the comment, “I am not a human being having a spiritual experience, but a spiritual being having a human experience”, becomes a meaningful statement of identity.
In all the world there are no perfect personalities. Everyone is unevenly developed, filled with numerous strengths and abundant, often hidden, weaknesses. Many businesspersons, politicians, wives, husbands, even great spiritual teachers have “fallen from grace” because of uncontrolled weaknesses in their personalities. Our karma-creating activities cannot be ignored, but to the extent that we choose to solely focus on the personality, we see and create difficulties. However, out of our own experience of the soul’s presence it becomes an intuitive certainty that the same presence is in everyone. In the Bhagavadgitâ, Krishna identifies himself as “the Inner Ruler Immortal present in the hearts of all beings”.
One of the results of a deepening exposure to the potentials that lie beyond the purely personal is the awakening of certain latent powers. Many associate clairvoyance with seeing auras, angels, astral colors, precognition, and so forth. On our way to the “perfect trust” that opens the “flow of perfect love and power” we discover that our growing trust leads to an expanding clarity of vision. The capacity to see into hearts and recognize the thirst for connection, and to speak and simply “be” in ways that make such connection real is one of the sleeping powers that awaken with trust. We find power in such things as kindness and compassionate activity. Our thought becomes charged with healing power. Every word, every glance from our awakening hearts has power.
We live in a responsive Universe. Our cooperation moves that response toward wholeness, healing, and understanding. Trust. Be open. Do something. . . . (To be continued)
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This article was also published in The Theosophist, VOL. 145 NO. 11 AUGUST 2024
The Theosophist is the official organ of the International President, founded by H. P. Blavatsky on 1 Oct. 1879.
To read the August 2024 issue click HERE
