6 Great Teachings From Indian Spirituality.
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Theosophy is a philosophy that aims to bring spirituality through human lives, and wishes to go beyond discrepancies between main religions.
This wisdom is based on Hindu ideas of karma and reincarnation.
The Theosophical Society stands for complete freedom in individual spiritual search and belief. This body of ideas comes from distinct philosophies of India, China, Egypt, Greece, Palestine and Arabia.
Theosophy is not presented as a religion or dogma; it is not offered for belief, but for examination and judgment.
Its International Headquarters is located at Adyar in Chennai, Tamil Nadu in South India. Below are the main tenets of Theosophy that I got to discover there.
1. The Universe is ruled by the expression of the Consciousness.
Every event has happened according to certain laws inherent to the Universe. The laws are the expression of Consciousness. This fundamental reality is far beyond our grasp, and lies in the idea of Transcendence. Many have called it God, some laws, some heaven, and some evolution.
In Theosophy, each man, according to his temperament and experience, must determine how he will regard the consciousness. So yes, they say there is a God, but let’s everyone call it what they want and let’s stop arguing about his name, appearance or origin.
2. The nature of gods resides in every man and woman.
We are not these bodies that perish; they are only garments we wear for a while and cast aside. We are free and immortal souls. Our appearances and bodies are ephemeral, our souls aren’t.
The perfection of God dwells in us also. But we are unconscious of our divine nature till we awaken it.
3. The soul of a man is immortal, and its growth has no limit.
Our birth is as the entrance into a workshop or a laboratory, where by work we wholly unfold our faculties. But it is not possible to realize our divine nature in only one lifetime. So we reincarnate again and again.
After a rest in heaven, growing by realizing the joys we had planned but did not achieve, we return to birth again, more purified, stronger and wiser, to work again, so as to become experts in thoughts, feelings and actions.
4. Men and women’s lives are ruled by Karma.
As we live and act, sometimes we succeed but sometimes we fail. We do good and we do evil, guided either by altruism or selfishness. When we do evil, we create discord in the universal harmony, and we must restore it.
The evil we did must be balanced by new good and the good we did must be reshaped to reach a more far-reaching good. This process is called Karma.
It is the law of readjustment which a man puts into operation by every one of his thoughts, words and deeds. Each man is his absolute lawgiver, the dispenser of glory and gloom to himself, the decreer of his life, reward and punishment.
5. Since all souls are divine, all souls are equal.
There are no young or old souls, but all brothers. In spite of every difference of age, capacity, environment, race, creed, sex, color or whatever could be found, all men form an invisible brotherhood. It also extends to all animals, or plants, even the elements as the mountains and seas. We grow through our unity with all things.
The divine nature, which is latent in them as in us, helps our inherent divinity to step forth in its beauty.
6. There are two central mysteries: the mystery of God and the mystery of Man.
All that we postulate concerning God, of goodness, holiness, truth and beauty, resides in man. Religion, philosophy, art, sciences, philanthropy are channels along which the divine nature descends to reveal its beauty. And our human nature ascends to divinity by growing in the virtues and capacities associated with these channels.
Theosophy means the wisdom of God. This understanding is the heritage of every soul. But he will possess it only as he learns to be a brother to all that lives. Who acts lovingly will inevitably come to Wisdom.
Some additional explanations from C. Jinarajadasa, International President of the Theosophical Society (1946-1953):
“A time will come, though you and I will see it only in our next incarnation, when the curses called competition and the struggle for life, which dog the footsteps of mankind today, will have been seen as evil dreams of the night.
You and I are working to create that new day’s light and that happiness for all, when there shall be no distinction of race, creed, sex and color; when men know and rejoice in the only fact of their earthly bodies, that happiness is within themselves, that the way to salvation starts from their own hearts, and that they need no temple or priest of book to show them the road.
For they will have discovered the way, the truth, the life and the joy are inseparable from the essential nature of every man, woman, and child.”
*****
Sophie Gregoire is a thinker. You may often find her with a new idea or a new concept to explain, holding a notebook and pencil. Also found reading and writing, she is more than anything an independent soul. She enjoys traveling and getting lost in new places, namely in Asia. She says it helps understanding our worlds, its people and the humankind. She loves writing to transform her endless thoughts into some kind of reality, and to keep the little piece of sanity she still has. She savors coffee, encounters, Yoga and meditation, and cats… while her own cat is her greatest muse! You could contact Sophie via Facebook and on her writing page.
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