Theos-Talk Archives (September 1994 Message tl00102)

Liesel.
<What State & what town do live in? I'm in
<Syracuse, upstate New York.
     I live in Aberdeen, Maryland.  I have visited
upstate New York, and like it very much (a bit too
cold for me in the winter, though).

<But I'm not quite sure whether the idea is
<a human invention, or a gift from God
<(However you picture that force of
<the universe). Maybe it's a mixture of both
<...God gave & we developed.
     I don't know if man or God "invented"
universal brotherhood.  I just know that it exists
now, and always has/will.  It is the "group soul"
of humanity.  All mystics speak, one way or the
other, of the oneness that exists in altered
states of consciousness.  I take this oneness as a
given, and see our ability to communicate with one
another as but one expression of it.

<Not everyone sees life as interrelated.>
     True. (Unfortunately.)  Sometimes we have to
ask ourselves if our right hand is related to our
left hand.  It is related, but it is also
separate.

<I was trying to figure out whether my
<motives for believing in reincarnation were
<selfish or altruistic.
     Good.  I hope that other theosophists do
this as well.  I can tell from reading various
articles and letters that some theosophists
deliberately try to be ethical and "good" in order
to reduce their karma and have a better time in
the next life.  This kind of motive is
self-defeating and naive.  You are new to the net,
and probably are not aware of some of my past
messages and comments on this subject.  To me,
theosophy *should* differ from Christianity and
other religions in regard to ethics.  Most folks
practice ethical behavior (and must *work hard* at
it, no less) for personal gain such as the
accumulation of merit and so on.  I read this in
Buddhists writings a lot.  Theosophists, on the
other hand, are taught not to expect rewards for
their actions.  Our Higher Self (excuse the term)
needs no reward, but is ethical due to its desire
for self-expression while our Lower Self will
turn to dust (no reward there!).  Having said
this, I will conclude by adding that the
Reincarnating Ego will be rewarded by good
deeds done in this life, and will suffer for
bad deeds.  What we have to ask ourselves then, is
whether we want to appeal to our Reincarnating
Ego, or to our Higher Self. One problem with this
whole business, is that concern for the future is
a powerful motivator for ethical conduct in the
present.  Without a belief in *some kind* of an
afterlife, there is precious little to motivate
someone to be good.  Parents, for example, often
use the carrot & stick approach with their
children.  Child psychologists say we should
emphasize "consequences" so that children learn
that there is a cause-effect relationship to their
behaviors.  Those who see God as a very large
Parent in the sky continue this kind of thinking,
seeing humanity as God's children and God as being
either loving or wrathful depending upon our
behaviors during this lifetime.  I feel that
reincarnation, as taught by HPB, is *probably*
true.  Life and death are two sides of a duality,
and while something inside/over/beyond me will
take on a new life, Jerry Schueler, the human
personality who is writing this response, will
only go around this once.  But my "essence" will
be poured into the great melting pot of humanity's
conscience to help or harm others as it will (see
next response).


<This leads into Sheldrake's idea of
<morphogenetic fields. They're similar to
<Jung's Collective Unconscious,
<but I understand Sheldrake better.
     Actually, I think I understand Jung's
collective unconscious better than morphogenetic
fields.  However, both are on the right track -
there is more to life than we can ever know from
our physical senses.  At some higher/invisible
level, we are all united together.  For example, I
believe that we are all in constant telepathic
communication with each other, but are unconscious
of it.

<A morphogeneitc field, as Sheldrake
<depicts it (he's done some reasearch, but
<I've forgotten how that goes)
<is fed into by the experience of human
<beings. Also human beings
<reincarnating draw from it. It appeals to
<me to be able to keep on studying, fine
<tuning my skills, & trying to ameliorate my
<experiences because whatever good I can
<acquire will accrue to the human
<morphogenetic fields. I can draw from it,
<when I reicncarnate, & others
<can too. So that makes my motives for
<believing in reincarnation part selfish
<part altruistic. Can you buy that?
     Yes, I can.  You just said, in your own way,
that you want to be a bodhisattva.  There has to
be a little personal motivation in there too, in
order to draw us back into a physical body again.
I think most theosophists would agree that in some
way, we are all united together in a spiritual
oneness, and that we can each individually draw
upon that.  HPB, quoting Buddhism, spoke of a
"storehouse" or repository of the "essence" of
each of our lives.  This exists in both an
individual and collective capacity, and we can
"tune in" to it at any time.  There is also the
matter of the "shishtas" or "residuals" (see G de
Purucker's OCCULT GLOSSARY, p 157) which are the
seeds of our karma, stored on a higher plane.
Although these "seeds of life" are primarily for
use by the next incoming life-wave, they effect us
as well during our incarnations.  Every human
being has both a Jesus and a Jack-the-Ripper
within him or her.  Mankind has the capacity to be
very spiritual and altruistic, and also has the
capacity to be very mean and nasty.  Every Jesus
or Buddha pushes the higher envelope a little
higher and allows for others to follow.
Unfortunately, every Jack-the-Ripper pushes the
envelope downward into the mud just a little
deeper (remember the symbol of the Lotus - our
feet stuck in the dirty mud while our head waves
in the clean air).  The more spiritual one single
person becomes, the better for all humanity.

<I'm planning to spend a very enjoyable few
<hundred years in Devachan, when
<I get there. (Right now, I'm having too
<much fun here.)
     Me too.

                 Jerry S.