Theos-Talk Archives (March 1996 Message tl00070)

All you can do is to prepare the intellect: the impulse toward
"soul-culture" must be furnished by the individual. Thrice
fortunate they who can break through the vicious circle of modern
influence and come up above the vapours!... We have one word for
all aspirants: TRY.  [KH in ML #35]
________________

Raama asked:
Lord, you are indeed the knower of truth. Pray, tell me what do
people really call god, fate or daivam.

Vasistha replied:
The fruition of self-effort by which one experiences the good and
evil results of past action is called fate or daivam by people.
People also regard that as fate or daivam which characterises the
good and evil nature of such results. When you see that "this plant
grows out of this seed", it is regarded as an act of this daivam.
But I feel that fate is nothing but the culmination of one's own
action.

In the mind of man are numerous latent tendencies [vasanas], and
these tendencies give rise to various actions -- physical, verbal
and mental. Surely, one's actions are in strict accordance with
these tendencies, it cannot be otherwise. Such is the course of
action [karma]: action is non-different from the most potent among
latent tendencies, and these tendencies are non-different from the
mind and the man is non-different from the mind!...

Raama asked again:
Holy sir, if the latent tendencies brought forward form the
previous birth impel me to act in the present, where is the freedom
of action?

Vasistha said:
Raama, the tendencies brought forward from past incarnations are of
two kinds -- pure and impure. The pure ones lead you towards
liberation, and the impure ones invite trouble. You are indeed
consciousness itself, not inert physical matter. You are impelled
to action by anything other than yourself. Hence you are free to
strengthen the pure latent tendencies in preference to the impure
ones. The impure ones have to be abandoned gradually and the mind
turned away from them little by little, lest there should be
violent reaction. By encouraging the good tendencies to act
repeatedly, you strengthen them. The impure ones will weaken by
disuse. You will soon become absorbed in the expression of the good
tendencies, in good actions. When thus you have overcome the force
of the evil tendencies then you will have to abandon even the good
ones. You will then experience the supreme truth with the
intelligence that rises from the good tendencies.

(The word used in the text for fate is "daivam" which also means
"god".)
_________________

-- ~The Supreme Yoga~ (~The Yoga Vasistha~) translated by Swami
Venkatesananda.

--
Nicholas <> am455@lafn.org <> Los Angeles
 First of all, love truth for its own sake, for otherwise no recognition of
  it will follow.  HP Blavatsky