Theos-Talk Archives (May 1996 Message tl00338)

At 11:51 AM 5/05/96 -0400, you wrote:
>Rich:
>
>[writing to JRC]
>
>>I will agree with you that brotherhood is the single most 
>>important doctrine among the bunch.
>
>This statement of Rich's is important, something that we overlook
>far too often. The idea of "universal brotherhood", under whatever
>sanitized words we want to call it, *is a doctrine*.
>
>Just like reincarnation and karma, the universality of life,
>spiritual evolution, the seven principles, etc., it is a doctrine.
>It is a collection of ideas about life based around certain seed
>thoughts. It can be studied in the abstract, or work its way into
>our everyday experience. We can study it or make it a part of our
>lives.
>
>As far as doctrines go, it is not any more supreme than any of
>the others. It can, though, be discussed in as great a depth as
>any of the others, going from superficial, casual descriptions
>into views that are profoundly occult.
>
>Perhaps some of the strong advocates of this particular doctrine
>could attempt to spell out with some detail and substance how
>they understand the doctrine. It would be also interesting to
>hear how they might be anti-doctrine except for this one.
>
>-- Eldon

Hi Eldon.
I'm not anti the doctrine but the following extract from the Notebooks of Paul Brunton rang with me when I first read it: Notebook Seven (Healing of the Self/The Negatives)  ... In the heart's deepest place, where the burden of ego is dropped and the mystery of soul is penetrated, a man finds the consciousness there not different in any way from what all other men may find. The mutuality of the human race is thus revealed as existing only on a plane where its humaness is transcended. This is why all attempts to express it in political and economic terms, no less than the theosophic attempts to form a universal brotherhood, being premature, must also be artificial. This is why they failed...
The next one  (from Notebook 11) I also found incisive.
...The term "universal brotherhood" is idealistic but vague, pleasant sounding – but windy. An attempt to form a society whose main object was to become the nucleus of a universal brotherhood was made by the Theosophists, and by less known cults. Moreover, they added constant talk about "the  service of humanity" to their other prattle. Not only did all such groups end in failure to actualize their ideal and in inability to influence the remainder of mankind, but most ended in bitter disputes, harsh quarrels, and internal fission. There are several different factors behind such failures. The two which concern us here are first, lack of any practical workable method  to implement the ideal, and second, belief in the delusion that a group can do better what only an individual can do for himself. This is where philosophy shows its superiority. In reference to the first of these two factors, it teaches us exactly what we can do with our bodies, our feelings, our thoughts, and our intuitions to bridge the wide gap between ideals and their actualization. In reference to the second factor, it proves that to practise individualism, self-reliance, is essential to real progress.....
Kind Regards
Darrin
Blavatsky Lodge, Sydney Australia