Theos-Talk Archives (May 1996 Message tl00826)

Rich:

[writing to Jerry S, back on April 26th]

>> "The Negroes form one of the very few exceptions amongst us today
>> of baby races, imperfect in mental and physical development (but not
>> in spiritual development) "  G de Purucker, STUDIES IN OCCULT
>> PHILOSOPHY, p 44. (TUP, 1945)

>G de P is neither here nor there to me.  This is an example of
>MISUNDERSTANDING.  So?  I am interesting in the Masters' teachings,
>and HPB's, and the possible uses thereof in my own spiritual
>development. Find me some good HPB quotes, if you will, and then
>put them in context of Universal Brotherhood.

This quote and comment provides me with an opportunity to
write about (and speculate upon) some interesting theosophical
concepts.

Without having to show an authoritative nature to the citation
(since it's not from Blavatsky or "The Mahatma Letters", which
the largest majority of theosophical students agree to), we
can still see where this idea can be useful, or where it is
readily misunderstood.

First, we should consider the fact that there are multiple
streams of evolution. The simplest breakdown is to the (a)
architect, (b) builder, and (c) materials or bodies. Our
so-called races are composed, to some degree, of all three
streams.

While it is possible to trace certain major genetic strains
in people, over hundreds of generations, and call one strain
the dominant root race, and others as former or future races,
we'd be missing the bigger picture.

We, as humans, are not a race of bodies, we're a race of
thinking entities, of human egos. That is primarily the
second stream of evolution, the builder, the stream that
composes the intermediate principles of our constitution.

Consider a very minor example. A girl may be born in mainland
China, grow up, emigrate to the United States, and find
herself more at home here than in the land she left behind.
In her particular case, she was born into a Chinese body,
and carries that subrace as far as physical forms goes, but
inside, apart from that body, she was really a member of
the subrace more particular to American society.

The subraces, as we experience them, are more akin to
cultures, with beliefs, customs, lifestyles, laws, languages
-- all of which fashion our experience of life *inwardly*.
This has nothing to do with skin color, height, weight,
or even gender.

When Purucker may be speaking of future races arising in
America, he'd be referring more particularly to the
germinating seeds of future cultures, languages, and
lifestyles. We all participate in this, to the extent that
we're pioneers of what the future holds for humanity.

There's nothing, I think, that would prevent an exceptional
individual from rising above the conditioning of the
subrace that he was born into, and *living differently*,
"marching to the beat of a different drummer". This is,
in fact, one way of describing the Path, where we seek to
hasten our evolution (for the betterment, of course, of
others, and not simply for selfish motives).

Looking at subraces in yet another way, I'd say that it
may be possible to be in more than one at the same time.
How could this be? By being able to think, feel, act, and
see the world in total emersion in one cultural context,
and then in another, being able to change back and forth.
Just as people may be bilingual, some may be bicultural
or biracial. (I'm coining my own theosophical term here.)

The most important point I'd like to make with this
topic of races and racism, is that the literal words
that we read, the seemingly hard-and-fast ideas in
black-and-white on the page before us, are only the
*starting point* for study or thought, and may be
worse than useless if simply taken as face value, and
not made subject to philosophic thought.

-- Eldon