Theos-Talk Archives (April 1998 Message tl00100)

Dallas:
>CHAOS:
>
>A quote comes to mind:  "A chaos to the senses, a cosmos to the
>reason."    As I view it, unless there was a vast array of
>interacting laws we could not exist.  You might say that your
>Universe is what you see and build, and mine, is mine, and so on.
>However a consensus would seem to demonstrate that this plurality
>merges into a unity of perception and an agreement of
>descriptions ( making allowance for gaps in time and place, as
>well as point of view )

We could also say that all of our behavior, from rock, etc., has been
organized by the whole of cosmos.  When we scrutinize something within its
limited area, its movement appears chaotic and random.  When we look at it
from a greater whole, we see that it is organized according to the greater
whole.  Our life and causes appear random.  Yet, when you look at it from
the point of view of the cosmos, there is purpose to the in-breath and
out-breath that all life is part of.  In this way, Karma makes sense.
Everything is interconnected.  Every action was the result of countless
influences, and itself will be an influence, actions from matter smaller
than the electron to actions greater than the universe.  This also includes
action that is implicit in space.  Space and matter are all part of the
great water.  We are the drops that form the circle of waves that
eventually disappears into the calmness of the liquid space.  Viewed from
this way, chaos and randomness is only a subset of the orderliness of all
that IS.  Mathematically, physicists have calculated that any small area of
space has more energy than the energy of all matter put together.

<snip>
>You may fly, physically, to Los Angeles where I live, but only a
>person detached from both of us would see the motion and the
>relativity of our physical positions as they change.

And what about the person watching the person detached from both of you,
and on and on?  The action of you and the other person is dependent on the
observer, and the action and position of the observer, whether the observer
is traveling at your speed, or the other person's speed, etc.  There is no
such thing as the objective world within our scope.  Only regarding "Parent
Space" could we consider objectivity.

<snip>
>Theosophy introduces the concept that universal Law (Karma)
>operates on the moral plane (which is not defined, though the
>legislation efforts of most countries try to make those tenets of
>behavior and fairness between persons precise, and, usually
>fail).

Does Karma have to operate on a moral plane?  Could Karma be viewed as IS,
as interconnectedness of the flow of the ocean?

<snip>
>Now, if everything would be a "Chaos," then what would be the
>purpose to waste time and energy on seeking to make order or
>sense out of it?  Maybe that is the source of adopting a
>"personal God," which by being placed "outside" of the Universe
>as its "Regent," gives us a sense of fatalism and
>irresponsibility.  How much harder, then is it to adopt the
>concept of continuing and very actual self-responsibility ?

I don't think it is ultimately Chaos.  It could not be.  Chaos is only a
subset of the order that ultimately IS.  It really doesn't matter whether
we make sense of any of this, because it will always BE.  I think it is our
own personal ego that needs to make sense of it all.  For me, the knowledge
that my action influences countless actions is enough for
self-responsibility.  We feel pleasure and pain.  We know others feel
pleasure and pain.  We know that bad actions will affect someone or
something.  We also know that bad actions may come back to us.  If we abuse
our children, our children may grow up to abuse others.  If there are
enough unloved children in a nation, then it could be a nation of crime and
abuse.  If the world is full of insensitive and abusive people, the
population may eventually annihilate itself through war and destruction.
If we somehow blow up the earth, that will disturb the balance of our
galaxy, and on and on.

Thoa :o)