Daily Theosophy

The gloomy ones with depression, the fierce ones with desire and hatred and aggression – many of them looked somewhat like cartoon figures – and the neutral ones with a mind with few emotions, just wanting to know things because of the knowing of them; and there were the beautiful ones with spirituality.

(73)

(I)

There was another very big difference between the first three categories, which were linked to physical and stardust matter, or to logic only, on one side, and the last category, the spiritual, which all the time tries to move upwards. In each human being Praja saw a center, and these human beings called this center “I,” which was the point of concentration every being has created to focus their consciousness on. Other such centers they called ‘you,’ or ‘they.’ The big difference is HOW these humans felt these centers within themselves. The first, ‘I,’ they usually found by far the most important. All the colors were turning in high speed around that center called “I,” even when the thoughts themselves were about somebody else. Only “I” was important. Praja realized that this awareness of “I” was the cause of all misery. Still she also saw that all these “I”-centers were parts of a heart, and that this heart was connected with a Great Heart (which was Adi’s – and her own Heart). Praja saw that very clearly, but most people did not see it. They did not even remember that in the past they had known that their “I” was a part of the Great Heart, and that they had all sprung from it. But why? Why did that happen? Adi had allowed a small part of his own mind to enter each of the beings he had chosen. But had he intended to create so much misery? Of course not, because the paramount feeling of Adi’s heart was love, so he could never have wanted to create misery. But misery or suffering is there only to make people’s individual minds aware that the opposite is always there: happiness, real everlasting happiness. Much of the mysery would not have been necessary, because from the very beginning Adi had sent helpers to teach the people what best to do, but because their minds are free by nature, they often turned away from the advices given to them. Why? Because the bodies of the people, and the emotions or stardust bodies of the people had long been inside animals – before they were given a mind. Evil is nothing else than a mind wanting you to go back to the past, a kind of lazy nostalgia, to unchecked satisfaction of the wishes of the bodies and animal emotions, such as survival instinct, territorial drift, passion without any consideration for other animals. So evil is wanting to go back to animalhood, and good is to go forward to godhood. You see every day around you how many people are still following their animal instincts, and are greedy, defend territories (that is why they created different countries, and will probably continue to do so for a long time, despite what they call ‘globalization.’) and create fear and war to ‘protect’ their territories and so-called possessions. Possessions do not really exist in the cosmos. It is a concept created by the human mind stimulated by animal instincts, a remainder of a time when we had to compete for our living, instead of cooperate. Because gods are just as far in advance of humans in evolution as animals are behind it. Also gods are not perfect and still have to learn much, but at least they are much better and wiser than humans. They do no more evil.

Praja saw what had happened: the “I”-centers where sparks of Adi’s Great I, and each of them was carrying a question which was part of the Great Question: “Who am I?” To try to answer this question the “I’s” had concentrated themselves so much on their task that they had forgotten that they were part of the Great I. And forgetting that, they had on the one hand fanatically pursued their duty to find the answer to themselves, but they had at the same time be deluded by the illusions of the stardust world, where desires are very real beings, and the desires of their physical bodies. They had mixed up fun with joy, and the brain-mind with the heart-mind. More and more they became entangled in their self-created thoughts and emotions and took them for real, because they were weaving a knotty net of history threads in which they became caught like poor little flies in a cobweb. Thus the hardy illusion called‘selfishness’ came into being. That is why people have fear for death even though their real Great I is immortal, or become angry or hateful or aggressive or jealous or humiliated or irritated or depressive and so on and so on, because they think they are all separate “I’s” instead of cooperative parts of the One Great I in answering different parts the One Big Question, which in essence is the same for everyone. Once people realize this Truth, everyone can make himself or herself happy without ever doing harm to anyone else. The logical conclusion is that the best way to become happy is to forget about your own “I”-happiness – or your “I” at all, and try to make all other living beings happy.

That is why the next category differs from the first three mentioned above (body, emotion, and neutral mind). This type of mind has not forgotten that the “I” is a part of the “Great I” – which is the real I. It always tries to think and feel what the Great I wants. The nature of the Great I is Compassion – the wish to help all other beings in the universe, and Duty – to do what is right to do in order to support existence. And that is why the colors of the thoughts of people who understand that are so beautiful. Many people have sometimes beautiful thoughts and at other times ugly thoughts, as if the Great I doesn’t exist anymore. But it always exists, whether you are dead or alive, you just have to pay attention.

You can imagine that if you can see all the thoughts as colors, you can also hear them as sounds. Beautiful sounds, harsh sounds, angry sounds, psychedelic sounds, desperate sounds, and sounds that are just a reflection of heavenly sounds – from where the Great I has its home. Some sound are rocking, like some thoughts. Others are romantic, like some thoughts. Again others are sensual, like some thoughts, or psychedelic or aggressive (such as war songs) or passionate. Types of music are based on that, just like some types of modern paintings are based on the colors of thoughts. Praja could hear the whole cacophony. Sometimes she could hear beautiful sounds also. Beautiful colors and forms and sounds you can also find in Nature – as long as it is not disturbed by people. Seeing and hearing all this, Praja had the keys of how to help people – if they want. Great philosophers and religious teachers came back from “death” to Earth, and taught how you can understand using your mind, and religious teachers taught devotion. The real philosophers were great thinkers, far more intelligent than average humanity. Devotion is real love for something that is wiser and more beautiful than what a human mind can understand. Devotion helps people to acquire that ‘something’ themselves, so that it becomes part of their character, and they themselves ultimately become like that where they have devotion for. Such people have been a great help for all people in the world in all times, but most of all for those who would listen to them – and then next think and feel for themselves. Even though the world is full of misery today, it would have been much, much worse without such helpers and teachers and living examples of how to think and feel and behave right. They keep coming all the time. They try to make clear what is true, and try to convince people of following their heart-mind and abandon what is not true. True philosophers try to understand and teach what is really good, and why that is so.

But Praja also saw that not everyone had that type of intelligence to understand philosophy, even when they wanted to. But she can show them and guide them to understand beauty and harmony. Real beauty, if you can perceive it through looking or listening, lifts you above the common movement of the everyday mind, at least for some time. As happened with Shano in the temple in his village – though that what was in the temple was invisible and inaudible, because it was too beautiful to be seen or heard by normal human eyes or ears. So therefore in all times and in all parts of the world music was invented, and musical instruments, so that the people who wanted could go far above the mind that turns around their own “I.” Real music is like hearing something of the “Great I” – as far as possible on Earth with musical instruments made of wood or bamboo or reeds or metals or velvets or strings. Ears are the most subtle instruments we have, and they can even hear much more subtle music than most composers compose. But we have eyes also, and with our eyes we can be very attentive, just as with out ears, and then really appreciate great visible art, like painting, sculpture, architecture etc. But only when it is really high music, high art. And besides all these things you can go to Nature: there you can hear the most beautiful music, including the music of the silence – if you can listen, and see the most beautiful art and architecture. And also smells and feelings. So there are many, many ways for people to break out of their low thought patterns which are centered around their “I-s.” With most music we hear everyday and most buildings around us it doesn’t work, and Nature has greatly been damaged or destroyed. They even have the opposite effect and make us dull. High music and art comes from high minds, but as the human mind is free, music and art and architecture can also become centered around the “I” of the maker or his view on life, and than be ugly, or desperate, or soulless, or can create disharmony and unhappiness or unreal happiness in people’s feelings.

This was the lesson Praja learnt in this dream. She would do everything she could to counteract the belief and feeling of the illusion of an “I” that is separate from the Great I, or Adi’s I, or from all other I’s.

But finally, if people also refuse to listen to or look at beauty, and don’t like to think about what is really true and really good, and rather live in lies and evil, even then she would stretch out a helping hand. After all, almost all evil people are only evil because they don’t know or understand how to do things right. Some even have the duty to be evil, at least temporary, to oppose the good so that the good becomes clearer and is strengthened. Also they themselves learn through that painful process. Ultimately they will become good people. For people with problems of mental and emotional disharmony in this life there are therapists, psychologists and psychiatrist, or confessors, or just good friends who help them to live with their emotions and problems as good as they can – until they reach the point that they begin to understand the relation between their own small “I” and the “Great I.” And if even that does not help, they will have to learn the hard way: they get sick, or crazy or commit suicide, or start drinking or become addicted to drugs – and they go down into the ultimate experiences of misery – until the time they get bored of it. Then they will fight there way up. But there comes a time that their question of who they are will be answered, and then all illusions and sufferings disappear for ever. This also is a way one can choose.

(74)

(Beauty)

Beauty

In the second part of her dream Praja paid close attention to a girl called Beauty. We met her earlier, in the story about Deedee or Dura Diana. I use the name ‘Beauty’ because that is what her name means in English, but of course she had that name in the language of the country in which she was born.