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RADHABURNIER

The Awakening of Intelligence

In the present day, technology,productivity, organization and connectedmatters have become very important. Thiscould end in great danger: the danger oflosing what is important in life. Because

aspects of living which are essential forinward improvement, are getting over-looked or neglected, everywhere relation-ships are retreating. This may give rise totussle, tension and strife, while we needgoodness, sensitivity and harmony, to

build relationship not only with people butwith all things. It is not enough to sit athome watching videos or reading books

to find out what is good. It is important tomeet challenges in relation with people,working with them, and harmonizing with

Nature.It seems to me that the task of bringing

people together is meant for learning thebeauty of right relationship and the good-ness of life. It is not enough just to be infront of a holy man, unless it helps in

bringing to the fore greater truth, goodness

and holiness in oneself. So, comingtogether with people, is really in order togrow into a state of goodness and integrity.

Relationship is not only with humanbeings but with all life and being happywith Nature, people of varied

environments and with oneself. Thisis important. Usually, something affectsrelationship and we get into states ofdisorientation with animals, plants, andthe earth, not only with human beings. Weare related to the earth and therefore part

of what we call our planet. Perhaps thereligious life means all this, to have anintimate inner bond with everything, fromearth to other people around us. All of us,sooner or later, must have relationshipsthat are free of prejudice and following it

by a state of love and harmony.Theosophical centres usually have a

variety of subjects to discuss. They are

meant to stimulate enquiry, and not justthe usual state of responding, by ignoringor assertion. One way is not necessarily

better than another, but we are talkingabout the Theosophical approach whichwe wish to understand. In many Theo-sophical centres there is a good library and

people are exposed to subjects throughlectures and discussions. These can beuseful, but they need to be made alive

through inner awakening. Krishnaji usedthe phrase, The Awakening of Intelli-gence. Intelligence means spiritualawareness. If through contact with Theo-sophy and Lodges of the TheosophicalSociety, a change is not brought about

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within oneself, then it has done almostnothing, or very little.

One can say the same about studyingor learning spiritual literature. We do not

learn in order to quote and appear eruditeor anything like that. We participate inorder to spark consciousness, to awakenthe mind. In the very well-known workViveka- chudmani, it is said: What is theuse of books if they do not awaken themind, and what is the use of books if theconsciousness is awake. In both cases onecan say that it is increase in perceptionthat is valuable.

Of course we know that we have toapply ourselves for intelligence to awakenand to flower. In some cases the time maynot be right and pleasures still seemimportant. We cannot do anything exceptto leave freedom to everybody. To me itseems that intelligence cannot grow whenthere are contradictions inside, when wefeel like saying, Do not listen to people

who are Christians, Buddhists or whateverelse. We are then closing a part of themind. So, we are saying do not allow themind to become conditioned. If that isclear, one can listen to anybody or readanything and not get confused.

Truth is not a fortress we build, to sitinside, apparently protected on every side.If a comparison is to be made, it is like

pitching a tent for the night meant only

to be unpitched next day. So, we can listenwithout conditioning, listen with respectand be free inside.

The Blending of Man with Nature

In the original programme of the

Theosophical Society, Madame Blavatskywrote of the spiritual and psychic blend-ing of man with Nature. This phrase isnot easy to understand, because we are

not used to thinking along these lines. Herewe will attempt to explain a little bit ofour understanding, even if it is difficult.

It is not easy to know and realize whatlife is, and most people are not evenconsidering this fundamental question.They are born willy-nilly, and go on livinglife in the same way, perhaps inventing areason which suits their personality. Each

person has his or her own social, psycho-

logical and personal background, andeach one tries to imagine the aim of life tosuit this background; but neither the

perception, nor the aim may be correct.Since both emanate from a petty situationof life, the person is probably quite un-aware of the vast order in Nature. It is only

by deep and constant meditation thatanyone learns to distinguish between

what is important and what is unim-portant. InAt the Feet of the Master, thedistinction between these two is said to

be part of the understanding of the vastarea of the real and unreal of whicheverybody has heard.

In an important book of his, DavidBohm says: Order and Unity are part ofan implicate order which . . . constitutes afundamental aspect of Reality. We have

only to think about the vast difference between unity and disunity, order anddisorder to realize that there is animmeasurable distance between them. Tothe person who thinks of this subject atall the distance seems almost impossibly

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long, order and unity are so far away fromthe life that we live.

The social life of the human being isfull of confusion. He lives to put a little

order here and there and may evenimagine that he is succeeding. The samehappens with unity, so the reality is thatdisorder and disunity afflict him every nowand again unless he ceases to think thisusually happens. It is too painful to lookat facts and therefore we try to ignorethem and somehow pass through life afterlife, which is why it happens that we spendso many incarnations achieving almost

nothing.In the BhagavadgitArjuna asks the

Divine Presence to deign to explain bywhat glories he pervades these worlds.The Lord replies: There is no end todetails of me . . . whatsoever is glorious,good, beautiful and mighty, understandthat to go from a fragment of my splen-dour. Everything that is manifested has

something of the good, the beautiful andthe mighty. This is so, not only in formsand appearance, but also in the con-sciousness and mode of being of all thatexists in Nature. That is what theEmancipated can see, experience andrejoice in knowing.

There is ever-increasing perfection inthe infinite variety of which we arevaguely aware. Even the most despicable

of creatures have in them hidden or ex-plicit, a perfection which is manifestingitself now and for ever more. To study it,to learn, to see, is an art the greatest artthat we are capable of learning. In fact, tosee order and beauty, is not an ordinary

experience. We are used to these terms,so we think we know them, but we do nottrust. This is a truth which can be seennow and forever in the smallest being, as

well as in the vast universe. That is why itis said, There is no end to my divine

powers.The question is asked how can I know

them, in the smallest as in the greatest. Toknow seems easy because we have verylittle idea of knowledge in our lives, but

perhaps it would be best to say we knowthrough meditation.

Meditation is another word which has

become commonplace, but it is not. Alllife can be a meditation because every-where, in the smallest as well as in thegreatest, this is shown in some way. Thedoor may be small but when one seesthrough it, the other side is infinitelyglorious and good. There is nothing whichdoes not carry the perfection which

belongs to it.

Though it is now mixed up with otherthings, the truth must not be forgotten thatthere is before each one the beautiful andwonderful to experience and to know.

The Past and the Future

We work, as far as I have been told,for the future. Many changes in the worldshould bring about one great difference.The world will not be divided, but will be

one, a totality working towards the sameend. All the small changes which take

place have little relevance to this greatchange into a unity within which there will

be many differences. The small changesappear important now, but in view of what

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our Society is working for, these have norelevance or little relevance.

One of the minor concerns whichpeople have now is whether so and so is

recognized for what he is or whether heis not. We can go back in history to findout whether Napoleon was a great figureor an ordinary man who became import-ant because of circumstances. The famethat a person achieves in worldly affairsor circumstances is from a certain pointof view of little consequence. What isimportant is the movement of progress inthe real or spiritual sense, involving

awakening to realities. Sometimes we mixthis up with small matters. In the real con-text, the forward movement depends onlyon what promotes a greater understand-ing of our function as human beings.

Humanity is said to be special, becauseit is at this stage that a new life-wave comesdown, enabling everyone to move furtherup if he wishes to do so. It is only inhumanity where there is a struggle be-

tween the higher nature and the lower. Thelower nature has gone along in a beautifulway until the human stage, but it is whena change has to be made from the lowermechanical progress to a higher intellec-tual, moral and spiritual upliftment thatthe difficulties begin. The TheosophicalSociety is concerned with this movement.It is not merely important because of thevehicle or instruments involved, but a

taking over of command by the highernature, which is the beginning of a futureof untold and unimaginable beauty.

Recently several letters have beenaddressed to the President asking that

justice be done to Mr Judge. About one

and a quarter centuries have passed sincehe was prominent among members. Thereare some who favour the actions that hetook, and others who do not; are we going

to make a judgement on behalf of all themembers at this point? Is this really feas-ible? The decision in favour or not, will

be only on paper, and people will continueto think of what is possible as they wishand see. The Society cannot regulate this,and is not called upon to do so.

So, the best thing is to discriminate tothe extent that our own intelligence letsus, which may be right or wrong. What

does it matter to others? Since one cannotshape, or want to shape, what other peoplethink, the Theosophical Society cannot,after one hundred and thirty years, decidewhat its members should see or think about

past happenings. There is the case ofC. W. Leadbeater, who I think was muchmisunderstood and maligned. Others maythink he was a bad character. Will ourthinking change what he was? There are

many people who, being human, hadfaults and weaknesses. By finding outwhat exactly was the matter, it helpsneither them nor us. Our present attitudetowards things is what matters, not theconclusions we may make about what

people in the past did.So, let us act in the present and keep

our conclusions about past personalitiesand events tentative and in the back-

ground. We can then move forward fromwhere we are, which is what we have to

be truly concerned with. What is thedirection in which we are proceeding? Arewe moving and if so, is it towards a greaterunderstanding of life?