12. Theosophy, Morality and Health
The Theosophical Society, which has existed for thirty years, has made it its first principle: “to form the nucleus of a general brotherhood of mankind, without distinction of race, creed, sex and class”. In its public activities, however, the Society has made it its task to disseminate certain teachings on reincarnation and human destiny (karma), on higher levels of life, world education, human development and the like. Many may say: does the cultivation of universal love, as expressed in the above principle, require a society that promotes such views? Is such comprehensive love not the ideal of every true friend of humanity; and are there not many societies and associations that strive for the same goal without professing the teachings mentioned? And many think that the pursuit of this beautiful goal can only be harmed by bringing it together with the spread of certain views. It is also sometimes claimed that those teachings can only be understood by a minority of people, while the goal mentioned must take root in every human soul.
These objections to the work of the “Theosophical Society” have much that is attractive for those who do not look at the matter very closely. And it would indeed be a serious mistake for the Society to make the acceptance of certain doctrines obligatory for its members. But the workers within the Society also emphasize again and again that it is not views and opinions that should unite the members, but only that goal.
However, one can make it one's duty to publicly advocate the teachings mentioned above, because one has recognized in them the right means to achieve the desired goal. — To make universal love of mankind the object of a society is undoubtedly a fine thing. And whoever demands and preaches it will be able to find full agreement in the widest circles. For this love is a fundamental force of human nature. It could not be implanted in the human heart if it were not originally predisposed to it.
But if this is the case, why is this love not generally widespread in life? Why do we encounter so much fighting, quarrelling, hatred? — The theosophist gives the answer today, which he has received from the true core of the great teachings of humanity, those that have always led from strife to harmony, from hatred to love, from conflict to peace. The essence of the theosophical way of thinking is that it leads to the unshakable conviction that the true powers and causes of everything that happens in the world are in the soul and spirit, and not in what the external senses observe and desire. Once you have reached this conviction, it is also clear to you that true ideas and thoughts awaken the noblest powers in the soul, and that strife, hatred and conflict are the result of error and blindness. As long as you consider it unimportant what a person thinks, you may also place no particular value on the dissemination of certain teachings. But when it has become clear to us that the world owes its origin and its organization not to blind forces but to divine wisdom; that wisdom is the cause of all development and all progress in the world, then we shall also come to the realization that the goodness of the heart must arise from its harmony with this divine wisdom.
If man could not err, he would not be man. He is man because he can accomplish his actions not as a slave to an infallible natural order, but through his own free choice. If his capacity for error gives him his human dignity, it also makes him the author of countless evils. The deeper one delves into theosophy, the more the connection between error and evil is revealed. Just as it is true that everything sensual and material arises from the spirit, so it is also true that all evil in the world of the senses arises from the aberrations of the spirit.
In our time, however, such things are difficult to understand. What could seem more fantastic to contemporary thinking than someone claiming that physical illness has something to do with error, but that health has to do with true and correct ideas? The future will show that real superstition does not consist in the belief in this assertion, but in the denial of it. He who truly recognizes the soul and the spirit does not make them appendages of the material, but sees them as the rulers of the latter. And the essence of soul and spirit is truth and wisdom. Not only in an outward way do truth and wisdom create the good and the excellent, but as powers of the soul and the spirit they create the perfect in the external world. — It cannot be proved in a short discussion such as this, but it will become clear to everyone who delves into theosophy that the health of the body is the result of the wisdom and truth of the soul, while illness is the effect of error and unwise behavior. Anyone who takes a superficial view of this assertion must misunderstand it and can only find it fanciful. The cheap objection that there are very wise people with poor health and robust people with little wisdom can be made by anyone who makes the above claim. However, things are not that simple, and this objection does not say anything of significance. Cause and effect, error and evil are often far apart. And in order to penetrate the meaning of such a statement, one must delve deeper into the theosophical way of thinking.
Moral and physical evils arise from error: and he who works his way up to truth and wisdom promotes the moral good and also the physical health of the world. This is the truth of the assertions of spiritual healing. And it is a matter of realizing that man promotes the good and the healthy when he allows the divine wisdom, from which the harmony of the universe has arisen, to flow into his soul. “Theo-Sophia” is “divine wisdom”. What it proclaims are the great, divine thoughts according to which the primordial spirit guides the world, according to which life is formed and man develops. They are the laws of the life of the soul in the body, of its destiny in the world. To live in harmony with these great truths is the condition of goodness and health; to oppose them results in evil and disease. The more one penetrates into them, the more they become effective forces in the soul. If one understands theosophy correctly, this is what is meant when one says that mere knowledge, theoretical understanding, is not what matters, but life. But anyone who wanted to claim that he therefore did not need to concern himself at all with the teachings of wisdom would be denying the effectiveness of the idea, of the thought, that is, of that which constitutes the life of the spirit and the soul. If a force is to become effective, it must first exist. If the divine thoughts, which are the creative forces in the depths of the world's existence, are also to become the moralizing and healing powers in the human soul, then they must first make their entrance into this soul. The theosophical spiritual movement does not spread certain teachings in order to satisfy a mere thirst for knowledge, but because it wants to bring about true moral progress for humanity and, no less, true health for life.
The universal brotherhood of mankind will become an ideal goal, a comprehensive, creative feeling, a force that promotes progress, harmony and understanding, if genuine 'theosophy shows the way. Of course, someone may object: but who can guarantee that Theosophy really contains the healing truth; have not all possible spiritual teachings promised the best effects? The only answer to this question can be given by those who have familiarized themselves with the theosophical quest. They will then find that this school of thought seeks the path to truth precisely by not paying homage to any one-sided opinion or by trying to force such an opinion on anyone. It can have true tolerance towards every such opinion without lapsing into indifference. For a genuine quest for truth teaches one to appreciate the same in others. No opinion is so wrong that, with true honesty, the truth cannot be found in it. And whoever encounters a foreign opinion can either seek in it what distinguishes it from his own, or that in which it is, even remotely, similar to his own. The former will lead to an inner separation between man and man, but the latter will contribute to unification. Genuine theosophy seeks the grain of truth that is surely present even in the worst error, without insisting on the absolute correctness of its own opinion. And so, in the interaction of opinions, truth is gradually brought to light. But from this arises an inner brotherhood, a brotherhood of thought, of which all external things must be the image.
But, it is objected, is all this really to be found among the theosophists? Undoubtedly not. But that is not the point: whether this or that person who calls himself a theosophist fulfills an ideal, but solely and exclusively whether the matter itself is suitable to promote this ideal. But to decide on this, one must acquaint oneself with the matter itself, and not merely with what comes to light here or there. One promotes the right thing much more by doing it oneself than by criticizing the wrong thing in others. One will soon recognize that one of the most beautiful fruits of one's own theosophical striving is that it has an inner power of conviction that is not dependent on momentary external successes. With such an attitude, one will soon realize that where bad fruits appear, the right theosophy is not the basis either.
Another objection raised against the “Theosophical Society” is the difficulty of understanding its teachings, which are said to be accessible only to people with a certain level of education. Who, it is said, can find his way into the foreign expressions, into all the complicated theories, without special study? It should not be denied that much remains to be done in this direction to make it possible for theosophy to find the heart and mind of everyone. But this work must be done. What this school of thought has to proclaim can, if the right forms of expression are found, be understood by everyone. Indeed, nowhere is it possible to find the right form of expression for every level of education or life experience to the same extent as here. The most learned and the most unlearned can both find what they need for the salvation and peace of their souls. Those who want to achieve great things cannot remain within narrow circles; and where Theosophy has done so in the past, it has done so because it is only at the beginning of its career and must therefore first seek the right paths in the various fields of life. But the wider the circles in which it spreads, the more suitable will be the means it employs. The idea that it could lose depth and seriousness if it became more widespread is not one that anyone should entertain. For the dissemination of certain teachings that come into consideration here is a duty today; and if one recognizes this, one must ensure that the genuine teachings are preserved despite their dissemination, but not be deterred from this dissemination by the fear of distortion.