theosophy is altruism

i totally wanted to attend a talk at the theosophical society, adyar.
this place is the closest i can have if i want a forest from where i live. it’s the closest i can get to a river. and it’s the closest i can get to a peaceful HUSH.

still in every silence a firstborn has to chirp
and in every quiet a baby param has to prance

that is the default setting.

But the lure of going to a restful tree-filled, peace-filled, banyan tree-homed place like the Theosophical society was a lot of motivation.

Tim Boyd was to speak on ‘theosophy in a crowding world’. tim is the president of the theosophical society of america. He was one of the people who arranged for the Dalai lama’s visit to Chicago.

i went because what he says here makes sense…

the kids didnt hear a word of the speech, even though the silence was = pin drop. firstborn flattened himself on the floor of the open air audi and drowned himself in an amar chitra katha; baby param spent the first 15 minutes sticking about eight bindis on my forehead.. and the next 35 minutes in zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz land , as his wont.

i was beaming. today it was enough for me if the boys knew about this place .. the butterflies, the squirrels and the general pro-leafiness. and that a crowd can silence itself into a non-restive hush.

theosophy is altruism first and foremost, Boyd said quoting madame blavatsky. if there werent such big words, firstborn could have caught on. but.

He spoke of crowding of minds and desires in life in a city and how we are peopling it with our current. He spoke of dr. annie besant who said in 1898 ‘ Let us judge our spirituality by our effect on the world..’

i googled the rest of her speech and found this…

‘To all and each one that we meet we owe a duty. No one who comes within the circle of our life, but we have a duty towards that person. The world is not ruled by chance; no fortuitous happenings come into the lives of men. Duties are obligations we owe to those around us; and every one within our circle is one to whom we owe a duty. What is the duty that we owe to each? It is the definite payment of those debts with which we are familiar in our studies; the duty of reverencing and obeying those who are superior to us, who are above us; the duty of being gentle and affectionate and helpful to those around us, on our own level; the duty of protection, kindness, helpfulness, and compassion to those below us. These are universal duties, and no aspirant should fail in the attempt at least to fulfill them; without the fulfillment of these there is no spiritual life.’

a nice thought for the New Year.