Barend Voorham – The Netherlands

It all starts with an Ideal. Idealism belongs to the buddhic part of our consciousness. Buddhi gives a vision of Truth. And the Truth is that in the core of our being we are united. It is an illusion, a mâyâ, to think we are separated from each other. Students in Theosophy should know that.

That doesn’t mean we are all the same. Not even two leaves of a tree are exactly the same. So it is very natural that we all have another view of the Oneness of all beings. We all have developed our capacities in our own individual way.

We should use our capacities to build up an Ideal of the most perfect Theosophical Movement each of us can imagine. See it before your spiritual eye. A powerful, international, universal Movement of good willing men and women working for the benefit of all beings. They really form a nucleus of Universal Brotherhood. Thanks to the Theosophical teachings they are an authority for all those who crave for light. They have a strong influence on science, philosophy, religion, yes on all parts of society.

There is an open, free exchange of ideas between the Theosophical workers. A Theosophist respects the honest opinions and convictions of others and gives his own opinion as a contribution to achieve a greater Truth. So we help each other to understand Theosophy better.

Every Theosophist should build up this Ideal. If you feed it sufficiently, meditate on it, at a certain moment you become it. You are your Ideal. You are what you know you should be. Mahatma Gandhi says that man has two windows to his mind: through one he can see his own self as it is; through the other, he can see what he ought to be. We should see ourselves as compassionate co-workers of the Theosophical Movement.

Thoughts precede acts. When this Ideal is an integrated part of our consciousness it will influence all our acts, not only those which concern the Theosophical Movement, but relating to everything you do.

There is no difficulty we cannot conquer when this buddhic Ideal is the driving force in our lives. So we have to speak openly and sincerely with our fellow Theosophists – whether or not they belong to other organizations – about the differences in view, the differences in methods and especially in how we can give Theosophy its rightful place in the world.