Hans van Aurich – The Netherlands
In the beginning of this century, a book entitled Theosofie by the Dutch author and Theosophist Ruud D.C. Jansen came my way. It is a small book pretending to be a small guide on the origin of the theosophical movement and a bird’s-eye view on the theosophical topics.
It astonished me that the writer discerned, in a small country as The Netherlands, eight organisations calling themselves theosophical together with the Arcane school (Alice Bailey), the Liberal Catholic Church and the International Order of the Round Table. The Theosophical palette in the Netherlands is therefore much extended. Although fractionation possibly is a typical Dutch vice, nevertheless one observes elsewhere in the world fractionation of the Theosophical movement as well.
What is the reason, you wonder. If you compare Theosophy with life, it is easy to understand. Life has nevertheless one source or more strongly: Life is the source of our very existence. If you want to reach that source, you must become the source. In practice people approach this entirely different. One wants to selfishly embrace life, which means keeping it for yourself and therefore it becomes a matter of possession instead of a matter of being. And of course it does not work this way, you only can be Life.
A parallel occurs with Theosophy, meanwhile rapidly degenerating into the Theosophy. As the Theosophy is a restriction of theosophy as such, people approach it in a completely different way. Instead of living Theosophy or being Theosophy, some individuals want to selfishly embrace Theosophy in order to hold it for themselves, claiming the right to know everything of Theosophy.
It is this attitude that drifts the student away from the real source which is Unity. Because of this he is living in a lower amplitude of vibration, working with lower energy which blocks the contact with the one awareness, with the Unity. Thus fragmentation monopolizes the conversation and gives rise to dissociation and creation of wrong habits. There is no more verification of what one is doing and learning, which tends to lead to “believing” rather than inquiring and researching. Consequently one belief is frequently replaced by the other and therefore one habit by the other. And there, of course, we find the key, because by attentively observing and scrutinizing the situation, one is able to see through a negative situation in order to convert it into a positive situation.
Is it not so that for every Theosophist there is nothing higher than truth ? The Theosophical seal teaches us: “no religion higher than truth.” But what is that truth? (And do not fall for it too easily, because you will restrict the term immediately!) Before knowing it, we are creating our own truth. By releasing Truth By keeping our thought absolutely free about what Truth is, we release Truth. Truth is reflected in absolute freedom of thought. Love for wisdom makes truth accessible.
Is this how we come to unity among the various Theosophical groups? There is – in my opinion – barely a chance it will happen. Maybe it is better to maintain the existing situation of many points of view, because Unity can only know itself by the multiplicity.
This is the ancient paradox.