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BASICS OF
ESOTERISM: Acts of crime are basically aspects of psychological disturbances, where various forms of selfishness find expression in distorted activities against society. It may be the product of several weaknesses, such as lack of respect for the rights and property of others, or the result of selfish greed for possessions, sometimes combined with a craving for power. Some crimes also originate from deemed past injustices, and the consequent development of anti-social attitudes. Other crimes may be founded on political motives, and in some instances simply on laziness. Then there are what may be called ‘emotional crimes’ -- offences which have been instigated by feelings of frustration, grudge, hate, envy or jealousy, sometimes also combined with a distorted spirit of adventure. But the main underlying cause of crime, which to some extent comprises all the above considerations, remains a deeply seated inherent selfishness, finding its expression in the many nuances of transgression against the social establishment. Dramatic penalties to prevent or suppress crime have consequently so far proved relatively abortive. The only really effective way of combating crime is that the originating causes should be removed or treated. Future generations will therefore largely succeed in eliminating crime by psychological approaches -- not so much by treating the criminals, but by preventing crime through improved environmental conditions and by more effective educational systems for the youth. A great deal of harm is occasioned in the world by that most reprehensible human trait commonly known as ‘separativeness’. It is one of man’s most outstanding weaknesses, and has already been responsible for untold misery and suffering, and for much of the disturbed human relationships on all levels. It is this negative attitude which so often serves as the source of a whole range of human transgressions. Separativeness generally originates from selfish motives, interests or opinions, which are inclined to set brother against brother, group against group, and nation against nation. It engenders a sense of superiority and causes conflict and destruction between opposing interests, whether represented by individuals, groups or nations; it may exert major influences in economic, political, scientific, and religious fields, and has in many instances been the principal cause of cruel and destructive wars. Separativeness emphasises the importance of material possessions, and therefore encourages acquisition in many of its unsavoury aspects; it also breeds hatred and distrust between individuals and in international relationships. War At the first glance one would not be inclined to ascribe selfishness as one of the main underlying causes of both war and pacifism. But that is exactly the case, and the majority of wars have their origin, directly or indirectly, from some form of selfishness, displayed as desire or greed of some nature, or as separativeness. War is the explosion of energies which have been accumulating on etheric levels through man’s instrumentality and his badly conducted human relationships. The tensions built up can always be psychologically released if one or both of the contending parties could but be persuaded to relinquish unreasonable and selfish claims. The trouble, however, is that, when emotional stresses build up to certain levels, emotions seem to overwhelm all mental capacity, and the reasoning mind becomes obscured by astral hazes. Every person of goodwill is averse to war and all it stands for, and will take all reasonable steps within his means to avoid it. War is evil and ugly, but occasions may arise when no man of integrity and rectitude can escape its clutches, and when he should be willing to defend and fight for those concepts and ideals which he considers are right and decent. He is not expected to lie down placidly and to be ruthlessly trampled under foot by the intruder who is working to implement the wishes of the Dark Forces. The attitude to be adopted towards war all depends on the underlying motives. War is always wrong, but at times man can be forced to choose the lesser of two evils. When the motive is wrong, then war is mass murder, but with the right motive war may assume the form of a sacrificial action. When an attacker is killed in the course of protecting the innocent and defenceless, this is not murder, but a justified action if not a moral obligation. At least two interpretations may be attached to ‘pacifism’. If it is meant that war should be avoided as far as reasonably possible, and that every fair means of love, goodwill and understanding should be employed to effect this and to encourage good relationships, then pacifism should be supported to the utmost. On the other hand if by pacifism is understood an attitude of pusillanimity and ‘laissez faire’, where forces of evil are allowed to ride roughshod over that which is good and decent, because the man is not expected to show resistance or the mettle to stand up and fight for that which he considers right and proper, or to defend with all his might his dependants, community or mankind as a whole, then such pacifism itself is considered a product of evil. If analysed it will often be found that this type of pacifism originates from basic selfishness, which may be somewhat camouflaged by apparently altruistic sentiments, but which is in fact founded on averseness to disturbing a convenient status quo or the man’s physical comfort, or on fear of exposing the physical body to pain, with even the possibility of death by fighting. It must, however, also be acknowledged that there are some pacifists with whom it is an attitude of deep inner conviction. They regard any form of partisanship as an infringement of the laws of universal brotherhood, and in their enthusiasm and unilateral but myopic outlook, they become fanatical and are prepared to sacrifice the good of humanity as a whole to a sentimental and emotionally distorted interpretation of the basically sound principle to ‘love all men’. This attitude is therefore not based on real spiritual love, and it must be remembered that man should act according to well considered mental reasoning and the inspirations of his soul, and not allow himself to be guided by pure sentiment. When man is faced with a clear choice between good and evil, he cannot try to maintain neutrality by hiding behind emotional expressions -- this would be shirking his responsibilities. As the Christ said: “He who is not with me is against me.” Aart Jurriaanse, wrote a number of compilations from the books of Alice A. Bailey. Among these are: Of Life and other worlds; Prophecies; Ponder on this; Serving Humanity; The Soul; The Quality of Life; and he is also the author of Bridges which is a Commentary on these teachings. Return to Directory of articles by Aart Jurriaanse From the work of AAB Updated: Sex & the Disciple + New: Homosexuality "Love is an active force which transforms. Love which does not act is hardly love at all. Love in action is the essence of love. It is an ability to love the world and all that is in it which is the capacity of Maitreya. The deepest desire of the heart of the One who can do that is to unify all. He looks into the world and sees 5.6 billion people: suffering, striving, competing, all the different actions, some positive, some deeply negative. He sees all of that and His urge, His deepest desire, the outflow of His spiritual heart's need, is to bring all of that together, to unify it all." Benjamin Creme, in Maitreya's Mission Vol. III
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