A Textbook of TheosophyLeadbeater, C. W. (Charles Webster)
Religion
A Textbook of Theosophy
Leadbeater, C. W. (Charles Webster)
Theosophy
For him there is an utter absence of worry, because in truth there is
nothing left to worry about, since he knows that all must be well. His
higher Science makes him a confirmed optimist, for it shows him that
whatever of evil there may be in any person or in any movement, it is of
necessity temporary, because it is opposed to the resistless stream of
evolution; whereas whatever is good in any person or in any movement must
necessarily be persistent and useful, because it has behind it the
omnipotence of that current, and therefore it must abide and it must
prevail.
Yet it must not for a moment be supposed that because he is so fully
assured of the final triumph of good he remains careless or unmoved by the
evils which exist in the world around him. He knows that it is his duty to
combat these to the utmost of his power, because in doing this he is
working upon the side of the great evolutionary force, and is bringing
nearer the time of its ultimate victory. None will be more active than he
in labouring for the good, even though he is absolutely free from the
feeling of helplessness and hopelessness which so often oppresses those who
are striving to help their fellow-men.
Another most valuable result of his Theosophical study is the absence of
fear. Many people are constantly anxious or worried about something or
other; they are fearing lest this or that should happen to them, lest this
or that combination may fail, and so all the while they are in a condition
of unrest; and most serious of all for many is the fear of death. For the
Theosophist the whole of this feeling is entirely swept away. He realizes
the great truth of reincarnation. He knows that he has often before laid
aside physical bodies, and so he sees that death is no more than
sleep--that just as sleep comes in between our days of work and gives us
rest and refreshment, so between these days of labour here on earth, which
we call lives, there comes a long night of astral and of heavenly life to
give us rest and refreshment and to help us on our way.
To the Theosophist death is simply the laying aside for a time of this robe
of flesh. He knows that it is his duty to preserve the bodily vesture as
long as possible, and gain through it all the experience he can; but when
the time comes for him to lay it down he will do so thankfully, because he
knows that the next stage will be a much pleasanter one than this. Thus he
will have no fear of death, although he realizes that he must live his life
to the appointed end, because he is here for the purpose of progress, and
that progress is the one truly momentous matter. His whole conception of
life is different; the object is not to earn so much money, not to obtain
such and such a position; the one important thing is to carry out the
divine plan. He knows that for this he is here, and that everything else
must give way to it.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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