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From Inner to Outer Transformation – Lectures on ‘The Voice of the Silence’

10 juni 2010

By Joy Mills (1920- 2015).

94 Pages | First edition 1996, reprint 2002 | Softcover | Uitgeverij der Theosofische Vereniging in Nederland, Amsterdam | ISBN: 9061750830.

Bij het Juni nummer van Theosofia wordt een 'Special' gepubliceerd met de Nederlandse vertaling van dit werk.

' Bestride the bird of life, if thou would'st know. '

It is the nature of a bird to fly upwards. When one moves to a higher position, for example to a mountain's peak, one's vision is greatly extended. There is much more to be seen from an airplane than from a train or an automobile. This does not mean, that the closer view of the terrain, which is seen when one is walking or driving in a car, is not important, but to gain a wider perspective of the entire area one wishes to explore, a view from the heights is essential.

The theosophical worldview gives a panoramic view, and this is an essential part of its uniqueness. Many philosophies and much of science start from a very limited view and stay there; for example, in some cases, the view is only of the physical world, and then the existence of anything beyond the physical or material is posited as perhaps plausible, but not very likely. On the other hand, the theosophical philosophy encourages us to gain the widest view possible, to start not with the physical, but with that which is the ground of our being, the ultimate reality underlying all phenomenal existence.

From Chapter II - 'Waking up' (p. 29):

" In the Voice of Silence, we are encouraged to take a wider view, the view a bird would have. And what is that view? From the theosophical perspective, it is a view of the universe. which brings about the profound realization of the unity of all existence. You realize, that our generation, of all generations that have lived on this planet, is the first to have seen our globe whole, that is there are no boundaries. Where are the boundaries? Where are the frontiers? 

[…]

If our aim is as The Voice of Silence tells us, to 'follow in the steps of holy Tathagata', which is to take the Bodhisattva path, then we must see the world and all within it as does a Bodhisattva. It has been said, that a Bodhisattva sees the single thread, that unites all consciousnesses, all beings. […] We know, that there are groups in which there is ancestor worship. There is a truth in this, because the blood is symbolic of the living thread, which connects us with all ancestors and if one goes back far enough, there is only one ancestor, which is the Great Man, Purusha. We are all linked as bloodbrothers then. This was one of the great symbols in mediaeval time, to become bloodbrothers, to mingle the blood. " 

 

Quotes from the first chapter of this book:

Rooted in one ultimate reality, the universe and all within it proceed by a process of emanation into being. When we say "one ultimate reality" we should not really say "One," because One implies two. So, rooted in a non-dual ultimate reality, the process was radiation through which emanation occurred and within that inherent lawfulness of the system gave rise to an evolutionary cycle of becoming, which in the human stage is self-directed and self-consciously chosen. The pivotal doctrine of the esoteric philosophy is that there are no special gifts in man, save those won by his own Ego [reincarnating self] throughout a long series of reincarnation and metempsychosis. This is important because it is not simply by living a certain number of lives, reïncarnation, that we come to transformation.
... Consciousness is primary. ... Only in the human stage does consciousness become reflective upon itself and therefore self-conscious decision and effort become not only possible but constitute the priveleged choice and the responsible act of every human being. We must choose: responsibility is there.
Joy Mills has been a member of the Theosophical Society since 1940 and has served as General Secretary of the American Section and the Australian Section, and she was International Vice-President of the T.S.. She was director of the Krotona Institute School of Theosophy in Ojai, California. Her lecture tours have taken her to more than 50 countries.

auteur: Mills, J.
ISBN: 9061750830
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