19

Celestial Experience in Mundane Duties

[from the book LIVING THE LIFE ]
 
by B.P. Wadia 
 
© 2009 Online Teosofiska Kompaniet Malmö 

          Look to the future; see to it that the continual performance
          of duty under the guidance of a well-developed Intuition shall
          keep the balance well poised. Ah! if your eyes were opened, you
          might see such a vista of potential blessings to yourselves and
          mankind lying in the germ of the present hour's effort, as would
          fire with joy and zeal your souls! Strive towards the Light, all of
          you brave warriors for the Truth, but do not let selfishness penetrate
          into your ranks, for it is unselfishness alone that throws open all the
          doors and windows of the inner Tabernacle and leaves them unshut.
                                                                                                  – MAHATMA K.H.

    
Every tyro in Theosophy knows that present actions mould our future character as well as our environment. The performance of duty, day by day, has also its immediate recompense. The Master implies, in the words quoted above, that such performance would tend towards sustaining our balance and equanimity. The small, plain duties of life hourly call upon us to acquire skill in action as well as concentration of mind. Many have a discontented attitude to mundane tasks; others are bored at peeling potatoes or writing accounts. To be of good cheer during such occupations at home or at office is very necessary.
 
But the Mahatma points out that ”the continual performance of duty” should be ”under the guidance of a well-developed Intuition.” This may well be called ”a tall order.” People are swayed by desires in small as in important affairs; most of the time they fail to make proper use of their rational faculty. To expect them to be guided by ” a well-developed Intuition” is, so to speak, asking for the impossible.
    
People often inquire: How can Theosophy help the common man to live a noble life? Here is one answer: What is going to help is not the doing of works forced upon him by his destiny, with a long face, a wandering mind and a heavy heart, but a cheerful acquiescence in the accurate and punctual doing of what has to be done. The Law of Necessity provides the first help; for, it requires that that which is not necessary to be done is not a duty. The mundane ways, customs and conventions involved in the performance of duties take their toll from the earnest student, and he is compelled to seek guidance from the doctrines of the Esoteric Philosophy. Our perception and evaluation of the routine duties of life undergo a fundamental change when we examine them in the light of Theosophy. But the Mahatma advocates not a well-developed rationality but a well-developed Intuition. Intuitive knowledge depends not on logic and reason; the faculty related to Buddhi, the abode of intuitions, is the faculty of coordinating the mundane and the material to the celestial and the spiritual. This means learning the science of the laws of analogy and correspondence. The study of logic is considered necessary for the correct use of the mind. The development of intuition demands a study of the law of analogy and correspondence, so that we perceive the” world in a grain of sand” and comprehend the profound and mysterious knowledge enshrined in such a formula – ”Oh ! the Jewel in the Lotus.”
    
In the present hour are hidden great potentialities. Can it be that the right, hourly performance of duties would bring us the vision which would prove a blessing to ourselves and to mankind? Can it be that in the ” germ of the present hour's effort” there are possibilities of progress undreamt of by us? The words of the Mahatma quoted above certainly point to such an idea. Are our souls fired with joy and zeal during the doing of the small; plain duties of life? One such duty for the Theosophical student is regular attendance at all U.L.T. meetings, once again not with discontent and bored feelings but with a cheerful mind charged with zeal and enthusiasm. Among our numerous small, plain duties there are those which might be compared to the body; others, to the principle of Prana; others, to the mind; and then there are duties which form the soul aspect of them all. Regular, punctual attendance at U.L.T. meetings is the soul of mundane duties, most helpful in revealing to us the celestial aspect of all events and happenings. But intelligent preparation for such attendance at U.L.T. meetings has to be made. Especially it seems that the Mahatma refers to this Theosophical duty when He speaks of the ”vista of potential blessings to yourselves [italics His] and mankind lying in the germ of the present hour's effort.”
    
In and through the small, plain duties, intuitively performed, we must strive to catch the vision of the Light. But we must heed the warning: ” . . . do not let selfishness penetrate into your ranks”; we must note the pregnant words about what unselfishness can and will accomplish.
    
The ”inner Tabernacle” is mentioned by the Mahatma. Its doors and windows are thrown open, not while we eat or walk or are engaged in mundane works, but, to begin with, when we attend the U.L.T. meetings with a prepared heart.
    
The real value of U.L.T. classes and meetings is often not comprehended. The student-aspirant's devotion elevates him at such gatherings, which make it easier for him to pursue the principles of Unity, Study, Work.

            B.P. WADIA