BASICS OF ESOTERISM:
Crime and separativeness, war and pacifism
by Aart Jurriaanse
 

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.   

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"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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