(This is the first of a three-part series, applying TRUTH to our everyday lives, based on Theosophy.)
In late July, we read the gruesome news story of Otty Sanchez of San Antonio, Texas, allegedly dismembering her three-and-a-half-week old son, then eating his brain. The scene was
"so gruesome that police were left shaken...." "...a scene so horrifying that investigators could barely speak to one another.""Maybe we missed" warning signs, San Antonio Police Chief William McManus said.
"I don't know."Sanchez had been released less than a week from a hospital, where she allegedly had been treated for self-inflicted cuts to her torso and an attempt to slice her own throat.
A tragedy for sure. But there is no
"maybe" about the
"signs" people associating with the new mother during that week missed!
Several people were around Otty Sanchez.
They said she was suffering from post-partum depression but seemed
"normal" otherwise.
So how does a
"normal" acting person end up taking samurai swords and dismembering her son, then eating his brains? This behavior is in no way close to
"normal," and no
"little" diagnosis of post-partum depression can explain it: Sanchez allegedly killed her ONLY child with a steak knife and two swords, while her sister and two nieces, ages 5 and 7, slept in another room!
Obviously, the mental health professionals who'd last seen Otty Sanchez
BADLY misread her symptoms and the depths of her problems. This was
NO MERE post-partum depression, as normal-acting as she may have seemed.
Then just this past week in Richmond, California, Nathan Burris, allegedly shot Deborah Ross, his girlfriend of 13 years and another man, Ersie Evertt, because he thought they were having an affair. Ross was at work as a toll booth operator when she was killed; Everett was in his truck in another lane, after giving her a ride to work. He was a deacon at Ross' church.
Just two days before, Burris reportedly had showered Ross with flowers, chocolate and other gifts and had promised her that he would
"never, ever" revert to his former abusive ways.
He, too, had seemed
"normal."
These two cases would seem like an aberration. Yet, just hours or days before, both Sanchez and Burris had seemed
"normal" ....just like people whom we may encounter from time to time, seeming
"normal" but having
"quirks" that make us question that normalcy.
How can we use the seven principles, espoused by Theosophy about our "terrestial" existence, to try to make sense of seemingly senseless acts?
According to
Theosophy, people are at different stages of their evolution while on
Earth. First, we manifest in three early-stage forms that pretty much dissipate with the
"body," once it dies. Then there are the next four stages, where people are manifesting their earthly experience strictly from a material aspect to those people focused solely on the spiritual aspect.
From Theosophy we learn:THE HIGHER SELF is Atma the inseparable ray of the Universal and ONE SELF. It is the God above, more than within, us. Happy the man who succeeds in saturating his inner Ego with it! [#7]
THE SPIRITUAL divine EGO is the Spiritual soul or Buddhi, in close union with Manas, the mind-principle, without which it is no EGO at all, but only the Atmic Vehicle.
[#6]
THE INNER, or HIGHER is Manas, the "Fifth" Principle, so called, independently of Buddhi. The Mind-Principle is only the Spiritual Ego when merged into one with Buddhi, -- no materialist being is supposed to have in him such an Ego, however great his intellectual capacities. It is the permanent Individuality or the "Re-incarnating Ego." [#5]
THE LOWER, or PERSONAL "EGO" is the physical man in conjunction with his lower Self, i. e., animal instincts, passions, desires, etc. It is called the "false personality," and consists of the lower Manas combined with Kama-rupa, and operating through the Physical body and its phantom or "double." [#4]
It is this fourth principle of
Theosophy: kāma or desire, from which we will look at the
TRUTH, according to
Theosophy, in Part I.
From
kāma we learn that this aspect of our terrestial manifestation is a driving, impelling force. It is born from the interaction of
atman, buddhi, and
manas. In this aspect of manifestation, people even in their seeming goodness can be BAD! Kāma can be a force of good or evil, based on how it is used by the
Mind and
Soul. It provides the electrical impulses for our desires and aspirations.
In
"Keys to Theosophy," originally published in 1889,
Helena Petrovna Blavatsky (1831-1891), who founded
The Theosophical Society in 1875 with others, said:
"No materialist, however unbelieving, can die for ever in the fullness of his spiritual individuality.
"...Consciousness can disappear either fully or partially in the case of a materialist, so that no conscious remains of his personality survive" after he dies.
She continued:
"There are various kinds of materialists, as you say. A selfish, wicked Egoist, one who never shed a tear for anyone but himself, thus adding entire indifference to the whole world to his unbelief, must, at the threshold of death, drop his personality for ever. This personality having no tendrils of sympathy for the world around and hence nothing to hook on to Sutratma, it follows that with the last breath every connection between the two is broken."
Taking this
Theosophy as TRUTH to understand conditions in everyday life, I would dare to theo(rize)sophize that when we see a breakdown of seeming normalcy in our
"humanity" that person is caught up in the fourth body form: the struggle between good and evil.
Most people operating at the fourth aspect are just following their impulses in life for pleasure, achievement and other types of material comforts. They are reacting to life as it unfolds, rather than getting into any deep inquiry of their Souls. They are in a sort of Nether, Nether land, where life just "happens." But in extreme cases, like with Sanchez and Burris, who have evolved at this fourth aspect of their terrestial experience, some become caught up in
NETHER, NETHER LAND! 
There is conflict in their behavior and their attitudes towards other men because they are unsure about which
"ACT" to follow.
We then should understand how futile it is to try to make sense of their
"nonsense!"Indeed, even the experts interacting with Otty Sanchez were fooled! Even she, herself, obviously was conflicted when she allegedly screamed, after his death, that she
"loved" her baby.
Taking
Theosophy then as
TRUTH, we should begin to see how critically important it is to understand ourselves and our current stage of manifestation while on Earth!
It is not enough to
"know" our personality traits; those are
ALL superficial. It is critical to
"know" our Soul and at what stage it is attempting to manifest in and through us during this,
our, time on Earth.
The only way to do this, truly, would be to go into the
Silence. But, for people who are already conflicted between good and evil, this would be akin to spilling gasoline onto an already burning fire:
they would think they are "hearing voices" directing them about what to do.
"Solitude can be difficult for an unwise person. The unwise try to distract themselves and move to the lower levels of their spiritual life. The truly wise person keeps himself at this summit of inner solititude, while communicating with God in prayer." Leo Tolstoy So, then if we can't go into the Silence of our Soul:
What next?We pray.
This is the time I believe that having a religious life or affiliation helps someone who may be conflicted about
"good" and
"evil," notwithstanding that
SOME religions
CAN and
DO lead people down a more conflicted path and totally astray.
Whatever the drawbacks, my overall belief is that no matter what the religion or teaching, if it gives people a belief in a "Higher Power," then it is doing GO(O)D's work! I repeat: Once there is a focus on a "Higher Power," then GO (O)D is at work, no matter what the name given to him: God, Allah, Jehovah, Yahweh...We then see so many people being helped to lead a normal, decent life, simply by knowing and adhering to the
"rules" of their religious teachings.
No conflict there!
So, when we see people strictly following the letters of the "laws" of their religious teaching, we should applaud them. They are simply reflecting the current level of their consciousness in connecting to their Souls. Let them be! Without this, some may begin to relect the conflict between good and evil; which would you rather see? (Of course, this does not mean that people who are religious are ONLY fighting good and evil. Indeed, people manifesting Theosophy's principles, five, six or even seven on Earth, could also be following religious teachings even as they recognize and co-create with the spiritual aspects of themselves.)Watch and Pray, that's what we need to do when we're stumped getting into the
Silence.
For those who commit to living at the higher level Tolstoy talked about by taking the time for Solititude and Going Within: it doesn't mean they are ANY BETTER than others. It simply means they manifesting a different aspect of their Soul's call while on Earth.In
Part II next week, we'll take a look at these people and their journey along the path of
Becoming Still and
Listening. This is manifested in the fifth principle of
Theosophy: manas, where there is a struggle between
Spirit and the
egoic personality.
In the meantime:
"Be at Peace" with your Soul!
Namaste',
Che'
[At right: Who among us can forget this image of Ted Kennedy showing up, soon after his surgery, for President Obama's inauguration? He simply HAD to be there for the First Black President of the United States!]
