The closest texts (most helpful) for me include those which first started opening doors to my own Soul, or Intuition. This took me beyond a frame of reference (the Judeo-Christian) which
kind of fit when I was a child, but one which never really made sense once I started asking questions.
I recall opening Thich Nhat Hanh's
Being Peace, just out of curiosity as to why it was called
`Being' Peace, rather than
attaining peace, or
finding peace. The Zen Buddhist approach immediately resonated with me, and struck a chord deeper inside philosophically than anything else had.
Soon I found my way to books ranging from Mysticism and the psychic, to the Paranormal & parapsychology (Duke Univ. is just down the road, with J.B. Rhine's Research Center nearby). I looked into the New Age ... also Native Traditions, and even things like Scientology. But the teachings which most drew me like a Magnet ... were Theosophical writings from the 19th, or early 20th Century. I could relate to the mode of expression of the authors, perhaps because of a great interest in Romanticism.
As I read these books, I often felt as if I was in touch
with the author(s) of the work, and that I understood what they were trying to say. Everything just made sense!
So, the basic teachings of Eastern traditions have resonated strongest with me:
Karma, Reincarnation, Meditation, the other levels of our being (astral-emotional, mental, Soul & Spirit, as taught in every esoteric school in one form or another) ... and the importance of taking complete Responsibility for our lives and living with
Purpose (Dharma)
.
Since the formation of the Theosophical Society in 1875, and the writing of Blavatsky's
The Secret Doctrine, I think there have been several sets of teachings, each most appropriate for a different
type of student, but each an equally
valid Spiritual Revelation. They are, in a sense, complementary, but each is a
complete study unto itself. And the only prerequisite for studying any of them ... is that a student
earnestly desire to be of Service to his fellow man. The key is Right Motivation.
None of these texts, as folks have pointed out, can
encapsulate the Truth ... as God (or the
Tao) cannot safely be put into a box. The
Singularity, I suppose, might be such a
`box,' but we've a few trillion years to wait before we
experience what living together in such cramped conditions will mean ...
... and right now, I think there are more pressing matters to sort out, just living here on
planet Earth!
(And besides, we must - in the distant future - first pass through the Star (on my Siriusly avatar pic) long before we reach the Innermost Centers ... and the Singularity. Have you ever pondered the entire Galaxy as a BEING, whose essence is mirrored into every lesser being contained therein? Constellation, Solar System, Planetary System, Nation, Human Being, atom ... leaving quite a few obvious gaps in between - yet One Great Being, every last QUARK of whose Existence has a Purpose, and an animating Life. Or is our world a dead one? Sorry, I refuse to believe this - no matter how the lie is packaged, or no matter how tempting it may be sometimes to lose optimism, to lose hope!)
~Andrew
