The record-union., 1897-06-03
THE BROTHERHOOD OF MAN.
Considered From the Standpoint Of a
TheOSOphiSt.
Last Nights Lecture Delivered by
DIR. Allen Griffiths on That
Subject.

Griffiths' lecture on Brotherhood" Civ
en- last night in the Theosophical Head
quarters in Odd Fellows Temple.
Many people, said the speaker, con-
slider brotherhood mere fad or fam
cy 1t is so often upon the tongue that
it has become almost cant to use the
term. Then, again, brotherhood is
usually thought of as some intangible
thing of the future and which concerns
some time and people other than our
own. But theosophy proclaims broth
erhood to be an universal law, incess-
antly operating in the present and vi
tally affecting ourselves. 1t rests upon
the absolute law, of unity which binds
all the contents of cosmos in indissolu-
BILE bonds. Brotherhood has its exis
tence as a principle, not as a mere
whim or transient emotion.
That in man which is the imperisha-
BILE principle, the Deific Spark, the
Soul, the Thinker, is above and superior
to the mere man of flesh, bones and
blood 1t is of the essence, quality and
infinite potentiality of it's source, Deity.
Constituted thus of infinite capacity,
infinitudes are required wherein to de-
velop that infinite capacity. Hence,
We have eternity, which is the ever
of the souls unlimited pos
sibilities; and all worlds, nature and
evolution of the soul
All souls have a common origin
Deity; a common development, oppor-
tunities and possible destiny. ImmOr-
tality is a possibility inhering in every
SOUL but it has to be won through and
by individual effort in utilizing possi-
bilities equally afforded to all. The only
difference existing between different
souls is the different degree to which
each used or misused opportunities af-
forded in past earth lives. The possi-
bility of the loss of the soul is taught
in the bibles of all times and peoples
Jesus said, What profiteth a man if
he gain the whole world and loose his
own soul?" We elbow soulless men
and women on the streets every day.
There exist men and women
who have yielded to their lower selfish
and passionate nature until the divine
spark could no longer reside with them,
and has taken its flight. The soul is
lost only to the lower animal man, who
has become totally deficient in all
high attributes and exists as satan
of evil. Jack the Ripper, Jesse Pom
eroy, the boy fiend, and Deeming the
Australian murderer, are cases in point.
SoulleSs people are not all idiots, or
confined in aSylums and penitentiaries.
Often they are possessed of such
and cunning that they
elude common facilities for detection,
conviction and punishment. They
may be found in the professions, trades
and all walks of life. So long as there
is a lingering aspiration or desire for
better things and effort made to real
iZe them, the soul has not flown.
Though the tie may be weakened by
yielding to lust and Wickedness and the
Eight dimmed, yet the soul struggles to
reign over the lower man, and if as
piration be strong and persistent it
may regain it's ascendency. Then
upon the soul plane men are brothers,
by reason of ccmmonality of origin,
age, development and possible destiny
On the mental plane, also, men are
brothers. We cannot even think with
Thoughts are the parents of and more
thrown off to fall stillborn at our feet
but are living entities endowed with
power for good or evil. They course
and load the air with subtle, in
sidious influence which affects others
for better or worse Very few people
think, however much they allege to the
contrary.
Most brains are like lodging houses, to
which come and go current thoughts of
the time. People know not where the
thought comes from, why it comes,
where it goes, how to reproduce or
avoid it. Many of our thoughts are
creatures of vanity and selfishness. Re
venge, jealousy, suspicion, covetous-
ness, desire for qualification of personal
largely make up the thoughts
of the ordinary man. He constantly at
tracts and emanates that low order of
thought, and their volume constantly
increases. The lower order of thought
a man cherishes the greater power for
evil he becomes, for thoughts grow upon
what they feed, which is their own kind.
Thus, when an evil thought leaves a
given mind it is more potent for evil
than ever, and seeks out another of like
nature, and urges that one to the COM
mission Of evil.
So, all who harbor evil thoughts are
to the evil acts committed
in their community, even though they
never saw or knew the particular per-
son who committed the crime. Thoughts
are powers for good or evil. If an he
roic and noble action is performed by
another, those who aspire to high ideals
and think noble, helpful thoughts are
linked to that action, for they have
taken part in it's performance, even
though they have or may never meet or
know the actor. Truly, we are our
brothers keeper.
We are brothers also on the physical
plane. Each molecule in our physical
bodies is the residence of a soul evolv-
ing up through a lower kingdom to the
human and on beyond. The human is
not the highest stage of soul evolution.
Beyond, and existing as the next link
in the endless chain, is the adept, the
grand man, who exists as the logical
and unavoidable result of the process
of evolution itself. The adept is an
ideal toward which to aspire and possi-
bic of realization in the future They
are the real leaders and teachers of our
race and are actuated by the noble de-
sire to help all who aspire to so think
and act that the world shall become bet
ter for their having lived in it,
Each soul residing in each cell of our
bodies is impressed by our thought. If
that is low, those souls are impeded in
their evolution, and leave us to go to
other human bodies stamped with the
imprint of evil thought, and influence
those others for evil. If our thought is
pure and elevating, the souls imprisoned