THEOSOPHICAL LECTURE.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLII, Issue 10114, 23 October 1917, Page 3

THEOSOPHICAL LECTURE.

i! There was a fair attendance to hoar Miss j Christie's lecture last night; entitled "War ! Karma. Past, Presont and Future,!' and (delivered in 'he. Empire Hall. Tho lecI luror, aftei" deliping tho meaning and scopo of tho word Karma, and its effect ; upon all as individuals, nations and races, \ and emphasising tho fact that all that I came upon us i>o)V_.was hut tho rebound of ■jour own.past activities, and that no single \-life-period could lie. separatee) from that preceding ii ov from tho one to follow, said:— Nations ar.e, but individuals on a . larger scale, and with them as with each of us, the present is the result of the past and has in it the seeds of the'future, which will be what we make it, to-day. An indij vidua! if to tho nation what a cell in his I body is to the'life of that body as a whole. .1 Each has its own life-work for'the organ of ''■' which .it forms a part. A nation is as a ! cell in iho body of the. universe, but is an ' important organ in the body of a planet. ! Willi this in mind, look at Europe to-day {—tho home of the leading races of the ! civilised world—and see how it is forced into. Using its scientific knowledge, its organising power,' its courage and endur- | ttnee and its vast wealth to kill the bodies of the flower of its humanity, destroy the j accumulated knowlcdgo of centuries, and ,' plunge the world info an agony of sorrow, I terror and bereavement. Why? Because we have not understood the workings of Cod's law of cause and effect, and that as portions of Him we must work with it (ir pay the penalty. The civilisations of the* past fell by great cataclysms of Nature ami by a war that ushered in a new i era and a new race, but caused the death m of their finest soldiers and tin* loss of most df the knowledge gained through "centuries of effort, so that, tho advanced egos passing from it into the higher race, were handicapped by bavin,"; to begin all over again, but with 'innate powers that enabled them Ji.o cover old ground quickly; that, is the i'war karma of the past. The. present war ! karmn is linked to the past chiefly in three | ways. (1) The leaders of the opposing nail lions'are. the same souls who led when AtMaiitio sank beneath the ocean that ix'ars its name. Thousands of their followers on ; both sides are the. same. (2). All these souls ''hiivoin their consciousness an unconscious memory of that ej'jantio struggle in the j form (on the side of the victors) of a dei termination to conquer again by lair means or foul, and to dominate the world, a be- : lief that their God is on the side of might j as -'risrht and an titter contempt for and cruelty towards those weaker than them- . selves' (3) In those who "iycr'o Uio losers j [ ust time when the dark powers won, ami >vho now nato— not tho erstwhile; enemy, • but the characteristics that make him what ' ho is, there is the innate memory of past 'defeat, and of the. horrors of that time, 5 new expressed in the opposite .qualities of '. fair plav, of power used to defend the (weak protect the helpless and. keep their ": word' of honour, a love of the divine in i evervone—the dawning of true brotherhood which is just awaking from the sleep of •njres roused bv tint roar of cannon, shriek of shell, and all ilin hellish conflict of this ' ■iwl'ui war-this war which is to decide ''■ whether our great 20th century civilization ■ died as did the otheis, or lived to carry its •knowledge into a'-\glorious future .where war will be no move. This with its dan- ! crcrs and opportunities is tho karma of the I present The future will be what wo make ! hj to-dnv and so will our part be in it. i whether' we help or hinder the world in ; -his «real conflict decides what position we j shall occupv in the new era, choose now • Our presont duty is to use. every ounce ot ; power and influence to crush, not. the op- : nosiil"' nations, but their power now used to ' menace humanity, and we. must, do it by j i aw f u l means since two blacks never yet made a white; Those who in this time ol ; the Empire's sorest need use their influence to further personal or ptuty interests must b, either (I) ignorant, so unfit to wield uitlioi power or wealth, or (2) disloyal to the .deal of true brotherhood; so are the usual canir followers of every army, they novev light, Illicv father booty, and so reap the con■niVof others and earn for themselves n subordinate and poor position in the tup era. What a man sows that shall he reap.