Hi everybody!

I remember hearing a Theosophist say, "There is only one dogma in Theosophy, and that dogma is Brotherhood."

Brotherhood is a key concept to everyone on the Path. If anyone has a good story or comment on Brotherhood, please feel free to post it here.

Here is a good story from Katinka's website:

Taxi ride

http://lucifer7.katinkahesselink.net/i/2007/1.html

Twenty years ago, I drove a cab for a living. It was a cowboy's life, a life for someone who wanted no boss. What I didn't realize was that it was also a ministry. Because I drove the night shift, my cab became a moving confessional. Passengers climbed in, sat behind me in total anonymity, and told me about their lives. I encountered people whose lives amazed me, ennobled me, made me laugh and weep.

But none touched me more than a woman I picked up late one August night. I was responding to a call from a small brick four-plex in a quiet part of town. I assumed I was being sent to pick up some party people, or someone who had just had a fight with a lover, or a worker heading to an early shift at some factory in the industrial part of town.

When I arrived at 2:30 a.m., the building was dark except for a single light in a ground floor window. Under such circumstances, many drivers just honk once or twice, wait a minute, then drive away. But I had seen too many impoverished people who depended on taxis as their only means of transportation. Unless a situation smelled of danger, I always went to the door. This passenger might be someone who needs my assistance, I reasoned to myself. So I walked to the door and knocked.

"Just a minute," answered a frail, elderly voice. I could hear something being dragged across the floor. After a long pause, the door opened. A small woman in her 80's stood before me. She was wearing a print dress and a pillbox hat with a veil pinned on it, like somebody out of a 1940s movie. By her side was a small nylon suitcase. The apartment looked as if no one had lived in it for years. All the furniture was covered with sheets. There were no clocks on the walls, no knickknacks or utensils on the counters. In the corner was a cardboard box filled with photos and glassware.

"Would you carry my bag out to the car?" she asked.

I took the suitcase to the cab, then returned to assist the woman. She took my arm and we walked slowly toward the curb. She kept thanking me for my kindness.

"It's nothing," I told her. "I just try to treat my passengers the way I would want my mother treated."

"Oh, you're such a good boy," she said.

When we got in the cab, she gave me an address, then asked, "Can you drive through downtown?"

"It's not the shortest way," I answered quickly.

"Oh, I don't mind," she said. "I'm in no hurry. I'm on my way to a hospice."

I looked in the rearview mirror. Her eyes were glistening. "I don't have any family left," she continued. "The doctor says I don't have very long."

I quietly reached over and shut off the meter. "What route would you like me to take?" I asked.

For the next two hours, we drove through the city. She showed me the building where she had once worked as an elevator operator. We drove through the neighborhood where she and her husband had lived when they were newlyweds. She had me pull up in front of a furniture warehouse that had once been a ballroom where she had gone dancing as a girl. Sometimes she'd ask me to slow in front of a particular building or corner and would sit staring into the darkness, saying nothing.

As the first hint of sun was creasing the horizon, she suddenly said, "I'm tired. Let's go now."

We drove in silence to the address she had given me. It was a low building, like a small convalescent home, with a driveway that passed under a portico. Two orderlies came out to the cab as soon as we pulled up. They were solicitous and intent, watching her every move. They must have been expecting her.

I opened the trunk and took the small suitcase to the door. The woman was already seated in a wheelchair.

"How much do I owe you?" she asked, reaching into her purse.

"Nothing," I said.

"You have to make a living," she answered.

"There are other passengers," I responded.

Almost without thinking, I bent and gave her a hug. She held onto me tightly.

"You gave an old woman a little moment of joy," she said. "Thank you."

I squeezed her hand, then walked into the dim morning light. Behind me, a door shut. It was the sound of the closing of a life.

I didn't pick up any more passengers that shift. I drove aimlessly, lost in thought. For the rest of that day, I could hardly talk. What if that woman had gotten an angry driver, or one who was impatient to end his shift? What if I had refused to take the run, or had honked once, then driven away?

On a quick review, I don't think that I have done anything more important in my life. We're conditioned to think that our lives revolve around great moments. But great moments often catch us unaware . . . beautifully wrapped in what others may consider a small one.

Here is one about the soft-hearted HPB:

From Blavatsky Trust

As she stood in front of her 5th grade class on the very first day of school, she told the children an untruth. Like most teachers, she looked at her students and said that she loved them all the same. However, that was impossible, because there in the front row, slumped in his seat, was a little boy named Teddy Stoddard. Mrs. Thompson had watched Teddy the year before and noticed that he . Did not play well with the other children, that his clothes were messy and that he constantly needed a bath. In addition, Teddy could be unpleasant. It got to the point where Mrs. Thompson would actually take delight in marking his papers with a broad red pen, making bold X's and then putting a big "F" at the top of his papers. At the school where Mrs. Thompson taught, she was required to review each child's past records and she put Teddy's off until last. However, when she reviewed his file, she was in for a surprise. Teddy's first grade teacher wrote, "Teddy is a bright child with a ready laugh. He does his work neatly and has good manners... he is a joy to be around.." His second grade teacher wrote, "Teddy is an excellent student, well liked by his classmates, but he is troubled because his mother has a terminal illness and life at home must be a struggle." His third grade teacher wrote, "His mother's death has been hard on him. He tries to do his best, but his father doesn't show much interest and his home life will soon affect him if some steps aren't taken." Teddy's fourth grade teacher wrote, "Teddy is withdrawn and doesn't show much interest in school. He doesn't have many friends and he sometimes sleeps in class." By now, Mrs. Thompson realized the problem and she was ashamed of herself. She felt even worse when her students brought her Christmas presents, wrapped in beautiful ribbons and bright paper, except for Teddy's. His present was clumsily wrapped in the heavy, brown paper that he got from a grocery bag. Mrs. Thompson took pains to open it in the middle of the other presents. Some of the children started to laugh when she found a rhinestone bracelet with some of the stones missing, and a bottle that was one-quarter full of perfume.. But she stifled the children's laughter when she exclaimed how pretty the bracelet was, putting it on, and dabbing some of the perfume on her wrist. Teddy Stoddard stayed after school that day just long enough to say, "Mrs. Thompson, today you smelled just like my Mom used to." After the children left, she cried for at least an hour. On that very day, she quit teaching reading, writing and arithmetic. Instead, she began to teach children. Mrs. Thompson paid particular attention to Teddy. As she worked with him, his mind seemed to come alive. The more she encouraged him, the faster he responded. By the end of the year, Teddy had become one of the smartest children in the class and, despite her lie that she would love all the children the same, Teddy became one of her "teacher's pets.." A year later, she found a note under her door, from Teddy, telling her that she was still the best teacher he ever had in his whole life. Six years went by before she got another note from Teddy. He then wrote that he had finished high school, third in his class, and she was still the best teacher he ever had in life. Four years after that, she got another letter, saying that while things had been tough at times, he'd stayed in school, had stuck with it, and would soon graduate from college with the highest of honors. He assured Mrs. Thompson that she was still the best and favorite teacher he had ever had in his whole life. Then four more years passed and yet another letter came. This time he explained that after he got his bachelor's degree, he decided to go a little further. The letter explained that she was still the best and favorite teacher he ever had. But now his name was a little longer.... The letter was signed, Theodore F. Stoddard, MD. The story does not end there. You see, there was yet another letter that spring. Teddy said he had met this girl and was going to be married. He explained that his father had died a couple of years ago and he was wondering if Mrs. Thompson might agree to sit at the wedding in the place that was usually reserved for the mother of the groom. Of course, Mrs. Thompson did. And guess what? She wore that bracelet, the one with several rhinestones missing. Moreover, she made sure she was wearing the perfume that Teddy remembered his mother wearing on their last Christmas together. They hugged each other, and Dr. Stoddard whispered in Mrs. Thompson's ear, "Thank you Mrs. Thompson for believing in me. Thank you so much for making me feel important and showing me that I could make a difference." Mrs. Thompson, with tears in her eyes, whispered back. She said, "Teddy, you have it all wrong. You were the one who taught me that I could make a difference. I didn't know how to teach until I met you." (For those that don't know, Teddy Stoddard is the Dr. at Iowa Methodist in Des Moines that has the Stoddard Cancer Wing.)

I volunteer regularly at Hesed House, the local homeless shelter here in Aurora, Il. I help serve meals, wash trays, open lockers, whatever needs done.
We recently published our newsletter, Hesed Highlights, focusing on "X-Men" - those who have stayed at Hesed House, and were able to acquire housing again, re-entering mainstream society. I thought I'd cut and paste one of the stories here.

I'm not posting this to toot my own horn, but to suggest that we all, Theosophist or not, can work to make Brotherhood real in our lives, and in the lives of those we serve. Any of us can find a way to help those who are less fortunate than we are, who are otherwise just the same as we are. The same spark of Divinity is in each one of these folks as in us.

More stories of X-Men (and women) can be found at:Hesed Highlights

I everybody!

I think everyone is coming up with great stores of "volunteer worK". However, there is another aspect of Brotherhood that needs to be mentioned -- a feisty exchange of ideas in discussions, with all persons respecting each other's views.

"...in Europe more than anywhere else a Universal Brotherhood, i.e., an association of 'affinities' of strong magnetic yet dissimilar forces and polarities centred around one dominant idea, is necessary for successful achievements...."
-- Letter 5 of the The Mahatma Letters


If Theosophy can create opportunitunities for the open (and respectful) discussion of differing religious and philosophical ideas, it will have achieved its purpose. Closed-minded dogmatism is a mistake, and the very purpose of Theosophy is to open up such a way of thinking.

Unfortunately, the central "one dominant idea" seemed never to be strong enough to overcome the competing notions in the London Lodge. Sinnett led an Oriental philosophy based group against Kingsford's Hermetic philosophy group. They would not work together, so eventually two lodges formed in London. Similar efforts in other parts of the world often had the same problem. The idea of brotherhood could not overcome conflicting personalities, philosophies, religions etc.

From the quote one can see the real Brotherhood of Adepts wanted humanity to found some brotherhoods with real differences in them, that the members overcame by putting their common spiritual source ahead of any powerful urge to separate them.

It is easy to form societies of like-minded folk.

"The idea of brotherhood could not overcome conflicting personalities, philosophies, religions etc."

--> I agree that the human race has a long way to go before the majority of us reach the levels of maturity, cooperation, and compassion that the Mahatmas are asking of us.

Yet the very idea of what they are asking for is inspiring. The day will come when we can do it. I believe that day will eventually come (although probably not in this sub-race nor root-race), and I am looking forward to it.

In the meantime, all we can do is work on the things the Mahatmas ask of us. All of us can work at cooperating with different personalities, philosophies, religions etc. Each of us can do this for ourselves. Then, the day will come when we can put these skills to work in real groups.

It has been said that the most difficult thing we can do is appreciate and understand peoples of different nationalities, race, and culture. Yet, this is exactly what the Mahatmas are asking us to do. We are being challenged to do one of the most difficult things a human can do. The time has come for us to think of such things. We need to take inspiration from the Mahatmas, and move towards these seemingly impossible goals.

Brotherhood -- helping the less fortunate -- learning to work with people of dissimilar ideas -- that is the goal of Theosophy.