WHEN we speak
of a problem we are usually thinking of a conflict in which one factor lies
within our own selves. At the present time problems are rapidly increasing
as more and more conflicts are seen to have their origin partly
within us.
There was a time,
for example, when war was not a problem. It was an external predicament like
the weather. Now war is a problem, for its causes are seen to lie in ourselves;
and, as time goes on, we are going to discover more and more how subtly we
create war from within ourselves.
Those who can
solve their problems are called wise; but nobody, however wise, can make
another person wise. We cannot solve another person’s problem for him.
One thing, however,
we can sometimes do to help another in his problem if he is seeking for help.
We can reinterpret his problem for him and so give it back to him, looking
different, presenting a new aspect, so that he may perhaps make more effective
progress with solving it for himself.
Theosophy is an
interpretation of the human problem. It is an interpretation of the problems
of the universe. Since the world problem and the problem of the individual
are one, and since man is the microcosm of the universe, Theosophy’s interpretation of the universe and of great cycles of events and experiences
can serve also to reinterpret the problems of the individual.
To interpret,
however, is to do something more than to explain. To reinterpret the problem
of another person does not necessarily mean that we have to rush in and explain
his problem to him in words. If we understand his problem, our understanding
will often convey itself without words. A multitude of words often marks a
failure of understanding. Often the sympathetic listener gives much more help
towards the solution of a problem than the individual who hastens to offer
advice.
Theosophy has
been described as “the science of life and the art of living”. A science of life there must be, with laws and explanations; but living is
the supreme art. When we engage in interpretation within the field of one of
the arts of civilization, when, for example, we interpret music by playing
it or a scene by painting it, our interpretation is no mere explanation, no
mere affair of words and laws. How much more, then, must the interpretation
of the art of living be
beyond words and explanations.
Theosophy has
also been defined as “the body of truths which forms the basis of all religions and which cannot be
claimed as the exclusive possession of any”. If we look at the scriptures of the world we certainly find that the great
religions have teachings which they share in common, explanations which they
offer alike, doctrines in which they are in essential agreement. But these
alone are surely not the body of truths which forms the basis of such religions
nor are they the highest interpretation which religion has to offer of life
and its problems.
If
we look further into the scriptures of the world, we shall find that a great
part of them consists of efforts, not to convey teachings and explanations,
but to convey a sense of the presence of the Teacher. By anecdotes, by symbols,
by subtle modes of intimation, they try to give us the rare fragrance, the
freshness, the essential quality and power and impact of the Teacher himself.
Many religions also try to make available by sacramental means some immediate
experience of a real
Presence.
To reinterpret, in a truly Theosophical way, the problem of the world, or of
the individual, is thus something very much more than to explain it. It is
also something very much less, for, when such a true interpretation is given,
it is very much simpler than an explanation. It does not preclude explanation;
but, even if it is a task of exposition, it is also and inseparably a work
of art, the creation of a presence and a freshness.
A
problem, then - whether one’s own or a problem which another chooses to reveal - is an opportunity for the
creation of a work of art in thought, feeling or act. In a problem or conflict
there is duality; and the moment in which that duality is glimpsed has pregnant
solemnity, for it is the symbolic equivalent of the moment when the One becomes
Two and the Two are about to create the great work of art which we call the
Universe. Perhaps, at some level of being, the Universe itself is the answer
to a Problem.