[In this section we seek to answer frequently asked questions, at U.L.T. meetings or during private conversations and discussions with people who seek the answers in the light of Theosophy. Answers given in this section are by no means final. Only a line of thought is being offered by applying general principles of Theosophy.]

Question: Is it right to vote for an individual candidate or his political party during election, since we cannot check on the use or misuse of power and position they later enjoy? Is it right "to judge," favourably or not, any individual, such as a candidate, since Theosophy advises us not to judge?

Answer: The above question pertain to making a judgement and the fear of karmic consequences arising out of making defective decisions such as casting a "vote."

There is a difference between "passing judgement" and "judging," which is an application of our inherent faculty of discrimination. Charity demands that we refrain from sitting on the "judgement seat," i.e., being harshly judgmental about persons, with a view to critically notice only what we think is a faulty and defective side of others. We may find an erroneous justification for our condemnation of choices and actions of others, but we are not to condemn them as persons, in thought or in words. "Condemn the sin, but not the sinner."

We must never misuse our precious faculty of discrimination that helps us to assess people and situations, after due deliberation. For instance, before we employ a domestic help, it is necessary that we find out his/her background, character, efficiency, experience, credentials and suitability for the job.

If we are to vote for an individual, we must apply our intelligence and after due investigation decide the appropriateness of his candidature. It is our human prerogative to think and even to consult our intuition before making any choice, unprejudiced by the opinion of others.

As for the voting process, our karmic responsibility does not end with casting a vote for a candidate or a party. In a nation, we are all linked together, and therefore must accept the due consequences of our trust or confidence in the candidate. We become a "partner" with the candidate on account of our choice—right or wrong and made with best of intentions.

As mature and responsible citizens, it is our duty to vote. By neglecting to vote, we forfeit our duty to participate in the proper development and progress of our democratic state. It becomes an act of omission that brings its own karmic consequences.

Moreover, as Henry David Thoreau points out, our job as true citizens of a democratic state is not over merely, by casting our vote. "Voting" is simply a feeble expression of our wish that right should prevail; it does not mean that we are vitally concerned that right must prevail. In spite of our best intentions, if a wrong candidate or party comes to power, all is not lost. Democracy is strength of the people to express their will. In case there are policies or laws framed with vested interest—more likely to be detrimental to human welfare—then, as H.P.B. suggests, the duty of a citizen would lie in the direction of forming public opinion. If we have the moral stamina, we need not even wait for the majority. As Thoreau suggested—for abolition of slavery in America—if a single honest man ceased to hold slaves and was willing to face the consequences, then it would be a step towards the abolition of slavery. A minority is powerless only when it conforms to the majority.

We all learn by "trial and error" and inwardly learn from our mistakes. We are all expected to "try" and "make ourselves fit to be the better able to help others." No one is expected to be perfect all at once. It is the discriminative faculty that helps us distinguish between the essentials and non-essentials for the purpose of integral development. Mr. Judge suggests that if the motive is kept pure and altruistic, many of the mistakes can be ironed out in time.

Question: We sometimes read or hear of such unusual occurrences as the statue of some holy figure like Mary, the mother of Jesus, shedding tears, talking, etc. What is the theosophical explanation for such abnormal phenomena?

Answer: There is more to man and nature than meets the eye. If there are physical laws governing the physical realm, there are laws governing the super-physical and invisible realm with which we are not acquainted. Such abnormal occurrences are neither supernatural nor fraud. "There is no miracle. Everything that happens is the result of law—eternal, immutable, ever active." However, certain phenomena are considered miraculous as they are outside the purview of modern science. The rationale of such phenomena has been given in Isis Unveiled.

In the article "Animated Statues" H.P.B. explains that the word fetish was derived from the Portuguese word feitico, meaning, "enchanted," "bewitched," or "charmed." Every miracle working image, tomb or statue of a Saint, Virgin or Christ, in the Roman Catholic and Greek Churches, has to be regarded as a fetishe; as those images or statues do become "the receptacle or dwelling" for a longer or shorter time of God or an "angel of God," when the miracle is wrought. As a result the statues could walk and talk and even prophesy. In antiquity, people believed that such statues were endowed with the prophetic gift and could tell the people in whose possession they were, "all that was useful and salutary to them." "Philo of Biblos shows that the Jews consulted demons like the Amorites, especially through small statues made of gold, shaped as nymphs which, questioned at any hour, would instruct them in what the querists had to do and what to avoid."

In the article "Transmigration of the Life Atoms," H.P.B. explains that the mesmeric or magnetic fluid that is transferred from one man to another or to an inanimate object is life itself. She writes:

"Indeed it is life-atoms" that a man in blind passion throws off, unconsciously, and...he does it quite as effectively as a mesmerizer who transfers them from himself to any object consciously and under the guidance of his will....Hold any object in your hand, and it will become impregnated with your life atoms, indrawn and outdrawn, changed and transferred in us at every instant of our lives. Animal heat is but so many atoms in molecular motion. It requires no adept knowledge, but simply the natural gift of a good clairvoyant subject to see them passing to and fro, from man to object and vice versa like a bluish lambent flame. (H.P.B. Series No. 25, pp. 34-35)

Based on this principle it is easy to understand the science of theopoea, of endowing the symbol of gods with temporary life and intelligence. H.P.B. explains:

Statues and blocks of inert matter become animated under the potential will of the hierophants....

Left to itself the life-principle will blindly follow the laws of nature....But, guided by the will of the adept, it becomes obedient...and produces physical and psychological miracles, well-known to mesmerizers. Infused in inorganic and inert matter, they create an appearance of life, hence motion. If to that life an individual intelligence, a personality, is wanting, then the operator must either send his scin-lecca, his own astral spirit, to animate it; or use his power over the region of nature-spirits to force one of them to infuse his entity into the marble, wood or metal; or, again, be helped by human spirits. (Isis Unveiled, I, 616)

Ancient hierophants could animate the statues and make them act and speak like living creatures. As per historian Titus Livy's account, after the conquest of the city of Veii, when a Roman soldier requested goddess Juno to change her abode from Veii to Rome, she answered in the affirmative. After which the statue of the goddess lost its immense weight and seemed to follow them to Rome of its own accord (Isis Unveiled, I, 614). H.P.B. mentions that it was not only in antiquity that idols and statues of gods acquired intelligence and locomotive powers; the same has been witnessed even in the nineteenth century. There have been newspaper accounts of the statue of the Madonna of Lourdes running away from the parish to nearby woods and being brought back. Usually such occurrences are followed by a series of "miracles"—healing, prophesying, letter-dropping from on high and what not.

However, much of such miraculous happenings connected with animated statues, claimed to have happened, should be accepted with caution. For, human imagination and cunning often carry away many innocent believers into superstitious awe.

The Dalai Lama replied:

I think there are two kinds of desire. Certain desires are positive. A desire for happiness. It's absolutely right. The desire for peace. The desire for a more harmonious world, a friendlier world. Certain desires are very useful.

But at some point, desires can become unreasonable. That usually leads to trouble....Self-satisfaction alone cannot determine if a desire or action is positive or negative...All the nonvirtuous actions—lying, stealing, sexual misconduct, and so on—are committed by people who may be feeling a sense of satisfaction at the time....

I think excessive desire leads to greed—an exaggerated form of desire, based on over-expectation. And when you reflect upon the excesses of greed, you'll find that it leads an individual to a feeling of frustration, disappointment, a lot of confusion, and a lot of problems.

One thing that is quite characteristic of greed is that although it arrives by the desire to obtain something, it is not satisfied by obtaining. Therefore, it becomes sort of bottomless, and that leads to trouble.

Although the underlying motive is to seek satisfaction, the irony is that even after obtaining the object of your desire, you are still not satisfied.

The true antidote of greed is contentment.

—The Art of Happiness