Theos-Talk Archives (December 2003 Message tt00030)

Dec 3 2004

Re: THEOSOPHY and time

Dear Friends:



If anyone has read the SECRET DOCTRINE they soon realize that THEOSOPHY
is timeless.

It is like mathematics or logic -- it is valid all the time.  

How can anyone date WISDOM?


Those who approach THEOSOPHY expecting to be amused or pass the time
will be disappointed, because it does not fit any theory or prejudice.

Also THEOSOPHY is not "popular." It demands a re-evaluation of ones
knowledge and notions, if one desires to be serious about it.

At a "round table conducted by "Genie Information Service" some years
ago the following was contributed:


-------------------------------------


THEOSOPHY



The subject is: "THEOSOPHY".  

"Madame Blavatsky" is considered to be the modern exponent of ancient
theosophical propositions and ideas.

The ideas and principles of the theosophical scheme are not novel, but
can be shown to be extremely old, and well known to the whole of the
antique world of scholarship, philosophy, science, religion and thought.


It may be said, subject to verification by anyone, that it repeats in
modern language the historical facts that concern the origin of our
Earth, and the subsequent history of its evolving. All religious
philosophies, as well as all scientific research will be found on close
examination to be based on this ancient record. Evidence of its
antiquity is to be traced in every one of the old systems in an unbroken
stream. 

Madame Blavatsky was important to its re-presentation in our modern era.
She was an accredited member of the ancient "brotherhood" concerning
which traditions exist chiefly in the Orient, although one can find them
in Masonic and Rosicrucian literature, and also in the original
documents that contain the "Old Testament" of the Jews, which form the
basis for the various translations of the "Bible."  

The re-presentation of the tenets of this ancient system called
THEOSOPHY by early Greek philosophers, such as Pythagoras, begins for us
in the modern "West," with the founding of the THEOSOPHICAL SOCIETY in
the Fall of 1875, in New York, over 100 years ago.  

Mme. Blavatsky published her first book ISIS UNVEILED in 1877,
dedicating it to "The Members of the Theosophical Society," so that they
might study the basis from which its teachings spring. This work was
hailed widely for its research and scholarship by contemporary
authorities all over the world and it forms the basis for the serious
consideration of the work which the Theosophical Society was dedicated
to:

	
THE THREE OBJECTS OF THE THEOSOPHICAL MOVEMENT

1. To form the nucleus of a Universal Brotherhood of Humanity, 	
without distinction of race, color, or creed.

2. To promote the study of Aryan and other Scriptures, of the 	
World's religion and sciences, and to vindicate the
importance of old Asiatic literature, namely the
Brahmanical, Buddhist, and Zoroastrian philosophies.

3. To investigate the hidden mysteries of Nature under every aspect 	
possible, and the psychic and spiritual powers latent in
man 


ISIS UNVEILED

To assist members of the new Society the "Brothers," [Masters of Wisdom]
the real Founders of the Theosophical Society, determined that a book
should be written which would make available evidence concerning its
tenets; so that these could be traced in history and literature. To do
this, Mme. Blavatsky was assisted by several of them, and with the help
of Col. H. S. Olcott, Dr. Alexander Wilder, William Q. Judge, and many
others, began this work.


THEOSOPHY 

"Theosophy" as a term has been traced to Pythagoras by Greek scholars.
It is known to have been used among the Neo-Platonists of the 2nd-5th
centuries A.D. in Alexandria, Egypt; and also by other Greek and
Middle-Eastern writers and philosophers of antiquity right up to modern
times. It is made clear at the outset that Theosophy is not a
"religion."


HPB's TRAVELS

The period spent in preparation for the mission of about 20 years from
1850 to 1870 was declared private to her by Mme. Blavatsky. In the
enclosed paper one has a glimpse of the way in which she spent it. One
has yet to read of her being a "stage magicians' assistant, and a circus
performer." Even if that were so, how could it have any bearing on the
presentation of Theosophical philosophy? The fact that Boehme was a
shoemaker, or that Jesus was a carpenter have nothing to do with their
teachings or their morals!
 

SECRET TIBETAN BROTHERHOOD


Many persons around HPB attested to her being frequently visited by
Personages [Masters of Wisdom] using a variant of the "astral" form.
HPB made no secret of collaborating with these in recording the
Theosophical teachings, as she attributed all she wrote to Them, calling
herself only their agent. She maintained this position her whole life.
She claimed no special position for herself other than being a faithful
and loyal representative.

She maintained that all the proofs of the doctrines presented were in
Their custody as guardians. A doctrinal continuity is to be traced as
an unbroken thread from the most ancient of the Oriental systems (Indian
and Chinese), through the Zoroastrian (Zend), to that of Chaldea,
Babylon and Assyria, Egypt, Greece, and finally to that of the Jews,
embodied in the early books of the "Old Testament," and other early
Jewish literature from which Christianity is largely derived as the
Bible.

Christianity was shown to be the result of an attempt by Jesus, a member
of the same antique "Brotherhood," to reform Judaism at a period about
100 years anterior to the arbitrary date of birth that the early Church
Council of Laodicia selected for him (c. 345 or 381 A.D. - Encyclopedia.
Britannica).

This "Brotherhood of Wise Men" [Rishis] has always been known to the
Hindus. Its existence had become almost totally forgotten by Europeans
after the death of Hypatia, the last of the Neo-Platonists (414 A.D.).
Some traces of that memory can still be found in Masonic and Rosicrucian
records.

The Theosophical Society was established [1875] to unite into a single
body those who sensed the Unity of the Human family. 

ISIS UNVEILED [1877] serves to provide evidence that the oldest
continuous record of the "Wisdom of the Ages" was guarded by "The
Masters of Wisdom," and in their possession. Since fragments are known
to the Hindu, the Zoroastrian and the Chinese civilizations, and since
the re-presentation of Theosophy was to be for the benefit of the whole
World, we find that They made use of those available ancient records,
philosophico-religious systems, and terms. They pointed to these, now
found in the religious systems of the ancient Persians, the Jews, and
finally, in modern Christianity. (The Bible can no longer be relied on
for accuracy as it has been through the hands of so many translators and
re-arrangers as to become distorted from its original meaning in many
cases. This is a fact that is conceded by most Biblical Scholars of
these days, especially in the light of the recent findings of the Dead
Sea Scrolls and the Nag Hemadri Gnostic manuscripts. This in no way
detracts from the appreciation of the efforts of the great Reformer
named Jesus who came to the Jews, and from whose moral and ethical
teachings Christianity has been derived.)


THEOSOPHY AND SPIRITUALISM
  
Mme. Blavatsky was not a "psychic" in the sense of a "passive medium."
She was an Adept. She had active and positive control over Nature's
secret forces. Evidence of this control has been given by hundreds of
witnesses. This is not novel or unusual in the annals of "occultism."
But positive and voluntary control of occult forces, at will is highly
unusual in the records of "Spiritualism," be it 125 years old, or the
more modern day "New Age" channeling and other manifestations.
 

Scattered through the literature of the past, available to us, from
Pythagoras and Plato, Aristotle, Herodotus, Josephus and Philo Judaeus,
down through medieval times to our modern age, are accounts of similar
control by individuals over Nature's hidden forces. Apollonius of
Tyanna, Simon Magus, Porphyry, Iamblichus, Paracelsus, Van Helmont,
Mesmer, Baron Du Potet, Edgar Caycee, Uri Geller, ... the list is
endless -- are among those who have testified to and demonstrated the
existence of these forces. This ought not to be ignored.

The "miracles" performed by Jesus, have been duplicated by all those,
who, as he did, knew the secret laws of Nature that enabled him, and
many others known to history and antiquity, both in the "West" of Europe
and America, and the "East" of Judea, Assyria, Chaldea, India, Tibet,
China and Japan to perform them. The literature of all these countries
will be found to give such evidence, from antiquity up to the present.
This should not be ignored.

Those who exercised such control were called Magi, Sages, Wise Men of
the East, Magicians (in the true sense - not prestidigitators), Adepts,
Hierophants, Rishis, Mahatmas, Brothers, Masters of Wisdom, and so
forth. They are all members of the Antique Brotherhood.

Spiritualism did not "father or mother" Theosophy. The phenomena of
"spiritualism" are well known to all serious students of Theosophy
because it explains what happens when "phenomena" occur. Mme. Blavatsky
was never either "disdainful or critical" of Spiritualism, she explained
it. Those explanations were not pleasing to some persons who had
evolved theories other than those which Theosophy demonstrates. 

Surely there is no reason to equate the work that any one did ( Boehme
was a "shoemaker," and Jesus was a "carpenter" ) with the value of the
teachings that they gave. Surely the real test of any truth lies in its
capacity for being proved by others. If something is true, then it will
stand any test applied to it. It is well known in the case of Mme.
Blavatsky, that being out of money when she landed in New York in 1873
(because of a charitable act) she supported herself making ties and
artificial flowers (writes Col. Olcott) for a time, until she received a
part of her inheritance from her father's will.  

Theosophy is not a religion ! It is a statement of facts about events
(history), and about the laws that operate in Nature (whether visible
physical, or invisible). It includes three ranges of phenomena:
physical, meta- as well as infra-physical. Mme. Blavatsky advanced
evidence for this, in great detail in the two volumes of ISIS UNVEILED
(1877), and, she amplified this and later in THE SECRET DOCTRINE (1888).
These were published with the object (among others) of inducing
investigation of the most rigorous kind. Suffice it to say that such
testing has invariably demonstrated the accuracy of her statements. No
scholar has yet seriously disputed the philosophy or the logic and the
facts which she adduced to support it.


FROM AMERICA TO INDIA

Mme. Blavatsky and Col. H. S. Olcott traveled to India in 1879, as a
"Committee of the Theosophical Society" to cement relationships with
Indian correspondents, and in particular with Pundit Dayanand Saraswati,
founder of the Arya Samaj (the "Assembly of Nobles") a reform movement
with similar objectives, in India. They were much in sympathy, as
Dayanand was instituting similar reforms in Brahmanism, and attempting
to rid it of its creedal exclusiveness. His position was that the
wisdom that the Brahmins preserved (and which gave them power over the
ignorant and superstitious masses ought to be made widely available. He
also opposed ritual practices supported by the Brahmins, who had
interpolated these into their scriptures, and which supported the rigid
exclusiveness of castes that vitiates India. 

Judaism is found to be derived from the original wisdom of India, which
those "Semitic" tribes had brought from there, through Persia, where the
seat of their religious strength remained in Babylon until well past the
era of Jesus. To this was added the wisdom of Egypt (Moses was an
initiated Hierophant in the Egyptian priesthood), and of the Chaldean
Magi. Before that, the wandering tribes, can be traced back to India,
when at a period around some 5,000 years B.C. the "tchandalas"
(brick-layers and shepherds) emigrated, passing through what is today
called Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, on into Arabia, Ethiopia, Egypt and
settling, mainly in and around Palestine (Pali-shepherd; stan-place).
The Phoenicians, for instance were sea-faring Jews.

Hinduism (Vedic Brahmanism) and what is called Zoroastrianism (Zend),
are found to be root contributors to ancient Jewish lore and scriptures,
as can be traced by a careful study and comparison of early Hebrew texts
(compiled before Ezra's revision), and from the records left to us of
all those many Middle-Eastern sects and religious philosophies, such as
the Ebionites, Essenes, Therapeutae, Nazarenes, Sabeans, Ophites,
Gnostics, Pythagoreans, Mendeans, Basilideans, Marcionites, and finally
to the Dervishes, Sufis and Druzes of modern times.

"Adyar" is not the "spiritual" center of the modern Theosophical
Movement. That "center" is with the Mahatmas, ( The BROTHERS ) and with
Mme. Blavatsky, Their Agent, wherever They may be at present, since
death of the body does not mean a termination of the existence of the
Spiritual-Soul or its work in and for the world.


CRITICAL APPRECIATION

Mme. Blavatsky made no changes in doctrine from the first to the last
page of her writings in the survey of evolution that she outlined. If
her books are studied this can be easily proved. All her writing form a
single, consistent whole.

Many "secrets" of antiquity are made clear by her in those writings.
This is freely acknowledged by scholars of her day, as now.  

She single-handedly brought on a revolution in those branches of modern
scholarship which deal with antiquity, as also, psychology, philosophy
and religious studies.  

The simple process was to expose the connecting links of history that
exist between the many sects and civilizations of the past. It is to be
conjectured that the "Sages" who are the Founders of the "Theosophical
Societies" are, and were "eye-witnesses" of those same events which to
us are history and only verifiable through ancient literature and rock
inscriptions.

 

WHAT THEN ?

The evolutionary scheme depicted makes of the Universe a wholly living,
sensitive and continuously evolving entity. It is a living UNIT. As
such, its many components: the "atom", the dust on our feet, the
molecule, mineral, cell, plant, animal forms--all represent steps an
individual evolution, and these components are of the same
indestructible, eternal substance as the WHOLE. The intelligence using
any form is the Witness and the Perceiver of this process. The form is
incidental. The Intelligences are as immortal as the "atom," and as
uncountable (by us), yet each is united with all the rest to form the
ever-living essential network of INTELLIGENCE.

The man-stage, ours, is one where the light of mind (the soul) is
individualized and gives the "personal mind" a sense of what continuous
identity may be. The Higher Mind is the true immortal and forms the
basis for continued evolutionary experience through the process of
reincarnation.  

The great law of KARMA (action produces an equal reaction, on the moral
as well as the physical plane) guides the whole of evolution without
playing favorites. It is unerring, honest, rigid, and therefore
merciful, returning to the person the exact consequence for any of his
actions, feelings or thoughts. Simultaneously, it takes into account
the progress of every component of nature, which is deemed to also be
evolving in its own way, interdependently with all others in the system,
and co-dependent each on the other.

The goal is that the "man-mind" may become, first, a Perceiver of the
Universe, in its entirety, and of all planes of existence, visible, and
invisible; secondly, a voluntary assistant and cooperator in the process
of evolution. It is natural to see that the third stage is the
development of an infinitely sensitive sense of compassion and
co-existence with all other living beings. Therefore it assumes
responsibility for a portion of, and acts as a participant in, the
management and education of the rest of the "pupils" engaged in that
scheme. All the rest is detail.


SECRET KNOWLEDGE

This includes basic information about the operations of nature in its
invisible and non-corporeal side. As an illustration: atomics, and
astro-physics, the power of thought-controlling physical matter, health,
disease, the phenomena of clairvoyance, second-sight, apportation,
prescience, etc... are all manifestations of some of its "invisible"
actualities and potentials.

All this is credited by Mme. Blavatsky to the wisdom and compassionate
process of the Universal Educative Process. She said of her Teachers:
the Brothers who guard the "Wisdom of the Ages," that They hold this
wisdom as custodians and guardians of every man's birth-right. The key
to securing such information and its use lie in every man's hand, they
state. It is the key to self-atunement of ones' nature to the great
purposes of NATURE. They further define this, for us to understand, as
self-induced moral and ethical refinement. We are responsible for our
own progress. As we advance we assist all beings also. If we err, we
retard their evolution, and we become responsible, under Karma for the
consequences.

This ethical and moral refinement consists in apprehending the fact of
individual worth, and applying this concept in daily life through the
practice of BROTHERHOOD. They view the Universe as a living and
cooperative entity. Each man, They urge, ought to learn to deal with
his own progress and self-education, as well as with others in the same
open-handed and large-hearted manner. Universal Brotherhood, They
declare, is a fact in Nature.


=============================

BOOKS ON H. P. BLAVATSKY


Sylvia Cranston MADAME HELENA BLAVATSKY :- The Extraordinary Life and
Influence of, The Founder of the Modern Theosophical Movement
- Tarcher/Putnam, New York - 1992 ( Illus., 640 + pages )

Wm Kingsland: THE REAL H.P.BLAVATSKY - Watkins, London - 1928 -  
( 320 + pages )

Mary K. Neff:	PERSONAL MEMORIES OF H.P.BLAVATSKY - Rider, London,
1937 - ( 330 + pages )

THE THEOSOPHICAL MOVEMENT : 1875 - 1950 - Cunningham Press, Los Angeles
- 1951 - ( 350 + pages )

THE LETTERS OF H.P.BLAVATSKY TO A.P.SINNETT - Ed.: A.T.Barker -
Stokes, New York - 1925 - ( 410 + pages )

SOME INCIDENTS IN THE LIFE OF Mme. H.P.BLAVATSKY - A.P.Sinnett

=============================


BOOKS BY H. P. BLAVATSKY


[ All texts are verbatim or photo-reproduced from the originals.
]


ISIS UNVEILED (1877) ( 1300 + PAGES ) Theosophy Company, Los Angeles

THE SECRET DOCTRINE (1888) ( 1500 + PAGES ) Theosophy Company, Los
Angeles

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY (1889) (310 pages) Theosophy Company, Los Angeles

THE VOICE OF THE SILENCE ( 1889 ) Theosophy Company, Los Angeles

THE THEOSOPHICAL GLOSSARY ( 1891 ) Theosophy Company, Los Angeles

H.P.BLAVATSKY COLLECTED [Magazine] ARTICLES 3. Vols. ( 1500 + pages )
Theosophy Company, Los Angeles

TRANSACTIONS OF THE BLAVATSKY LODGE (1889) Theosophy Co., Los
Angeles 

A MODERN PANARION (500 + pages) Theosophy Company, Los Angeles

LETTERS FROM H.P.BLAVATSKY TO A.P.SINNETT (400 + pages) Stokes, New York
.


DTB
			
====================================================

-----Original Message-----
From: Morten Nymann Olesen [mailto:global-theosophy@adslhome.dk] 
Sent: Wednesday, December 03, 2003 5:18 AM
To: 
Subject: RE: Physical Phenomena at a Seance (3 of 3)

Hallo Dallas and all of you,

My views are:

Time is valuable.
Maybe TIME is even too valuable to use up by emailing !

There are appeantly two views on the issue.

1. There the - "bact to the past" theosophists.

2. And there are "Back to the future" theosophists.
(The pro-Baileys like to pride themselves in being a member of the last
category.)

There are of course also some persons in between these views.

There are also those who think that BOTH views are important
to promote - and they in fact DO that. (The Boston Theosophists are one
such
group I think - although they are maybe only on the Bailey-level of the
past).

I think there is a saying:

It is bad to be a young fool.
But it is much worse to be an old one !

This is said in a polite manner - please do not misunderstand it
negatively.
The idea is to develop us all.

The people of the "past" so to speak will have and already has many
difficulties in explaining why the --- so very old theosophical texts
--- 
absolutely has to be interpreted in the manner they themselves think is
important to promote.

Their conscience tells them, that their use of anicent texts are only
secondhand - and that their INTERPRETATIONS are only of the past....

A few days back I wrote á series of 3 emails called
THE ISLANDERS part 1-3. Maybe they aught to be examined one more time -
by the use of analogy.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/theos-talk/message/13178

I do care, and I write this so that we all may learn.


from
M. Sufilight with peace nad love...

======================================

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Dallas TenBroeck" <dalval14@earthlink.net>
To: "AA-BN--Study" <study@blavatsky.net>
Sent: Wednesday, December 03, 2003 1:02 PM
Subject: Physical Phenomena at a Seance (3 of 3)


> Dec 3 2003
>
> Dear friend:
>
>
> Serious or amused -- time passes by all of us.
>
> Smile and the world smiles with you. Frown and you are suddenly alone.
>
> Isn't there in each of us a duality? And is that interaction not of
the
> nature of a conflict?
>
> We have interiorly in our psychological makeup : MIND -- the Thinking
> power, and, we have Emotion -- feelings and desires, etc... (All quite
> transitory and when grasped they dissipate in value.) Now who
remembers
> all our desires, even of yesterday? Contrast: Who forgets how to
> think?
>
> I have often wondered, how do we learn to think? What is thinking?
>
> What we do with our time is significant in the long run, isn't it?
How
> long is that? Our bodies die eventually. What about the Soul (the
> THINKER)? What is its age? What is its value, of any?
>
> What is the age of TRUTH?
>
> Is truth of any value?
>
> There is also a statement: "Old is gold." It may be that it is
> time-tested?
>
> Of what value is novelty -- if it is untested -- if it is fanciful
and
> inaccurate? Don't we have to find out? Does it matter?
>
> Wisdom is for those who seek, and not an amusement, or a pastime; I
> think it is vital for all of us -- to at least know what are its
bases.
> What would you say they are ?
>
> Which has the most value? Reality -- or -- the passing show?
>
> Dal
>
> ============================
>
>