Theos-Talk Archives (October 2004 Message tt00414)

Oct 28 2004

Is THEOSOPHY modern or ancient?  

In the SECRET DOCTRINE we are told:   	
S D - 1-272


(1.) The Secret Doctrine is the accumulated Wisdom of the Ages, and its
cosmogony alone is the most stupendous and elaborate system: e.g., even in
the exotericism of the Puranas. But such is the mysterious power of Occult
symbolism, that the facts which have actually occupied countless generations
of initiated seers and prophets to marshal, to set down and explain, in the
bewildering series of evolutionary progress, are all recorded on a few pages
of geometrical signs and glyphs. The flashing gaze of those seers has
penetrated into the very kernel of matter, and recorded the soul of things
there, where an ordinary profane, however learned, would have perceived but
the external work of form. But modern science believes not in the "soul of
things," and hence will reject the whole system of ancient cosmogony. It is
useless to say that the system in question is no fancy of one or several
isolated individuals. That it is the uninterrupted record covering thousands
of generations of Seers whose respective experiences were made to test and
to verify traditions passed orally by one early race to another, of the
teachings of higher and exalted beings, who watched over the childhood of
Humanity. That for long ages, the "Wise Men" of the Fifth Race, of the stock
saved and rescued from the last cataclysm and shifting of continents, had
passed their lives in learning, not teaching. How did they do so? It is
answered: by checking, testing, and verifying in every department of nature
the traditions of old by the independent visions of great adepts; i.e., men
who have developed and perfected their physical, mental, psychic, and
spiritual organisations to the utmost possible degree. No vision of one
adept was accepted till it was checked and confirmed by the visions—so
obtained as to stand as independent evidence—of other adepts, and by
centuries of experiences. 

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

[ Also, Mahatma K.H. wrote to A.P. Sinnett:

". . . You have heard of and read about a good many Seers, in the 
past and present centuries, such as Swedenborg, Boehme, and others. 
Not one among the number but thoroughly honest, sincere, and as 
intelligent, as well educated; aye, even learned. Each of them in 
addition to these qualities, has or had . . . a 'Guardian' and a 
Revelator -- under whatever 'mystery' and 'mystic name' -- whose 
mission it is -- or has been to spin out to his spiritual ward -- a 
new system embracing all the details of the world of Spirit. Tell me, 
my friend, do you know of two that agree? And why, since truth is 
one, and that putting entirely the question of discrepancies in 
details aside -- we do not find them agreeing even upon the most 
vital problems -- those that have either 'to be, or not to be' -- and 
of which there can be no two solutions?"  
K H, he Mahatma Letters, 2nd ed., Letter 48

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

LAW

(2.) The fundamental Law in that system, the central point from which all
emerged, around and toward which all gravitates, and upon which is hung the
philosophy of the rest, is the One homogeneous divine SUBSTANCE-PRINCIPLE,
the one radical cause. 

. . . "Some few, whose lamps shone brighter, have been led 
>From cause to cause to nature's secret head,
And found that one first Principle must be. . . ." 

It is called "Substance-Principle," for it becomes "substance" on the plane
of the manifested Universe, an illusion, while it remains a "principle" in
the beginningless and endless abstract, visible and invisible SPACE. It is
the omnipresent Reality: impersonal, because it contains all and everything.
Its impersonality is the fundamental conception of the System. It is latent
in every atom in the Universe, and is the Universe itself. (See in chapters
on Symbolism, "Primordial Substance, and Divine Thought.") 



CYCLIC MANIFESTATION


(3.) The Universe is the periodical manifestation of this unknown Absolute
Essence. To call it "essence," however, is to sin against the very spirit of
the philosophy. For though the noun may be derived in this case from the
verb esse, "to be," yet IT cannot be identified with a being of any kind,
that can be conceived by human intellect. IT is best described as neither
Spirit nor matter, but both. "Parabrahmam and Mulaprakriti" are One, in
reality, yet two in the Universal conception of the manifested, even in the
conception of the One Logos, its first manifestation, to which, as the able
lecturer in the "Notes on the Bhagavad Gita" shows, IT appears from the
objective standpoint of the One Logos as Mulaprakriti and not as
Parabrahmam; as its veil and not the one REALITY hidden behind, which is
unconditioned and absolute. 



TEMPORARY - ILLUSION -- MAYA


(4.) The Universe is called, with everything in it, MAYA, because all is
temporary therein, from the ephemeral life of a fire-fly to that of the Sun.
Compared to the eternal immutability of the ONE, and the changelessness of
that Principle, the Universe, with its evanescent ever-changing forms, must
be necessarily, in the mind of a philosopher, no better than a
will-o'-the-wisp. Yet, the Universe is real enough to the conscious beings
in it, which are as unreal as it is itself. 


CONSCIOUSNESS -- INTELLIGENCE IS UNIVERSAL


(5.) Everything in the Universe, throughout all its kingdoms, is CONSCIOUS:
i.e., endowed with a consciousness of its own kind and on its own plane of
perception. We men must remember that because we do not perceive any
signs—which we can recognise—of consciousness, say, in stones, we have no
right to say that no consciousness exists there. There is no such thing as
either "dead" or "blind" matter, as there is no "Blind" or "Unconscious"
Law. These find no place among the conceptions of Occult philosophy. The
latter never stops at surface appearances, and for it the noumenal essences
have more reality than their objective counterparts; it resembles therein
the mediaeval Nominalists, for whom it was the Universals that were the
realities and the particulars which existed only in name and human fancy. 



INNER “SPIRIT” IS ALWAYS ACTIVE


(6.) The Universe is worked and guided from within outwards. As above so it
is below, as in heaven so on earth; and man—the microcosm and miniature copy
of the macrocosm—is the living witness to this Universal Law, and to the
mode of its action. We see that every external motion, act, gesture, whether
voluntary or mechanical, organic or mental, is produced and preceded by
internal feeling or emotion, will or volition, and thought or mind. As no
outward motion or change, when normal, in man's external body can take place
unless provoked by an inward impulse, given through one of the three
functions named, so with the external or manifested Universe. 


DEGREES OF INTELLIGENCE AND POWER


The whole Kosmos is guided, controlled, and animated by almost endless
series of Hierarchies of sentient Beings, each having a mission to perform,
and who—whether we give to them one name or another, and call them
Dhyan-Chohans or Angels—are "messengers" in the sense only that they are the
agents of Karmic and Cosmic Laws. 

They vary infinitely in their respective degrees of consciousness and
intelligence; and to call them all pure Spirits without any of the earthly
alloy "which time is wont to prey upon" is only to indulge in poetical
fancy. For each of these Beings either was, or prepares to become, a man, if
not in the present, then in a past or a coming cycle (Manvantara). 

They are perfected, when not incipient, men; and differ morally from the
terrestrial human beings on their higher (less material) spheres, only in
that they are devoid of the feeling of personality and of the human
emotional nature—two purely earthly characteristics. 

The former, or the "perfected," have become free from those feelings,
because (a) they have no longer fleshly bodies—an ever-numbing weight on the
Soul; and (b) the pure spiritual element being left untrammelled and more
free, they are less influenced by maya than man can ever be, unless he is an
adept who keeps his two personalities—the spiritual and the
physical—entirely separated. 

The incipient monads, having never had terrestrial bodies yet, can have no
sense of personality or EGO-ism. That which is meant by "personality," being
a limitation and a relation, or, as defined by Coleridge, "individuality
existing in itself but with a nature as a ground," the term cannot of course
be applied to non-human entities; but, as a fact insisted upon by
generations of Seers, none of these Beings, high or low, have either
individuality or personality as separate Entities, i.e., they have no
individuality in the sense in which a man says, "I am myself and no one
else;" in other words, they are conscious of no such distinct separateness
as men and things have on earth. 

Individuality is the characteristic of their respective hierarchies, not of
their units; and these characteristics vary only with the degree of the
plane to which those hierarchies belong: the nearer to the region of
Homogeneity and the One Divine, the purer and the less accentuated that
individuality in the Hierarchy. 

They are finite, in all respects, with the exception of their higher
principles—the immortal sparks reflecting the universal divine
flame—individualized and separated only on the spheres of Illusion by a
differentiation as illusive as the rest. 

They are "Living Ones," because they are the streams projected on the Kosmic
screen of illusion from the ABSOLUTE LIFE; beings in whom life cannot become
extinct, before the fire of ignorance is extinct in those who sense these
"Lives." 

Having sprung into being under the quickening influence of the uncreated
beam, the reflection of the great Central Sun that radiates on the shores of
the river of Life, it is the inner principle in them which belongs to the
waters of immortality, while its differentiated clothing is as perishable as
man's body. ....


MAN – HIS COMPOSITION AND POTENCY


Man, ....being compounded of the essences of all those celestial Hierarchies
may succeed in making himself, as such, superior, in one sense, to any
hierarchy or class, or even combination of them. "Man can neither propitiate
nor command the Devas," it is said. 


MAN’S PROGRESS


But, by paralyzing his lower personality, and arriving thereby at the full
knowledge of the non-separateness of his higher SELF from the One absolute
SELF, man can, even during his terrestrial life, become as "One of Us." Thus
it is, by eating of the fruit of knowledge which dispels ignorance, that man
becomes like one of the Elohim or the Dhyanis; and once on their plane the
Spirit of Solidarity and perfect Harmony, which reigns in every Hierarchy,
must extend over him and protect him in every particular. 

The chief difficulty which prevents men of science from believing in divine
as well as in nature Spirits is their materialism. The main impediment
before the Spiritualist which hinders him from believing in the same, while
preserving a blind belief in the "Spirits" of the Departed, is the general
ignorance of all, except some Occultists and Kabalists, about the true
essence and nature of matter. It is on the acceptance or rejection of the
theory of the Unity of all in Nature, in its ultimate Essence, that mainly
rests the belief or unbelief in the existence around us of other conscious
beings besides the Spirits of the Dead. 


EVOLUTION IS UNIVERSAL


It is on the right comprehension of the primeval Evolution of Spirit-Matter
and its real essence that the student has to depend for the further
elucidation in his mind of the Occult Cosmogony, and for the only sure clue
which can guide his subsequent studies. 

In sober truth, as just shown, every "Spirit" so-called is either a
disembodied or a future man. As from the highest Archangel (Dhyan Chohan)
down to the last conscious "Builder" (the inferior class of Spiritual
Entities), all such are men, having lived aeons ago, in other Manvantaras,
on this or other Spheres; so the inferior, semi-intelligent and
non-intelligent Elementals—are all future men. That fact alone—that a Spirit
is endowed with intelligence—is a proof to the Occultist that that Being
must have been a man, and acquired his knowledge and intelligence throughout
the human cycle. 


UNITY - ONENESS


There is but one indivisible and absolute Omniscience and Intelligence in
the Universe, and this thrills throughout every atom and infinitesimal point
of the whole finite Kosmos which hath no bounds, and which people call
SPACE, considered independently of anything contained in it. But the first
differentiation of its reflection in the manifested World is purely
Spiritual, and the Beings generated in it are not endowed with a
consciousness that has any relation to the one we conceive of. They can have
no human consciousness or Intelligence before they have acquired such,
personally and individually. This may be a mystery, yet it is a fact, in
Esoteric philosophy, and a very apparent one too. 


PROGRESS IS UNIVERSAL IN NATURE


The whole order of nature evinces a progressive march towards a higher life.
There is design in the action of the seemingly blindest forces. The whole
process of evolution with its endless adaptations is a proof of this. The
immutable laws that weed out the weak and feeble species, to make room for
the strong, and which ensure the "survival of the fittest," though so cruel
in their immediate action—all are working toward the grand end. The very
fact that adaptations do occur, that the fittest do survive in the struggle
for existence, shows that what is called "unconscious Nature"* is in reality
an aggregate of forces manipulated 

[ Nature taken in its abstract sense, cannot be "unconscious," as it is the
emanation from, and thus an aspect (on the manifested plane) of the ABSOLUTE
consciousness. Where is that daring man who would presume to deny to
vegetation and even to minerals a consciousness of their own. All he can say
is, that this consciousness is beyond his comprehension. ]
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by semi-intelligent beings (Elementals) guided by High Planetary Spirits,
(Dhyan Chohans), whose collective aggregate forms the manifested verbum of
the unmanifested LOGOS, and constitutes at one and the same time the MIND of
the Universe and its immutable LAW. 


PAST -- PRESENT -- FUTURE


Three distinct representations of the Universe in its three distinct aspects
are impressed upon our thought by the esoteric philosophy: the PRE-EXISTING
(evolved from) the EVER-EXISTING; and the PHENOMENAL—the world of illusion,
the reflection, and shadow thereof. During the great mystery and drama of
life known as the Manvantara, real Kosmos is like the object placed behind
the white screen upon which are thrown the Chinese shadows, called forth by
the magic lantern. The actual figures and things remain invisible, while the
wires of evolution are pulled by the unseen hands; and men and things are
thus but the reflections, on the white field, of the realities behind the
snares of Mahamaya, or the great Illusion. This was taught in every
philosophy, in every religion, ante as well as post diluvian, in India and
Chaldea, by the Chinese as by the Grecian Sages. In the former countries
these three Universes were allegorized, in exoteric teachings, by the three
trinities emanating from the Central eternal germ and forming with it a
Supreme Unity: the initial, the manifested, and the Creative Triad, or the
three in One. The last is but the symbol, in its concrete expression, of the
first ideal two. Hence Esoteric philosophy passes over the necessarianism of
this purely metaphysical conception, and calls the first one, only, the Ever
Existing. This is the view of every one of the six great schools of Indian
philosophy—the six principles of that unit body of WISDOM of which the
"gnosis," the hidden knowledge, is the seventh. 
S D I 272-278


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


ANTIQUITY OF THEOSOPHY

  
The present day scientist and Theosophical students – and we are all
students -- study the information provided and compare them.

Our “Science” tries to explain by hypothesis and theories what may havebeen
the “past” of present day observations (of course limited by the
availability of artifacts and relics, and their present knowledge of the
LAWS, so far detected and observed to be operating, in many correlated
departments of Nature).

No one will dispute facts. One proviso in this work of scientific discovery
and identification is the one of extreme honesty – no secrets, no hiding --
is that all facts and discoveries (anomalies especially) are to be made
available for all to see and draw conclusions about. 

>From evidence occasionally made available, it would seem that on occasion,
certain facts (and artifacts) are removed from the glare of publicity – and
we might conclude that this is done because they could upset or question
some well-established hypothesis or theory. If true, this is not strict
“honesty.” Where has the “public” been invited to review the “facts?” This I
have looked for but rarely if ever found in a systematic, scientific way.

There are in Science no “authorities” – only seekers, observers and honest,
accurate reporters.

As we are speaking of disagreements and anomalous discoveries, several
authors down the years have pointed to these and (to my knowledge) have
never been thoroughly refuted by Science – or given prominence -- to my
knowledge.  

We may take the writings of John Anthony West, Von Danni ken, Emanuel
Velikovsky, Charles Fort, H. P. Blavatsky. These are four authors, who in
their writings, articles, books -- have challenged – not Science’s facts --
but their interpretations of the past as they have reconstructed it in their
widely accepted (but rarely re-investigated) theories and hypotheses.
There are in existence challenging anomalies that demand a review of the
older theories – after all, a “theory, or, an hypothesis” are not inflexible
and are always subject to revision as new facts are discovered.

There are differences to be investigated.  
 
One may well ask: Why is it a fact that there are disagreements? We present
our views and findings, you have your own to compare. Naturally we will
present to you what we know in terms drawn from Theosophy as you have
approached us to find out what THEOSOPHY says: that it, Theosophy, is a
very ancient system of continued Scientific research and observation in all
departments of Nature, and of the world religions, philosophies, and also
this observation and recording in old as well as modern Sciences, are
derived from it.  

As an example, in H P B’s The SECRET DOCTRINE you will find it stated that
the doctrines discussed have an antiquity going back some at least 18
million years. HPB states those are actually physically in the possession
of the “Masters of Wisdom.” That exceeds by a great many years, and cycles
of years, any concept of time that the research done by organized Science
in the past 300 years -- (I mean, since “Orientalism,” began with the
scientists that Napoleon 1 had accompany him to Egypt in the very early 19th
century.)

It is of course very annoying to find that the ancients (India, China,
Egypt, Iran, the Incas and Mayans, etc…) had made discoveries and had
observed the movement of the stars for millennia before our present
“discoveries.” In many cases we (our Science) corroborates those, and in
some we have disagreement. The main point and attitude we, as
investigators and Scientists, ought to always adopt ought to be: Lets
verify. Let’s freely admit that we have discovered evidence that shows
antiquity, in many parts of the world, had processes and used materials they
were able to manufacture for which we have yet to discover the secrets. 

There is no “shame” in this, but any claims to novelty disappear in the
rightful process of verification. 
 
Theosophical sources are the writings of Mme. Blavatsky: books and
articles, most of which can be studied and understood by anyone.. Also, to
some extent, they have to be individually supplemented with first hand
observation and inquiries over years. 
 
Those who worship at the shrine of TRUTH and FACT are contemptuous of no
source of information, nor of any anomalies, or of contemporary or earlier
work done by any one. We seek for traces of similarity, of analogy, or
correspondence.  

Look through ISIS UNVEILED, (by HPB) if you wish to see what facts and
events are brought forward for consideration there. It tends to point to
important evens and anomalies that the Science of her days (and now, still)
need to verify. On publication, ISIS UNVEILED created a sensation, and in a
week all copies of the book were sold. It has been kept in print since
then.  

Eleven years later The SECRET DOCTRINE was issued;. There you have a
synopsis and review of the Occult records of the history of our Earth’s
formation and the evolution of mankind. These are meticulously contrasted
with Science and its theories as known and taught in her time of writing.
Some of those are still maintained. In many cases, and most often in terms
of cycles and time–periods, the SECRET DOCTRINE does not agree with the
current theories and hypotheses of modern Orientalism and Science. But that
does not make them wrong, or extraordinarily fanciful, or suspect. [see S D
II, pp. 78-80]
 
We (as students of Theosophy) take the position that NATURE (or Deity)
already contains everything. It is Nature as a fully conscious and
intelligent lawful ENTITY of enormous size – which, as a whole, supports
every detail of our needs (as well as those of all other beings in
existence). It gives us, not only our “life,” but that of all ‘beings’ that
make up our total environment. Law and Laws alone govern every aspect of
being and manifestation. Our Science studies those. NATURE is the universal
shrine of our common worship. Its organization ranges through seven stages
between the limits of INFINITY and NOUGHT. It is a calculus made living and
perfectly obvious to the seeker.

All living beings, of whatever kind, are supported by the united processes
of laws that Nature has already in place. [ Chemistry, physics, mathematics,
astronomy, biology, medicine, sociology, linguistics, politics, history,
etc… are as old as thinking man -- a period said to comprise at least 18
million years. [see S D I, p. 150 footnote ]  

All the discoveries of Science are simply the revealing and verifying of
what is already there laid down and operating under Nature’s control and
supervision. There is no “novelty” only DISCOVERY, and verification of
facts observed.
 
If one has had the benefit of a wide acquaintance with Science and Academic
research in general, one may find that the most valuable attitudes among
such wonderful and dedicated people can be classed as humility, diligence,
and unprejudiced research – and of course, this has to include a wide
research, and a good knowledge of all adjacent disciplines.  

Those who are at the forefront of discovery in Science, Orientalism, and
Philosophy ask probing questions, seek for facts, to take but a few we have
at the cutting edge of Science: Hawkings, Penrose, Sheldrake, Margulis,
Mandelbrot, Viswanath Diwakar, etc.
 
Theosophy fills gaps that Science is still trying to bridge, and for which
(and it is a lack of specific knowledge) it has erected “possible views” of
plausible causes and procedures in the establishing of a reasonable
“history,” and calls them: theories and hypotheses, which are found to
frequently change as the history of Science reveals, when new evidence
appears.  
 
I prefer to call myself a “generalist.” I listen to all sides and take
notes and reserve assuming any position until it is clear we are all
considering such facts and reports as are available.  

I try to cover a number of inter-related disciplines, since it is evident
that Nature has interlocking and cohesive systems in place. For example, on
careful examination I believe we might say: Nature (taken as a whole)
appears to be infinitely sensitive and responsive to the needs of the
individual components of its many systems. One can see order and precision
in the motions, and influence surrounding an atom, a crystal, an element or
a chemical compound, a plant, an animal, a man, a mathematical equation, or
a chemical, physical or astronomical problem -- or take the remarkable
advance in astro-physics and look at a Solar System and the large number of
interacting Galaxies that the use of the Hubble telescope has revealed in
all directions. Are we then to limit and sequester our knowledge? What
roads of endeavour lead to WISDOM ?
 
Law and Laws are found to rule everywhere. Science depends on the honesty
and accuracy of Nature in all its works near and far. Science makes its
declarations based on the facts it discovers. It chooses NATURE as the
final authority. It says that any discovery can be replicated and
demonstrated by any one else. It is the universality of facts that is
valuable, and not the individual opinions of the discoverers.  
 
Again, we seek to find out where the greater accuracy is. Your research and
mine may overlap in places, but they are not invariably coincident, and
certainly neither of us can assume that their position and our particular
observations are necessarily final, and the statements made by the other are
idiotic. We accept nothing and reject nothing. The future will teach this.

 
Our eyes embrace everything in Nature because nature makes it available to
those who are constructively its servants. We look for the ethical and
moral effect of any laws or action which we might bring about when using
Nature’s laws. Science has yet to take the clue and work with that aspect
of knowledge.
 
It doesn't matter if Theosophy is 'real' or not. It does a fine job of
bringing people together and doing good works. What I do object to is the
indefensible idea that it is based in its entirety on ancient books (written
we are told by Atlanteans).  
 
We all have a lot to learn and are learning new things every day.  

There are no finalities, but only an ever-focused sharpening of
understanding.  

We, the entire Universe, ever pursues a common and conjoint path of
discovery, so while recording facts and events, our final conclusions ever
ride along with us, and have to remain as flexible hypotheses  -- they help
us understand until they for lack of finality, break-down and have to be
reframed. The general plan is there all right, but as we all progress
through time and events, we reframe the conclusions (Karma) we will have to
meet in the future. 

There is no “stasis” (except some assumed ones) anywhere. What are those?

1	the UNIVERSE exists. (On many planes of substance and sensitivity)

2	we as OBSERVERS exist – we are immortals as no beginning or end to
our work seems logical. Bodies wear out and die, but Karma provides us with
new ones, and so one and on… (we, as Essential Beings, are not physical nor
mental, but of some kind of SPIRITUAL SUBSTANCE that survives the continual
“ravages of change,” in its correlates of time, and alterations in space.
 
3.	the ongoing relations between the UNIVERSE and OURSELVES are an
essential part of this timeless and limitless REALITY. In the SECRET
DOCTRINE they are said to be seven-fold [ see S D I, 157-8; II, 296 ].
 
------------------------------------

Best wishes,
 
 Dallas