Theos-Talk Archives (February 2006 Message tt00174)

Hello TH Hauw,

You have every right to be confused!

As far as good books written by modern day authors, I would
suggest the following titles:

To Light a Thousand Lamps 
by Grace F. Knoche
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1557001715/blavatskystud-20/

The Secret Gateway:  Modern Theosophy & the Ancient Wisdom Tradition
by Edward Abdill
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0835608425/blavatskystud-20/

An Introduction to Esoteric Principles
by William Doss McDavid
http://www.questbooks.net/title.cfm?bookid=265

Deity, Cosmos & Man:  An Outline of Esoteric Science
by Geoffrey A. Farthing
http://tinyurl.com/cl769

You also can't  go wrong with:

Helena Blavatsky Edited and introduced by Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke
A New anthology of Blavatsky's Writings.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/155643457X/blavatskystud-20/
This volume may be somewhat challenging and difficult.

As far as online material goes, you might read:

A Brief Overview of Theosophy 
by James A. Santucci
http://blavatskyarchives.com/santuccitheosophy.htm

Basic Ideas of Theosophy
by Geoffrey A. Farthing
http://blavatskyarchives.com/2scope.htm

You should also find some helpful articles at this webpage:

http://www.blavatskyarchives.com/articleshpbtheosophy.htm

Unfortunately, there are many conflicting claims.  For an overview 
of them, see:

http://blavatskyarchives.com/theosophicaltraditions.htm

and also see the links at the bottom of this page.

Hope some of this helps.

But I think a careful reading and study of the books mentioned at 
the beginning of this posting will give you a firm foundation and 
starting point.

Daniel H. Caldwell
Blavatsky Study Center
http://blavatskyarchives.com











--- In theos-talk@yahoogroups.com, "T. H. Hauw" <hauwquek@...> wrote:
>
> 
> Hi all,
> 
> My name is Hauw. I live in Singapore. The TS lodge here was formed 
by Col.
> Olcott and 19 other people in 1889. I became a member in the 
beginning of
> this year and subscribed to theos-talk at about the same time.
> 
> Like most people, I joined TS because I want to know more about 
the meaning
> of life and want to increase my self-knowledge and awareness 
further. I am
> waiting for a basic course on Theosophy to commence in March at 
our lodge.
> Meanwhile I am searching high and low to have a better 
understanding of
> Theosophy. So far, I must say that most of the material (incl. 
most   from
> this discussion group) that I have come across are too wordy and 
difficult
> to absorb. Can anyone recommend any beginners books written by 
modern-day
> writers?
> 
> It's also confusing. I read that there are different lineages e.g. 
Annie
> Besant (and CWL) of the Adyar TS and William Judge of Point Loma. A
> university website even said that their teachings are different 
from the
> original teaching of HPB in some areas. Then, after HPB many 
people also
> claimed that they have contact with the Masters. Finally I also 
read about
> the charge against CWL concerning young boys.
> 
> So I joined theos-talk thinking that the older souls here might be 
able to
> clear things up a bit. But alas that's not to be; there are just 
too many
> unhealthy exchanges among some members here!
> 
> How are new students of Theosophy to make sense out of all the 
above? We
> don't want to dogmatise or institutionalise TS, it's not a 
religion. But I
> wonder if some form of agreed framework, guidelines or decision-
making
> process would be better to the cause of Theosophy?
> 
> I also came across postings here which I think (I may be wrong) is 
on
> Hinduism teachings. I don't think Theosophy is entirely the same 
as Hinduism
> or Buddhism; is there any form of moderation here?
> 
> Cheers
> T H Hauw
> P.S. When responding to a post, can members try to delete the 
original
> content, save those points that they are responding to, before 
sending? That
> way, all the postings will be neater and easier to read.