Theos-Talk Archives (February 2008 Message tt00021)

I think A short excerpt needs to be repeated:
"Unfortunately, far too many readers don't take the necessary time and 
effort to try to understand what H.P.B. is attempting to convey in 
her many writings. 

And far too often, students interject their own thoughts and 
understanding into the subject matter. Nothing is inherently wrong 
with that approach but it is suggested that a student might try to 
ascertain first of all what H.P.B.'s and the Mahatmas' views actually 
are on various subjects. 

As a reader studies the material, he might constantly ask 
himself: "Do I really understand what H.P.B. and the Mahatmas are 
trying to convey?" "



Exactly.
I can certainly agree on that. Thanks for telling me about it.


M. Sufilight
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: nhcareyta 
  To: theos-talk@yahoogroups.com 
  Sent: Thursday, February 07, 2008 6:07 AM
  Subject: Theos-World From Long Sealed Ancient Fountains.


  The Fountain Source 
  of Modern Theosophy

  Our knowledge of modern Theosophy sprang from two sources: from the 
  letters of the Masters Koot Hoomi, Morya and several other Adepts and 
  from the writings of H.P. Blavatsky. 

  From the letters of the Masters, A.P. Sinnett wrote two books: The 
  Occult World and Esoteric Buddhism. From the knowledge gained 
  directly from these Mahatmas, Madame Blavatsky penned more than 
  10,000 pages of writing including her major works Isis Unveiled, The 
  Secret Doctrine, The Key to Theosophy and The Voice of the Silence.

  The Mahatma Koot Hoomi wrote the following on the origin of modern 
  Theosophy:

  "Theosophy is no new candidate for the world's attention, but only 
  the restatement of principles which have been recognised from the 
  very infancy of mankind."


  But the Master also emphasized:

  ". . . Our [esoteric and theosophical] doctrine . . . is now being 
  partially taught to Europeans for the first time."

  ". . . We have broken the silence of centuries . . . . " 

  ". . . Let it be known that your Society['s] . . . chief aim is to 
  extirpate current superstitions and skepticism, and, from long 
  sealed ancient fountains to draw the proof that man may shape his own 
  future destiny, and know for a certainty that he can live hereafter, 
  if he only wills; and that all 'phenomena' are but manifestations of 
  natural law, to try to comprehend which is the duty of every 
  intelligent being. "

  H.P. Blavatsky wrote of her own role in the "restatement" of 
  Theosophy to the modern world:

  ". . .We came into contact with certain men, endowed with such 
  mysterious powers and such profound knowledge that we may truly 
  designate them as the sages of the Orient. To their instructions we 
  lent a ready ear." 

  "The work now submitted to public judgment is the fruit of a somewhat 
  intimate acquaintance with Eastern adepts and study of their 
  science." 

  " . . . I was the first in the United States to bring the existence 
  of our Masters into publicity; and . . . exposed the holy names of 
  two members of a Brotherhood hitherto unknown to Europe and America 
  (save to a few mystics and Initiates of every age), yet sacred and 
  revered throughout the East, and especially India . . . ."

  And the Mahatmas provided these insights about Madame Blavatsky's 
  mission:

  "[H.P.Blavatsky is] . . . a woman of most exceptional and wonderful 
  endowments. Combined with them she had strong personal defects, but 
  just as she was, there was no second to her living fit for this work. 
  We sent her to America...." 

  "This state of hers [H.P.B.'s] is intimately connected with her 
  occult training in Tibet, and due to her being sent out alone into 
  the world to gradually prepare the way for others. After nearly a 
  century of fruitless search, our chiefs had to avail themselves of 
  the only opportunity to send out a European body. . . ."

  ". . . We employ agents - the best available. Of these for the past 
  thirty years the chief has been the personality known as H.P.B. to 
  the world (but otherwise to us). Imperfect and very troublesome, no 
  doubt, she proves to some, nevertheless, there is no likelihood of 
  our finding a better one for years to come. . . . With occult matters 
  she has everything to do. . . . She is our direct agent. . . . "

  For more on the origin and source of Modern Theosophy as given in the 
  words of Madame Blavatsky and the Mahatmas, see:

  . From Long-Sealed Ancient Fountains

  . Great Adepts and Trained Seers. 

  ______________________________

  Since Blavatsky's death in 1891, numerous individuals have claimed 
  contact with her Masters, stating that they were new "messengers" 
  conveying further esoteric teachings. See a partial list of claimants.

  The end result has been a confusing morass of claims, counterclaims 
  and various contradictory and conflicting teachings. 

  Even during her lifetime, Mme. Blavatsky told her Theosophical 
  students: 

  "Great are the desecrations to which the names of two of the Masters 
  have been subjected. There is hardly a medium who has not claimed to 
  have seen them." 

  H.P.B. and the Mahatmas also warned about "imitations of Occultism 
  and Theosophy" and "disfigured" expositions of Theosophy. 

  They even corrected "wild and fanciful speculation" and "erroneous 
  notions" about Theosophy that were distorting the original teachings 
  that they had given. See one example of a correction.

  Anna Kennedy Winner has graphically described the situation:

  "For most students, the first difficulty lies in knowing what and how 
  to study, and how to find the right clues. The word 'occultism' is 
  badly misused, and the student who has no trustworthy guide may 
  easily lose himself in a morass of superstition and pseudo-
  occultism. . . . Many pseudo-occult organizations utilize the ideas 
  obtained from the works of Madame Blavatsky, without giving her (or 
  her teachers) any credit for them, but adding all kinds of nonsense 
  and misinterpretations. . . . "

  Concerning certain "false ideas" grafted onto Theosophy, Madame 
  Blavatsky penned the following: 

  "Nothing is more dangerous to Esoteric Truth than the garbled and 
  distorted versions disfigured to suit the prejudices and tastes of 
  men in general." 

  For more background on the above, see:

  . Various Theosophical Traditions & New Students of Theosophy

  . Madame Blavatsky's Occult Status and the Claims of Latter-Day 
  Messengers of the Masters.

  ______________________________

  In light of the above confusion and conflicting claims, interested 
  inquirers and new students would do well to go directly to the 
  fountain source of Modern Theosophy: the original writings of H.P. 
  Blavatsky and the Mahatmas.

  We have available H.P.B.'s major books, more than 1000 of her 
  articles, hundreds of her personal letters to correspondents, more 
  than a hundred Mahatma letters received during H.P.B.'s lifetime, and 
  voluminous historical accounts of people who met and knew H.P.B. and 
  her Teachers.

  These source writings contain a wealth of valuable material on 
  Theosophy, metaphysics, esoteric lore and knowledge, occult laws and 
  processes in nature, ethical, spiritual and devotional material, and 
  much more. 

  Some of the historical accounts of people who met and knew H.P.B. and 
  her Teachers have been compiled in the book The Esoteric World of 
  Madame Blavatsky. See also A Casebook of Encounters with the 
  Theosophical Mahatmas.

  The Blavatsky and Mahatma source material is now available on CD-
  ROM. Also much of this material is online.

  Inquirers and students are encouraged to read and also study this 
  original material. But no one should blindly believe or disbelieve 
  what is written. But a worthy endeavor is to try to gain an 
  understanding of what is being conveyed by H.P.B. and the Masters in 
  this wealth of material.

  The Mahatmas gave the following advice:

  "Knowledge for the mind, like food for the body, is intended to feed 
  and help to growth, but it requires to be well digested and the more 
  thoroughly and slowly the process is carried out the better both for 
  body and mind."

  "For a clearer comprehension of the extremely abstruse and at first 
  incomprehensible theories of our occult doctrine never allow the 
  serenity of your mind to be disturbed during your hours of literary 
  labour, nor before you set to work. It is upon the serene and placid 
  surface of the unruffled mind that the visions gathered from the 
  invisible find a representation in the visible world. Otherwise you 
  would vainly seek those visions, those flashes of sudden light . . . 
  which alone can bring the truth before the eye of the soul. It is 
  with jealous care that we have to guard our mind-plane from all the 
  adverse influences which daily arise in our passage through earth-
  life."

  "On close observation, you will find that it was never the intention 
  of the Occultists really to conceal what they had been writing from 
  the earnest determined students, but rather to lock up their 
  information for safety-sake, in a secure safe-box, the key to which 
  is - intuition. The degree of diligence and zeal with which the 
  hidden meaning is sought by the student, is generally the test - how 
  far he is entitled to the possession of the so buried treasure." 

  Unfortunately, far too many readers don't take the necessary time and 
  effort to try to understand what H.P.B. is attempting to convey in 
  her many writings. 

  And far too often, students interject their own thoughts and 
  understanding into the subject matter. Nothing is inherently wrong 
  with that approach but it is suggested that a student might try to 
  ascertain first of all what H.P.B.'s and the Mahatmas' views actually 
  are on various subjects. 

  As a reader studies the material, he might constantly ask 
  himself: "Do I really understand what H.P.B. and the Mahatmas are 
  trying to convey?" 

  The advice of one student is as follows: Give H.P.B. and the Mahatmas 
  the lectern and allow them to speak. The initial goal should be to 
  try to "listen" to them and to try to understand their view and their 
  take on the subject. 

  None of the above should lead one to assume that H.P.B. and the 
  Masters are always right or anything like that. H.P.B. and her 
  Teachers never claimed they were infallible. But at the same time 
  many serious students of these original writings have reasonably 
  concluded that H.P.B. and her Teachers were very knowledgeable on a 
  wide range of subjects and also had wise and insightful comments on 
  many of the mysteries and problems of life. 

  William Doss McDavid in his book An Introduction to Esoteric 
  Principles: A Study Course writes:

  "Should we take H.P.B. as an infallible authority? . . . Absolutely 
  not. . . . But there is another side to the question. We have to 
  remember that the modern Theosophical movement owes its very 
  existence to H.P.B. and the Masters, whose faithful agent she claimed 
  to be. It would be extremely unwise to reject the teachings given 
  through her without understanding what those teachings really were in 
  the first place. And how can we acquire this understanding if we do 
  not study her writings? We don't have to blindly accept what she says 
  or take her views as the last word, but at least we should become 
  familiar with those views firsthand. Then we can reject or accept 
  intelligently. When the works of other and later writers who claim to 
  be continuing the work begun by H.P.B. present viewpoints 
  and 'revelations' which are at direct variance with the original 
  lines of teaching, we may feel justified in questioning the source of 
  the newer pronouncements. A familiarity with the original writings, 
  therefore, provides a criterion for intelligent judgment." p. 37

  One might also ponder on the following words of H.P.B.: 

  "Every reader will inevitably judge the statements made from the 
  stand-point of his own knowledge, experience, and consciousness, 
  based on what he has already learnt." 

  Readers might also keep foremost in mind the possibility that their 
  own knowledge, experience and consciousness may be limited and 
  incomplete. 

  For more background information, see:

  . Madame Blavatsky's Occult Status and the Claims of Latter-Day 
  Messengers of the Masters 

  . Various Theosophical Traditions & New Students of Theosophy

  . On Pseudo-Theosophy and Pseudo-Adepts

  . Psychic VERSUS Initiate Visions & Knowledge

  . Theosophical Claims After H.P.B.'s Death

  For more information on H.P. Blavatsky and Theosophy, see:

  . Introduction to H.P. Blavatsky & Theosophy

  . Who Is H.P. Blavatsky?

  . H.P.B. Speaks

  . A Brief Overview of Theosophy 

  . Basic Ideas of Theosophy

  . Overviews of the Classics of Theosophy

  . Recommended Titles about H.P.B. & Theosophy

  . In the Blavatsky Tradition: Major Online Books, Pamphlets & Other 
  Material on H.P. Blavatsky, the Mahatmas & Theosophy 

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

  Endnote 1:

  Partial List of Claimants

  Dr. Gordon Melton, an expert on modern cults and minority religions, 
  has written: 

  "A number of individuals have claimed contact with one of the Masters 
  first described by Blavatsky and have begun new organizations based 
  upon the individual revelation imparted." 

  Below is a partial list of the claimants: 

  (1) In the 1890s, William Q. Judge said he was in contact with HPB's 
  Master Morya as well as the deceased HPB. Judge claimed he 
  precipitated letters from Master M. and gave out further esoteric 
  teachings. 

  (2) Annie Besant and Charles Leadbeater affirmed that they were in 
  direct communication with HPB's Masters and the deceased HPB. They 
  gave out various Theosophical teachings in their voluminous writings.

  (3) Katherine Tingley, the occult successor of Judge, said she was in 
  contact with HPB's Masters and claimed to have met on at least two 
  occasions the Master Morya in his physical body.

  (4) G. de Purucker, Tingley's successor, testified that the Masters 
  M. & K.H. came to visit him in 1929 at Theosophical Society 
  headquarters, Point Loma, San Diego, California. Purucker claimed 
  that he was allowed to give out deeper esoteric teachings than HPB, 
  Judge or Tingley had given.

  (5) Alice Bailey said she was in contact with Masters K.H. and D.K 
  and wrote more than 20 volumes of teachings said to be from D.K. She 
  even gave out further installments of the Stanzas of Dzyan.

  (6) Mrs. Francia A. La Due (of the Temple of the People) gave out 
  messages from the Masters, especially from Hilarion. She also 
  published more Stanzas from the Book of Dzyan.

  (7) Guy Ballard (of the "I Am" Movement) claimed to be in 
  communication with the Masters, especially St. Germain.

  (8) Helena Roerich (of the Agni Yoga Society) published some 13 
  volumes of communications supposedly from the Master Morya.

  (9) Mark Prophet and his wife Elizabeth Clare (of the Church 
  Universal and Triumphant) claimed to be the emissaries of the Great 
  White Brotherhood and have channeled thousands of messages from El 
  Morya, Kut Humi, the Virgin Mary, Hercules, Chastity and a variety of 
  other Masters and entities.

  (10) Earlyne Chaney (of Astara) believed she was in communication 
  with Kut-Hi-Mi and Zoser and other Masters of the Great White 
  Brotherhood. She has given out various so-called esoteric and occult 
  teachings.

  (11) Nada-Yolanda (of Mark-Age, Inc) has channeled numerous messages 
  from M., K.H., and others Masters associated with UFOs.

  (12) Max Heindel, Rudolf Steiner and Geoffrey Hodson have claimed 
  clairvoyant powers and to be in contact with various Masters - 
  Rosicrucian, Theosophical or otherwise.

  (13) Other supposed communications from HPB's Masters have come from 
  Brother Philip in his book titled Secret of the Andes, from Cyril 
  Scott in his series of books starting with The Initiate, and from 
  David Anrias in his book Through the Eyes of the Masters.

  And the list goes on . . . . 

  For more claims, see:

  "The Masters and Their Emissaries: From H.P.B. to Guru Ma and 
  Beyond" by Govert Schuller

  For more background information on these numerous and conflicting 
  claims as well as related material, see:

  . Madame Blavatsky's Occult Status and the Claims of Latter-Day 
  Messengers of the Masters 

  . Various Theosophical Traditions & New Students of Theosophy

  . On Pseudo-Theosophy and Pseudo-Adepts

  . Psychic VERSUS Initiate Visions & Knowledge

  ______________________________

  Endnote 2:

  "Mistakes have now to be checked by the original teachings and 
  corrected."

  In her magnum opus The Secret Doctrine, H.P. Blavatsky wrote 
  that "mistakes have now to be checked by the original teachings and 
  corrected. . . ." Italics added. 

  Madame Blavatsky explained:

  "Esoteric Buddhism" [by A.P. Sinnett] . . . is an excellent book [on 
  Theosophy], and has done still more excellent work. But this does not 
  alter the fact that it contains some mistaken notions. . . . 

  The time has arrived for the explanation of some matters in this 
  direction. Mistakes have now to be checked by the original teachings 
  and corrected. . . . 

  As the author [A.P. Sinnett] . . . was himself, as he says, "an 
  untrained mind" in Occultism, his own inferences, and his better 
  knowledge of modern astronomical speculations than of archaic 
  doctrines led him quite naturally, and as unconsciously to himself, 
  to commit a few mistakes of detail rather than of any "broad rule." 
  One such will now be noticed. It is a trifling one, still it is 
  calculated to lead many a beginner into erroneous conceptions. But as 
  the mistaken notions of the earlier editions were corrected in the 
  annotations of the fifth edition, so the sixth may be revised and 
  perfected. . . . 

  Among such . . . [was] the erroneous statement that two of the 
  superior Globes of the terrestrial chain were two of our well-known 
  planets: 

  "besides the Earth . . . there are only two other worlds of our chain 
  which are visible. . . . Mars and Mercury. . . ." (Esoteric Buddhism; 
  p. 136.) 

  This was a great mistake. . . . 

  Let it now be distinctly stated, then, that the theory broached is 
  impossible, with or without the additional evidence furnished by 
  modern Astronomy. Physical Science can supply corroborative, though 
  still very uncertain, evidence, but only as regards heavenly bodies 
  on the same plane of materiality as our objective Universe. Mars and 
  Mercury, Venus and Jupiter, like every hitherto discovered planet (or 
  those still to be discovered), are all, per se, the representatives 
  on our plane of such chains. As distinctly stated in one of the 
  numerous letters of Mr. Sinnett's "Teacher," "there are other and 
  innumerable Manvantaric chains of globes which bear intelligent 
  Beings both in and outside our solar system." But neither Mars nor 
  Mercury belong to our chain. They are, along with the other planets, 
  septenary Units in the great host of "chains" of our system, and all 
  are as visible as their upper globes are invisible. . . . 

  When the present work was commenced, the writer [H.P. Blavatsky 
  herself] , feeling sure that the speculation about Mars and Mercury 
  was a mistake, applied to the Teachers [the Mahatmas] by letter for 
  explanation and an authoritative version. Both came in due time, and 
  verbatim extracts from these are now given. 

  ". . . . . both (Mars and Mercury) are septenary chains, as 
  independent of the Earth's sidereal lords and superiors as you are 
  independent of the 'principles' of Daumling (Tom Thumb) -- which were 
  perhaps his six brothers, with or without night-caps. . . . " 

  . . . Again, here are more extracts from another letter written by 
  the same authority. This time it is in answer to some objections laid 
  before the Teachers. They are based upon extremely scientific, and as 
  futile, reasonings about the advisability of trying to reconcile the 
  Esoteric theories with the speculations of Modern Science, and were 
  written by a young Theosophist as a warning against the "Secret 
  Doctrine" and in reference to the same subject. He had declared that 
  if there were such companion Earths "they must be only a wee bit less 
  material than our globe." How then was it that they could not be 
  seen? The answer [from Master Koot Hoomi] was: -- 

  ". . . . Were psychic and spiritual teachings more fully understood, 
  it would become next to impossible to even imagine such an 
  incongruity. Unless less trouble is taken to reconcile the 
  irreconcilable -- that is to say, the metaphysical and spiritual 
  sciences with physical or natural philosophy, 'natural' being a 
  synonym to them (men of science) of that matter which falls under the 
  perception of their corporeal senses -- no progress can be really 
  achieved. Our Globe, as taught from the first, is at the bottom of 
  the arc of descent, where the matter of our perceptions exhibits 
  itself in its grossest form. . . . . . . Hence it only stands to 
  reason that the globes which overshadow our Earth must be on 
  different and superior planes. In short, as Globes, they are in CO-
  ADUNITION but not IN CONSUBSTANTIALITY WITH OUR EARTH and thus 
  pertain to quite another state of consciousness. Our planet (like all 
  those we see) is adapted to the peculiar state of its human stock, 
  that state which enables us to see with our naked eye the sidereal 
  bodies which are co-essential with our terrene plane and substance, 
  just as their respective inhabitants, the Jovians, Martians and 
  others can perceive our little world: because our planes of 
  consciousness, differing as they do in degree but being the same in 
  kind, are on the same layer of differentiated matter. . . . . What I 
  wrote was 'The minor Pralaya concerns only our little STRINGS OF 
  GLOBES.' (We called chains 'Strings' in those days of lip- 
  confusion.) . . . 'To such a string our Earth belongs.' This ought to 
  have shown plainly that the other planets were also 'strings' or 
  CHAINS. . . If he (meaning the objector) would perceive even the dim 
  silhouette of one of such 'planets' on the higher planes, he has to 
  first throw off even the thin clouds of the astral matter that stands 
  between him and the next plane. . . . ." 

  It becomes patent why we could not perceive, even with the help of 
  the best earthly telescopes, that which is outside our world of 
  matter. Those alone, whom we call adepts, who know how to direct 
  their mental vision and to transfer their consciousness -- physical 
  and psychic both -- to other planes of being, are able to speak with 
  authority on such subjects. And they tell us plainly: -- . . . 

  ". . . . . . Be prudent, we say, prudent and wise, and above all take 
  care what those who learn from you believe in; lest by deceiving 
  themselves they deceive others . . . . . for such is the fate of 
  every truth with which men are, as yet, unfamiliar. . . . Let rather 
  the planetary chains and other super- and sub-cosmic mysteries remain 
  a dreamland for those who can neither see, nor yet believe that 
  others can. . . ." 

  It is to be regretted that few of us have followed the wise advice; 
  and that many a priceless pearl, many a jewel of wisdom, has been 
  cast to an enemy unable to understand its value and who has turned 
  round and rent us. . . . 

  Abridged from H.P. Blavatsky's The Secret Doctrine, 1888, Volume I, 
  pp. 160-167.

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



   

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